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Wine / Spirits Education in Codru
Moldova's central wine region, a belt of forested hills and vineyards around Chisinau that holds the country's two most famous underground cellar cities, Cricova and Milestii Mici.
Why here
Codru is where Moldova's wine story is most literally underground, and it is the best place in the world to grasp what a cellar can be. Two former limestone quarries on the edge of Chisinau were turned into wine cities: Cricova, working since 1952, with more than 120 kilometres of named underground streets, and Milestii Mici, whose Golden Collection holds the Guinness record for the largest wine collection on earth at around 1.5 million bottles. You do not walk these cellars so much as drive them, by electric train at Cricova or in your own car at Milestii Mici, dropping to a constant 12 to 14 degrees among barrels and racked bottles before ending at a tasting room far below ground. The wines themselves teach a central European and Black Sea story rather than a French one, from traditional-method sparkling at Cricova to the native reds Feteasca Neagra and Rara Neagra. For a first serious lesson in Moldovan wine, the scale and the setting do half the teaching.
Best months
The cellars are climate-controlled and open year-round, so this works in any season, but late spring and the September to October harvest are when the surrounding vineyards are at their best and the region feels most alive. Tours and tastings are by prior reservation at both houses, not walk-in, and are run in groups with a guide. Bring a warm layer: it stays cool underground whatever the weather above.
Getting there & around
Both cellars sit within about 15 to 20 kilometres of Chisinau, Cricova just north and Milestii Mici just south, each roughly 20 to 30 minutes by car or taxi. Visits must be booked ahead, and both are easiest reached by car, taxi or an organised wine tour rather than public transport. Plan a driver given the tasting, and allow a couple of hours underground at each. The two combine well into a single full day from the capital.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Cricova
OutfitterCricova has produced wine since 1952 in a former limestone quarry turned cellar city north of Chisinau, with more than 120 kilometres of underground streets running about 80 metres below ground. It was the first Moldovan house to make sparkling wine by the traditional Champagne method, and its National Oenoteca holds over 1.3 million bottles, including rare wartime vintages. Visitors tour the tunnels by electric train, stopping at themed tasting halls.
Milestii Mici
OutfitterMilestii Mici, a state enterprise founded in 1969 south of Chisinau, holds the Guinness World Record set in 2005 for the largest wine collection on earth, its Golden Collection numbering around 1.5 million bottles. Its limestone galleries run for roughly 200 kilometres, of which about 55 are in use, staying at a steady 12 to 14 degrees year-round. Visitors drive their own car down into the tunnels with a guide, ending at an underground tasting room.