One of the biggest wineries in Moldova and the world is the Cricova
Winery. Less than 20 kilometers north of the countries capital, Chisinau, a
former mine for limestone was converted to store around 1.25 million bottles
of wine in the 1950s. There are 120 kilometres of underground roadways, that
are named by the wines they store. Cricova Winery also produces a unique
sparkling wine according to the method of Dom Pérignon.
During a typical tour of the winery, one is transported in red vehicles
through the extensive cellar system, can see a film about the winery in the
underground cinema, taste various wines in different, beautifully
furnished rooms, admire the huge collection of bottles and barrels and
receive valuable information about the winery from a guide (in the languages
Romanian, Russian, English or French). On a wall there
is an interesting world map with photos and names of famous people from
around the world who have already visited the Cricova Winery. Finally, a
wide selection of wines can be purchased in the shop.
Cricova Winery offers several different kinds of tours from 120 MDL
(around $6.50, see cricova.md/en/tours/ ) without tasting wines to the VIP tour for 2,900 MDL with
tasting 9 different types of wine and various dishes. See the details of the
various tours on cricova.md/en/book-now/.