Discovering Moldova’s wine country underground, in the vineyards and from the sky

euronews (in English)

From its sprawling underground cellars to its gently rolling vineyards, Moldova’s wine regions have something for every oenophile. Our reporter Anca Ulea explores its culture and traditions.

Transcript

00:00 With the greatest density of vineyards of any country in the world, tiny Moldova punches

00:05 way above its weight when it comes to wine.

00:08 It's become a world-class destination for wine lovers, with evidence of winemaking dating

00:13 back 7,000 years.

00:16 In this episode of Explore, I'm heading to some of the most celebrated wine regions to

00:19 meet the country's modern vintners and drink up its rich wine culture.

00:26 Just north of the capital, Chisinau, lies one of the world's biggest wine cellars.

00:31 Krikovo Winery stores a jaw-dropping 30 million liters of wine.

00:36 Moldova's national wine collection is also housed here, with 1.3 million bottles from

00:40 around the world.

00:43 Before the wine cellar, there were limestone mines.

00:46 And from these stones was built Chisinau and villages around Chisinau.

00:52 In 1952, Petru Ungureanu, the godfather of Moldovan winemaking, decided to use these

01:00 galleries for aging wines.

01:04 It takes a while to get from one place to another.

01:07 The entire cellar is 120 kilometers long, 83 of which are packed to the brim with wine.

01:13 There's so much ground to cover that the winery has a little train to help you get around

01:17 and to make sure that you don't get lost.

01:20 On the way to the tasting room, I caught a glimpse of Krikovo's own wine being aged.

01:24 Every day, a team of six local women painstakingly rotates up to 40,000 bottles of sparkling

01:30 wine by hand.

01:32 They check for sediment the old-fashioned way, with a candle.

01:37 Sparkling wine is Krikovo's specialty.

01:39 This sparkling wine has a very beautiful color.

01:43 It's transparent without sediment.

01:45 It's golden pale color.

01:47 Very fine and soft bubbles.

01:50 These bubbles were obtained in a natural form during second fermentation of the sparkling

01:55 wine here, underground.

01:58 Here you can smell some aromas of bread, a little bit of citrus notes, and sometimes

02:04 a little bit of butter cream.

02:06 Perfect.

02:07 Thank you.

02:08 Cheers.

02:09 Once I emerged from the depths of the cellar, it's time to get a different perspective on

02:14 Moldova's wine country, a bird's-eye view, if you will.

02:18 What better way to see Moldova's natural treasures than from the sky?

02:24 The country's secret to producing great wine is its fertile soil and mild climate.

02:29 Its rolling hills and dense forests also make for a stunning panorama and the perfect escape

02:34 into nature.

02:38 Back on the ground, I head to one of Moldova's most beloved natural sites, Orheiul Vec.

02:44 The historical and archaeological complex is nestled in a gorge on the Ravut River.

02:48 You can find here a lot of cultures.

02:50 You can find types from Paleolithic times, from antiquity, from Middle Ages.

02:55 So it's really multilayered.

02:57 It's the places rich in history.

02:59 Dimitri, my guide, is a specialist in Moldovan history.

03:03 He's taking me up the hill to the Peštera Promontory to see a 15th-century monastery

03:08 that's been carved into the stone.

03:11 That's the temple, and behind the curtain is the altar.

03:14 Okay.

03:15 And what were these?

03:16 These are rooms.

03:17 Where people would pray?

03:19 Yeah.

03:20 Not people, but monks.

03:21 So were they really tiny, or were they just on their knees all the time?

03:24 They were on their knees.

03:26 People were actually smaller than us, but not that small.

03:28 Okay.

03:29 Small hobbits.

03:30 Here you can see the old entrance.

03:33 So people had to climb here from the bank of the river to get to this monastery on the

03:38 stairs.

03:39 In the 19th century, during the earthquake, it was destroyed.

03:43 I joined the pilgrims leaving coins in the mountainside to make sure I come back here

03:47 one day.

03:49 But I couldn't leave Moldova without trying some of their local cuisine.

03:52 Luckily, my final stop is Chateau Varteli, a nearby winery that serves Moldovan specialties.

03:57 It's also at the forefront of the country's new winemaking scene.

04:01 We have made every effort to change the vision of the quality of Moldovan wines, starting

04:08 with the vines.

04:12 We have re-technologized the vineyards.

04:15 We have planted many new vineyards of native varieties.

04:20 So then tell me, how does your wine pair with food?

04:22 It would be good if the red wine, the black girl, the black deer, was associated with

04:28 wines, with small wines, with small wines.

04:31 So the poppy with juice can be associated with anything.

04:36 So, it's better to try than to talk.

04:40 Absolutely.

04:41 Perfect.

04:42 After watching an animated history of Moldovan wine, we sat down together to try some traditional

04:47 dishes, paired with some of Chateau Varteli's award-winning Paraboste wine.

04:52 It's a perfect ending to my trip in Moldova, coming full circle in this small but passionate

04:56 wine country.

04:57 (bell dings)

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