Moldova is among the twenty largest wine producers in the world. Largely oriented towards European Union countries, Moldovan producers were able to limit the effects of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. But the rise in commodity prices worries them.
From our special correspondent,
Pointed-roof houses, each with its own apple orchard attached to the house. ” We are at home ». Andrian Digolean’s finger at the wheel of the car points to a large sign at the entrance to Orhei, a medium-sized town 44 kilometers north of the capital, Chisinau. It reads: Château Vartely. Andrian Digolean is the commercial director. It is still necessary to cross the city, to circumvent a bar of decrepit buildings and a municipal cemetery to arrive at the domain. But our host’s enthusiasm is contagious.
A city with a turbulent past
It’s over there Fast lane lined with hazelnut trees that one arrives at Orhei. The main artery is teeming with modern cars. The agro-industrial center with a turbulent past owes its transformation to its former mayor, Ilan Shor. On the run in Israel, the former oligarch was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Moldova for siphoning off a billion dollars from banks, but continues to destabilize political life in his country.
At the head of the municipality, his former right-hand man Marina Tauber, of the eponymous pro-Kremlin party Shor. Personalities with questionable ethics that the inhabitants of the city continue to support against all odds. Our host, an avowed pro-European, shakes his head in dismay. The tension is palpable between the country’s pro-Western aspirations and its Soviet past. Fortunately, the region is also known for its wine production.
The important sector for the Moldovan economy
Moldova is heir to a long wine-growing tradition. A past that dates back to 5,000 years before our era. Evidenced by the prehistoric collections of the National Museum of the History of Moldova in Chisinau. The wine market plays a major role in the economy of this country of 2.6 million inhabitants.« The sector generates 5% of the Moldovan GDP », observes Arcadie Barbaroşie, director of the Institute of Public Policies (IPP) based in Chisinau. In 2022, Moldova produced 1.3 million hectoliters of wine and exported 145.5 million euros. The country learned lessons from two embargoes imposed on Moldovan wines by Russia in 2006 and 2013. Many domains then went bankrupt, but new entities with modern equipment were born. », he believes.
The sector has been able to diversify its markets, increasing the quality and prices of bottles. Founded in 2013, the National Office of Vine and Wine (ONVV) has made its Wine of Moldova brand a promotional tool around the world. Largely oriented towards the European Union, Moldovan producers were able to limit the effects of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. “ But rising commodity prices are giving us a hard time », sighs the commercial director of Château Vartely. Another problem: a third of “oenotourists” who visited this estate before the Covid have not returned since.
We are in Codru, the central wine region. With Valul lui Traian in the south and Ştefan Voda in the east, it constitutes one of the three grape production areas of the country (PGI, Protected Geographical Indications). More than half of Moldova’s vineyards are concentrated in Codru. Its hilly landscape resembles the Burgundy hills. The Dniester, a large river separating Bessarabia from Transnistria, tempers the spring frosts. Château Vartely has decided to plant its white grape varieties there. Another part of his 500-hectare vineyard is located in the south where red cultivars take advantage of the proximity of the Prut, the border river with Romania.
The originality of Moldovan wines
Moldovan producers use international grape varieties to produce their cuvées, but local grape varieties are also popular. “ It is the indigenous varieties that allow us to differentiate ourselves from other wines in the world », believes Tatiana Croitoru of the family estate. Its 300 hectares of vineyards, spread around the village of Tigheci, are in the region of Valul lui Traian, 100 kilometers from the capital. The winemaker receives us with her daughter Ruxanda Lipcan in their offices in Chisinau. The former Romanian teacher Tatiana operated with her husband Grigore Diaconu, a turning point at the dawn of the 2000s. Together, they bought vines, modernized equipment and planted local varieties. “ Had to do it right or give up recalls Tatiana, whose love for things done well led her to become an oenologist. ” Our indigenous cultivars are particularly at home in blends confirms her daughter Ruxanda, who is in charge of marketing.
Among these indigenous grape varieties originating from Romania or Moldavia: royal maidenthe girlish whitethe violet (the latter gives excellent sparkling wines). So much for the whites. As well as the black girl and therare black, for the reds. These last two cultivars have been particularly successful for Tatiana since her cuvée « noire », Negre 2017, composed of these two local varieties aged in French oak barrels, was voted the best red wine in the world in 2022 by the Concours mondial de Bruxelles, beating its 5,000 competitors hands down.. AT Fáutor, innovation continues with the saperavia recently planted Georgian cultivar that is definitely doing well in Moldova.
A turning point in agronomy
Medal winners, Moldovan wines are now playing in the big leagues. But the pressure of consumersworried about the future of the planet, is getting stronger and stronger. « It takes the more quickly turn to organic viticulture », Believes Elena Davidescu. Together with her brother, Andrian, she represents the second generation of Moldovan winegrowers. Their parents, Vladimir and Steliana, founded in the 1990s a domain of 1 000 hectares, Winery din Farewell. Their children aspire to a new beginning, agronomic this time.
The conversion of the vineyard is underway, says Elena, joined by videoconference in the town of Cantemir, in the region of Valul lui Traian. The marketer focuses on indigenous varieties. But war and crisis are never far away. “ Moldovans are watching their spending. Wine is considered a luxury product. Export markets are hesitant. Some of our importers ask us if the country is safe. We are not giving up, even if the situation remains tense. We have to pay our employees at the end of the month “, she concludes.
To help them, these winegrowers rely on a fruit company, founded more than twenty years ago by Vladimir, the father: “ We grow and export our fruits. Cherries, apples, plums, apricots. Our orchards are full of them ».
Help Ukrainian refugees
Direction Castel Mimi, its imposing concrete castle and the hotel complex located in Bulboaca, 43 kilometers from the capital. The estate’s 170 hectares of vines face the great Dniester River, further north. Founded in 1893 by the last governor of Tsarist Bessarabia, Constantin Mimi, the castle had its period “ stakhanoviste under the USSR, before being bought in 1998 by the current owner, Iurie Trofim. His son, Adrian, says: My father worked in a Soviet wine company that had become this place at the time, then he studied law in Chisinau. After the fall of the Communist Party, he set up several flourishing activities. When the privatizations of state companies began, he obtained a loan from the bank at an exorbitant rate, and bought this property which was then in very poor condition. », continues the young thirty-year-old, general manager of the estate. The history of Castel Mimi reflects well the history of the country.
From the start of the war, in fact, Moldova showed solidarity with its Ukrainian neighbours. The estate dispatched a mobile kitchen to the border to help the refugees arriving in droves from the Odessa region. Two of the chefs employed in the estate’s restaurant are Ukrainians. Since then, the crisis has passed by. “ Due to rising raw material costs, we had to increase the prices of our bottles. We have lost some mature markets, notably Poland, but sales to Romania are increasing says Adrian Trofim.
The European dream
Our host does not hide his pride: it is in Castel Mimi that the second Summit of the European Political Community will be held on June 1, 2023. Leaders of 47 European countries will meet to strengthen their cooperation in the context of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. Welcomed by the Moldovan President, Maia Sandu, they will take the train chartered especially for the occasion. On leaving the estate, a railway line crosses our road.« It’s greener to bring them by train, isn’t it? smiles mischievously Vladislava, from the marketing department. Moldova is a candidate for accession to the European Union.
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