Sun, Nov 22 2009
Photo: Maria Subotinova
Forward-thinking philosophy and French wine consultant equal top crus at Katarzyna Estate
Bulgarian wine exports decline with a reduction in sales to Russia, its largest export market.
With the holiday season approaching, trying a new wine can sound tempting. But with so many bottles on the shelves and labels announcing grapes harvested from all corners of the world, the selection can be disconcerting. Three events in Sofia in recent days have helped to provide clarity, and inspiration in choosing a wine. Rather new on the Bulgarian market are wines from Austria. Generally overlooked around the world, that unfortunate fate is seeing reversal in Bulgaria thanks to local importer Wine.Unlimited, which hosted a tasting evening of its most recent offerings at the Hilton Hotel on November 3 2008. Invitées, mostly wine and restauration industry players and connoisseurs, were formally introduced to 10 vintages from 10 cellars, most of which were presented by their Austrian suppliers.
Bulgarian wine exports have posted a sharp decline in the first three months in 2008, which would be hard to make up in the remainder of the year, industry representatives said. Local wine makers shipped roughly 20 million litres of wine in January-March, versus 25 million litres a year ago. In terms of value, wine exports in the first quarter were 13 million euro below the year-ago mark of 32.9 million euro, data of
Strong public opposition to price hikes prompted Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to axe the Finance Ministry proposal to increase the excise duty on spirits, but MPs have put it back on the agenda.
Bulgaria’s Cabinet seeks to reverse recent changes in the telecommunications sector
Kremikovtzi’s prospects for a recovery plan appear increasingly distant
Bulgarians are getting the hang of debit and credit cards, MasterCard says
The two telecoms, both set up to challenge former fixed-line state monopoly BTC, will merge operations and expect to report 20 million euro in revenue and a gross profit of five million euro in 2010.