Villa Yambol Successfully Making its Wines a Household Name in Japan

In addition to its titular Villa Yambol line, the winery will offer its new KABILE brand

Bulgarian wine is appreciated by an ever-increasing number of people in Japan. This became apparent after the second business visit in Villa Yambol by the Japanese wine importer Yokohama Wine Collection in September. For the company’s representative, Mr. Hideharu Ozawa, this was the second visit to Bulgaria. This time he wanted to see how the grape harvest was going and to make a personal presentation of the newest requirements imposed by Japan’s Ministry of Health to the winery’s technologists.

Mr. Ozawa, who greenlighted the export to Japan of wines from the Bulgarian winery’s portfolio shortly after his first visit, shared that the Bulgarian wines were enjoying great success in Japan. Currently, wines from the Villa Yambol line are sold at more than 500 outlets. Mr. Ozawa spoke very highly of Villa Yambol’s wines and expressed interest not only in the titular Villa Yambol line but also in the winery’s newest brand - KABILE. During his visit he discussed more opportunities for expanding the range of Villa Yambol’s products on offer and for increasing distribution and sales volumes. Yokohama Wine Collection works with 25 regional distributers in Japan who deliver their products to supermarkets and independent stores specialized in offering alcoholic beverages.

“We import wine from all over the world but it was our desire to offer something new to the Japanese market that brought us to Villa Yambol. We believe we did a good job in finding a reliable partner because the wines of Villa Yambol offer an excellent quality/price ratio”, said Mr. Ozawa during his visit. “Furthermore, in Japan, the design of the label is a key sales driver and Villa Yambol’s product labels are excellent“, he added. The Japanese importer also spoke of Bulgaria’s image in Japan where our country is most known for its yoghurt. He told the audience that despite the fact that very little is known about Bulgaria, its image in the mind of the Japanese people is positive and that Bulgarian wines are gradually emerging as high-quality, novelty products that one must try.

Asked to identify the main advantage and the reason why Yokohama Collection chose to work with Villa Yambol, Mr. Ozawa emphasized the excellent climate for growing vines and the perfect balance between modern technology and the ancient ways of the Thracian winemakers. „Our shared goal in the future will be to build a strong brand image for the wines of Villa Yambol on the Japanese market“, concluded Mr. Ozawa at the end of his visit.

Villa Yambol is one of Bulgaria’s leading exporters of quality wines with orders from 20 countries across the globe on four continents. This year the winery brought home the only double gold medal from Concours Mondial Dе Bruxelles, also known as the World Championship of Wines, with its Villa Yambol Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2014. This particular Reserve by Villa Yambol is what generated the most interest in Japan. ‘We are happy that with our wines we can represent Bulgaria abroad in the best possible way. Breaking onto the Japanese market is a great recognition of the quality of our products”, said Krasimir Avramov, Executive Director of Villa Yambol after the visit.