Viorica, Château Vartely 2020

Château Vartely is an ambitious independent winery, founded in 2005 by Moldovan businessman Nicolai Ciornii, that has planted extensive vineyards in the centre and south of Moldova and established a wine tourism destination that is bringing welcome attention to their wines and to their country. The winery is close to the River Nistru in the Codru region of this small country sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, and the company also owns vineyards in Romania itself.

The well-known international varieties cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, pinot gris, and chardonnay have all been planted while locally important muscat, traminer and feteascặ regalặ are also used to make varietal whites. In Moldova pinot noir is planted in the centre of the country, while the merlot and cabernet are planted in the south, and the winery is self-sufficient. All fruit is hand-picked. The local soils, called cernoziom, are almost unique to eastern Europe, being black and humus rich, and so prized that there is a thriving black market for truck-loads of it in the Ukraine.