Best in show

Still frazzled by the Docklands experience? It’s time to go over the top once again at the vast Vinexpo.  Get your mobiles and palm pilots ready and let Patrick Schmitt be your guide

YOU MAY STILL be recovering from a post-show-cleansingale- turned-nine-pint-rampage in Docklands but it’s time to start storing stand numbers and amassing appointments across the Channel as Vinexpo is looming faster than you think.

In fact, as little as a month separates the London fair from this

Bordeaux-based leviathan with its 2,500 exhibitors and 30,000 products.  And although it may be tempting to visit one and not the other, the two shows are far from mutually exclusive. So what can one expect from this year’s Vinexpo? Well, to begin with, the show is setting its sights on both future "changes and challenges" for the wine trade with its theme "A World Ahead".

Part of this is an exhibition space in the centre of Hall 1 where ground-breaking products in either concept or packaging will be on display as well as examples of currently successful lines.  As well as this new attraction is L’Espace Degustation, a mammoth and newly extended tasting room where you can sniff, sip and spit in the company of 400 others.

An apt development considering the Masters of Wine have chosen Vinexpo 2003 to celebrate their 50th anniversary – part of which will include a lunch to commemorate the landmark on Monday 23rd at Vinexpo, held in conjunction with the drinks business and the exhibition organisers.

Tastings during the event will include wines from Ribera del Duero, Canadian ice wines, new releases from Argentina, New Zealand and Israel as well as a chance to taste the 2002 en primeur wines from Bordeaux.

However, if promoting rather than drinking wine is more pertinent to your business you’ll be glad to discover that Vinexpo has managed to compile an international overview of merchandising strategies from a study of distribution and consumer behaviour both in the on- and off-trade throughout the world.

This has spawned a specific section of the show called L’Espace Merchandising devoted to illustrations of merchandising in different distribution channels, especially multiples, specialist retailers, restaurants and bars.

Furthermore, techniques in parallel sectors such as coffee, cosmetics and perfume will be considered and examined for relevance to wines and spirits.  This will be accompanied by seminars and industry briefings.

The third exhibition area new to this year’s show is "The Imaginary World of Wine", devoted to a series of visual studies illustrating new places where wine can be consumed along with other original ideas, for instance, on wine presentation, and some unusual products, like wine luggage.

Expect to see concepts such as the "wine boudoir", a sales outlet designed to bring women and wine together, and the "cave restante" for storing wine in town.  But if the mixture of alcohol and this imaginary wine world becomes too much, it’s possible to escape to a refuge of greenery in the "Gardens of the World" exposition.

Here you’ll find a calming carpet of flowers planted the length of the Club des Marques as well as replicas of Japanese, Tropical, Moorish, French and Italian gardens. Then, of course, there’s the food. And incredibly, within the hall space are 18 exhibitor restaurants, five more than 2001’s show.

These are situated on the lakeside and serve a range of international dishes, including examples from Andalusia, Corsica, California, Tuscany, Spain, France and Switzerland among others.  So tuck in.  Heated discussion When not sipping or supping, or even touring the aisles, visitors can attend Savior Boire, Savior Vivre forum (wine, alcohol and health) which will look at three issues: The French Paradox 10 Years On, The Impact of Biotechnology on International Wine Growing and The Repercussions of Labelling Regulations.

There will also be a debate attacking the question of the wine sector’s social responsibility towards young people.  Key marketing experts will also consider changing patterns in wine consumption, answering questions such as why do people drink wine? How can consumers’ behaviour be changed? What is the impact of lifestyle on consumers?

Furthermore, a series of three conferences will address the geopolitics of wine, engagingly entitled: Trade Reaction to Negotiations between the European Union and the United States, Wine Producing and New Technologies (e-commerce, NICT and new software) and The State of the World Markets.

Competitive spirit As with all exhibitions there’s also a competitive element and at Vinexpo as many as 20 wine writers and journalists as well as future candidates in the Meilleur Sommelier du Monde competition 2003 will be brought together this year to form the Jury Decouvertes.

This gaggle of tasting experts will roam the aisles looking for personal favourites and in a final blind tasting will select their collective coup de coeurs.  Other than this, there’s the 10th Vinexpo Drinks International Cocktail Challenge which will focus on spirits and liqueurs used in aperitifs. Judging will take place on Wednesday June 25 when visitors will be invited to taste on the Drinks International stand between 11.30am and 3.30pm.

Then, in an attempt to highlight the similarities and differences between palates from different areas of the world, tasters from America, Asia and Europe will be asked to select the best Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in the Decanter Global Taste Challenge.

