Bulgarian Winery Bessa Valley To Start Shipping to U.S. by End '08, Eyes Russia, China

Bessa Valley will aim to export 80% of its annual production, the winery's executive director Alexander Kanev told SeeNews. The company did not specify the share of exports in its current annual output.

The winery's current annual output is 300,000 bottles of wine from 600 tonnes of grapes and it plans to raise it to 400,000 bottles of wine from 800 tonnes over the medium term.

"We have already planted some of the new vineyards, they will need at least three years to produce a good vintage," Kanev said.

The winery plans to build near its vineyards, located in the Pazardzhik region in southern Bulgaria, an eco village with small cottages. The project is planned to kick off in one to two years, Kanev said.

Bessa Valley Winery (www.bessavalley.com), set up in 2001, owns 266 hectares of land of which 135 hectares have been planted with vineyards so far. It exports to the UK, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Some 7.5 million euro ($10.8 million) have been invested in the winery so far.