A Vibe Check Through Moldova’s Wine Country - The Moldovan Wine Experience

Written by – Lu Johnson, Founder and Curator at Mending Miles Co.

From my very first sip of crisp Cricova wine in Gaithersburg, Maryland nearly a decade ago, Moldovan wine became a quiet beacon in the sky. At the time, I didn’t know where it came from. I just knew how it made me feel. Curious. Grounded. Drawn in.

That feeling stayed with me long enough for me to eventually take the adventure myself. To follow the thread back to the true source of the Moldovan wine experience. Out of more than 150 wineries across Moldova, I’ve made my way to four so far. Each one distinct.

Each one holding a different frequency. All of them passing the vibe check.

What struck me most wasn’t just the wine. It was the way land, history, craft, and people moved together without trying to impress. Moldova doesn’t shout. It invites.

Here is my takeaway from the four wineries that shaped my understanding of Moldovan wine culture as places to witness.

Mileștii Mici - Wine Tasting

Mileștii Mici

Travel through time and whispers of the earth

Holds the Guinness World Record for the largest underground wine cellar in the world, with tunnels stretching over 200 km.

Descending into Mileștii Mici feels like entering a different relationship with time. Beyond wine, these underground tunnels hold stories, memory, and reconciliation with history itself.

What stayed with me most was learning that the vibrations of the world are recorded here through seismic devices.

Standing deep underground, it became impossible not to feel how what looks separate on the surface is often deeply connected underneath.

We move through life thinking we are apart, yet the earth is always listening, always recording the shared frequency.

Mileștii Mici is the delicious reminder that depth has its own language.

Cricova -  Globally recognized for its underground wine city and traditional champagne-method sparkling wines crafted deep beneath the earth.

Cricova

Aromas of craft and devotion

Cricova carries a living homage to traditional champagne making. Exhibiting craft that compels patience, intention, and reverence for legacy.

Only a small number of hand-turning artisans remain in the world, and just about 8 of them are responsible for the incredible sparkling wine of this vineyard. As the tour guide delivered this, I had chills. It shifted how I think about what it means to steward tradition, adding a layer or two of depth.

Every bottle is a commitment to doing things slowly, carefully, and with respect for what came before. It’s humbling to open a bottle of sparkling wine and realize how many unseen hands shaped that moment.

Château Mimi - The presidents collection

Château Mimi

A meeting point of history

Presidents, artists, locals, and travelers have all passed through the doors of thee Château Mimi. And yet, no title could rise above the humbling embrace of craft and history.

In this space, winemaking and history walk the red carpet. We come and go as witnesses as participants and who we are becomes an extension to the story moved by commitment to wine traditions that outlive us all.

Château Mimi - One of Moldova’s oldest wineries, internationally known for hosting world leaders and reviving historic winemaking traditions in a restored château.

Château Mimi is a reminder that truth is unwavering. We dance around it, decorate it, interpret it. But it stays put, waiting for us to meet

it honestly.

Asconi

Makes you want to stay awhile

Asconi is the cosi elegance of the countryside with the luxury of historical wine techniques passed through generations.

Celebrated for blending modern winemaking excellence with family-owned heritage, representing Moldova’s new wave of quality wines on the global stage.

It holds precision without stiffness. Tradition without rigidity.

Good food. Good wine. Good company.

In Asconi, ease becomes its own form of luxury and lingering feels like the point, as family dogs run from table to table to share their cuddles and showcase their best begging faces, laughter an conviviality is inescapable.

It is true testament that refinement doesn’t require distance.

Sometimes it lives right where people gather naturally.

Asconi - Wine Shop Parking Lot

The Moldovan Wine Experience Stays With You

Moldovan wine culture oozes of continuity.

It is land that remembers and craft that honors time. It holds stories passed hand to hand, bottle to bottle.

A reason gastroculture holds such a central place in how I think about food transmission, travel, and connection is that it invites reconciliation with memory, with place, with ourselves.

Out of all the vibes I just mentioned, which would you say speaks loudest to you?

Should you wish to answer the call, join me in April 2026 in Moldova for food, culture and introspection - more details here.