And lastly, Vinexpo forms the venue for the International Wine and Spirit Competition and the Laurent Perrier Award for The World’s Best Independent Wine Retailer.  Exhibitionist tendencies The key to any exhibition is not the forums, debates, competitions or lunches, however, but the number and quality of exhibitors.

You can expect 41,000sq m worth of them, or 2,500 exhibitors from as many as 44 countries at this year’s Vinexpo.  And out of this massive stand area, 62% is taken by France, including for the first time regional stands for Corsican wines and rums from Martinique.

The top countries after France in terms of surface area are, in order, Italy, Spain, the USA and Germany while there are also two new exhibitor countries this year, Slovakia and Armenia. 

The highlight of the exhibition, however, must be the Club des Marques, located outside the exhibition halls, which contains 15 of the biggest international wine and spirits companies: CVBG Dourthe-Kressmann, Jackson Wine Estates, Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Robert Mondavi, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Viña Concha y Toro, Rémy Cointreau, Champagne Taittinger, Suntory Alliance Brands, Grupo Freixenet, Champagne Louis Roederer/Champagne Deutz, Estate Wines Barton & Guestier, Champagne G.H. Mumm/Champagne Perrier-Jouët, Beringer Blass Wine Estates and Italian newcomer Campari.

It is also worth noting that this year Hall 3 will be located to the You can expect 41,000sq m of exhibitors, or 2,500 of them from as many as 44 countries west of the exhibition centre, at entrance K. It will host 3,000sq m of exhibitors’ stands including the South American, Australian, South African and New Zealand national stands as well as French regional stands from Normandy and Poitou-Charentes.

Also in Hall 3, for all those in need of a little retail therapy, is Hermès, Vuitton, Assour and Sumer’s luxury boutiques as well as the Bordeaux bookshop Mollat.  And finally, pop by stand A61 in Hall 1 as that’s where The Dinks Business will have its own little haven.

Spirited approach Spirits are certainly well represented at Vinexpo, with no less than 550 exhibitors attending the show in 2001.  Among the many products on display will be Ron de Cuba Old Nick from Bardinet, which is launching the brand at the show in an attempt to branch out into the light rum category.

Dillon on the other hand will be displaying for the first time its new engraved bottle, reinforcing the producer’s position in the white AOC Martinique rum market.  It’s not all rum deals, however. Giffard, for example, has attempted to modernise its image with the introduction of two new fruit spirits; bilberry with vodka and raspberry with vodka.

Innovatively packaged, the drink comes in a square bottle within a transparent plastic box.  South specifics In the world of wine, meanwhile, South America will have a strong presence and Adet Parrot, the Bardinet Group’s wine company, will show its new Chilean wine brand Alvinde at the show.

It will consist of a range of single varietal wines, produced in the Colchagua valley. Also on display will be new varietal wines from Navarra in northern Spain and premium estate wines from both the Languedoc Roussillon and Adet Parrot’s homeland, Bordeaux.

San Pedro’s 35 South, one of the top three Chilean bottled brands in the UK, will be introducing dual varietals and a reserva tier as well a new three-litre box format to satisfy increasing consumer demand. San Pedro’s pioneering winemaker, Irene Paiva, widely considered to be Chile’s most important and respected female winemaker, will also be attending the show.

Viña San Pedro’s affiliated winery, Finca La Celia, based in the Uco Valley, Mendoza will be housed in the Argentinian pavilion and Mauricio Lorca will be attending and tasting through his ranges.

Chile’s Calama Wines (Hall 1, A41) will be showing the unusually named Big Tattoo Red. The wine comes from two brothers, Alex, a wine importer, and Erik, a tattoo artist, who wanted to pay homage, in a non-serious way, to their late mother who suffered from cancer.

They decided to label and bottle their own wine and donate the proceeds to a good cause, so for every bottle sold, 50 cents is donated to cancer research.  In case your craving more from Chile, on Tuesday 24 from 4.15 to 6pm in room 223 one of Chile’s leading viticulturists, Eduardo Silva, will explain why the country’s biodiversity makes it the world’s most promising winegrowing region in a conference entitled "Naturally Gifted: Why Chile has the world’s best terroirs".

Clever closure Vinamundi, the world’s first wine range to feature the Multipour closure system, will also be on show this year.  The multipour "glass of wine a day" system launched at LIWSF is hoping to revolutionise the market for re-sealable wine with its miniaturised inert gas injection system that will keep wine fresh for days after opening.

And unlike the bag in a bag-in-box pack which is flexible and slightly air permeable, the Multipour system uses a conventional bottle preventing oxygen from penetrating.  Multipour is also hoping to be a hit in the on-trade.  Professional inert gas installation is a large capital outlay for a restaurateur or bar owner and Multipour represents the same effective wine preservation system for a fraction of the cost.

