It was June 2021 when I first entered the tunnels of Mileștii Mici – and I got lost. Despite the signs and street names, it’s almost impossible not to feel disoriented at least once.

Even if you walk those tunnels dozens of times a day, your body never fully adapts to that dark and humid environment. That’s why it never ceases to impress and lingers in your memory as a mysterious place.

These two-century-old limestone tunnels have housed wine since the late 1960s. Deep underground, 70 meters below the surface, workers built a staggering wine collection, so vast that the Guinness Book of Records recognized it as the largest in the world, with around 1.5 million bottles.

If we tried to compare the size of this impressive storage space with any other in the winemaking world, we’d hardly find few rivals. You see, in this part of the world, winemaking had to do, at some point in history, with the command economy and Soviet-era megalomania.

This intricate underground labyrinth can be transformed into just about anything the human imagination can conceive – with some creativity and, of course, investment.

From a running track to a film set, underground cinema, or immersive show. With augmented reality, you could chase Pokemon-like creatures through the tunnels using your smartphone.

And if those ideas sound ambitious, some of them have already been implemented and have left their mark.

If you ever find yourself in Moldova, explore this unique side of winemaking and take the chance to visit Mileștii Mici – at least once in your lifetime.