Country dossier

Moldova

Restaurants, hotels, bars and wineries across Moldova in the En Primeur Club guide.

Locations17 Restaurants7 Hotels2 Bars0 Wineries8

Accolades in Moldova

Moldova luxury dining and travel destination

Moldova has 17 venues in our guide, spread across 11 cities. Chisinau holds 7 of them, more than any other city in our guide: restaurants, BERD’S Hotel, and the wineries Carpe Diem and Aroma. Carpe Diem, in city center, is a wine shop and bar with guided tastings of local and international wines. Aroma, in Chișinău, is a winemaking company known for divin, grape distillate aged in oak. Outside Chisinau, wine stops include estate wineries and underground cellars. Château Purcari in Ștefan Vodă District dates from 1827. Tastings are guided, accommodation is on the estate, and the wines include Rară Neagră, Saperavi, and classic-method sparkling. Château Vartely in Orhei has a 5-star hotel and blending workshops. Et Cetera in Crocmaz has a home-style restaurant and a wine hotel. Cricova stores over a million bottles in around 120 km of limestone tunnels. Epoca de Piatră in Brăneşti serves traditional Moldovan dining inside an underground limestone mine cellar. Castel Mimi Wine Resort in Bulboaca combines a historic wine castle with an on-site winery.

Chișinău for wine bars and city dining

Chișinău concentrates the broadest range of dining in the guide, from focused wine service to celebratory tables and transit-side eating.

Carpe Diem
In city center, Carpe Diem is a compact wine shop and bar built around guided tastings and an exceptional selection of local and international fine wines. The focus is educational and specific, with Moldova framed through Fetească Neagră, Saperavi, still whites, reds, and sparkling wines.
Fuior
In city center, Fuior is an upscale restaurant for Modern Moldovan Fusion, with authentic wines and a minimalist design. The kitchen uses local sourcing and reinvented traditional Moldovan dishes, including duck with cherry sauce. The setting is leisurely and conversational.
Casa Nunții "Noroc"
In Chișinău, Casa Nunții "Noroc" has been Chișinău's first wedding house since 1995. Wedding feasts are traditional Moldovan meals, and the house also hosts large festive events. Cooking draws on traditional Moldovan dishes with European influences. Banquet tables are long, ingredients are local, and the meal is communal.
Marlène
In Buiucani, Marlène is a high-end cocktail bar with craft cocktails and expertly crafted drinks made from locally sourced ingredients. The formats are a la carte and small plates, and the wine program is standard. The bar has a summer terrace.

Estate wineries with the strongest wine tourism

Outside the capital, Moldova’s most complete wine visits combine tasting, accommodation, and vineyard context in one place.

Château Purcari
In Ștefan Vodă District, Château Purcari is a historic wine castle from 1827, with guided tastings and accommodation on the estate. Rară Neagră, Saperavi, and classic-method sparkling wine are all in the portfolio. The estate's setting takes in the Nistru River and also the Black Sea. It holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026.
Château Vartely
In Orhei, Château Vartely is a wine tourism complex with a modern premium winery, a 5-star hotel, restaurants, and themed tasting halls. Blending workshops and food-paired tastings cover native varieties, with vineyard views. It holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026.
Et Cetera
In Crocmaz, Et Cetera is a family-owned winery, and the winemaker hosts vineyard tours and tastings in person. A home-style restaurant and a wine hotel sit among the vineyards, with regenerative farming and estate-grown fruit. It holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026.
Castel Mimi Wine Resort
In Bulboaca, Castel Mimi Wine Resort is a historic wine castle resort with an on-site winery, luxurious accommodations, exceptional local wines, and the estate's vineyards in Moldova's countryside. The resort holds the 2025 World Travel Awards title for Leading Boutique Hotel.

Underground cellars and cellar-focused visits

Cricova stores over a million bottles in around 120 km of limestone tunnels, in a former limestone mine used for sparkling wine. Epoca de Piatră in Brăneşti is a restaurant inside an underground limestone mine cellar, with traditional Moldovan dining and a wine list.

Epoca de Piatră
In Brăneşti, Epoca de Piatră is a restaurant inside an underground limestone mine cellar with a Stone Age atmosphere. It serves traditional Moldovan dining with an extensive wine list in a room shaped by the cave setting.
Cricova
The Cricova winery stands in Cricova, in a former limestone mine. Around 120 km of cool limestone tunnels hold over a million bottles. The underground cellars are used for sparkling wine and cellar aging. It holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026.
Crama Gîrboiu
In Dragosloveni, Dumbrăveni, Crama Gîrboiu is a family-owned winery awarded Best Producer Romania, with a large estate in the Cotești DOC. Grapes include Șarba, Plăvaie, Fetească Neagră, and Galbenă de Odobești. The winery holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026, and the estate has restored traditional cellars.

