Exploring Moldova's wine caves

There's a really great article in the LA Times by Kay Mills about Moldova's Wine Trade. Here's a link and an excerpt:


By Kay Mills
Special to The Times

July 20, 2008

Few people, myself included, know much about Moldova, and fewer still have visited here. This former Soviet republic is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. Its two state-run wineries, Cricova and Milestii Mici, have almost 100 miles of underground winemaking and storage facilities in old limestone mines.

A few months later, I was riding in a Toyota 4Runner through those caves, one of the more surreal experiences in my life.

The caves at Cricova and Milestii Mici are so big, 34 and 62 miles long, respectively, that you drive through in a car or ride a small electric train. With winemaker Sergeiu Galusca as our guide, my driver, translator and I took the Toyota through Milestii Mici, 12 miles southwest of Chisinau. At times, we were more than 200 feet underground.

During our tour, Galusca pushed a button and a hidden limestone door rolled open. Behind it the winery hid 10,000 bottles of the winery's best stock -- placed there during Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign in the mid-1980s. That effort led to the destruction of many Moldovan vineyards and threatened the winery's historic collection.

The next day, we drove to Cricova, nine miles north of the capital. Most tourists ride a little red train through the caves, but we drove the faithful Toyota with our guide.

After passing racks of sparkling wine in production, we saw Cricova's historic collection. Its oldest wine is a 1902 vintage, kept on its side under a bell jar so no one will disturb it. The collection also includes 1930s vintages that the Soviets confiscated from No. 2 Nazi Hermann Goering as World War II ended.

We toured five tasting rooms, each done in a different style. One is an opulent, official-looking room with a table seating 25 to a side. Here, our guide explained, many state documents are signed.