Multipour founder Margo Todorov expects the invention to have a dramatic effect on the market: "It’s still too early to predict the demise of bag-inbox, but let’s just say that Multipour’s going to make its prospects look a bit boxed-in."

Nearly all black New Zealand is hoping to reinforce the premium positioning of its wines using a different design for its stand at Vinexpo (Hall 3, HJ343).  The new look includes plenty of black, not only to give off an image of elegance but also to strengthen the association with the likes of the All Blacks.

The wines on the stand will feature new launches along with sneak previews of the 2003 vintage and will be showcased by 22 leading New Zealand wineries, 10 of which are completely new to the show.

Product launches on the stand will include Babich East Coast Unoaked Chardonnay 2002, a fruit-driven wine available in screwcap; Montana Classic Pinot Noir 2002, a new addition to the "Classic" varietal range and a complement to the producer’s awardwinning Marlborough Reserve Pinot Noir; and Montana’s Lindauer Fraise, a bottle-fermented sparkling wine infused with natural strawberry.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn in depth about the range of New Zealand varietal wines via a tutored tasting entitled "New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Beyond".

The tasting will take place on Monday June 23 at 3pm to 4.30pm in room 221 and will be conducted by some of New Zealand’s leading winemaking lights. New Zealand wines will also be explored at the "Sensory Tour and Blind Tasting of New Zealand Varietials" held at the country’s stand on Wednesday June 25.

Sporting chance It seems there’s a new player in the world of Champagne.  Jean-Louis Malard is a 37 year-old former rugby player who likes to be defined as the "Regional de l’Etape".

His production is dedicated to a niche market and he is exclusively offering premiers crus and grands crus rated Champagnes.  He and his company have been widely tipped as one of the most promising new entities to emerge from the Champagne region in decades. They will be showing the different cuvées on stand DE 43 in Hall 1.

Aussie emphasis Exhibiting on the Wine of Australia stand at Vinexpo will be Evans & Tate which is featuring a number of wines from its broad portfolio, including its premium wines from Margaret River, Western Australia.

Two labels from the low/medium price level will be given particular emphasis.  Firstly, Barramundi, which is now available in new 250ml bottle sizes and secondly Salisbury wines, which are being re-launched with new contemporary labels.  The latter will be shown for the first time at Vinexpo.

Sizeable portfolio There’s plenty happening in the world of Port at this year’s Vinexpo. In particular, at the Fladgate Partnership’s stand (D227, Hall 1) will be the recently redesigned brand identity and packaging for Fonseca and an opportunity to see the first results of a major investment in the Croft brand – an attempt to reposition it in international markets. A selection of Tawny Ports will also be available from Delaforce to complete the portfolio.

Taylor’s Port will again join Guigal, Jadot and Gaja at Vinexpo on stand BD259 (Hall 1) and will be showing a dry white Port, a Late Bottled Vintage 1997, a 10 Year Old Tawny and the 1998 Single Quinta Vintage from its flagship vineyard, Quinta de Vargellas.

On the Symington stand (B148) will be Graham’s Malvedos 1995 Vintage Port along with the follow-up vintage of the company’s best-selling LBV, Graham’s LBV 1997. Visitors will also have the opportunity to taste the latest release of Graham’s Crusted and Dow’s Crusted, both bottled in 1999.

Also from Symington will be Warre’s Bottle Matured LBV 1992 and there will be a unique first chance to taste samples of the 1994 which was bottled in 1998 and will be released onto the market towards the end of this year.

The innovative Otima 10 Year Old Tawny will also be on display, widely acknowledged to have led the way in rejuvenating Port’s image and encouraging the drinking of fine Tawny Port chilled.

Also present will be Dow’s Midnight with its radical new packaging and there will also be cask samples of the very limited Quinto da Senhora da Ribeira 2001 Vintage Port.  Thoroughly modern Madeira Blandy’s Alvada will be making its international debut at Vinexpo on the Symington family’s stand (B148).

Both the modern packaging and the new style of Alvada 5 Year Old Madeira have been designed with contemporary tastes in mind.  It is virtually unheard of for a Madeira wine to be blended from two of the classic grape varieties, but in order to provide something new for existing Madeira drinkers and to tempt new ones on board, Alvada has combined Malmsey for its classic richness and Bual for its subtle, dry fruit.

The Madeira Wine Company will also be showing its "harvest" wines, Blandy’s and Cossart. The MWC was the first company to introduce these young dated wines of high quality at affordable prices.