China looks forward to Bulgarian wines, the crisis will not make the Bulgarian forget the taste of good wine, experts believe.

White wines have grown up to the significance of the red ones. Leveling the rates of consumption of red and white wines is one of the tendencies that will become obvious at Vinaria exhibition. The traditional exhibition within Plovdiv Fair opens today and will give floor to 319 companies from 19 countries to show their best wines as well as new technologies, equipment and materials for winemaking and vine growing. The Bulgarian cellars at the exhibition are 146, of the foreign participants Italy's presence is the strongest - with 67 companies, followed by France (53) and Germany (14). The crisis will not seriously affect wine's domestic market, traders expect. They even believe in growth of the industry of 2 or 3% as it has been over the last few years. Wine is a product that is tolerant to ageing and can be sold over the years if demand is reduced. Bulgarian wines' major rivals are the wines from Chile and Argentina, especially in restaurants. Producers think this is just a question of temporary fashion that will soon die out.

What will happen to the export of Bulgarian wine in the crisis in 2009, is the main topic of discussion for experts in the sphere. For the time being most specialists believe export will decrease and Bulgarian wine producers will have to look for new markets. The export shrinking tendencies became clear as early as 2008 when the export sank by 17% in the first half of the year. The main reason for the decrease was the collapse of the export for Russia which draws between 65% and 70% of Bulgaria's wine export. The share of Bulgarian wines sold in Russia will decrease by about 40 or 50% this year, believes the head of the Bulgarian National Wine and Vine Chamber, Plamen Mollov.

As a whole the cheaper products as well as the wine on the tap will have better chances. In Europe the demand for Bulgarian wines remains stable. Some shrinking of consumption may occur but insignificant because in times of crisis the consumption of beverages does not change. If there is change in consumers' preferences it is more to the direction of buying cheaper products. 

The traditional markets for Bulgarian wines remain the Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as Poland. The whole of the Asiatic market provides great opportunities. China even is expected to demand wines of higher class. "The Bulgarian producers do not use to whole potential of the Asian markets," says Mollov. Export to China, Korea and Singapore does exist but the contracts in these markets are single phenomena still. The weak dollar which influences the price of wine makes export to the USA and Canada unprofitable, experts say.