Winemaker Cotnari sees 10% higher sales

Winemaker Cotnari, one of the top five players on the market, posted a 10% sales increase in the first three months of this year, compared with the same time last year, to some 2.5 million bottles. At an average price of 2.5-3 euros a bottle, sales should exceed 6 million euros in the first quarter of this year. “Before Easter, we sold around 1.1 million bottles, which accounts for a 30% increase against a normal month, and a 10% increase against the same period in 2006,” Laurentiu Anghel, marketing manager of the company told ZF. The producer closed last year with a 20% market share and a 22.5 million-euro turnover, according to company information. For this year, Cotnari estimates a 25 million-euro turnover, which is over 10% higher than last year. Laurentiu Anghel says in reference to Romanian consumers preferences in wines, no changes have been noticed this year. “The Romanian market continues to favour white, semi-sweet wine, although our semi-dry wines have seen an increase, in particular Francusa, Chateau Cotnari and Dealul Catalina,” said Anghel. White wine accounted for the bulk of the Romanian production, i.e. 70-75%, whereas red wine accounts for 25 to 30% of sales. However, out of the total production of Romanian wines, the share of those with controlled appellation of origin is 8-10%, while the rest is divided between table wines and superior wines. The best-selling Cotnari wines were Grasa de Cotnari, Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Dealul Catalina and Francusa.