Las Bodegas Hacienda y Marqués del Atrio Vineyardswhose reference partner is Changyu Pioneer WineThe event took place in Mendavia (Navarra) and brought together politicians, businessmen and other prominent personalities from the wine sector to present the international strategy of Changyu Pioneer Wine until 2020.
The event was attended by Zhou HongjiangPresident of Changyu Pioneer Wine, José Ignacio CenicerosPresident of La Rioja; Isabel ElizaldeCouncillor of Agriculture of Navarre; Wang YingqiEconomic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of China, and Jesús RiveroGeneral Manager of Marqués del Atrio among other personalities.
The President of Changyu was in charge of announcing Changyu's main figures for 2016: "The company has been listed on the Chinese stock exchange since 1997, with a market capitalisation of more than 5.5 billion euros." He also explained in great detail the Ciudad del Vino project, with a 400-hectare complex and an investment of more than 1 billion euros. A total of 550 million bottles of wine will be produced in this city (more than in the entire Rioja D.O.Ca. combined), with a total of 10 bottling machines capable of producing 25,000 bottles per hour, the fastest on the market.
In the City of Wine you can visit up to seven different spaces: a wine research centre, a production centre, the Chateau Tinlot winery, the Koyac Brandy winery, a vineyard space dedicated to the demonstration of cultivation, a shopping centre and the Changyu wine theme park managed by Disney.
On the other hand, Jesús Rivero, General Manager of Marqués del Atrio pointed out that: "In 2016, Marqués del Atrio's sales increased by 11 per cent after completing a full year together with Changyu, with total profit increasing by 34 per cent. Changyu has imported 2.6 million of bottles of Marqués del Atrio, which represents 3 percent of all Spanish wines exported to China in 2016. This quantity will grow exponentially between now and 2020".
Rivero also highlighted the qualitative leap that Changyu's takeover of the winery has represented for the winery: "In 2007 our entire Group sold less than 5 million bottles and we had a turnover of around 10 million euros. Now we have a turnover of 40 million euros and sell 23 million bottles. The goal is to make Marqués del Atrio one of the top six wineries in Spain by 2020 with a turnover of over 100 million euros. These are ambitious but realistic figures".
At the end of the event, the attendees were taken on a tour of the winery, where the barrel cellar has been enlarged and improved. Lunch was served on one side of the Atrium.
The event was also attended by Yu XinyuSecond Secretary of the Chinese Embassy; Javier MatéDeputy Director General of Differentiated Quality and Organic Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture; Leonor González MenorcaRegional Minister for Economic Development and Innovation of the Government of La Rioja; María José VeranoMayoress of Mendavia; and Javier García IbáñezMayor of Arnedo. From the business world, the following attended Jorge and Manuel Riveroshareholders and directors of Marqués del Atrio; Mikel BilbaoGBS Finance partner; Jose Luis BenítezDirector General of the Spanish Wine Federation, Iñigo TorresGeneral Manager of the Rioja Group; Fernando SalameroPresident of the Rioja Control Board and President of the Rioja Group; Jose Luis LapuenteDirector General of the Rioja Control Board; Rafael del ReyGeneral Director of the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market and Mikel CeberioPresident of the Association of Sommeliers of Navarre.
