(CNN) - Judging by the dust on the label, the bottle hasn't been handled for years, yet it feels warm to touch.

Perhaps that's because it's part of a wine collection that I'm told belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin and my palms are perspiring.

Turning slowly, I half expect to be confronted by a bare-chested man in a judo stance, demanding to know what I'm doing with his vino.

I'm imagining things, of course.

Putin has more pressing matters to attend to than skulking around in catacombs in Moldova.

I'm in the state-owned Cricova wine cellar, deep beneath the hills outside Chisinau, the capital.

My paranoia isn't quite as foolish as it sounds -- Putin reportedly celebrated his 50th birthday right here.

Moldova, Europe's least-visited country, is separated from Russia by Ukraine -- although since the recent annexation of the Crimea, it feels a lot closer.

It certainly holds this complex little country's fortunes in its hand.

Last year, when Russia ceased importing Moldovan wine because it said trace contaminants had been discovered, some said the move was really an expression of displeasure at European Union expansion.

Wine is everything here.

The countryside is covered by vineyards and Moldova produces some of the world's best wines, although you wouldn't know it looking at stockists in many parts of the planet.

Britain's Queen Victoria was a fan, partial to a bottle of Negru de Purcari.