Description
Wine House
Casa Vinicola Luca is a family business with deep roots in history. However, recent history has been very challenging for this family. The Soviet regime confiscated their entire property and deported a large part of the family to forced labor in Siberia. Only great-grandfather Petru escaped deportation because he happened to be in the vineyard on that fateful night and had to spend several days there to complete the work due to a lack of transportation at the time. The vineyard saved him. Upon his return, he discovered that his home had been taken over by Soviet officers instead of his loved ones. He fought to get his family back home and largely succeeded in convincing the regime that they were not “class enemies” or “traitors to the homeland.” Upon their return, they were allocated a barn where they used to store their tools for tilling the land and the vineyard. There, they continued their lives. Grandfather Grigore continued the tradition and produced wine throughout his life, albeit under domestic circumstances, as private ownership was not allowed at the time, and entrepreneurship was prohibited.
The Perestroika period found father Ion in one of the country’s largest wine cellars, called Cricova, where he worked alongside his son Vasile and created some of Moldova’s most renowned wines. Son Ion continued the family tradition and decided to reclaim what had been taken from them by the Soviet regime after numerous travels around the world: the production of wine under their own name – Casa Vinicola Luca. In 2014, they introduced the CARPE DIEM wine series, primarily consisting of native grape varieties but also including some international varieties, and the recognition was not far behind. Each year, Carpe Diem wines receive praise at numerous national and international competitions and have been the most awarded small wine producer in Moldova for many years.
