"Senator Wine" intends to produce several premium wines

• The company is currently running advertising campaigns in Japan, USA and Great Britain

Domestic wine maker "Senator Wine" is now focusing on expanding its activity to the premium segment, said George Neacşu, the manager of the company. He said that the company is currently producing "wines for the average consumer and will now tackle the premium market".

In order to achieve this goal, the company plans to modernize its production centers, by renovating the wine cellar in the county of Vrancea, as well as by building a new wine cellar in Însurăţei, in the county of Brăila. The works will be co-financed using European grants. Two projects worth 4 million Euros each, submitted by "Senator Wine" for the absorption of European funds have been approved. The first project, which is currently accessing funding, will be completed in about a year, according to Mr. Neacşu, who said that the second project, which is intended to help expand the company"s production capabilities, will begin after the first one is completed. Headquartered in Focşani, "Senator Wine" currently produces around 5-6 million liters of wine a year, and exploits 850 million hectares of vine.

The company has also tapped into European funds for promoting its wines abroad. The company"s director said that "Senator Wine" is currently running a promotional program in Japan, which is worth about 380,000 Euros. The project was launched last year and will last until the end of 2012.

"We have a partnership with a Japanese company which is handling the implementation of the program, which involves various marketing actions, such as wine tastings, participating in wine shows, promoting the wines in various specialized store chains, etc. The marketing activities will be different from one year to the next, according to the proposed marketing plan", said George Neacşu, who stressed that the Japanese consumers are very pleased with the Romanian wines, and especially with the Romanian varieties.

The company exports about 10 to 15% of its wines to Japan, as well as to other countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, France, Poland, Italy.

"Senator Wine", which was incorporated in 1991, is the only Romanian company which, apart from the international wine varieties, also owns the largest range of pure Romanian varieties, which are sold under the "Monşer" brand, which includes "Fetească Neagră", "Fetească Albă", "Fetească Regală", "Băbească Neagră", "Băbească Gri", "Busuioacă de Bohotin", "Tămâioasă Românească", "Zghihară de Huşi", "Cadarcă" and "Şarbă". "Senator Wine" will soon launch the domestic varieties "Crâmpoşie" and "Plăvaie". The company is the only producer of "Plăvaie" and "Băbească Gri", Mr. Neacşu added.

The vineyards of the company are located in four areas of Romania, - in the county of Caraş Severin (Tirol), which spans 285 hectares, in the county of Brăila (Însurăţei) - 245 hectares, in Huşi and in the county of Vrancea (Coteşti, Odobeşti, Panciu), with each of the last two locations having over 150 hectares of vine. The plantations were created in the 70s, and the vineyard of Însurăţei was the only one that was replanted. George Neacşu said that 137 hectares were replanted so far, with another 50 hectares set to be replanted this year. The program will also continue in the coming years, until the whole plantation gets replanted. The vineyard of Însurăţei is the largest Romanian vineyard that is ecologically run, Mr. Neacşu said.

Concerning the company"s financial results, its director said that last year, its turnover remained stable near the four million Euros mark: "Because of the crisis, our sales remained at the level they had in 2009. Competition is intensifying, as there are numerous domestic winemakers and importers on the market. However, Romanian consumers have, for the most part remained faithful to Romanian wines. The company"s main issue is the fact that, due to the current economic crisis, consumers have cut back on their wine expenses".