Regional tasting rooms and producer-led stops

Crama Gîrboiu in Dragosloveni, Dumbrăveni is a family-owned winery with a large estate in the Cotești DOC and restored traditional cellars. Aroma in Chișinău is known for divin aged in oak, and Casa de Vinuro Cotnari in Cotnari / Cârjoaia presents native grapes at the 1901 Castel Vlădoianu estate.

Crama Gîrboiu
In Dragosloveni, Dumbrăveni, Crama Gîrboiu is a family-owned winery with a large estate in the Cotești DOC. Grapes include Șarba, Plăvaie, Fetească Neagră, and Galbenă de Odobești. The estate has restored traditional cellars. It holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026 and has been awarded Best Producer Romania.
Casa de Vinuro Cotnari
In Cotnari / Cârjoaia, Casa de Vinuro Cotnari is a winery experience based at the 1901 Castel Vlădoianu estate. The focus is native grapes, including Grasă de Cotnari, Tămâioasă Românească, Fetească Albă, Busuioacă de Bohotin, and Fetească Neagră, presented through guided tasting and estate context.
Aroma
In Chișinău, Aroma is one of Moldova’s oldest winemaking companies and a producer of divin, grape distillate aged in oak. Aged expressions reach 60 years, and heritage brands include Moldova and Chişinău. It holds a Falstaff Winery listing for 2026.

Planning FAQ

Which city has the main concentration of dining and wine stops in Moldova?

Chisinau has the main concentration in our guide, with 7 venues. The city includes 4 restaurants, BERD’S Hotel in City Center, the first design hotel in Moldova, and Carpe Diem, a wine shop and bar in city center with guided tastings. Aroma, in Chișinău, is known for divin.

How many Michelin-starred restaurants are there in Moldova in your guide?

Moldova has no Michelin-starred restaurants in our guide. BERD’S Hotel in City Center holds a Michelin Selected distinction for 2025. Fuior in city center serves modern Moldovan fusion with a wine list, local sourcing, and duck with cherry sauce.

Where should a wine-minded traveller go for the strongest cellar and estate experiences?

Purcari, Orhei, Crocmaz, Bulboaca, and Cricova have the strongest cellar and estate experiences in our guide. Château Purcari dates from 1827, Château Vartely in Orhei includes a 5-star hotel, Et Cetera in Crocmaz has a wine hotel, Castel Mimi Wine Resort in Bulboaca has an on-site winery, and Cricova has around 120 km of tunnels.

Which places in Moldova hold Wine Spectator awards in the guide?

No place in our guide holds a Wine Spectator award. Falstaff Winery listings for 2026 are held by Château Purcari, Château Vartely, Et Cetera, Cricova, Aroma, Carpe Diem, Crama Gîrboiu, and Casa de Vinuro Cotnari. Michelin Selected for 2025 is held by BERD’S Hotel, and Castel Mimi Wine Resort holds the 2025 World Travel Awards Leading Boutique Hotel title.

By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards

City atlas

Cities in Moldova

8 venues

Vrancea

Olanesti

Tiraspol

Moldova

Where to eat in Moldova

Selected entries from the current guide for Moldova.

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Chisinau, Moldova

Atlantis Kebab

Positioned at Chisinau's Central Bus Terminal on Str. Mitropolit Varlaam, Atlantis Kebab is a fixture of the city's working-lunch circuit, where transit-adjacent eating has a logic all its own. The format is built around speed and simplicity, placing it at the informal end of a Moldovan dining scene that ranges from wedding-hall banquets to modernist tasting menus. For travellers moving through the capital, it represents one direct read of what street-adjacent eating looks like here.

Chisinau, Moldova

Ialoveni, Moldova

Casa della Pizza

Casa della Pizza serves Traditional Italian Wood-Fired Pizza at Bulevardul Alexandru cel Bun 9/1 in Ialoveni, with a beer program, terrace seating, and Diavola with Philadelphia or Capricciosa.

Ialoveni, Moldova

Chisinau, Moldova

Casa Nunții "Noroc"

Casa Nunții "Noroc" on Sucevița Street occupies the Chisinau banquet-hall tradition, a format built around Moldovan celebration culture, where long tables, local ingredients, and communal festivity set the terms. For visitors curious about how the city marks its milestones, this is a working example of that format in the residential southwest of the capital.

Chisinau, Moldova

Branesti, Moldova

Epoca de Piatră

Stone Age, Underground: Dining Inside Moldova's Cave Winery The approach to Vinăria Brănești tells you something before you have eaten a single bite. The winery sits in Brănești, a village roughly 20 kilometres north of Chișinău, and the road in...

Branesti, Moldova

Chisinau, Moldova

Fuior

Fuior serves Modern Moldovan Fusion with local sourcing and a duck with cherry sauce, in a leisurely, conversational setting suited to lunch or dinner.

Chisinau, Moldova

Marlène

On Strada București in central Chisinau, Marlène occupies a city where post-Soviet dining is being quietly rewritten. The restaurant sits within a restaurant scene that is expanding faster than outside coverage acknowledges, making it a useful reference point for understanding where Moldovan dining is heading, and how far it has already come.

