China is the world’s fifth-largest wine market, and last year, Chinese became the world’s top consumers of red wine by drinking nearly 1.9 billion bottles. As Bulgaria’s wine producer Château Burgozone officially enters the wine market of China, Chinese investors now have more options to keep up with the increasing demand.

"Our philosophy derives from our belief that at least 70 percent of a wine's quality comes from the grapes from which it is produced," said Emy Marinova,export director in Asian, who is also a daughter of Château Burgozone’s owner during TopWine China 2015 today. As a representive of new generation of wine producers in Bulgaria, Château Burgozone promises 100 percent man cultivation and harvesting of grapes, thereby ensuring the high quality of wine.

In China, only a small part of the Chinese people know about Bulgaria. However, the county with the size of China’s Fujian Province has a strong historical tie with the China, being in particular the second state to recognize the New China back in October 1949 as Bulgarian ambassador to China said during the seminar today in China National Convention Center. 

Most Chinese people associate Bulgaria with yourght and roses, but winemaking is one of the key agricultural industries in Bulgaria. Archaeologists have found evidence of Bulgaria wine production dating back over 3,000 years and the country is also the birthplace of wine god Dionysus.

Bulgarian wine enjoyed its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s when it was the main food provider for the Soviet Union. It was the world's second-largest exporter of bottled wine after France. However, the current reputation of Bulgarian wines aboard is for cheap, low-quality products. Bulgaria is in the top 10 wine producers of the European Union.

Today, local producers struggle to regain reputation. "This is a very heavy burden from the last 10-15 years , it would have been better if nobody knew us, as happened with Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa, rather than trying to counteract, by yourself at that, this negative image of our country," Stefan Marinov, CEO of Château Burgozone once said to media.

White and red limited edition of Castle Burgozone is now available in China. These wines of superior quality are distributed in China by the importer BoutiqueWinesAsia (BWA) ,which presents an exclusive selection of wines from family-owned wineries from around the world. As confirmed by the CEO of BWA, Mr. Bruno Butragueno, the Château Burgozone "was a pleasant surprise and we are honored in the future it will become a part of our portfolio."

In China, domestic producers still occupy more than half of the total market. Despite of the consumption drop in 2014, the share of imported wine has increased to about 20 percent, according to Chinese customs information network data, and total wine imports was 96.8 billion yuan last year.