Moldova is an ancient wine making region. The wine-making sector is one of the most importantin Moldova, a traditional wine producer for many years, 25% of the country's exports and 9% of itsgross output pertain to winemaking. This sector includes 25% of industrial working resources. Moldovavineyards occupy 2.3% of the world's territory planted with vineyards. The Republic of Moldovafeatures in the list of the top ten wine and grape producing countries in the world.
The country is situated in the South-East Europe, neighboring Ukraine to the East and Roma-nia to the West. Its territory presents a hilly plain and corresponds by its geographical latitude tothe well-known wine making regions in France (Bordeaux in the south and Champagne in theing in Moldova.
Climate
The climate of Moldova is characterized by relatively mild winters, long vegetationperiod, precipitation coming mainly from Black Sea basin, a lot of solar radiation, longand dry autumns and temperatures which allow sugar accumulation in grapes.
Areas cultivated
wneyarcls generally located on slopes, exposed to the South and South-East. Thesoils are rich in nutritive components suitable for vineyard cultivation.
Wine industry
Current in Moldova operate 180 companies producing wine. Annually, Moldova har-vest of 350-500 thousand tons of grapes, producing 12-15 million dekalitres of the mostprestigious domestic and European wines. Only 15% of the entire production is consumedwithin the republic, while 85% is exported to other countries. The value of annual wine exports reaches USS 130-150 million.
The main export markets for Moldovan wine are: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, KazakhstanGermany, USA, Netherlands, China, South Korea, Central European countries (Poland and CzechRepublic), etc.
The Moldovan winemaker's art and consistency of quality have been confirmed by various presti-gious awards from international competitions in Russia, Europe and America such as the \"Chardonnay ofthe World\", the Bordeaux competition, \"Muscat of World\" (France), and interna-tional wine competitions (the UK and Germany) and many others.