Cotnari eyes 24m kg — day-and-night machines, Japan already, India next
Cotnari estimates 24 million kg for 2026, with four day and four night harvesters and about 1.3m kg crushed per day. Diaspora remains market one; Japan exports are already live in 2026; India talks have run ~five months for a slow, not-huge entry. Iași made over 38m litres of wine in 2025.
Iași harvest season is a throughput story as much as a vintage story.
G4Food reports Cotnari estimating 24 million kilograms of grapes. Mechanisation widens: four harvesters by day and four by night, running beside hand crews. Crush capacity sits near 1.3 million kilograms a day. Recent rain improved the outlook after a tighter midsummer read.
Remus Deleanu, Cotnari board chair, says diaspora remains the largest market. Japan exports are already shipping in 2026 after talks that started last year. India conversations have run about five months — a cautious door, not a volume dump.
County scale: agricultural data put Iași 2025 wine above 38 million litres across noble and hybrid plantings. Cotnari is one of several big local names on that map.
Mini-concept: export ladders are sequenced. Diaspora holds the floor; Japan is proof of overseas paperwork; India is a slow handshake before any big container count.
A soft drink brand rarely schedules four night machines just to keep 1.3 million kilos moving through one crush line. A Moldavian harvest does.
Remember: 24m kg planned at Cotnari; ~1.3m kg/day crush; Japan live in 2026; India talks ~5 months, slow entry.
Source: G4Food