National Wine Day inaugurated in Chisinau municipality

Chisinau, 05 October /MOLDPRES/ – It has been inaugurated the National Wine Day, XVIIIth issue, on Saturday, 05 October, on the Great National Assembly Square (PMAN). The event has a record number of 68 wineries and it occupies a larger area than in previous years – 25,000 m2, which is the equivalent of about four football fields. Thousands of foreign tourists have arrived in recent hours in Moldova, including to participate in the wine festival, which continues on 06 October.

The event guests have been welcomed in the centre of Chisinau municipality with music, local dishes and generous offers of wineries of Moldova. The wines can be tasted, depending upon the region from which they come, the stands of producers being based on the map of the regions with Protected Geographical Indication (IGP).

Firstly, the City of Wine extends beyond PMAN in 2019, including the square of Cathedral Nasterea Domnului and pedestrian street E. Doga, where it has been set a stage on which it will evolve more local performers. There were arranged an authentic peasant court and the Wine School in the square of the Cathedral.

The visitors of the event of the National Wine Day, XVIIIth issue, have a choice, as in previous years, to purchase a Tasting Card (CD). It includes info about the wineries present at the celebration and wines offered for tasting, 12 tickets for tasting, programme of the two festive days, discounts for promotional materials, as well as tickets for using public transport.

At inauguration, the Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, Georgeta Mincu, has said that the National Wine Day is a holiday that brings life to cultural traditions. "In 2019, the Government has contributed to support this branch with over MDL 70 mln. We shall be continuing this support. It is a promising year awaiting us, it is expected a harvest of over 700,000 tonnes of grapes. We want this amount of fruit to find its buyer in the country or abroad,” said Mincu.

The director of the National Office of Vine and Wine, Gheorghe Arpentin, has said that the Wine Day pays homage to the entire wine community of Moldova. "At the creation of this true Wine Town, there have worked over 1,600 persons, creating conditions and possibilities for each visitor, in complete safety and comfort, to know more about our traditions, our wines and the people who work in the vineyards and stay behind this product of our identity – Moldovan Wine”, specified Arpentin.

On the eve of the National Wine Day, there has been an increase in the number of crossings at the border. Thus, only in recent 24 hours, at the crossing points the flow of persons constituted 53,009 crossings, out of which a greater number were of the crossings of foreign citizens – 26,748 crossings. The Border Police (PF) has announced that it was reported an unprecedented situation at the Chisinau International Airport (AIC), where within an interval of almost 20 minutes (20:43 – 21:03), there arrived five aircraft, with 912 passengers aboard.

In the context of the National Wine Day, the transport traffic was restricted in the centre of Chisinau municipality, on boulevard Stefan cel Mare si Sfant, in perimeter of streets A. Puskin and Metropolitul G. Banulescu – Bodoni. The police has advised the event participants to avoid excessive alcohol consumption, not to drive if they have consumed alcoholic beverages, manifest caution in traffic and have adecuate behaviour.