Before Retirement, Vance Petrunoff Was Selling Bulgarian Wines from Sonoma, CA

The export of Bulgarian wines, canned food, dried fruit and vegetables for the USA doubled, it emerged at the meeting between Bulgaria Minister of Agriculture, Miroslav Naydenov and the US Ambassador to Bulgaria, James Warlick. The diplomat pointed out he intended to study the traditions and good practices of wine-making in Bulgaria. H.E. Warlick and Naydenov expressed confidence that the two countries will maintain cooperation in food safety, the training of veterinary experts and the university exchange programmes for professors and young researchers. http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2010-02-12&article=3217 9

Beverage Companies Fiscal Fitness: Trends in '10 - Trading down By Bill Anderson, CEO of First Beverage Capital in Los Angeles, CA Trading down will likely increase as American consumers continue to move away from most premium, luxury brands. The steep decline is on-premise sales due to this consumer preference also will likely continue. The opportunity for brands in this environment is to provide meaningful value – and thereby accelerate a gap with consumers. Brands with an authentic story are standing out because as consumes may want to trade down, they still want a brand with some integrity, nobility, history and character. As a recent report on 2010 Wine Sales from Silicon Valley Bank said, “The wine industry now finds a humbled consumer still wanting luxury products, but products made by real people, and not just expensive brands without a soul. Each producer has to figure out new ways to touch every one of its consumers in an authentic manner.” The associates of Bend, OR, bra...

Bulgarian Master Vintners joined the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, as an Associate Member to help better their business and show their support for the wine and spirits industry in the US. Please visit us at the WSWA’s 67th Annual Convention & Exposition April 6-8, 2010 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

January 28, 2010 By Richard Woodard California wine shipments in the US fell for the first time in 16 years in 2009 as consumers turned to cheaper bulk imported wines, according to new figures. Last year was 'brutal' for the California wine industry, analyst Jon Fredrikson told the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, adding that many wineries had endured their worst year ever. Bulk wine imports soared 87% to 25m cases in 2009, sending total imported wines up to 104m cases and giving them a 32% share of the US market – an all-time high. But most bulk wines were imported by major US wine companies and distributors, such as Gallo and Constellation, Fredrikson said. The total US wine market grew by 2.1% to 323m cases, but shipments from California edged down 1.6% to 236m cases – their first decline since 1993. However, there were some signs of improved trends towards the end of the year, said Fredrikson, president of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates.