Whenever I think of Romania it conjures up thoughts of Dracula perched high up in the Carpathian Mountains. A mysterious place not usually the first visited by tourists on vacation. It is here however where you will find the largest collection of wine in the world.
Milestii Mici is a small settlement, located about 12 miles south of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. It might not look like much , but it sits atop the greatest wine cellar in all of Europe. The Milestii Mici Winery has become internationally famous for its impressive wine collection, known as the Golden Collection. It has been acknowledged by Guinness Book of Records as the biggest wine collection in the world. The most expensive bottle of wine in the cellars of Milestii Mici is worth 480 euros.
The cellars of Milestii Mici hide approximately 2 million bottles of wine, of which 1.5 million are collection wines. The cellar complex under Milestii Mici is also the biggest one in Europe, a maze of tunnels stretching over 155 miles. At this point only 75 miles are in use, so there’s plenty of room for more wine. Tunnel streets "Cabernet", "Shardonait", "Feteasca", "Sauvignon" etc. form a transport web of the wine city. One need a car to drive from one part of the winery to the other and it's not rare to see its employees traveling from one workshop to another by bicycle.
MIlestii Mici has guided tours of the grounds if you ever have a chance to visit. Be sure to bring a jacket though. Even if it's 80 F outside it's chilly and dark in the cellar. Being situated deep under the ground (130-275 feet deep) the temperature inside the lime galleries stay constant all year around (at 57F and the humidity of 85 - 95%) being ideal for storage and preserving of its wines. During the tour the guide will tell you about the history of Milestii Mici and the wine industry of Moldova, its past and present, take you through the wine collection showing the rare samples and explain how to store the bottles correctly to keep its original flavour and bouquet untouched, take your through the collection of champagne and tell you the secrets of its production and finally taking you to the festive part of the winery, tasting rooms. The tour ends with tasting of wines accompanied by snacks or a traditional Moldovan lunch. Tasting rooms are well decorated in a traditional Moldovan style. Warm color of oak tables, chairs and sculptures combined with cold stone walls of the rooms form an authentic feeling of a Moldovan wine cellar. Moldovan traditional band of "Lautari" will perform Moldovan folk songs, as well as well known international plays on violin and accordion while you are tasting red and white wines from the local collection. Your guide will be introducing each bottle of wine telling the favors that you should taste with each kind of wine. After the "theoretical" part guests will be left to relax and enjoy the wine, food and music.
I have always wanted to visit Romania. I always thought that it would be a place full of new sights, sounds, tastes and culture. Now I can add to the many reasons to go... to visit the grounds of Milestii Mici.
Photos by: http://forum.xcitefun.net/milestii-mici-the-underground-city-of-wine-chisinau-t35527.html