Harvesting started late this year amid the unfavorable climate conditions and thus there are no statistical figures on production from the Agriculture Ministry, but the ministry’s officials said over 60% of production has been harvested so far.
“We expect production increases countrywide, of above 10-15%, as climate conditions are good. We hope wine quality will also improve as most wineries of Romania have invested a lot in technology”, said Ion Balan, who owns, together with Maria Balan, Nalba business behind Crama Hamangia brand.
Last year, Romania had a vineyard area of 177,000 hectares and a grape production of 940,000 tons. Wine production revolved around five million hectoliters.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)