Wine & Food

Sheep's cheese, grilled meat, and thin rolled dough define the cuisine around Cahul and Comrat. It's hearty and simple at the same time. Then there's Mămăligă, a firm cornmeal porridge that accompanies almost every plate in Moldova. Each of these dishes finds its own match in Valul lui Traian, and none of them pairs equally well with every wine.

Mititei are small grilled rolls of minced beef and lamb. Garlic and herbs season them boldly, almost roughly, and they call for an equally bold partner in the glass. A red wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon or Fetească Neagră, with ripe tannin and dark fruit, easily stands up to the grill's char and the garlic's bite. A wine that's too light simply disappears next to it.

Brânză de oaie, the salty sheep's cheese of the Bugeac steppe, prefers something fresher. A dry Sauvignon Blanc cuts nicely through its fat. A rosé made from Merlot also works, because its fruit highlights the cheese's salty side rather than masking it. Paired with a sweet Fetească Albă, by contrast, that same cheese would suddenly taste bitter, a small but unmistakable misstep at the table.

Sweet Plăcintă is often filled with pumpkin or cherry. It pairs well with wines made from raisined grapes, whose honey and dried-fruit aromas mirror the filling rather than fighting against it. For the clear chicken soup Zeamă, on the other hand, served with sorrel and a dash of sour cream, a simple, cool white wine made from Aligoté is entirely enough. Anything more would only overwhelm the soup's delicate acidity.