The Mystery One-Day Moldovan Wine Tour

Where are we going? Not telling you. Which wineries are we visiting? Also not telling you. What are we drinking? Now you're beginning to understand how a mystery tour works.

Join us for a full day disappearing into the Moldovan countryside on a wine adventure where the only things we're prepared to reveal in advance are that we'll visit three completely different wineries, eat a local lunch and consume a quantity of Moldovan wine that makes the return journey considerably quieter than the outward one. Everything else is a surprise.

Three Wineries. Three Completely Different Experiences.

We'll collect you in the morning and head out of Chișinău towards Winery Number One. It could be an impressive estate with immaculate vineyards and a tasting room where somebody says things like "subtle notes of blackcurrant and tobacco." Or it could be a tiny family producer where three generations make wine in the back garden and Grandpa disappears into the cellar before returning with an unlabelled plastic bottle and a dangerous smile.

There could be barrels, underground cellars, sparkling wine, ancient grape varieties, homemade spirits or a winemaker insisting that you absolutely must try "just one more." We're not telling you. That's rather the point.

What we can promise is that we'll choose three contrasting wineries, so you won't spend the day visiting three polished tasting rooms and hearing the same speech about fermentation temperatures. We want characters, stories, vineyards, cellars and proper Moldovan hospitality.

And wine. Quite a lot of wine.

The Lunch That Ate The Afternoon.

Somewhere between wineries two and three, we'll stop for a proper local Moldovan lunch. And when we say lunch, we're using the word rather loosely because Moldovans don't really do "a light bite."

Expect a table groaning under the weight of traditional dishes such as plăcinte, mămăligă, local cheeses, vegetables, pickles, grilled meats, sarmale and whatever else our hosts decide you look capable of eating. Saying "I'm full" in Moldova isn't the end of lunch. It's generally interpreted as a request to bring out another plate.

There will, naturally, be wine. Copious amounts of wine. Red wine, white wine, possibly rosé and perhaps something homemade that arrives in an innocent-looking jug and turns out to have enough personality to remove several hours from the afternoon.

Your glass may also possess the remarkable Moldovan ability to refill itself whenever you look away. Nobody fully understands how this happens. We suspect grandmothers.

Winery Number Three

After lunch, we're off to our final mystery winery, although by now the atmosphere on the minibus may have changed considerably. At 9am everyone was politely introducing themselves and discussing where they were from. By mid-afternoon someone from Manchester is best friends with a retired accountant from Belgium and they're seriously discussing opening a wine bar together.

Our third winery provides the grand finale, with another generous tasting and a final chance to discover why Moldova is becoming one of Europe's most interesting wine destinations. We'll try local grape varieties, meet the people behind the bottles and almost certainly hear the phrase "Would you like another glass?"

This is Tipple Tours. You already know the answer.

What Could Possibly Be Included?

🍷 Three completely different mystery wineries

🍇 Multiple wine tastings

🍽️ A huge traditional local lunch

🍷 Plenty of wine with lunch

🚐 Transport throughout the day

👨‍🌾 Local winemakers, characters and stories

🧀 Traditional Moldovan food

🥃 Possible surprise appearances from homemade spirits

🎁 A few surprises along the way

❓Absolutely no advance knowledge of where we're taking you

Why The Mystery?

Sometimes holidays become ridiculous military operations. People spend three weeks reading reviews, examining menus, watching videos, studying photographs and virtually walking down the street on Google Maps. By the time they actually arrive, they've already seen everything.

Not on this tour. We'll choose the wineries, organise the food, sort the transport and worry about opening hours, reservations and which village road has mysteriously ceased being a road since somebody last checked.

You don't need an itinerary spreadsheet, tasting plan or twenty-seven browser tabs. In fact, we'd rather you didn't know where you're going until the minibus pulls up outside.

Your responsibilities are considerably simpler:

Turn up. Get in. Drink wine. Eat lunch. Repeat.

Three mystery wineries. One delicious Moldovan lunch. Plenty of wine. Zero spoilers.