romanian wines

[mariush]

Hi there. Me and a friend of mine are looking to opening an on-line store for romanian wines. What we don't know is how are romanian wines known to be outside Romania. We know how good we are, but is there a chance for such a store to make aprofit? What do you think?
Thanks for your time!

[Innkeeper]

Hi Mariush, and welcome to the Wine Board. If you are going to be shipping the wines from Romania, it will be very difficult. I recently found an excellent site for Greek Wines. When I contacted them, I found out that the shipping costs would far outweigh the value of the wines. Your wines should be very competitive, but you would almost certainly run into the same shipping cost ratio.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 08-05-2001).]

[mariush]

Thank you for your welcoming. I know the shipping will be too expensive considering the value of the wines. This is why we want our site to target at clients like restaurants, clubs, romanian diaspora that for sure miss romanian wines and of course for those who just want a bottle ....shipping is on them.
But, are romanian wines known enough outside Romania so we can at least give a try?

[winecollector]

Hi Mariush, and welcome! I've purchased Romanian wines in the past, and have found them to be inexpensive and of lesser quality than what I usually choose to drink. I've purchased them mostly either out of curiousity, or for tastings from obscure or lesser known wine producing countries. I think you may find a limited market for them in some areas of Europe, Russia, and the Ukraine, etc. Premiat is the one I've been able to find most often, both their Merlot and their Cabernet Sauvignon, and they sell for around $5 a bottle here in the USA. Hope this helps. Good luck!

[mariush]

It helps, thanks [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[Thomas]

mariush, you cannot just ship wines into the United States--you need to be licensed and you need to have a wholesaler/warehouse in the U.S. So, selling online is not simple.

On the subject of Romanian wines: salespeople have come to my shop to try to get me to carry Romanian wines, and I want to do it. But I have yet to taste one that is up to international standards. Perhaps you have suggestions for some truly good ones. There is, in fact, a possibility I will be in Budapest in the autumn--maybe we can meet at the Hungarian/Romanian border...