Authentic, affordable, and award-winning wine.
No, this is not France, this is Moldova.
A week in Europe’s least visited country, and why I think you should go. [Part One]
Prior to visiting Moldova, my knowledge of this country was limited. As a freelancer working in food and drink, and a music lover, I was aware of the importance of wine to this nation, and the epic saxophone hook from Moldova’s Eurovision entry “Run Away” by Sunstroke Project circa 2010. Aside from that, I didn’t know much else about Moldova, which made me all the more excited to visit.
Arriving late on a Monday evening after a convenient direct flight from Manchester, where I am based, I arrived with a hunger for discovery and room in my suitcase for wine and plenty of Plăcintă.
WINE
When I first landed in Chișinău, my driver picked me up and said “In Moldova we don’t buy wine, we make it.”
Cricova
Less than an hour away from Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, lies the town of Cricova. Famed for its wine production and vast underground wine cellars, it is home to one of the largest and most renowned wineries in all of Moldova. Housing over 30 million litres of wine, the ‘Underground City’ is a labyrinth of tunnels over 70 km long, with each turn labelled as a street, named after different wine varieties such as Cabernet Street.
A tour here is most definitely recommended, and will involve whizzing around the tunnels on an electric buggy where you’ll stop at never-ending storage halls and wine production areas, see huge barrels stored from the Soviet era, and enter some grand tasting rooms, also used for prestigious events and wine pairing dinners.
Cricova also houses personal collections and a large amount of vintage wines. Our guide Natalia explained to us that the ageing of the wines can vary from around 9 months to up to 5 years. When asked how the amount of time was decided, she explained that vintage years are decided by professionals who lead on the harvest, having assessed the weather and the climate and the impact it will have on the grapes. Many of the wines here are made using traditional methods, some entirely by hand, including their most expensive commercial bottle, which prices at around £50.
Cricova is particularly famous for its sparkling wines. They use the traditional méthode champenoise (the same method used in Champagne, France) to create their high-quality bubbly, essentially making it only different by name. It would take a real expert to be able to tell the difference between a French Champagne and a Cricova sparkling wine.
I truly enjoyed all of the wines that I got to try at Cricova, but my favourite (and the one I left with) was a bottle of dry, organic white wine from their “WILD” collection. With notes of basil, wild flowers and apples and made from the Virorica grape variety, I found it paired well with cheese, and I’m looking forward to enjoying a glass in the garden in the Summer.
Buy the wine here!
Château Vartely
For anyone visiting Moldova as a wine destination, an overnight stay at Château Vartely is a must. Just over an hour away from Chișinău, and recognised as a landmark winery overlooking the Orhei valley, Château Vartely is surprisingly one of Moldova’s youngest wineries.
Specialising in both local varieties such as Fetească Neagră, an indigenous red grape found in Moldova and Romania, and international grapes including Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, this winery has won multiple awards not just for its spectacular wines but for the immersive experience it offers to visitors. On the estate you’ll find private villas, a beautiful restaurant serving high-end cuisine and a tasting room that you see as part of a guided tour.
The tour includes a look around the production rooms and operating cellars, which I have to say would have been made better by some tastings along the way, but the last stop on the tour presented something unique and memorable. In a long room of wine barrels you will discover what was awarded “the most original activity in the wine industry” at an international contest vetted by the Council of Europe. Taking over the entire surface of the cellar is an impressive light show, projected onto the oak barrels, the colourful lights tell the legend of winemaking.
But it’s not all about wine, one of the most memorable aspects of visiting Moldova was the people.
Warm Hospitality
A standout of the week was a visit to Poarta Neamului in the Codru region, a family owned business offering a look into traditional Moldovan life, with an authentic preserved house over 100 years old filled with real family heirlooms including pictures and traditional garments.
Poarta Neamului is situated in Temeleuti, an agricultural village where everybody knows one another and supplies produce to their neighbours.
With views of the rolling hills and a tranquil lake, an opportunity to climb the big hill to get the full view was well worth it, and rewarded with a family lunch back at the house. Consisting of chicken soup, grilled courgettes, cherries picked from the garden, plăcintă with cheese and homemade wine, it felt really special to be welcomed into a family home to get a taste of life outside of the city. We all left feeling grateful for the experience, having learnt about family life and their own family history. Noroc.
