About Moldova

Shaped as a bunch of grapes, Moldova is situated in the South-East of Europe, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, in the Black Sea basin, where the vine originates. The country has a fragmented relief, with low hills, sunny plateaus and plains, crossed by a lot of streams which flow into the two big rivers, Prut and Dniester. Its climate is moderately-continental with influences from the Black Sea. Located at 46-47˚ latitude, just like other famous wine regions in Europe, the vineyards have a terroir suited for the production of quality red wine, in the southern regions and mainly white wine in the central part of the country.

Moldova’s millennial heritage of winemaking began around 3000 BC, and the first vines were recorded there around 7000 years BC. Throughout its history, wine and vine have been deeply enrooted in the culture, myths, folklore and legends of Moldova. Even the map of the modern Republic of Moldova is shaped like a bunch of grapes! The white stork, the protagonist of many local legends, is the symbol of the Moldovan wine industry, as well as the symbol of the continuous revival of Moldova.

The wine industry – a strategic sector for Moldova. The wine industry accounts for 3.2% of the Gross Domestic Product and 7.5% of Moldova’s total exports, employing over 250 thousand citizens at over 150 wine companies. Moldova has the biggest density of vineyards in the world – 3.8% of the country’s territory and 7% of the arable land.

Since 2013, Moldova has had a quality system based on the EU model of protected geographical indications, established upon three historical vine growing areas: “Valul lui Traian”, “Stefan Voda”, “Codru” and a special geographical denomination for grape distillates – “Divin”. A multi-stage monitoring system is covering the entire production process: a national wine and vine register is being developed following European best practices and authorized professional tasters do the organoleptic certification.

VALUL LUI TRAIAN (Trajan’s Wall) is were Chateau Cristi vineyards are situated. It is a well aerated region, with light soils. The climate ensures exceptional conditions for vine growing, being influenced by the Black Sea and the woods of the Tigheci Hill. It is located between the two Trajan’s Walls that used to protect the Roman Empire from barbarians, on the same 47 parallel as famous Boudreaux region in France.