Moldova

Cricova

Established 1952

Cricova is one of Moldova’s most famous wineries – often called “the pearl of Moldovan winemaking”. Its wines are aged in a vast underground city carved from limestone, in the centre of the country close to the Codri forest reserve and the archaeological site of Orheiul Vechi.

From stone quarry to wine cellar

  • 1952 – two leading Moldovan winemakers, Petru Ungureanu and Nicolae Sobolev, proposed using the old limestone quarries as wine cellars. Wines matured in the stillness underground soon proved exceptional.
  • 1954 – the National Wine Collection (the Oenoteca) was started.
  • 2003 – by law of the Moldovan Parliament, Cricova was declared part of the country’s National Cultural Heritage. It is also the only company awarded the Order of the Republic, Moldova’s highest state distinction.

A city 80 metres underground

The cellars cover 53 hectares, with 120 km of galleries up to 80 metres deep. Like a real city, they have streets, traffic lights and road signs – each street named after the wine stored along it: “Cabernet”, “Feteasca”, “Sauvignon” and more. The temperature stays at around 12–14°C all year with 97–98% humidity, naturally – with no air conditioning – creating ideal conditions for ageing wine and classic sparkling wine.

Did you know? Limestone from these mines was used to build many buildings in Cricova, Chișinău and Bălți – and some galleries are still being quarried, so the underground city is still growing.

The home of Moldovan sparkling wine

Cricova was the first company in Moldova to make sparkling wine by the traditional method – secondary fermentation in the bottle, followed by ageing – and its classic sparkling wine remains its signature. It also produces fresh, fruity sparkling wines by secondary fermentation in stainless-steel tanks.

Moldova’s largest vineyards

Cricova has the largest vineyards in Moldova, over 1,000 hectares: in the centre of the country (Cricova and Criuleni), where white varieties such as Pinot, Sauvignon, Rkatsiteli, Viorica and Chardonnay are grown, and in the south (Găvănoasa and Lucești, Cahul district), mainly for reds including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. Grapes are hand-picked, and some vineyards are certified organic, growing Fetească Neagră, Fetească Regală and Viorica.

A national treasure in the cellar

The cellars hold Moldova’s National Wine Collection of almost 1.3 million bottles, gathered from around the world. Its treasure is “Ierusalim de Paști”, a red dessert wine from 1902 – the only surviving bottle of 400 made.

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