Moldovan wine

Moldova is a small country and one of Europe's poorest. However, few Western Europeans realize the country is a significant producer of wine, supplying a large portion of the wine consumed in Russia.

Some 15 kilometers outside of Moldova's capital of Chisinau is the town of Cricova, home to a state-run winery big enough to produce 15 percent of country's annual national budget.

The Cricova winery was founded by Soviet authorities during the 1950s; it produced one of the eastern bloc's most famous brands of wine and sparkling wine.

Today Cricova wine is sold in 28 countries around the world, but most exports go straight to Russia. In 2005, 85 percent of Moldovan wine was exported, and 90 percent of that went to Russia.

Vulnerable export market

Moldova's dependence on exporting into the Russian wine market, however, has left the country vulnerable to bullying by its enormous neighbor. For instance, it received an economic blow in March 2006 when Russia imposed an embargo on Moldovan wines lasting until the end of 2007.

While Russian authorities said low-quality wine posed a threat to Russian consumers, observers didn't rule out that Moldova's political turn to the West may have also played a role. Industry flagships like Cricova weren't directly accused of poor quality, but they did suffer under the embargo and were forced to look for new export markets.

Vadim Drobis, a Moscow-based expert on the alcohol industry, said doing so successfully means overcoming the preconceived notions of many consumers.

"Moldova does have some great wines and, honestly, I prefer a Moldovan wine for 5 euros per bottle to a French wine of the same price range,” Drobis told Deutsche Welle. “But Western wine drinkers have their own mentality, and I don't think I will live to see day when Moldovan wine becomes widely popular in Europe."

Massive national collection

But Moldovan vintners do have some public relations inroads to the Western world. The country's National Wine Collection at Cricova is a powerful promotional tool. The collection of more than 1.5 million bottles is housed in a maze of tunnels, which are part of a still-functioning mine.

The mine is 120 kilometers long, with 60 kilometers used for wine storage. Its interior temperatures remain a constant 10 to 12 degrees, and air humidity stays between 97 and 98 percent.

Californian Blake Malatester recently visited Moldova for the first time with his wife, who is from the country.

"I tasted Cricova the moment I got off the plane,” he told Deutsche Welle. “It was a bottle of champagne, and I immediately fell in love with it… I deal with wines back home, so I really wanted to see for myself what the big talk is about, what the jewel of Moldova is."

Author: Mareike Aden/gps
Editor: John Blau