This year grape production is estimated to amount to 620,000 tonnes, including 120,000 tonnes of table varieties. This was announced at a meeting organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Wine and Vine Office to discuss aspects of the 2017 grape harvesting and post-harvesting.

Of the total production, individual household-based vineyards will account for 200,000 tones.

Valeriu Cebotari, deputy department head at the Ministry, said commercial vineyards are estimated to yield 5 tonnes per hectare.

“This year companies treated their vineyards even ten times for disease and pest control, incurring greater expenses than last year. In calculating recommended grape prices, this was taken into account, so that commercial vineyards can have a minimum profit margin of 15-20 percent”, said Cebotari.

Considering this, recommended prices for European varieties range from 4 to 4.5 lei a kilo. Cheaper varieties such as Isabella have recommended prices of 2-2.5 lei.

It is also proposed to give a 20 percent bonus on the recommended price to varieties used to make wines with geographical indication, a 15 percent bonus to flavor-rich domestic varieties, and a 10 percent bonus to varieties with a high sugar content.

There are a total of 135,000 hectares of vineyards in Moldova. With the introduction of subsidies to renew vineyards, more and more high-yielding European and domestic varieties are being cultivated.