Excursions Excursion to Castel MIMI & Milestii Mici

Legends are written by great people who accomplish great things, motivated by their passion and their dreams, without being afraid of hard work and dedication! One of these men was Constantin Mimi, pioneer, emblematic winegrower and important public figure of the 20th century, who dedicated his life to wine. By applying the knowledge acquired in Western Europe, Constantin Mimi succeeded in building the first castle in Moldova. This led him to produce great wines and to raise the bar by applying new technologies. Thanks to his actions, the country’s wine industry has been saved many times. Moldova is therefore today one of the main producers of wine in the world.

The history of Château Mimi begins over a hundred years ago when, in 1893, Constantin Mimi planted the first vines imported from France on the site, when he inherited the land from his father at 25. Constantin Mimi is one of the most important figures concerning the development of wine culture in the country. We owe him in particular for having introduced Aligoté, so widespread today on Moldovan lands. Constantin Mimi studied for two years at the Graduate School of Agronomy in Montpellier and trained in the principles of vine growing and winemaking methods. In 1901, in the heart of his vineyard surrounded by the picturesque hills of the village of Bulboaca, Mimi, back home, built a unique castle which today bears his name. The architecture of the castle takes up the identical plans of a French castle, of classical architecture. This construction was an event because it was considered at the time as the most modern building ever built in Bessarabia and the only castle in the country. And it is true that the result is impressive, nowhere else in Moldova will you find such architecture. It is one of the rare monuments to be registered in the heritage of the historic monuments of the country. In 1911, Mimi wines participated for the first time in the International Wine Exhibition in Turin, Italy, where they found their place in front of European productions. From 1913 to 1917, Constantin Mimi, on very good terms with imperial Russia, became governor of Bessarabia. For fifty years, until the 2000s, the complex saw more than a dozen people succeed one another at its head, undergoing some successive modernizations, when finally, in 2011, the restoration of the castle really started. It is the most important that the country has known in terms of architectural renovation. On May 18, 2012, the domain’s wines appeared for the first time under the name of Château Mimi and these now play in the big leagues with manufacturing processes at the cutting edge of wine technology (tanks imported from Western Europe and French barrels).