Carl Reh Winery head estimates around half of the 70 winemakers operating on the organized market at this moment have emerged starting 2007.
Most new-entrants have small vineyard areas, of between 7 and 50 hectares and this is why the 50% higher number of players does not mean an increase in wine volume by a similar percentage, says Roceanu.
Germany’s Reh-Kendermann group, which owns the Romanian winemaker, is among the first foreign investors in the local industry, becoming the owner of Crama Oprisor in January 2000. At present, Crama Oprisor is a medium-sized player on the wine market, owning 252 hectares of vineyard in Mehedinti.
In 2013, the company generated revenue worth EUR3.6 million. “In the first months of 2015 Crama Oprisor’s wine sales were 8% higher than in the same period of 2014. In the first quarter of 2015 we generated revenue worth EUR0.8 million,” said Roceanu.
For the entire 2015, the company has budgeted a 5-8% sales increase against 2014.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)