From the USSR to Nasdaq and EU
Located in the village of Puhoi, about 35 kilometres from the capital of the Republic of Moldova, Asconi Winery is a new-fangled jewel, established on the foundations of an older wine cellar from the Soviet era. Winemaking in the area dates back to 1958, from the USSR period, when a winery was built there, to process the grapes from the villages in the districts of Anenii Noi and Ialoveni. In the early 1990s, the cellar was producing 6 million bottles every year. Asconi Winery was founded in 1994. The company currently owns 350 hectares of vines, the varieties of grown grapes being Chardonnay, Fetească Regală, Glera, Muscat Ottonel, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Rosé, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Rară Neagră, Saperavi, etc. The grapes are being harvested at night, when the beans are cold, which gives the wine a distinctive flavour. Asconi also produces Ice Wine, from grapes harvested in the months of November or December, at temperatures as low as minus 12˚C. After the expansion from the years 1994 to 1997, when it became the largest private wine company in the country, the Asconi sales collapsed following the Russian crisis in 1998, which also propagated in Moldova. In a few years, the company recovered and, in April 2001 it managed to become the first and only winery in Moldova to be listed on the Nasdaq. 90% of its wine production is exported today on five continents, in countries like Australia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Japan, China, Taiwan, USA, Chile, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania.
• Contact person: Ion Mereuță
• Telephone: +37326864274; +37379988633
• E-mail: asconi@asconi.md
• Opening hours: 09.00–18.00
• Name of the company: Asconi SRL
• Established in: 1994
• Owner: Anatolie Sîrbu
• Oenologist: Anatolie Sîrbu
• Annual production: 3.200.000 liters
• Annual production capacity: 3.500.000 liters
• Surface: 350 hectares
• Direct sales: YES
• Winery address: sat Puhoi, raion Ialoveni, MD 6824, Republica Moldova
• Headquarters address: sat Puhoi, raion Ialoveni, MD 6824, Republica Moldova
