Wednesday 20 August 2008

World's biggest wine collection

The biggest wine collection in the world can be found in the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. Just remember to bring some cash if you decide to go.

I had a bit of a disaster on my trip to Moldova in April 2008. I lost my Visa bank card in Lithuania beforehand, and couldn’t withdraw any cash on my credit card from the ATMs in Chisinau for some reason.
This meant I was down to approximately EUR100 for three days, including accommodation, train and taxi fares.
After a bit of shouting down the phone at my bank and a fair amount of despair in one of the grimmest Soviet-era hotels imaginable, I realised that I had absolutely no chance of getting to the one place I wanted to get to.
Milestii Mici is the world’s biggest winery. And that’s not just the promotional blurb from the people that run it – it’s recognised by Guinness World Records. Apparently, over 1.5 million (conservative estimate) bottles of wine are stored there in a 200km network of ‘streets’.
Unlike other wine tours where you are driven around a series of wineries, you need a car to get round just the one winery.
Alas, I was foiled, so if anyone has been to Milestii Mici, I’d be interested to hear from you. Apparently it’s not just quantity either – the wines are reportedly amongst the best in the old Soviet Union.

More information: Milestii Mici website

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