Bulgaria’s major wine-makers will be shoulder-to-shoulder with producers from 22 other countries, vying for attention as an expected more than 10 000 visitors come to the annual Vinaria wine show being held in Plovdiv from February 23 to 26 2011.
 
In an interview with Bulgarian National Television earlier in February, Vine and Wine Chamber head Plamen Mollov said that wine production in Bulgaria had been seriously hit by the economic crisis, and that in a single year, exports had decreased by about 10 per cent.

Mollov told BNT that were a number of problems facing the industry, including bad investments and the behaviour of large retail chains that required unrealistically low prices.

A further blow came from the informal economy, he said, with up to 50 per cent of the domestic market made up of wine and spirits of "unclear origin".
 
The small rural winemaker was the biggest enemy of the large-scale legal producer, according to Mollov, because small-scale producers released tons of wine on to the informal market.
 
He said that Bulgaria should follow the model of Italy, where there were 600 000 small-scale producers, all registered and subject to monitoring.

Mollov, quoted by news agency Focus, said that Vinaria was a prestigious exhibition, adding that this year major producers who had been absent previously would be returning to the exhibition.

Again, he criticised public policy on Bulgaria's wine industry, saying that while countries like France and Italy had realised that there should be financial encouragement from the state to take part in exhibitions in Russia, for example, Bulgarian producers got no such support.

Assessing the market for wine, he said that large firms had joined in the trend to produce limited edition wines of exceptional quality to meet demand on the international market. That market, he said, continued also to look for table wines at lower prices and offering less complexity than boutique wines.

Bulgaria had been introducing new varieties that had been unknown on the domestic production market about six years ago, such as Cabernet Franc, Mollov said.

However, the areas for wine grape production in Bulgaria had decreased substantially in recent years. Mollov said that while official estimates were that the reduction had been 50 per cent, he believed that the real figure was closer to 20 to 25 per cent.

He named Bulgaria's significant export markets as being Poland and Russia, while small quantities were being exported to other countries with potential, such as Arab and Asian markets, specifically Vietnam and China. However, he described these quantities as still being "symbolic".

* Vinaria 2011 is being held at the International Fair Plovdiv centre, from 9am to 6pm on February 23, 24 and 25, and from 9am to 2pm on February 26.

Admission, at the main entrance, costs three leva, while 10 leva tickets are available, enabling entrance for the duration of the event.

More information, in English, is available at the Vinaria 2011 website.