Wine loses battle with beer in consumption basket

The closing of Patria Vinum stores, the only ones opened lately in Bucharest, specialised in wine retail, is likely to announce the demise of low-cost wine stores and the beginning of a new stage in the development of wine retail, as producers are announcing expansion with their own cellars.

There are extremely few specialised wine stores, only 20-30 operating across the entire country, according to some estimates.
So far, among producers, the most aggressive expansion plans have been announced by Murfatlar, which wants to get to several hundred cellars in the next two or three years, with the cellars due to generate more than half of current turnover.
On the other hand, Tohani, another major wine producer, already operates around 60 own cellars and plans to expand.
According to wine market information, Adrian Rădulescu, a secretary of state with the Agriculture Ministry, wants to open his own wine stores. However, the opening of these stores is far from announcing a bubbling wine market.
Tiberiu Duma, a Patria Vinum shareholder, explained that specialised wine stores are not enduring on the market because on the one hand there is no wine culture amid average consumers and on the other hand there is a much cheaper option Romanians are choosing, beer.