Vinăria Romanești · Basvinex

Vinăria Romanești is one of the oldest and most important historic wineries in Moldova — founded in 1880 by Count Mikhail Trubețkoi, the Russian owner of the Romanești estate (Strășeni district), who invited French oenologist Charles Heidsieck to modernise production along Bordeaux lines. By the late 19th century, Romanești wines were winning medals at international exhibitions in Paris (1900) and Bordeaux (1904), and Tsar Nicholas II commissioned them for the imperial court. After the Soviet period (1944-1991, when it became one of the largest wine combines in the USSR, producing 2 million bottles annually), the brand was privatised under Basvinex SRL in 2002 and restored with major investments. The winery today offers guided tours through the historic 19th-century stone cellars, tastings of Fetească Albă, Fetească Neagră, Cabernet and the Romanești 1880 anniversary collection, plus a museum with vintage Tsarist-era bottles.