2014 will probably remain in the Romanian winemaking history as a very rainy year. And rain is not a good thing for this particular industry. In Romania there are more than 180,000 hectares of vineyards, but most of the grapes have been ruined by mildew. One example: almost 95% of the grape varieties cultivated on the hills of the Dragasani vineyard did not make it through the hailstorm at the end of July.
But the other well known vineyards in the country suffer from the bad weather which has brought about disease; the small and medium sized winemakers own a total of 40-50% of the wine market, estimated at about 350 million euros. “In 2014, the harvest is poorer than in 2013”, confirms Ioana Micu, the executive director of amb Wine, the company that owns Liliac, a medium sized winery. In the hills of Transylvania, at Batos and Lechinta, the Austrian Alfred Michael Beck, the owner of Liliac Winery, makes wine from 50 hectares cultivated with noble grape varieties. Initially, the business man “intended to invest in forests. He accidentally got to winemaking”, says Victor Ciuperca, country manager of amb Holding, which owns, among others, amb Wine. Since 2010, when he bought the first vineyard hectars in Batos, Beck has invested 5.5 million euros in this business (including operational costs), the total capacity of the winery being 250,000 bottles a year.
The first Liliac wines were marketed in 2012. “We have sold 38,000 bottles of premium wine from last year’s production. We have targeted the hotels and restaurants from the very start “, says Ioana Micu. Last June, the Liliac winery has launched the Crepuscul wines (for the medium-high retail sector) and has sold 78,000 litres, and this year “we estimate a total sale of 120,000 litres from last year’s production” adds the executive manager of amb Wine. The hotels and restaurants sector is still the main sales channel for the winery. “We sell to more than 200 restaurants adding up to 100,000 bottles this year. This is a lot for a young winery –but retail has also reached a 30% of our turnover, estimated at 800,000 euros in 2013. It is very difficult to establish a new brand on the market.“
“The good news is that we have seen a migration towards good quality wines. The consumption of premium wines has increased both in the hotels business and in retail”, adds Ioana Micu. Aside from the Mega Image network which already sells the Crepuscul wines, the executive manager of amb Wine is negotiating a potential cooperation with Auchan. “We have already bottled 30,000 Crepuscul wine bottles and, as the quantity is larger than last year, we are prepared to extend the retail sector.” Moreover, the company is considering the sparkling wine sector. “In 2016 we will most likely deliver the first sparkling wine production to the hotels and restaurants business”, says Victor Ciuperca. Until then we are left to face the rains which have affected all of us.”
“At Lechinta”, says Ioana Micu, “20% of the vineyard has been affected by hail.”
If we consider the vegetation period we are ten days behind compared to last year. What does a rainy season mean for wine? First of all, a decrease in wine quality (smaller amount of sugars, flavours etc). About the quality of 2014 production, Micu does not say much:” It is too early to say. We get a bottle of wine for each vine. If we compare it to mass production, you can yield up to 6 or 7 bottles per vine, but the quality of the wine is certainly not the same. “
Cristiana Stoica, the owner of 30 hectares of vineyard and of the Avincis winery, also a young brand, is more certain of her harvest. “Our wine production is good in 2014 as well, in quality terms. As far as quantity, we expect lower volumes, as the weather conditions have not been on our side this year“, she says. The maximum wine production –“that we haven’t reached yet” can go up to 400, 000 bottles. The troubled times and the increasing interest in premium wines makes the owner of Avincis see “ an opportunity to make wines that cope better with the financial capacities of the consumers, without diminishing the quality standards we stand by, as premium winemakers”. For meal consumption, she explains, the customer is willing to pay “very little, 5-15 RON at the most”, while a bottle of premium wine costs between 30 and 50 RON.
If it hadn’t been for the bad weather –“weather plays a major part and this cannot be controlled”- the small and medium sized winemakers, such as Avincis, would still be faced with larger problems than the big players. “The main difficulty is the insufficient promoting of wine culture. Both in the hotel and restaurant business, as in retail, only cheap wine is being marketed, not good and cheap wine“, says Cristiana Stoica and she also notes the lack of a necessary infrastructure (roads, accommodation, certain facilities at the vineyards which make it possible for the final consumer to come to the winery). Moreover, she adds, there is no financial policy to support the winemakers (banks, not just European funds) for winemaking, especially in the face of natural disaster. And last but not least, “the exported Romanian wine is faced with an inadequate country brand, and with the absence of joint, coherent action of producers, which makes the promotion of premium wine difficult on the foreign market.”
The problems of winemakers and the poor wine production may bring about higher retail prices? “It would be a huge mistake”, explains Ioana Micu from Liliac , as “a potential increase in the price of wine, up to 20%, as the rumour goes, is not sustainable, it would only lead to a year of crisis”.
