Moldova will not be able to make wine from some 5,000 hectares of Isabella and Lidia vines once it joins the EU, Agriculture Minister Eugeniu Osmochescu told Radio Moldova on October 5.

"Two grape varieties - Isabella and Lidia - will not be accepted for wine production," Osmochescu said. His ministry is working with scientists on replacement varieties that can withstand drought and frost, which are being trialled at research-institute level with "positive results", he added. "This way we will be competitive even with the big wine producers of France, Italy or Spain."

The two old American varieties cover only a small corner of Moldova's vineyards. Osmochescu put the country's total planted area at about 109,000 hectares in early September, against ministry data of just over 100,000 hectares, of which some 90,500 hectares are wine grapes, Agrobiznes reported on September 4. On those figures, Isabella and Lidia account for about 5% of the total. Nor will growers have to grub them up. "Their cultivation is not prohibited, but they are not accepted for winemaking," the minister said.

The restriction comes from EU wine rules. Under Regulation 1308/2013 on the common organisation of agricultural markets, EU countries may classify for wine production varieties of Vitis vinifera or crosses between it and other Vitis species, but not six named varieties: Noah, Othello, Isabelle, Jacquez, Clinton and Herbemont. Isabella (also rendered Isabelle in the regulation) is on that list; Lidia is not named.

Osmochescu is more worried about the size of the vineyard as a whole. Planted area has fallen by about 10,000 hectares in five years, and in 2025 roughly seven hectares were uprooted for every new hectare planted, he said in September. Once inside the bloc, Moldova will be bound by the EU's planting authorisation system, which limits new plantings to 1% of a member state's vineyard area a year. "We will not be able to increase vineyard hectares by more than about one percent," he said, adding that without funding for new plantings, "2026 is practically lost".

He wants support for replanting concentrated in the years before accession and is counting on EU money under Moldova's Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy to pay for it. Economist Ghenadie Ivascenco, in a study cited by Radio Moldova, argued that the problem runs deeper, blaming the lack of "a real transition programme" and underfunded research for leaving growers on varieties that buyers no longer want. About 80% of demand on Western markets is for seedless table grapes, and seeded grapes can sell for 40-50% less, he said.

Osmochescu moved to agriculture from the economy ministry and was sworn in on August 28, after his predecessor Radu Musteata resigned in July. Moldova opened its first EU negotiating cluster in June, after Hungary's new government dropped its opposition, and the European Commission has promised accession roadmaps for the most advanced candidates, Moldova among them. The vineyard is under pressure from the weather as well: a drought cut the 2024 grape harvest by up to 35%.