EnglishWinemaker Cotnari has invested 3 million EUR in starting new vineyards. "This year we have planted some 150 hectares of vine and will plant a similar surface next spring. Considering that starting a vineyard from nothing costs some 20,000 EUR per hectare, the investment stands at approximately 3 million EUR," said Marketing Manager Laurentiu Anghel. The vineyards started this year will become mature and begin to produce in three years.
Cotnari also implemented a complete retooling project that cost some 4.5 million EUR between 2006 and 2007. Half of the funds came from SAPARD and other EU-financed programs, whereas the difference came from Cotnari"s own funds. According to Anghel, the company will achieve a 20% turnover growth this year, with sales projected at 26 million EUR. The profit has been estimated at 2.2 million EUR. This year"s production is 8 million liters of wine, of which exports amounted to over 1 million bottles of 0.75 liters.
Established in 1948, Cotnari currently operates over 1,100 hectares of vineyard and is best known for the wines Feteasca Alba, Grasa de Cotnari, Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Francusa de Cotnari and the newest additions Chateau Cotnari, Blanc Cotnari, Grasa 2000 and Busuioaca de Moldova. In the first 10 months of the year, Cotnari wines won 15 gold medals and 10 silver medals in Quebec, Paris, Brussels, Ljubljana and Bucharest. Three of the company"s wines have been included in the world"s top 1000 wines by the Union of French Winemakers.
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