by Eleonora Scholes
Castel, France s largest wine producer, has announced plans to develop their own vineyards in Russia. The company is negotiating to buy 200 to 300 hectares of land in the Krasnodar region, Russia s most suitable area for wine production. Details of the project and the amount of investment have not yet been disclosed. Castel hopes that first vineyards can be planted next year and come into production within three to four years. In July 2006 Castel opened a wine bottling line with a capacity of 330 million litres at its existing plant near Moscow that until then bottled only mineral water. At present bulk wine is imported from France, but it is expected that local vineyards will soon become a new source of wine for the market.
