Beautiful South back with a flourish

Wines of the Beautiful South returned to Kensington Olympia for its second year with a new set-up and an increase in attendance.

The second instalment of Wines of the Beautiful South showed London the best of what Argentina, Chile and South Africa have to offer.

Visitor numbers increased by 7.3% with 1,233 members of the trade dropping in to the two-day event to taste and chat with winemakers from Argentina, Chile and South Africa.

Speaking to the drinks business, Andrew Maidment, head of Wines of Argentina in Europe, said the event had gone even better than anticipated: “it was a success, feedback so far from producers has been universally positive and the feeling was that this years show was a significant improvement on 2013.”

“The new layout made it easier to navigate and all the Argentine producers are keen to come back after what is turning out to be a very important year for Argentinean wine in the UK,” said Maidment.

And the head of WofA said it wasn’t just Argentina: “The event served to highlight not only the enthusiasm in the trade for Argentina but for Chile and South Africa as well.”

“Hopefully it’s something we can all build on,” he said.

But they’ll have to wait until 2016 to do so as the event takes a hiatus in 2015.

Instead Argentina and Chile will explore options for a combined event as well as attending the London Wine Fair, VinExpo and Prowein and South Africa will host their international showcase, Cape Wine.