Source: WineSur.com
By: Mariano Zalazar
04.07.2010
Federico Galdeano talks about the general situation of Argentina’s wine industry and especially about Trivento. With an optimistic outlook, he maintains that the climatic conditions will be positive for the harvest.
How does the lower alcohol content of this year’s grapes influence the harvest?
The alcohol content is lower, but that’s convenient for us. I have great respect for low alcohol wines. There are wines that can be sent out into the market with an alcohol content of 12.5: they are actually easier to drink and sell. At our winery, we have brought harvests forward and have managed to produce lower alcohol wines. That’s exactly what we were looking for. The fact that the harvest is 15 days late hasn’t really worked against us. In my estimation, we have found great quality grapes in 75% of the crop we have already collected. If weather conditions stay the same, this will surely be one of the best harvests of the decade. We can expect a very high quality harvest coming up.
Did Trivento reach the expected production volumes?
I think the decline is not as serious as it is said to be. Anyway, this is a rather broad statement, since there are estates that have less fruit and others that have more. In our case, we have obtained the volumes expected for our production.
What are the sales expectations for 2010?
Our crop sales are steady. We have to acknowledge there’s great international competition, because of the overstock existing in certain countries. With the inflation there is in Argentina right now, prices can’t be increased. Some of our direct competitors, such as Chile, Australia and South Africa are stable. However, in Argentina, the production of bottled wine is still growing. Our company needs to focus on management and efficiency; that’s the way to move forward and remain competitive. I think that if we continue doing things correctly, we’ll find the key to achieve the strong growth that will gain us a solid position in the market. The problem is that many companies will need to readjust their costs and, in the current scenario, it will be very difficult to keep wine prices steady.
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