Lacerta Winery launches premium wines following a EUR 6 million investment

Newsroom 24/02/2011 | 15:49

A new player, Lacerta Winery, enters the local wine market by launching nine varieties of premium dry wine. The company is owned by four businessmen, three Austrian and one German, and was set up following a EUR 6 million investments. Approximately 25 percent of the money comes from EU funds the Romanian authorities, Walter Friedl, representative of the owners told BR.

The Romanian market is presently the company’s priority. “The Romanian market is by far the most important for us. We first want to introduce our wines locally, and then consider exporting,” Friedl added.

As for the local market for premium wines, Friedl thinks that there is plenty of room for growth.“Look in various restaurants in Bucharest. People want to buy quality Romanian wine but it is either not available or it is poorly promoted so they end up buying Chilean or French wines,” he explains.

The Lacerta Winery portfolio includes three red wine varieties and six white. “Although traditionally Romanians are consumers of sweet and semi-sweet varieties, trends show an increase in the demand for dry quality wine,” said Friedl.

Prices vary between RON 39 and RON 69 per bottle. The wines will be entirely distributed through HoReCa and specialized wine shops. For 2011 the company has produced 46,000 bottles of wine but over the next two years the production will triple, Friedl added.