Wines of Bolivia

The goal of our export coaching programme Wines of Bolivia is to help Bolivian wineries get established on the European market. It is part of a country programme called Made in Bolivia. All of the major wineries in Bolivia are involved in the programme.

Until recently, Bolivian wines were virtually unknown in Europe and the rest of the world, because production was exclusively for the domestic market. The unique growing conditions in the Bolivian wine regions provide for elegant and fresh altitude wines. Also, the Bolivian wines show character and history. Some of their vineyards were planted by the Spaniards in the 16th century; they are among the oldest in the world.

A novelty product like this has a lot of potential in Europe.

Project details

CBI started Wines of Bolivia in 2013. Since then we have supported the participating wineries in getting a better understanding of European wines. This will help them to position their own products in Europe. We have also supported them with improving their winemaking techniques and with developing export marketing plans and company websites.

Another important step has been the development of a sector association. It is called Wines of Bolivia. CBI helped found this association. We also contributed to its branding. It now has its own website: winesofbolivia.com.

The majority of the wineries taking part in this programme have begun to export to Europe. They attended a European trade fair for the first time in 2015. When the programme is completed, the goal is to have generated 3 million euro’s worth of additional turnover from Bolivian wine exports to Europe.

Project participants and products

A total of 14 wineries are taking part in this programme. They have all obtained the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award. The WSET is a British organisation generally regarded as the world's leading provider of wine education. The Bolivian wineries offer a range of premium wines.

Meet the participants

• To find out more, please visit the Wines of Bolivia website
• You can also found out more on this website about individual wineries
• Of course, you can also contact CBI to get in touch with these exporters
• Another possibility is to meet these potential suppliers at the next big trade fairs they will attend in Europe

Partners

Our main partner in this programme is the new sector association, Wines of Bolivia. The German organisation GIZ, a specialist in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development, is also involved (in projects in the wine sector in Tarija). They focus on water re-use and the increase of water efficiency of wineries

Get involved as an importer

Are you a European importer interested in Bolivian wines? You can contact CBI to get more information, or to meet with winemakers who have been trained to export to Europe.