Romanian wine yet to tempt major investors

Allied-Domecq, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Castel Group, practically the leading producers of wines and spirits in the world, have not yet become involved in the Romanian wine industry.

However, the Romanian market is regarded as having a lot of potential, having started to receive coverage in major international newspapers, such as a recent issue of Le Figaro.

Considering how things stand in Romania, those voices from the international wine industry that have stated that the future of the Romanian market is in the hands of small and medium-sized producers, selling less but at higher prices, are correct.

Apart from the three big names in Romania, Murfatlar Romania, Jidvei and Vincon Vrancea, the rest of the market is home to small and medium-sized winemakers whose annual sales rarely reach 5 million euros but who have managed to introduce some very popular wines onto the market. Mor eover, they have managed to export their own brands at the expense of bulk wine exports.

"Some of the major international producers are only operating on the Romanian market in terms of distribution and are not involved in winemaking. Pernod Ricard was at one point buying Romanian wine, which it was using in the production of other wines, but stopped doing so once Vinexport disappeared," says Basil Zarnoveanu, chairman of the Association of Winemakers and Exporters (APEV). He added that the domestic wine industry was not yet attractive to the major winemakers, which have previously had short-lived affairs in out of the way locations such as Georgia and even the Republic of Moldova. "Some of the major producers ventured to Georgia or the Republic of Moldova where they had only limited success, which made them quit," Zarnoveanu stated.