As a foodie, my favourite tourism experiences are always focused on food and drink, and I was really pleased to have the opportunity to make some traditional dishes as well as try them. Day three of our visit took us to Hanul Lui Hanganu, a guest house in the picturesque village of Lalova, along the Nistru river for a traditional lunch. Here we took part in a cookery class where we made the “smallest Sarmale in Moldova,” a side dish made up of an onion and pepper mix, wrapped in cabbage leaves and then boiled. It was fiddly and a little messy, which I think discouraged the journalists I was travelling with from giving it a try, and they also wanted to get photos of this experience for the publications they were representing. I’m expecting to see my photo all over Europe now.
Upon arrival at Hanul Lui Hanganu, we were taken into the dining area and open kitchens where we could watch the team making plăcintă and distributing the borsch into bowls. The latter I really enjoyed. This Eastern European soup was a little salty, and had a similar flavour to minestrone, and the addition of the potatoes in this particular recipe reminded me of my Nan’s recipe for Scouse (if you don’t know what that is, google it). Flavour wise, it was not similar but the warming, hearty feeling brought nostalgia.
Masterclass, or should I say MasterGLASS…
Prior to visiting Cricova winery, we visited Nicolae Protenco, a local craftsman making beautiful jewelry, crockery and other pieces of art with glass. Protenco knows a few words in English, and whilst the majority of the demonstration was in Romanian, he did tell us in English “glass is my life”. I’m not a crafty person myself, but I knew I would be saying yes to every opportunity on this trip, and after having a go at making my own glass piece, I was pleasantly surprised with how my Finola Daley-Dee original turned out.
After the workshop, we enjoyed some homemade pastries and compôte made using fruits in Nicolae’s family’s garden. The pastries included a savoury cheese flavoured one that reminded me of a cheese scone, and a flaky, sweet creation using apples and nuts that Nicolae’s wife explained was a fusion she had created inspired by her Ukrainian and Polish heritage.
I am fortunate to have experienced great hospitality in many countries across the globe, but what really stood out to me was the personal element that felt unique to visiting Moldova. Meeting the people behind these family-run tourist attractions, and learning about their respective lives, and experiencing their welcoming nature, was equally as interesting to me as the actual tourist attractions.
Culture
There are many places to visit in Moldova that offer an educational outlook into the country’s long-lasting traditions, such as the Rustic Art Complex, a functioning workplace and museum where locals and visitors can learn about the art of carpet weaving and admire a large collection of traditional embroidery, clothing and carpets. It was really impressive watching the women who work here make carpets using traditional methods, and to learn about the stories behind each design, which to the untrained eye would be completely missed.
I particularly enjoyed learning about the identity behind the embroidered shirts I had seen frequently in my time in Moldova, as I was informed that the different colours represent different regions; red for central, blue for the North and green for the South. For anybody with an interest in textiles or fashion, this is definitely worth visiting.
As a predominantly Orthodox-Christian country, Moldova is known for its monasteries, many of which are located in breathtaking natural settings such as Tipova Monastery, which is carved into a cliff overlooking the Dniester River. Personally, I would prefer to spend less time visiting the monasteries and more time in the wineries, but I can certainly appreciate the colourful, intricate architecture as much as the natural surroundings of Moldova’s monasteries.
The Curchi Monastery is considered one of the country’s most beautiful, and it certainly stood out to me. A peaceful place to walk around, or just sit amongst all the flowers and admire the 57 meter high church spire. There was some interesting modern history attached to this particular Monastery, as it was used as a psychiatric hospital by the Soviets, before it was returned to its original glory thanks to a fundraising effort in 2005.
Drinks on arrival and a front row seat to the event of the season:
at the foot of the Orheiul Vechi Reservation limestone cliffs in the village of Butuceni, locals and visitors alike gather to celebrate music and culture at the open air DescOpera Festival. Led by renowned Moldovan conductor Nicolae Dohotaru, the festival showcases classical works performed by artists from the Moldovan National Opera. This year opened with a spectacular performance of the timeless classic, “Aida” , an opera I was familiar with, but had never had the pleasure of listening to.
I sipped on a glass (bottle) of fizz from the Radicini winery, who were official partners of the event, ate some plăcintă (again) and although I couldn’t understand a word they were singing about, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. If you can time your visit for when this is on, I would definitely encourage you to do so, but be sure to bring layers and mosquito repellent. As a Northerner I personally did not struggle so much with the temperature, however the same cannot be said for the Southern Europeans amongst the group.
Believe it or not, what I have written above is just a few of the reasons why I think you should visit Moldova. In part two of this blog series I will be discussing the food and drink in more detail, and my experience in the bustling capital city; Chișinău.
The press tour was organised by the National Inbound and Domestic Tourism Association of Moldova (ANTRIM) with the support of the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund, the Ministry of Culture and the National Tourism Office of the Republic of Moldova, in collaboration with SkyUp Airlines.
