Bristol-born Philip Cox is one of the brains behind Cramele Recas – Romania’s prime exporter of wine. He talks to the team about Europe’s strength in solidarity, the conservation efforts by Prince Charles, and his unofficial role as ambassador for the country’s wine.
When and why did you move to Romania?
In 1991, just after university I was having a hard time finding a job I liked. I was working for a London-based advertising firm responsible for business for Eastern Europe, so I ended up coming to Romania. Once I arrived I realised there was huge potential in just about every kind of business because the whole country had more-or-less collapsed half a century of dictatorship and communism.
What challenges did you face?
There was absolutely no infrastructure: terrible roads and terrible telephone connections, no real banking system, hyperinflation, few qualified workers, and ‘shops’ and ‘restaurants’ bore little resemblance to ones we would understand in the West. But the most difficult challenge was working with the mentality of people who had lived through communism: they were not used to a competitive society with performance-related pay.
Did you settle where you landed?
No, I lived in Bucharest for seven years, where I worked for large German wine company, ‘Reh Kenderman’. I enjoyed, and still enjoy Bucharest, where I have a house. I moved to Timisoara in 2000 after forming our current winery company, ‘Cramele Recas’. It is a clean, green city, although a little sleepy compared to the capital, and even more so when compared to London.
Do you still feel British?
Now I consider myself European. In fact I get fed up by the insularity of many British people who believe they are very different – often superior – to other Europeans. If you actually look at the British, French, Dutch, Germans and even Romanians compared to say Asians or Africans, the differences in Europe are minor, really. We are all small as individual countries but strong as Europe.
Did you expect to marry a Romanian?
No, but I am very glad I did, and Elvira and I will celebrate our twentieth anniversary next year. Also my wife is the best wine salesperson I know, which considerably helps our business.
Is there anywhere else as beautiful as Romania?
The more isolated enclaves of Romania, such as Maramures, Transylvania and Northern Moldova are right up there on the beauty scale, and boast both fantastic mountains and lakes within their unique rural culture which has all but disappeared elsewhere in Europe.
Do you think rural Romania will become a tourist hotspot in your lifetime?
Hopefully not on a large scale. Rural Romania’s charm lies in its un-spoilt nature: you can see people living as they might have done a century ago, ploughing fields by horse and living off what they grow. That would be ruined by mass tourism. HRH Prince Charles has contributed significantly to developing responsible eco-tourism – something for which he is well respected and liked locally (possibly more so than in the UK!) Romania could, and should, develop its tourism industry in the Carpathian ski resorts in the winter, and on the Black Sea coast during summer. Both are potentially world class tourist spots and only two-to-three hours from any city in Europe. They offer outstanding value, although a more coordinated approach to both development in a sustainable way, infrastructure, and greater marketing efforts is needed.
How did you learn to overcome political frustrations in Romania?
With patience. The authorities constantly shoot themselves in the foot and are at least a decade behind where they should have been due to inefficient political infighting which often sabotages important strategic developments like a logical tax system despite generous EU offers of financing which are often not used up. I try to be proactive where I can, so I am very involved in working on a new Romanian wine law which, unfortunately, is only now adapting our legislation to the EU wine legislation almsot 10 years after Romania joined the EU.
How important is ‘brand Romania’ to British wine consumers?
It’s not important at the moment. There is the beginning of a swell of interest in Romania as with other wines from ‘exotic’ and unknown origins. But that is very much on the level of traders, journalists and real wine enthusiasts. I think the vast majority of UK wine drinkers don’t even know that Romania makes wine. That is not necessarily a bad thing for mid-level wines because it means we don’t get lumped together with the cheap discounted wines that people have got used to from Spain, Argentina and even Australia. But it is a bad thing when we are talking about trying to sell premium wines, where reputation and image is more important. At the moment, our most successful products in the UK are brands which work with a combination of fantastic packaging designs and wines that over deliver for their price points matched to serious distribution with major companies.
Do you consider yourself an ambassador for Romanian wine?
I have been called that by several other wineries here. Even though we try to do as much as we can via generic promotional organisations such as ‘Romanian Winegrowers’ (UK) or ‘APEV’ (in Romania), I have always thought the best promotion for a country’s wine is to get it on the shelves and sell more of it, so in that sense I have had an effect on the perception of Romanian wines in the UK. Our company was the first to get a critical mass of distribution both in the off-trade with partners: Sainsbury, ASDA, Waitrose, Virgin Wines, Londis, Budgens, Majestic, Bargain Booze and Oddbins, and importantly in the on-trade, too, with: Greene King, Mitchells & Butler, Mathew Clarke, Alliance wines, Tanners, Adnams, St Austell and Forth Wines.
Do you think you will retire in Romania?
I hope not. Romanian pensions are about £50 pounds a week!
Will Decanter magazine ever feature a Romanian wine on its cover in your opinion?
Definitely, and hopefully one of mine!
