Moldovan Winery Chateau Vartely Opens $25.5 Mln Tourist Complex

The complex includes 12 hotel rooms, two wine tasting halls and a restaurant with a wine cellar, Chateau Vartely brand manager Alena Reanina told SeeNews.

"The complex was built in the style of a French chateau. Besides the leisure facilities, it includes a wine making factory and vineyards," Reanina said. "We want to attract foreign as well as domestic tourists to this complex."

Chateau Vartely, based in the town of Orhei, has around 250 hectares of vineyards in central and southern Moldova. It plans to increase the area of its vineyards to 500 hectares and to harvest 2,000 tonnes of grapes annually by 2010.

Chateau Vartely, set up in 2004, produces more than one million bottles of wine annually.

($=0.7118 euro)