December 4, 2008 Agriculture Ministry to promote Romanian wine
Ministry of Agriculture will launch next year a 400,000 euro country-wide project to promote Romanian wines through symposium and advertising. "It is the first time we have start such a project. Until now, there were projects to promote Romanian products, but now we rely strictly on this field. The goal is to make known among local consumers the varieties and the Romanian vineyards. About 50 percent of the project of 400,000 euro will come from European funds, the government will contribute with 30 percent and 20 percent will be provided by professional associations," said Adrian Radulescu, the head of the Agriculture Minister office quoted by Mediafax. He added that in 2010 Romania would receive EU funds to promote local wines on the international markets too. According to the National Interprofessional Wine Organization (ONIV), Romania has exported this year about 278,000 hectoliters of wine towards Canada, China, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and the United States. Imports totaled about 450,000 hectoliters.
ONIV statistics said Romania consumes five million hectoliters annually and the local production is expected to totals 5.6 million hectoliters, while sales are seen at up to 450 million euro.
Romania's wine sales to rise up to 25 pct during winter holidays
Wine sales will increase by up to 25 percent during the winter holidays, said Petre Calin Mocanu, ONIV Executive Manager.
"During the winter holidays, wine sales increase by 18-25percent. About 70 percent will semi-dry wines, while the rest will be dry," said Mocanu. He added that the best variety of Romanian wine sold is "Grasa de Cotnari". Mocanu said that the Romanian wine market reached a value of some 450 million euros this year, a 12 percent up annually. Mocanu also admitted that the local wine market has started to be affected by global financial crisis.
Source: www.vinul.ro