Winemaker Cotnari sees 10% sales increase

Winemaker Cotnari, one of the top five players on the local market, posted an approximately 12 million-euro turnover in the first half of this year, up 10% against the same time last year. Results in this period are in line with estimates for the whole year. For 2007, Cotnari has budgeted a 25 million-euro turnover. “During the summer months, wine sales are slightly down, with the share of light dry wines increasing. Compared with the same time last year, sales have maintained steady, with dry and semi-dry wines, Francusa, Dealul Catalina and Chateau Cotnari, seeing a slight increase,” said Laurentiu Anghel, marketing manager of the company. As for the second half of the year, the company is expecting increases, particularly in the cold season. According to data supplied by the company, Cotnari had a 19.5% share of the DOC (denomination of controlled origin) wines, with a vineyard surface of 1,300 hectares under management. Laurentiu Anghel specified that since the beginning of the year, there have been no major changes in the Romanians’ consumption behaviour, except for a slight increase in the consumption of dry / semi-dry wine.