Moldova’s long history of winemaking dates back to the Cucuteni civilization, 7000 years (Trypillia culture, Eneolithic Age), which places Moldova among the oldest wine producing countries in the world. Throughout its history, wine and grapes have been deeply rooted in the culture, myths, folklore and legends of the country. “Wine of Moldova”, the country’s wine brand has already won its place on the tables and in the hearts of many international wine lovers.
How did the product of this small winegrowing country on EU’s border manage, in just a few years, to come to the attention of wine lovers, become a recognizable brand and an economic success? By focusing on quality, authenticity and a modern approach to marketing.
When quality is a strategy. Four Moldovan wine PGIs recognized in the European Union and hundreds of international wine awards
In 2018 alone, Moldovan winemakers entered 32 international competitions and won over 600 medals at prestigious international contests, such as Decanter World Wine Awards, Mundus Vini, Concours Mondial du Bruxelles, the International Wine Challenge, Effervescents du Monde and others.
The new era of Moldovan winemaking and the metamorphosis of the industry started in 2013, when the Republic of Moldova decided to implement dramatic and painful structural and legislative reforms in its wine sector. The strategy was to blend Old World’s respect to winemaking traditions and terroir, with the flexibility, and innovative mindset of the New World. In the meantime, the reformed legislative framework spurred the emergence of small, boutique wineries considered Wine of Moldova’s spearhead in terms of quality and innovation. This refocused Moldova’s wine industry towards a new approach and brought with it a significant leap in quality.
The reform project had a national impact, with Moldova being ranked the 19th wine producing country in the world. The industry employs over 150,000 people; thus one out of four Moldovans in the active population is directly or indirectly involved in the winegrowing or winemaking. It took over $600m in investment and planting 30,000 ha of new vines to upgrade and secure the production potential.
The National Office for Vine and Wine (NOVW), a one-of-a-kind public private partnership in the region, was established and assigned the utmost important task of implementing a range of programs to support market diversification A new generation of Moldovan wines impress consumers in 63 global markets and the growth in exports of high quality wines. NOVW has also become responsible for the promotion of Moldovan wines on export markets, under the umbrella of the national wine brand: “Wine of Moldova. A legend Alive” which was internationally launched five years ago at Prowein 2014.
To ensure the quality and traceability of “Wine of Moldova”, a national Wine and Vine Register was put in place, followed by implementation of quality system based on the EU model of protected geographical indications (PGI), established around three traditional vine growing areas and based on profound research on climate and growing conditions. These are Valul lui Traian, Ștefan Vodă and Codru plus a special geographical denomination for grape brandies called Divin. The first PGI wines hit the shelves in 2015 and over the next three years their number and volumes doubled, while the area of PGI plantations tripled. A roadmap for developing first PDOs in Moldova was announced and the research phase is being deployed.
The taste of authenticity. More wines out of indigenous grape varieties.
Moldova has the highest density of vineyards in the world (128,000 ha, representing 3.8% of the country’s territory and 7% of the arable land) being located on the same latitude as other famous wine regions of Europe. International wine experts, who are increasingly keen to visit and discover Moldova, agree that the country has immense potential, and that its uniqueness on the international market is underlined by the authentic varietal wines and blends produced form fascinating indigenous varieties: Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala, Feteasca Neagra, Rara Neagra etc. In order to preserve and enhance the genuineness of “Wine of Moldova”, winegrowers are constantly expanding the plantations of local grapes and are experimenting with new, modern-style blends of European and indigenous varieties. Conquering the world, one sip at a time. 63 export destinations for Wine of Moldova.
Due to considerable marketing efforts Moldovan wine is now exported to 63 countries, mostly to European Union markets, registering steady growth over the last five years. In 2018, the volume of Moldovan wine exports reached 1.44m Hl. or +40% on five years ago, reducing its dependence from traditional CIS markets, which used to exceed 90% in the mid ‘00s. This is also due to the fact that an increasing number of Moldovan wineries, feeling the international demand for Moldovan bottled wines, are converting their business models from large scale bulk-oriented production to higher quality bottled and branded wine production.
Moldova – world’s wine tourism capital in 2018
In recent years tourism in Moldova is booming, fueled mainly by wine tourism and festivals and events linked with wine, such as National Wine Day, Wine Vernissages and Wine Runs. As a result, dozens of wineries in Moldova have opened their doors to visitors, offering a wonderful opportunity to get closer to Moldovan wine, by establishing personal connections with winemakers and their very human stories. Wine tastings are often accompanied by a taste of homemade local food too, based on locally sourced flavoursome ingredients, a reflection of Moldova’s rich folklore and traditions.
Moldova is also internationally famous for its vast underground cellars at Cricova and at Mileștii Mici - the latter holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wine collection in the world. This propelled the tiny Republic of Moldova to one of Europe’s fastest growing destinations according to an authoritative review by Bloomberg. As an acknowledgement of these achievements, UN World Tourism Organization chose Moldova as its 2018 host for the 3rd edition of the Global Conference on Wine Tourism.
Wine of Moldova continues its success story at ProWein
This year Moldova is present at ProWein with a selection of more than 200 wines (still wines, sparkling wines, distillates - Divin) by 38 companies, united under the national country brand “Wine of Moldova”. Visitors are invited to discover the quality and character of wines from Moldova, to get acquainted with its millennial winemaking traditions and wonderful wine tourism destinations via Virtual Reality tours.
Daily, there are two presentations and masterclasses presenting indigenous grape varieties and wines from three different PGI regions: ”Codru”, ”Stefan Voda”, ”Valul lui Traian”, will be hosted at the Wine of Moldova stand, by local and international experts: Dr. Gheorghe Arpentin, Director of Moldova’s National Office for Vine and Wine and President of OIV Safety and Health Commission; Masters of Wine Sarah Abbott and Caroline Gilby and Robert Joseph, wine writer and consultant.
