“Moldova” grapes have been present on the Moldovan fruit market for the third week, but still in relatively small quantities. The range of wholesale prices for grapes of this main variety is, as expected, very wide – 7-13 lei/kg ($0.39-0.72/kg), EastFruit reports. However, in the last week of September, the level of the working price, which figured in the largest number of transactions, dropped from 10 lei/kg to 7 lei/kg. According to experts from regional wine-growing associations, the current situation is explained by several factors.
Firstly, at the end of September – the beginning of October, the country’s domestic market receives mainly grapes from small farms with rain-fed plantations of “Moldova.” The quality of these products is average and low. In this regard, some winegrowers note that the August rains, even small ones of -7-8 mm, in some vineyards provoked cracking of the berries. This phenomenon is not yet widespread, but it encourages farmers to speed up harvesting and have time to collect most of the grapes in a week to ten days before the October precipitation.
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Secondly, at the beginning of October, there are still many offers of summer grape varieties on the Moldovan market: white and red, seedless and seeded. Moreover, these products’ quality and degree of freshness are still good; wholesale prices are in the range of 10-14 lei/kg ($0.55-0.77/kg). The climatic autumn has not yet arrived in the country; some days, the air temperature approaches 27-28 degrees Celsius, sunny and dry. In such weather, autumn “Moldova” is not in great demand among local grape lovers.
Thirdly, “Moldova” from irrigated vineyards also appeared on sale, incl. those formed according to the Pergola type. Mostly, products from such plantations are exported to EU countries under direct contracts without intermediaries. However, there are also transactions with high-quality Moldova, in which reseller traders are also involved. They purchase high-quality grapes of this variety for export at a price of 12-13 lei/kg ($0.66-0.72/kg).
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