The biggest wine cellars in the world
Not known in the world, unjustly, are the excellent wines that Moldova produces. The country possesses the largest wine cellars in the world. The largest wine collection, the Mileștii Mici, comprises almost 1.5 million bottles and stretches over a fabulous 250 kilometres.
I visited the second largest wine collection in the world called Cricova, which is also located in Moldova. I shared a taxi with others from my hostel and drove into the town just 15 kilometres north of Chișină. It features 120 kilometres of labyrinthine streets. Tunnels have existed under Cricova since the 15th century, when limestone was excavated to support the construction of Chişinău. They were converted into an underground wine warehouse in the 1950s. The tunnels reach up to 100 meters deep.
complex process of winemaking
We had booked a tour through our hostel. On the tour they drove us through the gigantic tunnels with golf-caddy like carriages. On foot it would take you forever. As it is appropriate for a wine cellar, the temperatures are slightly cool in the range of 10..15 degrees. It was extremely interesting to see what finesse is needed to make a wine.
We saw, for example, that the wines have to be stored at a 45-angle and after a certain period of time they have to be turned to a 30-angle so that the aroma can unfold better. Filigree female hands are better suited than male hands as they can tip the bottles over more precisely.
Huge wine collection of celebrities are stored here
They also showed us the huge personal wine collections of famous personalities which are stored in a cellar with a wine glass shape. There you can find almost 20 bottles that once belonged to Nazi party leader Hermann Göring. Angel Merkel or Vladimir Putin also let hundreds of bottles be stored here. The latter even celebrated his 50th birthday here underground with a few fine drops of wine.
Wine tasting for FREE
Afterwards it was time for the wine tasting. However, myself and 2 others had not been able to register for it. We wanted to register before the tour, but they said that this was no longer possible. This way the tour would have cost twice as much, which is still cheap though.
To our big surprise we were also called to the big hall of the wine tasting and on our place everything was served. We had not paid anything and could still participate in the tasting. Apparently they had miscounted.
Well, good for us! The wines tasted delicious and there were a few vegetarian bites to eat with them. They gave us a red, a rosé, a white and a sparkling wine. I especially liked the fruity sparkling wine.
Wine mainly gets exported to the east
I took two bottles of Cabarnet Sauvignon with me, at a good price. In my country I can't find these excellent wines at all, because a major part of the wines is exported to - no not Russia but Kazakhstan! Russia imported the most wine from Moldova before but this changed in 2014 when Russia imposed embargoes on Moldovan wine in retaliation for Moldova making moves towards joining the European Union.