Chisinau, Moldova

Moldova

Where to stay in Moldova

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Chisinau, Moldova

BERD’S Hotel

BERD'S Hotel occupies a prominent address on Bulevardul Dimitrie Cantemir in central Chisinau, holding a MICHELIN Selected distinction in the 2025 guide, a signal of quality that places it among a small tier of recognised properties in Moldova's capital. For travellers approaching Chisinau as a serious destination rather than a transit point, it represents a considered base in a city whose hospitality scene is still finding its international footing.

Chisinau, Moldova

Bulboaca, Moldova

Castel Mimi Wine Resort

Moldova's 2025 World Travel Awards winner for Leading Boutique Hotel, Castel Mimi Wine Resort in Bulboaca sits at the intersection of estate architecture and wine-country hospitality at a moment when Eastern Europe's premium travel offer is drawing serious attention. The property positions itself within a small cohort of destination wine resorts where the vineyards, the building, and the accommodation are conceived as a single experience rather than separate amenities.

Bulboaca, Moldova

Moldova

Where to go for a drink in Moldova

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Moldova

Which wineries to visit in Moldova

Selected entries from the current guide for Moldova.

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Chisinau, Moldova

Aroma

Aroma is a Chișinău reference point for Moldova’s divin tradition: grape distillate aged in oak, shaped by local wine culture rather than by imported whisky or Cognac theatre. Its interest lies in continuity, scale, and a portfolio that reaches from younger aged expressions to 45-, 50-, 55-, and 60-year divins.

Chisinau, Moldova

Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem is a compact Chisinau wine bar and shop built around Moldovan bottles, guided tasting, and the Luca family’s small-production work under the Casa Vinicola Luca name. The draw is terroir education rather than bar theatrics: Feteasca Neagra, Saperavi, still whites, reds, and sparkling wines framed by staff who can translate Moldova’s vineyard identity into the glass.

Chisinau, Moldova

Carjoaia, Moldova

Casa de Vinuro Cotnari

Casa de Vinuro Cotnari is a reservation-led winery experience in Carjoaia shaped by the Cotnari DOC’s native grapes, historic estate setting, and northern Moldavian vineyard conditions. The draw is not spectacle but terroir: Grasă de Cotnari, Tămâioasă Românească, Fetească Albă, Busuioacă de Bohotin, and Fetească Neagră presented through guided tasting and estate context.

Carjoaia, Moldova

Purcari, Moldova

Château Purcari

Château Purcari gives Moldova’s wine-country hospitality a serious anchor: historic cellars, guided tastings, estate accommodation, and a portfolio that moves from Rară Neagră and Saperavi to classic-method sparkling wine. The draw is terroir rather than theatre, with the Ștefan Vodă IGP, Dniester influence, Black Sea winds, and sandy loam chernozem doing much of the editorial work.

Purcari, Moldova

Orhei, Moldova

Château Vartely

Château Vartely gives Orhei a polished wine-tourism anchor rather than a simple cellar-door stop. The draw is Moldova seen through terroir, native varieties, structured tastings, vineyard views, and an integrated hospitality complex that treats wine education as part of the travel experience.

Orhei, Moldova

Vrancea, Moldova

Crama Gîrboiu

Crama Gîrboiu is a family-run Vrancea estate where modern cellar work meets a regional vocabulary of Fetească Neagră, Șarba and Galbenă de Odobești. Its strongest case is terroir rather than spectacle: parcel-led viticulture, restored traditional cellars and a medal record that places Vrancea in a sharper international frame.

Vrancea, Moldova

Republic Of Moldova, Moldova

Cricova

Cricova is Moldova’s subterranean wine-city experience: a former limestone-mining network repurposed for sparkling wine, cellar aging and national wine memory. Its scale, Codru-region context and 1.3 million-bottle collection make it less a conventional tasting room than a lesson in how geology, Soviet-era infrastructure and Moldovan viticulture intersect underground.

Republic Of Moldova, Moldova

Olanesti, Moldova

Equinox

Equinox belongs to Moldova’s smaller, terroir-led wine conversation: an Olănești estate in the Ștefan Vodă appellation with a vineyard setting, quiet tasting format, and a red-wine focus built around Rară Neagră, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Carménère, and Malbec. Its draw is the link between land and bottle, especially Sintagma 2018, a Rară Neagră and Cabernet Sauvignon blend aged 30 months in oak barriques with 1,450 bottles produced.

Olanesti, Moldova

Crocmaz, Moldova

Et Cetera

Et Cetera frames Moldovan wine through the agricultural character of Crocmaz: vineyard views, family-run hospitality, and a small estate model tied to the Ștefan Vodă wine region. The draw is not spectacle but terroir, with regenerative farming, estate-grown fruit, guided tastings, food pairing, and guesthouse-style stays giving the visit a rural, grounded rhythm.

Crocmaz, Moldova

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