There is a wine-producing region in Alba County that not many are familiar with. It is in the Aiud-Ciumbrud area.  

Ciumbrud wine has a sweet, herbal, basil-like flavor, and a rich aroma; it comes from a very small vineyard close to Aiud. There is a story that links this wine to Michael the Brave, who presumably found it in the Princes’ Palace cellars after he entered Alba Iulia. 

The wine immediately became a favorite with the great unifier of the three historical Romanian provinces. We do not know if this was the only wine he drank, but it is said it was always served at his table. The palace stolnic (local nobleman in charge with the voïvode’s table; from the Slav word stol meaning table) had it on his ‘shopping list’ and made sure it was always readily available in the princely cellars. German merchants, who were the most active and widely-spread distributors, also traded it, particularly the white varieties such as Riesling and Traminer, which were highly appreciated.

The vineyard where the wine is produced to this day has a long history: apparently there are proofs that the Legion XIII Gemina, stationed in the Apulum castrum, was supplied with wines made there!