Romanian wine sales soar at Waitrose

By Lisa Riley

Published: 17 April, 2018

Waitrose has reported a surge in the popularity of Romanian wine.

The retailer said volume sales of wines from the country were up 17% year-on-year, boosted by a particular impressive performance from its own label Blueprint Romanian Pinot Noir – up 60% compared to the previous year, it said.

The booming sales reflected savvy shoppers exploring wines from further afield, said Victoria Mason, wine buyer, Waitrose.

“Romanian wine is a real success story and word is definitely getting around about how delicious it is," she said, adding the country produced some “super wines that are exceptionally good value”.

Romania is the sixth largest wine-producing region in Europe and is one of the fastest growing Eastern European countries at Waitrose.

The country, which uses modern methods and well-known grape varieties to produce easy-drinking value wines in a similar manner to Hungary, can chart a long history of winemaking dating back several thousand years.

In January this year, Romanian producer Cramele Recas revealed plans to expand its winery to produce an additional four million litres, taking its total capacity to 30 million, this year on the back of soaring exports.

The winery, which claims to be Romania’s biggest, said exports during 2017 to Germany were up 124%, by 58% to the Netherlands and 18% for the UK, with overall exports having doubled since 2014 to eight million bottles.

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