Cricova Winery

About Cricova Winery

Cricova was the first winery in the region to master the production of sparkling wine using the traditional French method, a process that requires each bottle to be turned manually over several months. The tunnels were expanded during the 1960s to accommodate a growing demand from the Kremlin, eventually reaching a depth of nearly 100 meters in some sections. In 2003, the winery was declared a 'cultural-national heritage' of Moldova by law, ensuring its preservation for future generations. The National Vinotheque housed here contains over a million bottles, including a rare 1902 bottle of Easter Jerusalem wine. Its history is a mirror of the 20th-century geopolitical shifts, serving as a setting for secret diplomatic negotiations and a refuge for rare vintages during times of war.

A limestone labyrinth stretches for 120 kilometers beneath the Moldovan countryside, creating a subterranean city where the streets are named after grapes and the traffic consists of electric trains laden with oak barrels. Cricova is not merely a cellar; it is an architectural marvel carved into the remnants of an ancient sea bed. The air here remains a constant, damp 12 degrees Celsius, smelling of cold stone, wet sawdust, and the intoxicating, fruity evaporate known as the 'angel’s share.' You travel through dimly lit tunnels where millions of bottles rest under a thick velvet of grey dust, their corks keeping watch over some of the world's rarest vintages. The sound is a rhythmic dripping of condensation and the distant, metallic clink of bottles being turned by hand in the traditional methode champenoise.

The tunnels began as an industrial limestone quarry in the 15th century, providing the white stone that built much of the capital. It wasn't until 1952 that visionary winemakers realized the quarry's natural microclimate—perfectly stable humidity and temperature—was ideal for aging sparkling wine. During the Soviet era, Cricova became the prestigious 'cellar of the USSR,' hosting space explorers like Yuri Gagarin, who famously spent two days lost in the tunnels and emerged claiming it was harder to leave the cellar than to orbit the Earth. The winery survived the collapse of the Soviet Union by reinventing itself as a global luxury brand, and today it houses the National Vinotheque, a collection that includes Hermann Göring’s private wine spoils seized during the Second World War.

Riding an open-air trolley through the tunnels, you feel the sudden, bracing chill of the subterranean world as the entrance gates vanish behind you. You notice the way the limestone walls have been smoothed by decades of passage, their pale surfaces occasionally revealing a fossilized shell from the prehistoric era. The soundscape is a muffled, echoing silence that makes the popping of a cork in the tasting room sound like a gunshot. You feel the texture of the thick mold on the oldest bottles, a protective biological blanket that winemakers treat with reverence. You notice the transition from the rough-hewn storage tunnels to the opulent tasting halls, designed with stained glass and carved wood to resemble secret banquet rooms for heads of state. The most surprising moment is standing in the 'Gagarin Room,' realizing that the world's most powerful people have sat in this exact silence to toast the harvest.

Cricova is located about 15 kilometers north of Chisinau, a twenty-minute drive from the city center. Most visitors book a guided tour that includes a private transfer, though taking a local taxi or the number 2 trolleybus to the village and walking to the entrance is possible. Reservations are mandatory and should be made at least a week in advance, especially for tours that include a full tasting. The winery offers various packages, ranging from a simple drive through the tunnels to elaborate multi-course meals in the underground dining rooms. It is essential to bring a warm jacket, regardless of how hot the Moldovan summer is above ground.