{"id":205,"date":"2016-08-23T06:49:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T06:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wineandspirits.wwwssr7.supercp.com\/en\/obo-mne\/"},"modified":"2017-04-15T18:54:46","modified_gmt":"2017-04-15T18:54:46","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I am a wine journalist. Starting from 2000 I published individual articles on subject of wine and winemaking in the government\u2019s daily \u201cIndependent Moldova\u201d. My page \u201cThe art of winemaking\u201d has appeared weekly in the Logos-press\u2019 \u201cEconomic review\u201d since 2004.<\/p>\n

The establishment of the contemporary Moldovan winemaking was taking place right before my eyes. I witnessed the construction of the first modern full-cycle winery, where brand-new stainless steel equipment shined at one of the best facilities of Eastern Europe of its time. It was AurVin in Vulcanesti.<\/p>\n

I saw the rising tide of planting new vines, saw the winemaker enthusiasts dreaming to make Moldovan wine\u00a0that would\u00a0rival those from France, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zeeland \u2013 the whole world. I heard the firsthand accounts of the \u201ccrazy\u201d winemakers in search of the distinct style of the\u00a0Moldovan wine and how they discarded literally tons of product, that didn\u2019t live up to the dream. How they tried to announce themselves for the first time\u00a0to the world markets, with their voice weak and uncertain back then. I was so happy for them, when the first medals were awarded to the\u00a0Moldovan wines at the Europe\u2019s prestigious tasting competitions.<\/p>\n

I shared their pain and worries, when Russia struck with its first import embargo in 2006, when bottles full of good wine were being crushed by bulldozers in the landfills. When they tried to estimate the losses of the whole industry, I was the first one who voiced this terrible number – $180 million. As a journalist I alone was writing about the problems of vine-growing and winemaking during the crisis caused by the embargo.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the support of Sergei Mishin, the co-founder of Logo-press, the editor-in-chief of its \u201cEconomic Review\u201d and a great connoisseur of Moldovan wine, I had the pleasure and the luxury of being the only\u00a0independent\u00a0journalist in the business. I was able to write the way it is, not the way the\u00a0paying customer wanted me to write.<\/p>\n

I remember the first steps the country took for preservation of the quality and brand recognition of the domestically produced quality wines. As a result national brands of the 2015 vintage with the protected geographical indicator have entered the market for the first time. I find it symbolic that in that year at the spring \u201cWine Vernissage\u201d I was honored with the title of\u00a0\u201cCavalier of the Wine Vernissage\u201d. Winemaking became the part of me. It\u2019s not what I do anymore, it really is my life\u2026<\/p>\n

\"foto-obo-mne-12-1\"<\/p>\n

Knowing this about me, lots of people were asking: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you start your own wine blog?\u201d The proverbial last straw was when Diana Lazar, the vice-President of the USAID\u2019s \u201cCompetitiveness Project\u201d asked me the same question, and then,\u00a0on behalf of the organization,\u00a0offered to support my efforts and to help with the technical side. With deep gratitude I accepted. Thus the \u201cWine-and-Spirits.md\u201d blog became a reality.<\/p>\n

I chose to start this project because it is wrong when people living here are not aware what remarkable wines are made from the grapes born of their land, because it is wrong when people in the winemaking country consume more beer and vodka than wine. I chose to start this project because I believe that Moldova can make great wines, the wines to be proud of, and if I can do anything to change that, I will at least try.<\/p>\n

Anghelina Taran<\/p>\n

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