At the IWINETC (International Wine Tourism Conference) this past spring in the country Georgia, one of the sessions was on Moldova wineries. The presentation was delightful and we inquired about visiting this small Southeastern European country located between Ukraine and Romania. While we have not been able to visit, we have the next best thing coming up later today – a Moldovan wine tasting in Washington DC.

In preparations for this special wine tasting, I researched additional information about the Moldova wine industry. I was surprised to learn that at one of Moldova’s wine caves, statesmen (politicians) who visit are allowed to store their wine.  According to the article “The tunnels that house Goering’s wine collection” by Stephen Sackur on BBC, “Mr Putin has his own cave in the Cricova tunnels. Every statesman who visits the winery is accorded the honour of a personal collection, but Mr Putin’s stash is noticeably bigger.”

According to the Cricova website, “… the Cellars are the summit place for everybody “who is who” in the world, from the first astronaut Yuri Gagarin to Jacques Chirac, from Vladimir Putin to Suleyman Demirel…. “

Today largely due to politics much of Moldova’s wine exports to Russia have ceased making an already poor country even poorer. The wine producers of Moldova are hoping to export more wine to other countries including the United States.

Everyone who enjoys wine may want to support the country of Moldova by asking for a wine from Moldova when visiting his or her favorite wine shop or restaurant.

Later this week we will be writing reviews of the Moldovan wines we taste today.

Cheers!
Kathy