In 2018, the Harvest of Grapes in Moldova was the Highest in the Last 10 Years

The wine sector in Moldova showed excellent results. In 2018 in Moldova, the harvest of grapes, the number of vines for the production of wines with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and the volume of exports increased. These figures are contained in the report on the activities of the National Bureau of Vine and Wine and were made public during the second edition of the National Viticulture Conference “Wine Year 2018”, held in Chisinau. The event, which was attended by representatives of the wine sector, presented the balance of NBVW activities in 2018, the country's trade and export indicators in this sector, as well as the results of the ”Quality Grape” and ”Vineyards with Specific Potential (Terroir)” projects.

According to this report, last year Moldova had one of the richest grapes harvests, as a result of which our country was the 19th in the ranking of wine producers all over the world. The total grapes harvest in Moldova in 2018 amounted to 680 thousand tons, which is 0.7% more than in 2017 and 10.5% more than in 2016.

The volume of grapes used for the production of wines, sparkling wines and distillates was 356 thousand tons. The volume of produced wines and sparkling wines (excluding distillates) was 19 million dal, which is 21% more than the average figure for the last 18 years.

About 10% of wines (855.6 thousand dal) were wines with a Protected Geographical Indication. In 2018, their volume decreased by 38.1% compared with 2017. Today, there are 71 Moldovan producers that make wines with PGI.

Another 290 thousand tons of grapes harvested in 2018 we sold fresh: of 130 thousand tons of table grapes, 2.5 thousand tons were exported, and 157 thousand tons were used for other purposes.

The wine sector in the Republic of Moldova offers the largest ammount of jobs in rural areas and 29,679 economic agents operate in this sector of the economy. 187 wineries are registered in the Wine Registry, of which 68 have their own vineyards. Thus, the wineries own 36% of the total area with technical vines, each of which has an average of 220 hectares of vineyards.

Here is a photo eport from the National Conference in the field of viticulture "Wine Year 2018".