Climate

Codru means forest, and the name sets the tone for the climate. Oak and linden forests cover large parts of the hills between Chișinău and Orhei, slowing the wind that would otherwise sweep across the open steppe to the south. The forest helps keep things cool.

The result is a moderate continental climate with mild, short winters and long, warm summers. Average annual temperatures range between nine and nine and a half degrees Celsius. The sun shines on more than three hundred days a year. Rain is rare, averaging between four hundred fifty and five hundred fifty millimetres annually. Most of it falls in summer, exactly when the vines need it most.

More important than the average is the forest itself. It traps the cool night air in the hollows and protects the vineyards in spring from late frosts, which can cost entire vintages in the open south of the country. Where forest meets vineyard, the air in May stays a few degrees warmer than over open fields, and that's often enough to save a flowering. The effect is measurable.

The vineyards lie between one hundred fifty and four hundred metres in elevation. Most slopes are gentle and face south or southeast. Higher-planted parcels near Orhei retain their acidity longer, since temperatures stay cooler there. The result is white wines that stay fresh without tasting green, and a base wine for sparkling wine that still shows tension even after years in the tunnels. This combination of forest, elevation, and moderate temperatures is why Codru is far better suited to white wine and sparkling wine than the drier south of the country.