Wines of Romania, soon in Hong Kong

During November 9-11 the renowned Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair will open its gates to visitors. Among the many exhibiting countries, Romania is going to make its comeback after a previous participation in 2012, being attracted by the big opportunities offered by this part of the world.

Situated in the southeastern Europe where the Blue Danube hugs the Black Sea, Romania has a winemaking history that dates back more than 4,000 years.

Today, OIV statistics place Romania as follows:

- area under vine (5th position in the EU) behind Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.

- grape production (5th position in the EU) behind Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

- wine production (6th position in the EU), behind Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany, thus ranking 13th in the world.

Although it has a long established wine culture and is a reputable European producer of world-class quality wines, Romania is, unfortunately, less known in China. A situation that will not last for long having in mind the Romanian wineries’ sustained efforts to increase their wine sales in China, on the one side, and the growing openness of Chinese consumers towards the Romanian wines, on the other side.

Just to illustrate the trend, year by year, the Romanian wine exports to China have shown a steady growth. Thus, over the last five years, China became one of the major export markets of Romania with a share of about 14.0% in its total wine exports. In 2012, for instance, China was the largest export market, while during the 2013-2016 period it held the second or the third rank.

"I think we are living in exciting times and there is a great future for Romanian wine. It has always been a large wine producing country with a diverse and high quality set of vineyard regions with great natural potential and great heritage. Now with all the new development projects going on, I am sure that Romania will soon become a commercial force in the wine world, said Philip Cox, Vice-President of APEV Romania and commercial directorand shareholder of Recas Winery, one of the biggest Romanian wine exporters, while interviewed by Harpers.co.uk.

At the forthcoming edition of Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (09-11 Nov. 2017) Romania will be present with eight of its top wineries in Pavilion 3G-E02, a participation that is co-financed by the Romanian Ministry for Business Environment, Commerce and Entrepreneurship.

On this occasion, the visitors will have the chance to meet the winemakers of the following companies: CRAMA CEPTURA, CRAMELE HALEWOOD, CRAMELE SENATOR, DOMENIILE SAHATENI, DOMENIUL BOGDAN, DOMENIUL COROANEI SEGARCEA, JIDVEI and VITIS METAMORFOSIS.

The respective exhibiting wineries are coming from famous wine regions, particularly from Muntenia (Dealu Mare), Dobrogea, Oltenia and Transylvania. For those who don’t know yet Romania is divided into several wine regions: Moldova, Muntenia & Oltenia, Banat, Crisana & Maramures Transylvania and Dobrogea. (see below the map and the shares held by each region in 2016)

Below is a non-exhaustive selection of Romanian wines offered by the exhibitors to try:

CRAMA CEPTURA: ‘Cervus Magnus Monte’ (Feteasca Neagra, Feteasca Regala, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé), ‘Astrum Cervi’ (Cabernet Sauvignon, Feteasca Neagra) and ‘Cervus Cepturum’ (Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot).

CRAMELE HALEWOOD: ‘Floarea Soarelui’ (Feteasca Regala, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc), ‘Byzantium’ (Sauvignon Blanc, Feteasca Alba, Chardonnay, Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Semilon, Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Shiraz), ‘Hyperion’ (Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, Feteasca Neagra, Merlot) and ‘La Umbra’ (Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir Rosé, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio)

CRAMELE SENATOR: ‘Varius’ (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Feteasca Neagra, Chardonnay)

DOMENIILE SAHATENI: ‘Nomad’ (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Syrah Rosé, Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Feteasca Alba), ‘Signum’ (Sauvignon Blanc & Feteasca Regala, Syrah & Merlot, Rosé (Pinot Gris & Syrah & Cabernet Sauvignon), Pinot Noir, Feteasca Alba & Chardonnay & Tamaioasa Romaneasca, ‘Artisan’ (Tamaioasa Romaneasca – dry, Tamaioasa Romaneasca - medium sweet, White (Feteasca Alba & Riesling Italian & Tamaioasa Romaneasca), Red (Feteasca Neagra & Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot), Feteasca Neagra), ‘Karakter’ (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio), ‘Rosé’ (Pinot Noir & Syrah & Cabernet Sauvignon), ‘Entuziasm’ (Chardonnay & Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Gris), ‘Promessa’ (Chardonnay, Feteasca Neagra & Syrah), ‘Promessa Rosé’ (Pinot Noir & Pinot Grigio & Syrah) and ‘Anima’ (Chardonnay oak, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir).

‘DOMENIUL BOGDAN’: Merlot, Syrah, Feteasca Neagra, Cuvee Experience

DOMENIUL COROANEI SEGARCEA: ‘Blue Train’ (Feteasca Alba,Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot), ‘Vardo Patima Serii’ (Feteasca Neagra), ‘Vardo Adierea Vantului’ (Syrah), ‘Vardo Puterea Vointei’ (Cabernet Franc, Marselan), ‘Vardo Picatura Vietii’ (Touriga Nacional), ‘Minima Moralia (Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Viognier, Feteasca Alba, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Marselan, Syrah), ‘Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea’ (Marselan, Viognier, Tamaioasa Roza), ‘Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea Rosé’ (Pinot Noir).

JIDVEI – FILIALA ALBA: ‘Mysterium’ (Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling), ‘Castel Jidvei’ (Feteasca Alba, Gewurztraminer), ‘Jidvei’ (Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Muscat Ottonel, Gewurztraminer), ‘Jidvei Sparkling Wines’ (Extra Dry Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Feteasca Regala).

VITIS METAMORFOSIS: ‘Fluturi & Farfalle’ (Fetească Regala, Merlot), ‘Viile Metamorfosis’ (Muscat Ottonel & Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Feteasca Alba & Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Feteasca Neagra), ‘Via Colțul Pietrei’ (Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Chardonnay), ‘Via Marchizului’ (Negru de Dragasani, Pinot Noir), ‘Cantus Primus’ (Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Sauvignon).

Nowadays Romania can boast a dynamic wine market with many professional winemakers and a steady but growing presence on the international market.

The promotion activities in China focuses mainly on the participation in the specialised trade fairs like Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, Interwine Guangzhou, ProWine China Shanghai a.o., not to mention the invitation of Chinese importers for tours to wineries in Romania.

As the development goes further, more and more Chinese consumers will be able to enjoy the high quality and rich variety of Romanian wines in the near future. (LU Jiang, WineSchool China)

Note:

APEV Romania is the professional Association of Romanian Wine Exporters and Producers that groups the most important wine exporters of the country, who hold together around 70% of the total Romanian wine export in value terms and also about the same share on the domestic market.

APEV Romania is also acting as a generic promotional body for all “Wines of Romania” and for Romania as a top enotourism destination in Europe.

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Source: APEV Romania

(W: www.wineromania.com; E: apev@wineromania.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/wineromania)