Château Vartely
Vartely wine estate in Orhei
Modern winery on a hill near Orhei, with villas, a restaurant and tasting rooms
47.3700° N · 28.8200° E46 km from Chișinău
Photo: Nixalsverdrus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Château Vartely is a modern winery on the edge of Orhei, about 45 kilometres north of Chișinău. The company was founded in 2004 and in 2008 opened a visitor complex with tasting rooms, a restaurant and guest villas. It combines vineyards in Codru with vineyards in Valul lui Traian in the south.
The estate and its history
Château Vartely belongs to the generation of wineries built with private capital after Moldova's independence. The company was founded in 2004; in 2008 a complex opened on a hill on Strada Eliberării in Orhei, its architecture loosely inspired by French châteaux. According to the national tourism office, the house works about 260 hectares of vineyards in the Codru and Valul lui Traian regions, with European varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon alongside the native Fetească Neagră.
That spread is deliberate. The white grapes come from chalky soils in Codru, where the climate is cooler; the reds grow on clay soils in the warmer south. According to its own website, Vartely produces about 4.5 million bottles a year; according to BKWine, some 90% goes abroad, with the Czech Republic as the largest market.
The cellars and the wines
The range is organised in lines. Taraboste is the top range, Individo brings together the single-varietal wines and Inspiro is a third line, which also comes in a sparkling version. The house also makes ice wine, liqueur wine and spirits. To get to know the house style, compare a white wine from Codru with a red from the south: the difference in climate and soil is easy to taste.
Visiting and tasting
Tours last about two hours and end in one of the two tasting rooms. You can book via the wine tours page on the house website or through the booking centre. The restaurant serves Moldovan and international dishes; check the opening hours beforehand, as the website gives different times. If you want to stay, you can sleep in one of the three villas, which together accommodate about 40 guests. Vartely combines well with a visit to the cave monastery of Orheiul Vechi, some 20 kilometres further on. From Chișinău the drive takes just under an hour.
