F.R.I.E.N.D.S  in Moldova

Cricova - a trip to the underground wine kingdom

   If you visited Moldova and didn't visit the famous Cricova cellars, it means your trip wasn't complete. This unique place is a real underground town with its streets. The names of these "highways" are the wine names though - Caberne, Aligote, Feteasca, Sauvignon, Riesling. There are rows of barrels, walls made of natural stone instead of dwelling houses and shops. Of course, there is also a store a museum and a huge enterprise and beautiful tasting rooms here. The Cricova cellars have been renewed recently: all "town" buildings need reconstruction from time to time. So , now streets and avenues of the underground wine kingdom have a new sparkle. By the way , each undeground avenue has its legend. For example, the Dionis street, where you can see huge barrels with red dry wine "Dionis" - the result of the successful combination of "Pino Nooir"(80%) and "Cabernet- Sauvingon"(20%). The wine was named in honor of the lord Dionis, he was born in Taraclia, in the mouth of the Danube river. "Twice born" Dionis propagandized the vine growing culture all over the world. He also had an ability "to obtain" milk, honey and wine for peasants to make their life easier. The Cricova cellars' guide will tell you about the winemaking lord Dionis's meeting with the beauty Ariadna.

    It is impossible to recall now whose idea it was to found a Cricova winery under the ground. The underground kingdom was named like this because the entry in it is situated  in the small town of Cricova situated 15 kilometers away from Chisinau. The government of that time supported the idea. So they decided to use the mines where the building material was extracted to store wine.

     The unique natural microclimate (the air's all-the-year-round temperature here is +12-+14 C, the relative air humidity - about 97-98%) gave an opportunity to produce collection wines and classical champagne of a unique and exclusive taste. The nature itself ordered: let the wine kingdom be here!

     "Cricova" is one of the few enterprises in the world producing champagne wines in accordance with the classical French method "Metho-de-Champenoise", invented by the famouse monk Don Peringion by means of the secondary fermentation in a bottle and subsequend ageing "cuvee" in a horizontal state for no less than 3 years.

       We've mentioned about the museum. The Cricova collection received the national property status and bears a proud name "The National Wine Collection". It is no wonder. They will show you unique exhibits , a part of the "Nazi N 2" German Gering's collection. You will see such wines as "The Easter Jerusalem Wine ", the "Ian Beher" liquor ( the harvest of the 1902 ) and 158 different wine brands of the early 20th century from Burgundy, Moselle, Tokay, Rhine and others making up an invaluable property not only of the winery but also of the entire Moldova. The collection currently consists of about 1,3 million bottles.

       It is not enough just to see. One should also taste delicate exclusive drinks produced in Cricova that won numerous diplomas and other 80 Grand Prix, golden and silver medals at different worldwide contests including the prestigious ones. You can taste the drinks in one of the tasting rooms united into a single complex. The tasting rooms differ from each other like one world from another. For instance, "The Ocean Floor" - you would indeed feel at least as Neptune there. " The Hunter's ( or fireplace ) Room" - firewood crackles so nicely and it is such a big pleasure to wash down one's good mood with a good collection wine! There are also "The Presidential Hall", "Casa Mare", and others. After the reconstruction the rooms look different. They have been provided with the most modern equipment, exclusive furniture, hand-made stained-glass windows, and pictures telling about the winemaking history. All these have made the  Cricova cellars even more attractive. The "Ocean Floor" hall now has a plasma panel and real underwater kingdom imitation. It gives you a feliing as if you have plunged into the deep of the ocean. The streets are asphalted , some are covered with tile . The red electric train drives guests by these streets. It is difficult to describe the   results of the underground wine kingdom's renewal. It is better to see everything by yourself.

          The tasting rooms are the place where different events are carried out: national and international wine - tasting , official and less official meetings, high-level meetings, excursions and others. By the way , all celebrities who have come to Moldova visited  this place and left their notes in the Guest Book, starting from the first cosmonaut Yurii Gagarin, to presidents of different countries.

           Cricova cellars are hidden deep underground . But the wine kingdom doors are always open. Guests will have a trip to the unknown and excellent wine!