Austrian amb Wine wants to double premium wine sales, plans further investments in Romania this year

Wine producer amb Wine, part of Austrian corporation amb Holding, wants to double its sales in Romania on the premium wines segment in 2014, to some RON 3.6 million (over EUR 0.8 million). Amb Wine produces and sales Liliac, Young Liliac and Crespuscul brands in Romania. The wines are produced in the company’s Liliac Wine Cellar. Amb Wine invested EUR 3 million in 2011 in buying and cultivating 38 hectares of vineyards in Batos and Vermes Lechinta areas in Romania’s central region of Transylvania and in the wine production unit. Between 2012 and 2013, the company invested another EUR 1 million in developing the cultivated areas and production facilities. The total investments conducted so far amount to EUR 5.5 million, including operating expenses. By end-2014, the company plans to invest other EUR 600,000 million in increasing the production capacity, expanding the vine areas and strengthening its position on the market. By the end of the year, the production capacity will reach 260,000 liters, up from the current 180,000 liters. Amb Wine currently holds 58.2 hectares of vines in Transylvania and uses modern wine-making technologies, including the schilfwein method, a first in Romania. Schilfwein is an Austrian wine term in the Prädikatswein category which designates a straw wine, a sweet dessert wine made from raisin-like dried grapes. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com