Paper short abstract:

After Moldova lost its main export market for wine, the postsocialist winemaking country has been forced into articulating new wine (his)stories and identities compatible with the globalized wine market which is centered on Old World countries and dominated by the terroir ideology.

Paper long abstract:

Crafting an identity suitable for the international wine market has been the priority of Moldova's wine sector in the post-2006 years, when Russia set the first ban on Moldovan wine imports. Since then, the main actors in the wine sector - the public-private National Office for Vine and Wine and the private wineries - have been pushing for legislative and organizational changes, and strived to develop strategies to encourage a 'right wine culture' among Moldovan winemakers and consumers. Some of the priorities of these actors have been the implementation of a Protected Geographic Indication system, developing marketing strategies in individual wineries as well as creating a country brand, 'Wine of Moldova', to participate with in international exhibitions and contests. Being historically an export-oriented industry with up to 90% of the wine going abroad, the sudden loss of a large, traditional market forced the sector into articulating new wine (his)stories and identities and start speaking the language of the globalized wine market which is centered on Old World countries and dominated by the terroir ideology. By tracing how historical dependence on a single market and local narratives on 'wine culture' interplay with the recent strategies for mobilizing wine on the western markets, this paper unpacks the tensions between the possibilities of the postsocialist republic and the expectations of a globalized wine market.