(Nashvillescene) - Last year, Chris Chamberlain wrote about Moldovan wines when Moldova's wine industry first started pushing for market share in the States. Now the government of Moldova has established an organization, (“Wine of Moldova”), to single out wines that meet quality guidelines and further the effort to boost the industry abroad. As a result, Travel + Leisure recently named the region among “Four New Wine Regions to Watch.”

Every wine-producing region in the world has a unique and interesting history. Some have been producing wines for centuries, while others have only recently introduced wine grapes to the land to see what would come about. Though California has been producing some great wines for quite some time, the production there is still in its infancy in comparison to that of France and other countries in western and central Europe.

Moldova, a small Eastern European country tucked between Romania and Ukraine that was once part of the Soviet Union, is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in Europe. Archaeological expeditions have indicated that wine may have been produced there as early as 3,000 B.C. Moldovan winemaking peaked in the 1600s, but was still going strong when all production was stopped as part of Mikhail Gorbachev’s campaign against alcohol in the 1980s. Moldova gained its independence in 1991 and since then, winemakers in the area have worked to revitalize the industry.

Moldovan vineyards now grow more than 30 different types of grapes, including many from Western Europe. But the most interesting Moldovan wines are those made from the varietals indigenous to Moldova: Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala, Feteasca Neagra, Rara Neagra, Plavai, Traminer, Saperavi and Viorica.