Concours Mondial de Bruxelles – Sparkling Session 2025
Discovering Moldova: A Sparkling Journey Through the Heart of Moldova – 5-7 September 2025
Sparkling Wines Session of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) 2025 was held in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova from 05-07 September 2025. During the three days of judging. 1,076 sparkling wines from 29 countries were blind-tasted by 50 international judges, including Masters of Wine, buyers, importers, distributors, and leading wine journalists.
After having participated at ten CMB’s, it was my first time to judge at the sparkling session and also first time to be panel chair.
The three days of wine judging brought anything one would like to taste from the sparkler’s world – Champagne, Cava, Prosecco and of course, sparklers from many other countries. In addition, the good thing about being a wine judge at a sparkling session is that I finally get to wear white & not be afraid to spill any wine 🙂
Moldova – The Wine Country
Moldova has an ancient winemaking history, with production dating back to the 8th century BC. It is a landlocked country bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria lies across the Dniester river on the country’s eastern border with Ukraine. near the town of Odessa.
The country today boasts an impressive 110,000 hectares of vineyards and annual production of 110 mil hectoliters, the wine industry being a vital part of the Moldovan economy, employing over 200,000 people and accounting for over 3% of the country’s GDP.
Moldova currently has 140 wineries of which 90% are privately and 10% state owned.
In wine terms the country is divided in four delimited regions for the production of PGI wine: Codru, Stefan Voda, Value lui Traian and Divin. Both international and local grape varieties are grown including Viorica, Rara Neagra, Feteasca Neagra, Feteasca Alba and Feteasca Regala.
Castel Mimi is Moldova’s only authentic wine castle and a jewel in the country’s wine tourism crown. Built in 1893 and now recognized among the Top 15 Architectural Masterpieces of the Wine World. The castle welcomed us with an elegant dinner paired with the estate’s wines – the Governor’s Feteasca Neagră is an elegant and boisterous wine. Beneath Castel Mimi lies a restored cellar that now hosts the prestigious Presidents’ Wine Collection. The castle welcomed us with an elegant dinner paired with the estate’s wines – the Governor’s Feteasca Neagră is an elegant and boisterous wine.
Mircești Winery, owned by Arcadie Foșnea, a dear colleague with whom I’ve been in several judging panels around the world, delivered a an authentic experience of Moldovan traditions, wines, food and a band playing traditional Moldovan music. Set in the rolling countryside, this boutique estate emphasized indigenous varietals and traditional winemaking methods.
The evening continued to Chateau Cojusna or Migdal P, a modern winery and one of Moldova’s rising gastronomic stars. Just like so many Moldovan wineries. Chateau Cojusna also has an impressive underground tunnel like wine cellar and an even impressive restaurant offering traditional cuisine with a modern twist.
Doina Vin (Codru Wine Region), is a multi-generational, family-run winery, and one of the biggest wine producers and exporters in Moldova with 1,500 ha of vineyards. The visit to Mileștii Mici it was a long awaited one. This winery is a Guinness World Record holder for housing over 1.5 million bottles in the underground tunnels. The limestone galleries stretching 200 km offer a surreal journey through time (currently only 55 km are available for visit)
The fourth day brought us to the Ștefan Vodă Wine Region and a visit to the modern EtCetera Winery, a family-owned estate nestled in the Crocmaz village. The owner,
Purcari Winery is the most important Moldavian winery, dating back to 1827. It is located in southern Moldova, 120 km from the capital Chișinău and strategically positioned near the Nistru River and just 30 km from the Black Sea. The vineyards we visited, just a couple of kilometres from the Ukranian border, seem to stretch as far as the eye can see. The Purcari Wineries group is the biggest producer in the Central and Eastern European region and the largest exporter of bottled wines from Moldova. It owns an impressive 10.000 ha of vineyards in Moldova, Romania & Bulgaria.
As I had to leave earlier, I did not get a chance to visit Chateau Vartely, Rădăcini & Cricova winery & its the 120 km of underground wine streets.
Prokupac Day – Vol 6.
What began as an idea to raise awareness of the potential and uniqueness of the Serbian grape variety Prokupec in the country, has crossed borders over the last six years. Today, the name of this variety, at times difficult to pronounce, resonates with bigger appreciation and Igor Lukovic and Tomislav Ivanovic, have to be “blamed” for it.
Having arrived in Belgrade in the afternoon, I & my colleagues from around the world had the chance to be part of a very special private premiere of Ivanovic Gaga Prokupac 2017 by the late genius winemaker, Dragoslav Ivanovic-Gaga, who has unfortunately left us last year. However present his absence, his presence is more than noticeable in the print he left on the wine scene & enormous legacy with his wines and his children who have carried on with the winery’s works and future.
Prokupac & pizza?!? Have no doubt about it! Majstor & Margarita, voted one of the top 50 pizzerias in Europe, was the venue that welcomed us after the wine tasting. Special pizzas made to pair excellently with Prokupac wines flowed through the evening.
Wine Salon and Conference: Prokupac- Born in Serbia
The wine salon dedicated to Prokupac, was held at the Event Center Promenada in Belgrade, at Beton Hala, a lovely place overlooking the Sava River. Twenty five producers showed their wines made only from this variety and the guests had the chance to enjoy all versions of it- Blanc de Noir, roses, everyday & top notch Prokupac wines. Not to mention the excellent Prokupac ice-cream made by Crna Ovca brand and Doja winery.
The wine conference themed “Prokupac – Born in Serbia” was held the next day at Radisson Collection hotel where an array of wine experts, Richard Pfister, Miroslav Nikolic, Dejan Vranic to name just a few, gave master classes on the Ageing Potential and Development of Aromatic Profile in Prokupac Wines, Terroir & Prokupac, Prokupac on the World Wine Map, giving an insight into the potential and the vision of this variety.
On the Prokupac Trail
Following the conference, we visited a few wineries in the course of two days. The first stop was Temet winery in the village called Lozovik in Jagodina. Temet produces one of the more intriguing Prokupac wines (usually blended with other international varieties), including, yet not on the market, Prokupac 2019 from a microlocation called Beli Kamen (White Stone) a wine that is balanced, concentrated & with a good structure and aged partly in amphoras and partly in oak barrels. The following morning we visited Chokot winery in the village of Starci (the literal translation is “Old people”), near Aleksandrovac – a truly pleasant surprise. The winery, mostly built by the owner & winemaker Radovan Djordjevic, is located on the top of a hill overlooking the town of Aleksandrovac. Radovan, who’s got a Phd in enology, led us through a wine tasting of Prokupac blends with Cabernet Sauvignon (Experiment 2017), Cabernet Franc (Experiment 2018, my favourite), with Petit Verdot, as well as Radovan 100% Prokupac. And the latter is, in my vision, the style that the Serbian should follow.
The next stop was at Braca Rajkovic winery who welcomed us in their pleasant family home in Zhupa, showing us the full array of wines they produce including Prokupac 2018 & Prokupac 2019, for which they claim it’s from a clone called R’skavac (another synonym for the variety). Doja winery, located in Toplice (Prokuplje subregion) is well known for one of the finest & elegant, equally big & boisterous, examples of Prokupac- their Breg Prokupac, currently 2017 vintage is on the market.