Iacobici is not built to make anyone rich. Every leu that remains, from every bottle, is reinvested in Godinești: a cellar, a vineyard, a winery and the people who will work in them.4 Here is the whole plan, in numbers.
Why Godinești
A village that is quietly emptying.
In twenty years Godinești has lost a quarter of its people. Today more than twice as many residents are over 65 as are under 15.
The young leave for Târgu Jiu, Bucharest or abroad, because there is little here to stay for. Wine has been made on these hills for generations, but only at home, for the family; there is no established winery in Gorj that could make a wine like this. We want to change that, and give people a reason to stay, to come back, and to visit.
Population of Godinești commune
2,4652002
2,0612011
1,8552021
Residents counted at the 2002, 2011 and 2021 censuses: down 25%.
Residents by age, 2021
2241,117514
Under 15
15 to 64
65 and over
The pledge
Every leu that remains stays in Godinești. No dividends, no debt. A cellar, a vineyard and a winery, built one bottle at a time.
The plan
Three editions. Five years.
Each edition is a thousand bottles of red and a thousand of white, numbered by hand. Each one pays for the next step, and each step makes the next edition possible.
IFounder’s Edition2026Made with our partner winery in MehedințiBuilds the cellar and buys the land
IIKeystone Edition2027 to 2028The first wine made in our own cellar, from grapes bought from local growersEquips the cellar and plants the first hectare
IIIHomecoming Edition2029 to 2030Made in our cellar, from grapes bought from local growersBuilds the winery and the rooms for visitors
After five years, the vineyard begins to give its own grapes. From then on, the Iacobici wines are made entirely at home.
Five years, step by step
From a cellar to a winery.
The Founder’s Edition
The first two thousand bottles go on sale, made with our partner winery. The company, the permits and the reservations start; we buy the land next to the family plot and dig the cellar.
The cellar is finished
The cellar receives its first equipment. At the harvest we buy grapes from growers in Gorj and Mehedinți, and the Keystone Edition is made, for the first time, in Godinești.
The first vines
The Keystone Edition goes on sale. Its proceeds plant the first half of the hectare: soil, fence, trellis and vines.
One hectare
The second half of the hectare is planted. The Homecoming Edition is made in the cellar, and the winery building begins.
The winery opens its doors
The Homecoming Edition goes on sale and finishes the winery and the tasting room. The first visitors come to Godinești.
Our own grapes
The first hectare gives its first harvest. From now on the Iacobici wines are made from our own vines, and the vineyard grows from its own wine.
Where every bottle goes
Most of every bottle stays in the village.
Choose an edition and a number range to see where the price of one bottle goes.
The company’s fixed costs (permits, accounting, the oenologist, events) are paid from each edition as a whole, and appear in the plan below.
RON
VAT and excise duty, to the state0
Making and bottling the wine0
Packaging, certificate and Founder card0
Reinvested in Godinești0
What the money builds
About €105,000 in five years, paid for by the editions alone.
No grants we depend on and no loans. Move the slider: if an edition sells more slowly, the plan does not break, the next step simply waits.
Reinvested in Godinești0
Of the five-year plan0
Founder’s Edition0
Keystone Edition0
Homecoming Edition0
The cellar: 90 m², underground, vaulted≈ €23,000
Paid forPartly paid forWaits for the next edition
The land next to the family plot, up to 3.6 ha≈ €15,000
The first hectare: soil, fence, trellis, vines, three years of care≈ €16,000
The winery building and a tasting room for visitors≈ €25,000
Finishes, and a reserve to keep the winery running≈ €8,000
The next five years
Then the vineyard grows from its own wine.
One hectare by 2030, planted in two halves. From 2031 the wine of our own vines pays for the rest: about half a hectare a year, up to 3.6 hectares by 2036.
Hectares plantedBottles a year from our own vines
20363.6 ha · 13,500 bottles
A vine gives its first small crop in its third year and a full crop from its fifth, about 6,000 bottles a hectare. Estimates.
What Godinești gets
A winery is work for a village.
WorkAbout 80 worker-days a year for every hectare worked by hand, and 8 to 10 pickers at every harvest. We hire from the village first and pay at least the legal minimum.
Local growersUntil our vines bear fruit, the Keystone and Homecoming editions buy around three tonnes of grapes each from growers in Gorj and Mehedinți.
VisitorsA cellar and a tasting room bring people to Godinești: for a tasting, a harvest day, a wedding toast. They eat, sleep and shop here too.
A communityEvery buyer becomes a Founder: tastings, harvest days, and a say in what the winery becomes.
Worker-days for one hectare, in a full year
Green work24
Hand harvest20
Winter pruning & tying16
Protection, mowing, soil13
Repairs & transport8
0Worker-days a year, per hectare
0Worker-days a year at 3.6 hectares
8 to 10Pickers at every harvest
Our rules
Five rules we will keep.
Every leu is reinvested. The founders take no dividends from the editions. What remains after the wine is made goes into Godinești.4
No debt. Each step is paid for by the edition before it. We do not build on borrowed money or on grants we might not get.
No step before its money. If an edition sells slowly, the next step waits a year. The plan slows down; it does not break.
Open books. Every year we publish what each edition raised, what it cost and where the money went.
The village first. We hire from Godinești first, buy from local growers and builders, and open the winery to everyone.
How we calculated
These figures are an illustrative model built in October 2026. They are estimates, not quotes, and will be replaced by our real costs and sales as the work begins.
Prices by bottle number: Nº 1 to 100 at 290 RON, Nº 101 to 400 at 190 RON, Nº 401 to 1,000 at 150 RON, VAT included; about 176 RON on average.
Making one bottle: about 26 RON with our partner (wine, bottle, closure, capsule, label, bottling) and about 28 RON in our own cellar from bought grapes; packaging, certificate and Founder card about 4 RON. Fixed costs per edition: about 15,000 RON for the first, 35,000 RON for the next two, which include the oenologist.
Building costs assume local builders, family work and second-hand equipment where suitable. One hectare: about 4,000 grafted vines at around 10 RON, a wildlife fence, an acacia-post trellis and three years of care.
Labour: about 650 hours per hectare per year for a hillside worked largely by hand.
Population: National Institute of Statistics, censuses of 2002, 2011 and 2021.
VAT 21% (since 1 August 2025); still-wine excise 11 RON per hectolitre in 2026; 1 EUR = 5.1 RON.
Sources include: INS census results (via City Population); Revista Ferma (MADR cost framework, 2022); DLR Rheinland-Pfalz labour data; EY tax alert on Law 141/2025.
