Moldova’s wine industry is on a steep learning curve

The first ‘wine airport’ in the world is based in a country in which few in the UK might even know made any wine. The people of Moldova have just voted to rename their international airport in Chisinau, the ‘Wine of Moldova’ airport.

This shows how important wine is to Moldova, one of the smallest and most impoverished of the ex-soviet Union countries, and their aim to establish a reputation for themselves as serious wine producers across the world.

With five per cent of the country under vine, a staggering 150,000 hectares of vineyards, winemaking is the main agricultural activity (25 per cent of agricultural exports) in this tiny country, sandwiched between eastern Romania and Ukraine.

In its heyday, it had more than 240,000 hectares of vineyards and was Russia’s most important source of wine supplying 80 per cent of its needs. Stalin was a great devotee of Moldovan wines.

Other famous fans from times gone by include Queen Victoria, King George V and Tsar Alexander 1, who even established a winery here giving his name to the Romanesti region and promoting European grapes.

But when Gorbachev introduced anti-alcohol campaigns in the mid-1980s, Moldova’s wine economy was dealt a devastating blow – intensified when Russia embargoed imports of wine and meat in 2006 and again in 2013. So now they are looking for new markets.

There are 153 wine companies, mainly privately owned with some international joint ventures, based across Moldova’s four wine regions: Balti in the north, Codru in the centre, Purcari and Cahul in the south. The favourable terroir with gently undulating hills and temperate continental climate is well suited to growing grapes and they make an interesting diversity of styles: mainly white (70 per cent), but with an increasing number of

reds (24 per cent), sparkling and sweet wines. The main problem is the state of many vineyards and uneven quality control.

Its heavy reliance on chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and muscat make it a difficult sell in the competitive international market. The most interesting wines for the UK drinker are made from local grapes like floral white feteasca regala and spicy red feteasca neagra.

The best Moldovan wines are from the Purcari winery, established in 1827 and completely revitalised in 2003 by new owners Bostavin. Based 120km south east of Chisinau, it is now also a tourist attraction.

The top Purcari red I tasted was Negru de Purcari Reserve made from cabernet sauvignon, rara neagra and saperavi grapes – a really serious wine sold by Berry Bros & Rudd for £22.50 – and a favourite of the Queen – it is sadly currently out of stock.

The wines that are currently available in the UK from Moldova come from the latest and most ambitious wine venture in Moldova. Chateau Vartely was launched in 2004 by Nicolai Ciorni in Orhei, a town about 50km from Chisinau. It has extensive vineyards in the centre and south of the country, with 150 hectares in Codru and 110 hectares in Bugeac region, but many of the vines are still young.

Moldova certainly has potential – but to date its best wines are its dessert late harvest and ice wines which are sadly only made in tiny quantities.