Simple Group planning make first shipments of its own wine from Georgia in September
ST. PETERSBURG/MOSCOW. June 19 (Interfax) - Simple Group, one of Russia's largest alcoholic beverage distributors, plans to begin supplying its own wine produced in Georgia to the Russian market in September.
"The project, started in Georgia in 2016, has passed through an eight-year cycle, and in September we plan to bring in the first shipments of two brands of wine made from our own grapes," Vice President of Simple Group and Chairman of the Standardization Commission of the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia Anatoly Korneev, said in an interview with Interfax on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF-2024).
The volume of wine produced this year will reach 400,000 bottles, and "starting next year we'll reach 600,000 bottles," he said. "The wine is not cheap, but the quality is high. Its shelf price will be from 900 to 1,800 rubles per bottle," he said.
Korneev also said that the company intends to produce wine in Russia. "We are planning to do this. We are selecting plots, preparing them, processing them, and bringing in the vines. We are not ruling out the purchase of a winery. As they say, it is still below the line, that is, below a level that can be shown. There is no tip of the iceberg yet," he said.
He estimates that Russian wine from Simple may appear on the market "around 2029. This is a sizeable and long-term investment," he said.
Commenting on the changes that have occurred in Russian winemaking after the law on viticulture and winemaking came into force in 2020, Korneev said that the situation in the industry is changing dramatically. "The area under vineyards is expanding, and production is increasing. On the one hand, I look at this with optimism, on the other, with caution. We are the only country where the change and growth of this industry, this area of the economy is so dynamic that it is difficult to compare it with others sectors. There has been a huge amount of federal funds invested in wine - subsidies, advertising support, and trade fairs. The laws are being improved," he said.
However, at the same time, there is no need to get carried away solely by the parameters of import substitution, Korneev said. "You don't need to fill vats and warehouses with things that you won't be able to sell. The Law on Viticulture and Winemaking has provided the right impetus. However, the key performance indicators that guide us should not be set solely to the parameters of 'let's plant so many hectares and produce so many hectoliters,'" Korneev said.
Not all Russian wine is of high quality yet, he said. "We push out liters, but we need high-quality liters if we want to compete with European manufacturers. And this is very important to convey to those who make the big decisions," he said.
