Moldovan vines

These beautiful grapes are growing on a casual trellis at the house where most of the team are staying. Almost everyone grows grapes and makes wine in rural Moldova. Delicious wine at that. Yet it is relatively unknown in Western Europe - apparently they use some plastic product which the EU finds unacceptable. Until recently that hasn't mattered as Russia has imported vast amounts of Moldovan wine. But in 2013 President Putin has placed an embargo on it in an arm twisting political exercise to make Moldova reliant on and compliant with their Russian neighbours.
Consequently, the economy here has slumped from desperate to dire and the Moldovan people are left with a lot of wine in their cellars with which to drown their sorrows.