Your guide to Vinexpo 2015

Vinexpo returns to Bordeaux with a bang this month, with its energetic new chief executive, Guillaume Deglise, keen to shake things up, ring the changes and bring back glamour to the fair.

Deglise openly admits that other wine trade shows like ProWein have upped their game in recent years, so he’s particularly keen to defend the Vinexpo brand and help it reclaim its crown as the world’s most important wine fair. This month, over 60,000 thirsty visitors and 2,400 exhibitors from 44 countries are expected to descend upon the cradle of French wine – Bordeaux – for the five day fair, which takes place on 14-18 June at the Parc des Expositions, just a 15-minute tram ride from Bordeaux city centre.

“There’s a lot of expectation on my shoulders and I’m keen to put my own stamp on things this year,” sets out Deglise. “While the fair is focused on wine, I want there to be a strong entertainment element – I want people to have fun while they’re here and am looking to create a ‘wow’ factor,” he continues, adding, “Vinexpo has been around for along time and in recent years it wasn’t adapting enough to the market – it was high time to come back with new ideas and initiatives.” The tagline of this year’s event is “Taste the Unexpected”, and Deglise believes that people will be “slightly shocked” by some of the changes he’s made to the fair, but on going to press he was sadly unable to confirm weather Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter would be pouring Champagne at the Armand de Brignac stand, having bought the fizz brand late last year. “With celebrities you never know until the last minute, but he has expressed an interest in attending,” Deglise reveals.

Now in its 18th year, the 2015 fair is expected to attract more international visitors than ever, with China now the second largest attending country after France. Highlighting the diversity of the event, in addition to wine from all over the planet, including Mexico, Georgia and even England’s green and pleasant land, at this year’s show you’ll find everything from Columbian rum and Ukrainian vodka to Peruvian pisco and Japanese whisky on pour. New for this year, the exhibition spaces have been redesigned so that they all face the lake, meaning less fighting for the best views. Deglise believes his biggest challenge is to reassert the importance and relevance of the Vinexpo brand. “We need to be seen as a strong event for business and networking, not just the Bordelais. We’re playing at home so of course it’s important for French exhibitors and visitors to be there but we need to be a more welcoming fair and make our international visitors feel at home,” he says.

Born in the USA

The world’s largest wine consuming country, America, will be treated as a special guest this year, with Deglise keen to shine a light on wines made Stateside. Tasting activity will be centred around both the Napa Valley Vintners and California Wine Institute stands, which will serve as key hubs during the fair. “We chose to flag up American wine this year as we wanted to send a clear message out to our exhibitors. China is a great market for the future, but you shouldn’t forget the US and you need to be on sale there if you want to grow your exports,” he says.

One of the hottest tickets during the fair will be a wine tasting hosted by Vinexpo in collaboration with Wine Spectator magazine that flags up some of the top drops from the US that are the fruits of joint ventures with European estates, such as Marimar Estate (owned by Torres), Domain Chandon (owned by Moët & Chandon), Tablas Creek (owned by the Perrin family) and Antica (owned by Antinori). Each producer will present one wine from a vintage of their choice from their home estate and their US project.

The two-hour tasting, hosted by Wine Spectator publisher Marvin Shanken will be open to 1,000 lucky ticket holders. In addition to the tasting, Shanken will chair a talk on wine distribution in the US and how to succeed in the American market on Tuesday 16 June. There have been whisperings that Vinexpo will soon host a show in America, though Deglise insists that the idea is still only in the planning stages at the moment. “We’re looking into holding an Vinexpo in America but we tried once before and it didn’t work so we want to make sure it will work if we attempt it again,” he says.

Les Terrasses

Unimpressed by the performance of the famous Club du Lac in 2013, Deglise has renamed it Les Terrasses this year, which will unite a key group of wine and spirits brands including Domains Barons Philippe de Rothschild, Concha y Toro, Lanson, Deutz, Thienot, Boisset, Planeta, Frescobaldi and Les Grands Chais de France with booths that open into Hall 1 but also boast private lakeside space.

