Author: creatego

Düsseldorf, March 21st 2023: Over the last year, Moldova, with a population of 2m, has opened its doors to over 600,000 refugees from its neighbour, Ukraine. This generosity has earned this former Soviet republic, the description of ‘the small country with the big heart’.

Now, the Moldovan wine industry has unveiled plans for an ambitious programme of sustainable development, as key stakeholders seek $500 million of investment in new vineyards, increased capacity, and technological innovation over the next five years. Sustainable development is high on the industry’s list of priorities, in addition to increasing the value of bottled wine exports. 

This bold vision was mapped out during the 2023 edition of ProWein, where Robert Joseph led a panel discussion entitled “Wine of Moldova – 10 Revolutionary Years of Building a National Wine Brand.” A lively debate appraised how “a small, dynamic winemaking country as Moldova can compete with global giants.” Elizaveta Breahna, Interim Director of National Office of Wine; Caroline Gilby MW, a long-time expert on the wines of the region, Poland’s first Master of Wine; Wojciech Bońkowski, and Diana Lazar, representative of a USAID NGO Moldova project, all took part in the panel discussion. They analysed Moldova’s efforts to increase its international cachet, including the relative merits of prioritising indigenous grape varieties over international varieties and – Joseph’s preference – blends of the two. One of the industry’s key goals is to become a world-class tourism destination, with a 50% increase in wineries offering hospitality.  

Wojciech Bońkowski comments: “Moldova’s wine industry has changed out of all recognition over the past decade.  ’10 Revolutionary Years of Building a National Wine Brand’ isn’t simply a slogan – it neatly encapsulates the incredible transformation of the nation’s once ailing vineyards and wineries.  Despite the trade embargo imposed by the Russian Federation several years ago, the wine industry has played a significant role in the country’s economy, contributing around 3% of GDP and 8% of total exports and to the livelihood of over 50 thousand families in the rural areas.” 

Caroline Gilby MW highlighted the devastating impact of the Russian embargo on Moldova’s wine industry. According to Gilby MW: “Today, Moldovan winemakers have embraced the challenge of meeting the requirements of Western markets and have made impressive progress. They came together, and changed the country’s wine landscape.”

As a national brand, Wine of Moldova is committed to repositioning the former Soviet Republic as Eastern Europe’s leading exporter of premium wines. The country now leads the way in attracting global investment; Moldovan wines have won 5,014 international awards over the past decade. To quote Robert Joseph, “Moldova’s unique story, diverse grape collection, and ideal growing conditions put it in an excellent position to prioritize sustainable winemaking with a new generation of ambitious winemakers.” 

The country’s wine brand Wine of Moldova/Vinul Moldovei will be represented by 41 wineries at the world’s most important international wine exhibition ProWein, which will take place from March 19-21 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event gathers tens of thousands of business people, and thousands of stands of producers and wine regions to exhibit wine products and report on the news and development trends of the global wine market.

This year, for the first time, the wine industry of the Republic of Moldova will have the largest country stand in recent years, of about 200 square meters, and a record number of winemakers, to host connoisseurs and international experts in the field and celebrate together “10 years of Moldovan Wine Revolution” by launching the international campaign #10yearsofwinerevolution. The generic of the campaign was inspired by the title of the article appraising the progress of Moldavian Wine, written by the most influential personality of the wine world, Jancis Robinson.

The national stand will bear the national symbol “Wine of Moldova” and will be a platform for business meetings, presentations of the remarkable progress of the industry, but also tastings and initiation of partnerships.

As part of the official Prowein Forum, organized on March 20, a round table dedicated to Wine of Moldova will be held, moderated by the well-known wine critic Robert Joseph (Great Britain), with the participation of the Master of Wine, sommeliers, journalists, importers and partners of the wine industry. Moldovan winemakers will be supported at the event by the state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Wine Industry, Sergiu Gherciu, His Excellency, the ambassador of the Republic of Moldova in Germany, Aureliu Ciocoi, as well as representatives of the National Office of Vine and Wine (ONVV) and the Competitiveness Project and USAID’s Rural Resilience.

“Every year, the quality and competitiveness of Wine of Moldova increase. The Republic of Moldova is the 20th largest wine exporter in the world, with its wines being exported to approximately 70 countries around the world. Our goal is to increase the export share of bottled wines, but also to diversify and strengthen our position on high-value export markets”, stated Elizaveta Breahnă, the interim director of ONVV.

“The reforms implemented by the wine industry are confirmed by the thousands of medals, the hundreds of international articles, the reconversion of the sector through the emergence of new small wineries, transitional wineries, new generation wineries and wine export champions. The Wine of Moldova band has become a true symbol of national pride, a point of tourist attraction and an element of social cohesion”, emphasized Diana Lazăr, director of the wine industry and tourism, USAID Moldova’s Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Project.

We remind you that Wine of Moldova was launched in December 2013, as a result of an extensive structural reform of the wine industry focused on quality and added value, and oriented towards modernization and development in accordance with European Union standards. The wine reform, as well as the last ten years of progress, was made possible with the support of the wine industry’s strategic partner, the US Agency for International Development (USAID).