We talked to Tzvetelin Bratoev* about the growing and processing of gapes, production and sales of fine wines and Bulgarian brandy (rakia).

Where is the Suhindol cellar situated? What type of wines does it specialize in?

Loviko Lozari EAD is the successor of the first vine-growing and wine-making cooperation in Bulgaria established in 1909 in the town of Suhindol under the name of LVK Gamza. Currently Loviko Lozari EAD makes and sells various agricultural products, - we grow and take care of vine plantations; we produce and sell grapes products – wines and rakia.

The enterprise cultivates about 4,000,000 sq.m of vineyards planted with black grapes, merlot, cabernet, pamid, sauvignon blanche, chardonnay, muscat, dimyat, risling, etc. We are currently planting vines of the petit verdot and malbek varieties.

In 2006 the enterprise bought out and processed 6,752 t of grapes. The wine cellar of Loviko Lozari EAD is situated in the town of Suhindol, about 55 km northwest of Veliko Tarnovo. The cellar specializes in red wines – black grapes, merlot and cabernet. For the past couple of years the share of white wines in its production portfolio has expanded – chardonnay, traminer, and muscat. In 2006 we also began to produce wines of the Rose type.

What is the amount of your annual production? Could you list some of your key markets?

In 2006 we produced 5,030,670 l of broached wine and rakia, bottled in 5,784,405 bottles, petpacks and beg-in-box wines and rakia.

We sold 937,339 bottles on the domestic market and 4,542,014 bottles on the international market last year. As you can see from these figures, 82.9% of our produce was exported. Our main export markets are Russia, Litva, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, UK, Germany, Canada, USA, Poland, etc.

How many types of wine and rakia do you offer on the Bulgarian market?

Loviko Lozari EAD offers more than 40 types of wine and rakia on the domestic market. The company also offers a great variety of cellar and collection wines. The oldest cellar wine, offered on the market, is of the black grapes variety and dates back to the establishment of LVK Gamza far back in 1909. In the end of 2006 we adopted a strategy to increase our share on the domestic market.

As a part of this strategy we launched new series of wines. In 2006 we launched the “LS” series – merlot, cabernet, black grapes, and rose wines. In the beginning of 2007 we launched the young wine series “CRU 167” of the cabernet variety and “CRU 367” of the merlot variety. In April 2007 we launched the Suhindol series – cabernet, merlot, chardonnay, Muscat and rose. In the beginning of May we presented the pearl of Loviko Lozari’s bottled wine production – “LS Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve”.

Could you tell us about some of the awards, medals and diplomas you have received for the past year?

For their quality, the wines of Loviko Lozari EAD won the big prize in this year’s international vine-growing and wine producing exhibition “Vinaria 2007”. Of the 16 types of wine showed, we won 1 golden medal (for the “Merlot 2006” wine), 8 silver and 1 bronze medals. Another of the wines we showed – “Chardonnay 2006” won the “Wine of the Year” prize, while 3 other wines won honorary diplomas.

How do you think your company will develop in the next couple of years?

In the context of its future development Loviko Lozari EAD has the following priorities:

1) To increase its own vine massifs and the total area of the arable vineyards through purchase of vineyards or land plots.

2) To be able to cover at least 50% of the company’s raw material needs through transplanting and renewal of vines.

3) To increase the share of high quality wines in its production.

4) To bolster its presence on the Bulgarian market by selling at least 1.5 times more production in Bulgaria this year compared to last year.

*Tzvetelin Bratoev is CEO of Loviko Lozari EAD. His holds a master’s degree in engineering. He is married and his hobbies are fine wines.