Tapping into trends

Two key wine trends and one unloved style will be given extra special attention at the fair this year via dedicated tasting zones where rosé, sparking and sweet wines will be dispensed free to visitors via a shiny fleet of Enomatic machines. Some 60 different rosés and 30 sparkling wines will be available to try by the (Riedel) glass, with the sparklers hooked up to the new Flute device that preserves fizz with the use of argon gas. Keen for Champagne not to hog the limelight, Crémant, Prosecco and Cava will also be on pour alongside sparklers from Australia, South Africa and the US.

As for the sweet wines, drops from all over the wine world will be on pour with Deglise particularly keen for people not to overlook them. “I want people to remember that sweet wines aren’t just for the end of the meal; they can be a great apéritif and pair well with lots of foods,” he says. Meanwhile, in the centre of Hall 3, the Spiritual concept bar in association with our sister title, The Spirits Business magazine, will showcase spirits brands and flag up mixology trends via cocktails shaken up by big name bartenders. Fancy trying the “world’s best” Cognac? Then swing by the Marie Brizard stand (BD280) in Hall 1 for a taste of Gautier XO Gold & Blue made from very old eaux-de-vie, which recently scooped the aforementioned title at the World Cognac Awards. Now in its 260th year, the maison also won the “Best Cognac” award at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Glass act

Riedel is the official glassware partner of Vinexpo and will be for the next three fairs up to 2019. Over 120,000 glasses are expected to be swirled by exhibitors and visitors during the show. Riedel will also show off its latest glasses and decanters on its stand, including the new Veritas and Superleggero ranges.

Food glorious food

Getting db excited this year is the food focus, one of Deglise’s big changes for the fair. The food offering will be bigger and more diverse than ever, ranging from fine dining venue Signature, which is already open for bookings, to food trucks. “We’ve had to build everything from scratch, but we’ve got 60,000 people coming through the door so there are a lot of mouths to feed,” says Deglise. “I want our food offering to reflect the quality of the food available in Bordeaux. We’re a country known for our culinary history and the food in the past was wide of the mark,” he admits, adding, “We’ve never really talked about food at the fair before but it’s such an important part of the business.”

Among the restaurants to pop up during the fair will be an Italian, Basque, South American, American and a Chinese, where the focus will be on quality food in a casual environment and wines from around the world. A boon for exhibitors is the chance to bring their own wines to present to clients with no corkage fees.

Another site destined to be a hit is a pop-up version of popular Paris wine bar Les 110 de Taillevent, which will be offering a staggering 110 wines in by-the-glass serves.

Taking place throughout the fair will be a series of food and wine pairing workshops in association with Gault & Millau, hosted by top chefs and sommeliers from France, Argentina, the US and beyond. Deglise has cherry-picked the chefs and sommeliers from fine dining venues to talk guests through the process of food and wine matching while presenting their idea of the perfect pairing from a test kitchen within the exhibition centre.

Each of the 16 seminars will be open to 50 visitors and Deglise is keen for them to be as interactive as possible.

The Blend

Those who still have energy left once the fair has closed for the day can head to Vinexpo’s first nightclub, dubbed “The Blend”, in Hanger 14 near the Garonne river in the city centre. Designed to offer attendees a casual environment in which to network, The Blend will be open from 10pm until 2am every night of the show and will play host to live DJ sets.

Within walking distance of Bordeaux’s main square, shuttle buses back to the lake will be provided through the night. “We want people to enjoy themselves and have fun and The Blend is a good way to connect people that didn’t have the chance to meet during the show,” says Deglise. Daily passes cost €35 and include an open bar with a rotating selection of 60 wines by the glass. A weekly pass can also be bought for €90. Wine company Araex is the official Spanish wine supplier of The Blend – among its wines on pour at the club will be Villa Conchi Brut Seleccion Cava.

