Leuntea-vin wines – from the oldest cellars in Moldova and in the Balkans

These wines, probably more than the rest of the Moldovan wines, were in contact with history. The cellars in which they are kept are wine cellars from 1817. But their age is much older, because these tunnels were built by the Turks in the 16^th century. They were visited by prominent figures such as the Governor-General of Novorossia and Bessarabia, Mikhail Vorontsov, Russian military commander and statesman, military historian Ivan Liprandi, the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and other prominent people of that time. The wines were delivered to the imperial court, starting with Alexander I. The cellars have been perfectly preserved up to now and are used again for wine aging and storage. At the celebration of the National Wine Day, they were presented to consumers and entered the Moldovan market.

This is how it happened

Mikhail Ponset, the Russian general and participant in the Napoleonic wars, bought out the lands from Ilia Catargi, a Bessarabian nobleman,  in the Leuntea village and founded there a winery, a fact that is evidenced by preserved documents.

In 1824, Leuntea wines ranked first at a tasting in Saint Petersburg not giving way to Bordeaux wines. In 1847, the landed estate passed to the General’s son – a participant in the Caucasian war.

These wines are described in the literature of that time as the best wines of Bessarabia. The wines have always been at a high level – for 200 years already. They were served at the imperial table, starting with Alexander I.

In Soviet times, a wine center was built in place of the old winery. The founder of Leuntea-vin LLC, Dmitri Kyssa – a winemaker with more than 40 years of experience, has been worked for 25 years as director of a winery in Talmaza (located nearby) and for seven and a half years as its director, when the company has become part of Lion-gri. At Talmaza winery, which was part of the Purcari agro-industrial complex, he became the actual author of the famous ‘Purpuriu de Purcari’ wine.

Organic vineyard

We are trying to revive an old enterprise – the oldest one in Bessarabia, Dmitri Ivanovici says. – We have 20 hectares of vineyards, where we grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Merlot and Saperavi. We do not use herbicides in vineyards, we just weed away. To spray the plantations, we use copper sulphate and limestone. This is an organic vineyard. There is no anhydride in wines. There’s no point in it, as the alcoholic strength of the wines is high. Alcohol itself is an antiseptic. We add anhydride to wines only when they need to be shipped somewhere. We try to have a smaller impact on nature, on grapes, to work less with different enzymes. For red wines aging we use three-year French barrels (225 l). We are just starting to sell in Moldova. The first export of bottled wine was to Sweden. Previously, wine materials were sold in bulk on the domestic market and in Romania”.

Terroir – in the front

The small producer Leuntea-vin entered a new stage in its development – bottled wine sales supported by the Product Quality Upgrading Program/PQUP, which is implemented by the Moldova Competitiveness Project (MCP), funded by USAID and by the Government of Sweden. together with the National Office for Vine and Wine (ONVV),

The Project’s consultant Constantin Caldare believes that the style of Leuntea-vin wines was defined by the terroir:

The vineyards are planted within a few minutes’ walk of the production facility, located 500 meters from the Dniester. Not far from the plantations the Lower Dniester Nature Reservation is located. If in the southern part of the republic processing of red grape varieties begins in early September, then in Leuntea it is not even started in early October. We take into account not only the sweetness of berries. The most important thing is the phenolic maturity. The weather has become cooler, especially the nights, creating ideal conditions for the maturation of phenolic compounds.

We try not to use oak tannins or any other organoleptic correctors. Wine from Leuntea-vin is mainly grapes, their processing, fermentation and storage. They have very “suitable” deep arched cellars in which ideal storage conditions with constant temperature and humidity are created. The temperature in the cellar for white wines is 12 °C, for red wines – 14-16 °C. The wines are bottled fand then aged in these cellars for up to three years”.

And now we will try wines from the oldest cellars in Moldova and in the Balkans.

Cabernet-sauvignon, 2017

The wine has a very dark color, with a bright ruby ​​edge. While swirling the glass, the thick “legs” (glycerin, which is formed as a result of alcoholic fermentation) run down the sides of the glass.

In the wine bouquet, you first feel the solanaceous tone inherent of Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety. Then it gradually recedes, and a hint of mint and tobacco appears, while the expected black berries are slightly receded into the background. There is a hue of dried fruit compote, then earth tones and truffles have appeared. It must be acknowledged that this aroma is quite unusual for the Cabernet-Sauvignon Moldovan wine.

The taste is dry, it has lively acidity and light astringency, there is a hint of a cherry stone, in the aftertaste – a hint of cocoa. It has been aged in French oak barrels (third filling) for two years.

This is a very young wine, it is better to let it age in bottles for a few years, of course, if using a high quality cork. Alcoholic strength – 13.6%.

Cabernet-sauvignon, 2015

Last year, the Swedes chose this wine for import, tasting it at the Wine Day in Chisinau. As you know, in Sweden there is a state monopoly on the retail sale of alcohol (Systembolaget), the selection of drinks is very strict for it.

Cabernet-sauvignon, 2015, being more mature, compares favorably with “its younger brother”. Its color in the glass is a deep ruby, with a bright vibrant color around the edge.

The first nose shows black forest berries and a light solanaceous tone. Wine is very thick, fatty; it is scarcely swirled in the glass. The bouquet reveals the aromas of black chokeberries, blackcurrants, blackthorns, blackberries, dried wild black cherries. After a while, saffian, tarry and earth hues appeared.

A fresh taste of berries, with vivid acidity. The aftertaste has hints of cocoa and chocolate. The wine has been aged in French oak barrels (third filling) for three years. Alcohol content – 13.8%. The Swedes, of course, have made a right choice! But it is important to mention that the conditions of 2015 were very favorable for the qualitative ripening of the grapes. Therefore, the wines from the 2015 harvest are very good, especially the red ones.

Foundation for development

MCP also helps this small producer in the development of wine tourism, because it is a sin to hide from people one of the oldest wineries in Moldova and in the Balkans. They started with the installation of road signs, which is very important. In order to bring in tourists, a small restaurant was opened on the territory of the company (the investments were shared equally with the donors).

It was really a great help, thanks to which we can receive guests by reservation, Daria Kyssa, director of Leuntea-vin LLC, says. – Quite large groups come to us. We have recently hosted 50 people.

We will soon launch the next joint project with donors – on production facilities. We plan to purchase new stainless steel tanks for white wines, possibly barriques for wine ageing and some technological equipment. We filed an application to AGEPI for registration of the Leuntea-vin brand, and the Moldova Competitiveness Project offered us legal assistance and payment for these services, which is very valuable to us.

Only after starting to participate in collective Moldovan wine promotion events, organized by the National Office for Vine and Wine, we have already felt an interest for our wines in Romania and are waiting for our potential partners to arrive. In addition, we are negotiating the supply of another wine to Sweden – Saperavi. And recently, a prestigious store in London has sent us a letter inviting us to cooperation. So we have much to work on.

We are very proud of our wines. I can say that they have no analogues on the Moldovan market. They are very different, because the Purcari zone itself is very diverse in terroir”.