Nine home winemakers win "Golden Wine Cask" award in Moldova
Nine home winemakers from across Moldova were awarded the "Golden Wine Cask" on Sunday, the second day of the National Wine Day celebration. The award, which includes a 100-litre barrel for wine, is given to the top-scoring wines in a competition that is judged by a panel of experts.
Vitalie Popa from the village of Cruglic, Criuleni district, and Victor Rusev from Ceadîr-Lunga, Gagauzia, were both first-time winners.
"I am very happy to be participating in such an event," Popa said. "This is my first time winning. I put my heart and soul into making great wine."
"It is a great honour for me to participate in this competition," Rusev said. "Winemaking in our region, in Gagauzia, has a centuries-old history. I wish all participants to develop and become great producers."
Timotei Pogor from the village of Văsieni, Ialoveni district, is a six-time winner of the "Golden Wine Cask."
"This award is a great joy for me," Pogor said. "In the village of Văsieni, people have been making wine since ancient times. I have won the "Golden Wine Cask" six times for white wines, dry wines, and fortified wines."
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), which organises the competition, is working with the National Wine Office and the Ministry of Agriculture to help the winners become licensed producers.
"Through this competition, we are trying to highlight our country's home winemakers, the people who make wine for everyday consumption, for our families, and who eventually grow into small producers who produce wine for the domestic and export markets," CCI President Sergiu Harea said.
"I wish them to become professional producers, to register their vineyards, to register their wine, to become small producers," said Elizaveta Breahnă, acting director of the National Wine Office. "We will come to them, we will interest them to participate in different projects."
"It is from these home producers, who have tasted the victory and the production of good wine, that we have an impressive number of them who have passed into the number of 62, who are already licensed producers," said Agriculture Minister Vladimir Bolea. "I hope that those who have won the "Golden Wine Cask" this year will move on to the next category."
The "Golden Wine Cask" competition is in its 21st year. This year, over 500 home wines were entered. For the republican tasting, 127 samples were presented, and nine participants were selected as winners.
Over 100,000 visitors attended the National Wine Day celebration, which was organised by the National Wine Office, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the Ministry of Culture, with the support of USAID Moldova.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
