Kara Gani Winery, founded in 2006, is located in the village of Vulcănești in Gagauzia, Moldova’s autonomous southern region.
Unlike some of the large commercial wineries we visited during our 17-night tour, this was a genuinely family-run operation owned by Gheorghe Cherven. As Gheorghe spoke only Russian, our guide Natalia interpreted his enthusiastic warm welcome. We learned that the estate’s eight hectares of vineyards produce around 7,000 bottles annually, and although most of the wine is sold locally, a small proportion is kept for family use.
Passing through attractive gardens, we arrived at a small ethnographic museum where Gheorghe has assembled an eclectic collection of household artefacts, farming tools and family photographs, which offered a fascinating glimpse into local history and traditions.
The winery’s two cellars contained oak barrels sourced from several countries, many acquired through development programmes that were originally supported by US AID and are now backed by the European Union. While the winery can bottle its entire annual production in a single day, every label is still applied by hand.
For our tasting, we collected unlabelled bottles of white and rosé wine directly from the cellar. Gheorghe then offered us a choice of red wines blended from grapes originating in one, two or three countries and we opted for the most adventurous option, three.
Wines tasted:
White – a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Aligoté
Rosé – a blend of Fetească Neagră 60% and Cabernet Franc 40%
Red – Fetească Neagră 80% from Moldova, Saperavi 15% from Georgia and Cabernet Sauvignon 5% from France
Dessert – Muscat 25%, Aligoté 50% and Traminer 25%
Tasting may be something of an understatement. Gheorghe’s pouring was every bit as enthusiastic as his welcome, and our glasses were filled with remarkable generosity.
Joined by Natalia, our driver Leonid and Gheorghe himself, we settled around a table laden with home-cooked food. The feast began with lamb soup served with croutons and a spicy dip, followed by cottage cheese gözleme and a colourful salad of cucumber, tomato, radish and feta. The main course was roasted quail accompanied by a mountain of delicious potato wedges sautéed in the roasting juices.
As the wine flowed, so did the conversation. When Gheorghe announced he needed to leave for half an hour to collect his vineyard workers, he insisted that we remain at the table and continue enjoying our favourite wine. Since this was our final meal with Natalia and Leonid, we raised numerous toasts to a memorable journey through Moldova.
On his return, Gheorghe produced a bottle of homemade grappa and insisted that we sample that too. Three hours after arriving at Kara Garni, we finally staggered away with Natalia and Leonid clutching the remaining slices of the excellent gözleme, while we departed with two complimentary bottles of white wine.
It was one of the most authentic, generous and memorable experiences of our entire trip.
Other wineries reviewed are:
ASCONI Winery – https://asconiwinery.com
Mileștii Mici Winery – https://www.milestii-mici.md/ro
Cricova – https://cricova.md/ro
Château Purcari – https://www.chateau-purcari.com
Et Cetera Family Winery – https://etcetera.md/en/
Castel MIMI – https://castelmimi.md
We also visited the Barza Albă Distillery – https://barzaalba.md/en
