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Cricova – Discover the underground city!

Cricova (Republic of Moldova) is one of the most famous wineries in the world, known for its extended underground cellars and high quality wines. Although many of the Cricova information is available to the public, there are some secrets that few people know about. Here are some:

Cricova houses one of the largest underground wineries in the world, with over 120 km of tunnels and galleries that were initially excavated for limestone. The cellars are kept at a constant temperature of 12 ° C, which is ideal for keeping and aging.

One of the most interesting aspects of Cricovei’s cellars is that they have been used to hide and protect valuable wines throughout history. During World War II, Cricovei’s cellars were used to store important documents and treasures, as well as valuable wine collections that were hidden by the German army.

Cricova also hosts an impressive collection of vintage cars that are stored in underground tunnels. These cars belong to the owner of the winery and are exhibited in a dedicated museum, with access only for the connoisseur visitors.

Cricova is known for producing a variety of high quality wines, including traditional Moldovan varieties such as Feteasca Albă and Feteasca Neagră, as well as international varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition to its standard wine offers, Cricova also produces a limited edition sparkling wine, which is outdated up to 10 years in cellars.

Cricovei cellars also host a unique wine storage system that uses clay jars called “Kvevri” to check out and ferment wine. This traditional vinification method dates back to thousands of years and is still used in some parts of Georgia, which is near Moldova.

In general, Cricova is a fascinating destination for both wine lovers and history lovers, with a lot of unique secrets and features.

CategoriesBlog By Winetastic

Cotnari – the most famous wine cellar in Moldova

Built on the foundation of a history of about 2000 years that the cultivation of vines wrote on the Cătălina hill in the Moldavian Plateau, Cotnari Vineyard is one of the best known in the country. The Romanian varieties cultivated here stretch on an area of about 1700 ha (a little more than the entire city of Târgu Frumos).
Cotnariul is the only vineyard in which indigenous varieties were kept exclusively: Cotnari fat, white feteas, Romanian and brake.
At Cotnari the tourist enters the world of wine and history in the area. He is invited to discover the 15 hrubs of the vineyard (Hruba is a underground room or gallery that serves to store the products), the cake, but also the Cătălina Fortress, the Necropolis from Cuuteni, the ruins of Despot-Voda, St. Parascheva Church, Cârjoaia Castle , Castle with Campaise.

The emblem of the Cotnari Wine House captures the Vlădoianu Castle in Cârjoaia, built in 1901 by Boier Vlădoianu himself, former governor of the BNR and a distinguished winemaker, as pure inspiration in the story of the wine.

In the construction of the castle, an Italian project and materials brought from Italy was used. With the passage of time, the domain was assigned various destinations: during the Second World War it was used by the Russian army as a hospital and between 1945-1950 it worked as an orphanage. After 1950 he was taken over by Ias Cotnari. In 2000 he was returned to the law heirs from whom he was later purchased. Currently, over Vlădoianu Castle has left its mark on the passage of time, but in the future it is aimed to carry out a unique project to restore the domain, which will restore its former, specific brilliance.

At this moment, Cotnari Crama houses an impressive collection of wine cellar wines, having a total of about 1,000,000 bottles, of which the oldest glass of wine kept for aging is 1956.

CategoriesBlog By Winetastic

9 wine curiosities

If the wine could talk, it would tell a lot more. And above all, we think they would tell the truth!
The first curiosity – which will remain unsatisfied – is related to the question: when did wine appear? In fact, wine did not appear, it was discovered. Made. So wine is supposed to have predated written or drawn history, even older than bread (or what could be called the unleavened and unbaked crust). Because it did not require fire, can we venture to believe that it was made and consumed before fire was discovered? Probably not because, until it became wine, it needed to ferment somewhere other than its own grape skin. It would have been truly innovative. But probably also a little frustrating for the ladies who could have reproached the gentlemen: I don’t have the fire to bake bread for the children and you started making wine!?

Let’s get back to our curiosities.

  1. 350 g of wine, i.e. two glasses, is equal to 17 hours of sleeplessness. Applying the simple rule of 3, 1 liter of wine = almost two days of sleeplessness. 3.5 liters of wine = one week. And all this because the bacillus fluid reduces the body’s performance more than you might think.
  2. The oldest wine bottle in the world is in Germany. It is over 1700 years old and, to be safe, it is guarded in a museum. So that she doesn’t leave safely.
  3. Richard Juhlin is the world champion of recognizing wines by smell (yes, there are such championships too!) and he is a Swede who participated in a wine recognition contest in 2003. He succeeded in identifying 43 varieties out of a total of 50, while the second place winner recognized only 4 varieties of wine.
  4. China is on the first place in the world for the consumption of red wine. China’s per capita wine consumption is 1.9 l per year. Be careful though, If the population of the Vatican were to grow a little (more), it would surpass China because each inhabitant there consumes around 74 liters of wine per year.
  5. The custom of clinking wine glasses comes from ancient Rome. Because they were almost paranoid about poisoned wine, the collision caused splashes of wine to jump from one glass to another, so that the poison would also reach the perpetrator. On the other hand, in Ancient Greece, the first person to check the wine was the host himself.
  6. The largest collection of wine bottles in the world is in the Republic of Moldova, at Mileștii Mici, where approximately 1.5 million wine bottles are stored.
  7. The Latin expression “In vino veritas” belongs to Alceus, a Greek poet. It seems that in his time, suspected persons were forced to drink a lot of wine. A lot! That’s how simple it was to discover the truth.
  8. Over time, white wine darkens in color and red wine takes on a lighter shade.
  9.  To a large extent, the idea that wines get better with time is wrong. A small part of them have the ability to improve their qualities. In general, a bottle of wine should be consumed in about 2 years.
CategoriesBlog By Winetastic

What are the most famous wines in the world

Among the most popular white wines are:

  • Chardonnay: A medium to full bodied white wine grown globally. It has clear fruit aromas, including apple and pear, combined with flavors of citrus and vanilla.
  • Riesling: is the emblematic wine of Germany, originating from the Rhine Valley. It starts with a sweet and sour aroma, but quickly balances out with hints of honey.
  • Pinot Gris: It is a dry and refreshing Italian white wine with clear fruit flavors.
  • Sauvignon blanc: is a light white wine with citrus notes and grassy aromas. It exhibits vanilla aromas when aged in oak.

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Types of wines: Which are the best and how to choose them

Knowing wine involves a lot of information, from grape types to geographic regions to flavor profiles. While some wine drinkers are familiar with the nuances of this topic, others are a little overwhelmed when they sit down to the table and follow the wine selection.
While there is no limit to the amount of information you can gather, a few basic ideas will help you develop your experience when ordering or purchasing a bottle of wine.
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CategoriesBlog By Winetastic

Cum recunosti un vin rosu bun?

Multi ar spune ca cel mai bun mod de a recunoaste un vin rosu de calitate este sa-l degustati, dar pana la acel pas exista si alte indicii de luat în considerare.

Numele

Poti intui calitatile unui vin rosu doar citindu-i numele de pe eticheta. De exemplu, un Cabernet Sauvignon este un vin corpolent, cu aciditate moderata, în timp ce un Merlot este mai usor si are arome specifice de fructe bine coapte. Intre ele putem clasifica Feteasca neagra, cu gust de greutate medie si arome puternice si complexe.

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