Romanian wine producers prefer the local market

Ovidiu Gheorghe, PNVV’s General Manager, said that Romanian producers prefer selling their wine on the local market because prices on foreign markets are unattractive. Moreover, Romanians prefer domestic wine.

The main markets considered for exports in the near future are the United States, Russia, and Asia. In 2008, the most important foreign destinations included Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, and England, according to PNVV data.

“The Romanian wine market is an emerging one, which has not yet reached its full potential, and so it will continue its trend of the past few years. The pace may not be the same, but the trend will not change,” said Cosmin Popescu, General Manager of Murfatlar.

The value of the wine market amounted to some €500 million last year, up 11 percent year-on-year. Major players are Murfatlar, Jidvei, Cotnari, and Vincon.

Romania ranks fifth in the European Union in terms of vineyard surface, with 186,900 hectares of fruit-bearing vines, of which 84,200 noble wine grapevine and 10,700 noble table grapevine, according to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, after Italy, France, Spain, and Germany.