Voice of Wine is a prize created by the World Bulk Wine Exhibition in 2011 which recognizes and rewards notable groups or people who defend the values of wine and the sector’s economic, cultural and social features.
Wine of Moldova receives the Voice of Wine 2016 Award, “for the efforts of its winegrowers, wineries and public administration in the promotion of bulk wine, for its ability to adapt to international markets and for the quality of their wines”.
Otilia Romero de Condés, director of the WBWE and president of the jury underlined the “great deal of effort invested by the Moldavian wine sector of adapting with the times and not depending exclusively on sales to tradicional country clients”. This way, she highlighted that, since 2008, Moldavian exports have grown at an annual rate of more than 10%; and that sales to Russia and to the surrounding republics have fallen from 85.5% to approximately 60%.
Moldova currently has 112.000 hectares of vineyards, of which 75.000 hectares are devoted to winegrowing and they produce approximately 1.75 million hectoliters. Such development has been possible thanks to the European Union aid and to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has invested both in the vineyards’ expansion and in technological enhancements.
In Moldova, 250.000 jobs rely on vineyards and wineries. The Moldavian wine industry represents 3.2% of GDP and 7.5% of exports. These numbers are due to the effortless activity of 140 companies that manage to export for an annual value of approximately 150 million Euros.
