29. A Visit to a Winery

A while back a group of us went to the Milești Mici Winery.  This winery has all of the post growth production of their wine underground.  They are recognized for having the largest collection of wine in the world (over 2 million bottles) and known for one of the largest underground cellars in the world (34 miles of underground tunnels).  Not only do they make their own wine, but they store over 2 million bottles of collector wine from all over the world.

The long and winding underground cellars were created because the area is full of limestone and stone is the primary building material in Moldova.  Much of the stone that came from this winery went to the capital.

It is a very interesting place and the best part was the fact that it was cool.  It was the closest thing to air conditioning that I have had since being in Moldova.

One of thousands of oak barrels used to ferment the wine.  After they bottle with the wine in the barrel, staff physically goes into the barrel and scrub it clean for the next batch:

Shows the batches of wine.  From many different years and all kinds.  There are thousands of these "cubbyholes" for wine:

Terrible picture, but the only one that somewhat shows how large this place is:

Proof that this winery has 1.5 million bottles of wine (currently over 2 million) and 34 miles of underground tunnels:

One the wine is in place, it isn't moved until they are ready, and if it is collection wine, who knows when they will move.  The most expensive bottle of wine they currently own is around 4,000 USD for one bottle:

I thought this was a fun picture:

They have two fountains like this, one with red water and the other with white wine colored water:

Check out the Milești Mici Winery at:  http://www.milestii-mici.md/