The wine consumers from the EU and the U.S. want to purchase Moldovan wine made from local original sorts of grape. Therefore, the authorities urge the winemakers to make wine from sorts discovered and grown in Moldova. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Gheorghe Gaberi told the journalists that the nurseries now started to more often grow vines hybridized with national sorts or sorts selected in Moldova. The Moldovan sorts are more resistant and appropriate for this territory, IPN reports.
The journalists were able to see how hybrid vines and saplings are grown in a modern nursery. The deputy minister said that now the Moldovan farmers can purchase cuttings and saplings twice cheaper than the imported ones, which are not always of the best quality. Many fruit and grape growers now suffer the consequences because they earlier bought cuttings and saplings of a poor quality from abroad and the harvest is low.
About 1 million hybrid saplings are imported into Moldova annually. Gheorghe Gaberi said the national nurseries can not only supply the domestic market with cuttings and saplings, but can also export such products. For the first time this year a protocol was signed with Romania to export Moldovan grafted saplings to the neighboring country. Grafted saplings are also exported to Ukraine. A consignment was recently exported to Italy.
The deputy minister said the wines made from historical Moldovan sorts of grape, such as Feteasca, Rara and Viorica, are highly appreciated abroad. The sort Viorica is to be included in the European assortment of sorts of grape. This sort perfectly adjusted itself to the weather in Moldova. In 2012, when there was a drought, it gave the highest yield.
Gheorghe Gaberi told the journalists that four Moldovan sorts of grapes were included in the European Catalogue, while the sort Codreanca, produced in Moldova, is grown all over the world. The wines made from national sorts are promoted abroad as every consumer is looking for an original taste that would represent the country.