One to Wine

This year Vinexpo has launched a new appointment booking service where exhibitors and visitors can be put into contact with one another via the Vinexpo team for bespoke “One to Wine” meetings free of charge. Deglise has created the service after the fair received criticism for the lack of concrete business it generated in 2013. “We’re the middle man to help people plan their visit. We’ve given ourselves a lot of extra work but I really wanted to strengthen the business side of the fair as paying exhibitors want to see a good return on their investment,” he says.

Tastings by Vinexpo

The Vinexpo Academy will be putting on 80 tastinsg, talks and events over the five day fair hosted by sommeliers, oenologists, economists and entrepreneurs – here we round up some of the highlights to seek out.

Sunday 14 June

11:30-12:30pm: Wine in paintings and mosaics: the vine in the frescoes of Pompeii
(Tasting Lab 5)
12:30-2pm: Georgian wine: promises and paradoxes (Tasting Lab 2, Hall 2)
4-5pm: The wines of Campania and the myth of the grand tour (Tasting Lab 5)
8:30pm – late: 1855 Grands Crus Classés dinner at Château Margaux

Monday 15 June

9:30-11am: Great Burgundy wines: Albert Bichot’s iconic climats (Lab 1, Hall 2)
9:30-10:30:am: The myth of Dionysus (Tasting Lab 5)
11am-12pm: Oregon masterclass by Doug Frost MS MW (Hall 1, Stand AB 329)
3pm-5pm: Wine Spectator: Global connections – fine wines from the US and beyond (Forum)
3:30-5pm: Alsace Grand Crus – an expression of exceptional terroir (Tasting Lab 3, Hall 2)
3:30-5pm: Bolgheri: Assertion of a terroir (Tasting Lab 2, Hall 2)

Tuesday 16 June

9:30-11am: Abruzzo: a 2,000-year-old vineyard (Tasting Lab 2, Hall 2)
10am-12pm: Inside the US wine market (Amphi C)
11:45am-2pm: Lifetime achievement award lunch hosted by the drinks business and the Institute of Masters of Wine (Tasting Lab 4, Hall 2)
12:30-2pm: Almaviva masterclass (Tasting Lab 2, Hall 2)
2-5:30pm: Investing in a vineyard in Bordeaux, the keys to success and the mistakes to avoid (Meeting room 3)
3-5:30pm: Understanding Argentine wine (Tasting Lab 1, Hall 2)
3:30-5pm: Michel Rolland: the brand, hosted by Rolland (Tasting Lab 4, Hall 2)

Wednesday 17 June

9:30-11am: Chinese wine tasting (Tasting Lab 2, Hall 2)
10-11:30am: Africa, the future destination for wines and spirits (Amphi C)
11-12:30am: Bordeaux revised by the “Super Bordeaux” category (Forum)
2:30-4:30pm: Development of wine tourism in the great wine capitals
(Amphi C)
3:30-5pm: Rosé, a global trend (Tasting Lab 1, Hall 2)

Thursday 18 June

9:30-10:30am: Puccini and his land (Tasting Lab 5)
10:30am-12pm: A blind tasting with Paolo Basso (Forum)
8pm – late: Fête de la Fleur – the annual knees up celebrating the flowering of the vine will be held at Château Montrose this year.

Be Appy

The “My Vinexpo” app will help you make the most of your time at the fair. You can download the app onto your smartphone at vinexpo.com. The app allows you to scroll through the exhibitor list, select those in the catalogue you want to see and locate them on the helpful interactive exhibition map. You can also quickly browse all of the fair’s events and tastings, and even print out your own customised exhibition calendar. The app, which features a geolocation function to guide you around the fair, also includes information about shuttle connections and taxis.

KEY INFO

When: 14-18 June 2015

Opening hours: Sunday 14 June to Wednesday 17 June: 9am to 18.30pm Thursday 18 June: 9am to 16.30pm

Where: Parc des Expositions, 2 Cours du 30 Juillet, 33000, Bordeaux

Register: Entry is reserved for wine and spirits professionals and specialist media only. Media can register for admittance and a press badge on the Vinexpo website: vinexpo.com