The Wine Blokes

Most of the vineyards in Moldova are located on south facing slopes

Moldova has a well established wine industry. It has a vineyard area of 147,000 hectares (360,000 acres), of which 102,500 ha (253,000 acres) are used for commercial production. Most of the country’s wine production is for export. Many families have their own recipes and strands of grapes that have been passed down through the generations.

History

The imprints of Vitis teutonica vine leaves near the Naslavcia village in the north of Moldova prove that grapes grew here approximately 6 to 25 million years ago. The size of grape seed imprints found near the Varvarovca village, which date back to 2800 BC, prove that at that time the grapes were already being cultivated. The grapegrowing and winemaking in the area between the Nistru and Prut rivers, which began 4000-5000 years ago, had periods of rises and falls but has survived through all the changing social and economic conditions.
At the end of the 3rd century BC, links between the local population and the Greeks were established and beginning with 107 with the Romans, a fact which strongly influenced the intense development of the grapegrowing and winemaking.

After the formation of the Moldovan feudal state in the 14th century the grapegrowing began to develop and flourished in the 15th century during the kingdom of Stefan cel Mare, who was promoting the import of planting material of high quality varieties from other counties and the improvement of the quality of the wine. Wine was one of the chief exports of Moldova throughout the medieval period, especially to Poland, Ukraine and Russia.
In the 300 years under the Turkish Ottoman Empire Moldova saw a big decline in grapegrowing, as winemaking was forbidden by law. After the peace treaty of 1812 the wine industry started flourishing again. The main varieties were the traditional ones: Rara Neagra, Plavai, Galbena, Zghiharda, Batuta Neagra, Feteasca Albă, Feteasca Neagră, Tămâioasa, Cabasia and many others of local, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Turkish varieties. In this period the grape growers gained governmental support and already in 1837 the vineyard area in Bassarabia (the territory of today’s Moldova plus the Black Sea coast) has reached 14,000 hectares, and the wine production has reached 12 million litres.
The second half of the 19th century has seen an intensive planting of newly introduced French varieties such as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Aligote, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay, Muscat Blanc. It was at this time that wines like Negru de Purcari and Romanesti, which have made Moldova famous as a fine wine producer, started to be produced. After the phylloxera damage at the end of the 19th century, it was only in 1906 that the vineyards were started to be re-established with grafted planting material. By 1914 Bassarabia had Russia’s biggest vineyard area.
Both World Wars considerably damaged the Moldovan vineyards and the wine industry. The re-establishment of the Moldovan vineyards began during the Soviet years, in the 50’s. In 10 years more than 150,000 hectares were planted and by 1960 the total vineyard area had reached 220,000 hectares.
In 2006, a diplomatic conflict with Russia began after the 2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines.

Wine growing regions in Moldova

In Moldova four regions for wine growing are to be found:

• North region
• Codru (central region)
• South region
• South-East region which includes the famous Purcari region.

Local varieties

Rara Neagra grapes in a Purcari region vineyard

Only a few local varieties can still be found in Moldova today:

• Feteasca Albă: White indigenous white variety. Makes crisp, fresh white wines with fine floral aromas.
• Feteasca Regală: White. A natural cross between Feteasca Albă and Furmint.
• Rara Neagră: Indigenous red variety. In Romania it is called Băbească Neagră. Makes dark colored, full bodied red wines with fine red fruit aromas.

Introduced varieties

White varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Aligoté, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Traminer, Muscat, Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Rkatsiteli.
Red varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Saperavi, Gamay.
In 2006 Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were conditionaly regestred for trial.

Divin

Divin - represents the name, patented in the Republic of Moldova, of the country’s brandy, produced in conformity with the classic technology of cognac production.

Some producers

Chateau Lion Gri

• Cricova
• Aurvin
• Kvint - wine and brandy