Best of Show
Against this background, one cannot but be happy that there were a lot of visitors at the Moldovan stand. Moldovan winemaking is becoming more interesting for them. Its victories at important competitions also play an important role. Thus, at the Mundus Vini Spring Tasting` 2025 contest connected with ProWein, Moldovan wines won 165 medals and four Best of Show Moldova titles for the best wines in their categories (white, red, noble sweet and sparkling). On the first day of the show, all Best of Show winners were awarded. Photos of these wines were collected on a panel in the testing area of Mundus Vini, and it was possible to taste them there. In the sparkling category, Radacini Wines won for the second year. This year it was Viorica brut.
“When you exhibit a diploma of such a rank at your stand, almost every first passerby pays attention to it,” says marketing manager Elena Uporova. – And it already depends on your communication abilities how much you can interest him. We are very proud that Best of Show Moldova Sparkling Wine was awarded to a wine made of Moldovan grape variety. And it proves that we are going in the right direction. In particular, this Viorica was sold in one of the networks in Japan. We are happy that this year the Moldovan stand was very well attended, and it is interesting due to the local grape varieties”.
Give local
The surge of interest in local varieties was confirmed by Andrei Novak, owner of Novak Winery. All those who tasted his wines at the stand (about 20 samples) emphasized the wines made from grape varieties of new Moldovan selection.
“I especially like Alb de Onițcani (more neutral), but I like the “perfumed” version too – in the Alb de Onițcani-Floricica blend. Autochthon Copceac is our new “thing”. Copceac (without aging and aged in barrel), we can say, was a delight. I advise Moldovan winemakers to pay attention to this variety. Wines from an unknown variety are ready to buy. What we bottled, we will not have in a month or two. We will leave a little for the domestic market, and the rest will be exported. Although the demand for red wines is falling in the world in general, everyone likes red Copceac, as it can be drunk chilled in summer. We have managed to maintain the sales volume of red wines for several years, and there is a stable growth in demand for white wines – a global trend. We also have a lot of new experiments with local varieties. I think this topic will go very well.”
According to the winemaker, despite the growth of the sparkling wine segment on the world market, it is not easy to sell his sparkling wines “charm” for export, as they are quite expensive due to small volumes. They are ordered only for HoReCa.
Don’t be inert
Purcari Wineries Group International Development Manager Remus Zurkan said that producers need to take into account the fact that the wine world has been changing a lot lately. Due to the global economic crisis, people are buying less wine. Young people are more health-conscious and interested in other drinks.
“In our opinion, we should respond to these trends by reducing the alcohol level, or create a series of wines in which the strength level does not exceed 10-10.5%. Maybe we should follow the example of wines from Portugal’s Vinho Verde region (light white wines). Very fresh, light red wines are also very successful with young people. We will think about how we can make sure that we do not lose our brand identity and at the same time meet new consumers. We also pay attention to labels, bottles, because there is a trend to lighten the weight of bottles. This doesn’t always work out because some markets believe that serious wine should be in appropriate packaging. We have already started to work in the direction of reducing bottle weight at Vinaria Bostavan by producing 47° N Pinot Noir in the democratic price category, especially for export. It is being shipped to Holland and Japan for retail.”
According to the interlocutor, if a producer does not learn and does not try to meet the requirements of the market, he will lose it. Therefore, the Purcari Wineries group, despite the large range of wines, intends to do something new and not to be inert.
Show initiative
As there is a worldwide decline in wine sales, competition and competition for buyers is increasing among producers. Going around the ProWein wine pavilions, it can be noted that many of the large stands had few visitors. On the Moldovan “island” was quite lively, and near one counter there was constantly some excitement. As it turned out, it was created by one young man – Tomai-Vinex co-founder Vladislav Sibov.
“Before, it used to happen that we used to get 150 business cards per exhibition. We were calling people, persuading them to try, because many people still need to be explained what Moldova is. When people pass by the stand, you never know who is who. It can be a sommelier, an organizer of the exhibition, a supplier of equipment or raw materials, but also representatives of chains, distributors. So we try to pay attention to everyone. If we don’t take the initiative, no one will look for us. Our task is to find the right contact. In the future, out of 100-150 business cards, 20 will be potential clients, and we will sell wines to only five,” Sibov Jr. believes.
Chisinau – Düsseldorf.
