Mileştii Mici

Милештий Мичь - Milestii Mici - Mileshtii Mici

Useful Information

Location:	Milestii Mici village, Mileștii Mici. Mileştii Mici, 18 km south of Chişinău. (46.9211816, 28.8198594)
Open:	All year Mon-Fri 9-17. Online booking mandatory. [2020]
Fee:	Adults MDL 350, Children (0-12) free. [2025]
Classification:	Cellar Rock Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=200 km, T=12-14 °C.
Guided tours:	D=40 min.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	com. Mileștii Mici, Ialoveni, Republica Moldova, MD-6819, Tel: +373-69-500-262. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1969	State Enterprise Quality Wines Industrial Complex "Milestii Mici" founded.
1973-74	most valuable wines of the Milestii Mici Golden Collection of wines produced.
2005	listed by Guinness World Records as the biggest wine collection in the world.

Description

The village Mileştii Mici (Milestii Mici) is famous for its vast cellars. The Milestii Mici cellar complex is about 200 km long and said to be the largest in the world. It was created over centuries by the locals who extracted the limestone from below their village. Today it is partly used as wine cellars, about 50 km are said to be in use. The most famous cellar is the Stat Combinatul de Vinuri de Calitate "Milestii Mici" (State Enterprise Quality Wines Industrial Complex "Milestii Mici") which was founded in 1969. It stores and matures high-quality wines, which resulted in a wine collection called Golden Collection with some 1.5 million bottles. The best wines are from the mid 1970s and are today the most valuable. Today they are exported exclusively to Japan.

The site is located north of the village, follow L492 north, the turn right. There is a valley with a parking lot and the buildings of the winery. The entrances to the cellar are on the southern side. Inside the cellar there is a large restaurant and a tasting complex. The tasting halls are luxuriously decorated, with water fountains and artworks. The walls show the limestone rock. The cellar has decorations like mosaic ponds with goldfish, sculptures, and stained-glass windows. There are cellar tours with tasting, but also tasting without cellar tours.