Feteasca Alba is a grape variety that is used widely in parts of Eastern Europe, most notably Romania but also in Moldova, Hungary, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Feteasca means "maiden" in Romanian and is shared by three distinct varieties: Feteasca Regala (royal maiden), Feteasca Neagra (black maiden) and Feteasca Alba, or white maiden, which refers to the colour of the grapes.
Feteasca Alba is the primordial form of Feteasca, from which the other two are believed to have evolved. Despite this, Feteasca Regala is the more widely planted of the two, as its wines have more complexity, but Feteasca Alba still makes dry, aromatic wines with stone fruit and tropical flavours. It can also be used in the production of sweet and sparkling wines and is sometimes blended with other local varieties like Grasa de Cotnari.
While Feteasca Alba's naturally high sugar levels make it well suited to sweet-wine production, in warmer vintages the grapes often struggle to retain desirable levels of acidity.
