Vinexpo Explorer heads to Beaujolais in 2019

Vinexpo is going to Beaujolais next year for the third chapter of its Explorer concept, which sees buyers taken to a region for two days of tastings and meetings.

InterBeaujolais president Dominique Piron at the Kendall-Jackson Estate in Sonoma

The announcement was made on Tuesday evening in Sonoma County, which hosted this year’s Vinexpo Explorer, where president of the Vinexpo board, Christophe Navarre had flown in from London to reveal the next location.

“Our next Vinexpo Explorer will be in France,” he began, “And our location will surprise a lot of people,” he continued, before stating, “It is Beaujolais”.

The idea of Vinexpo Explorer is to shine a particular light on a wine region that is deserving of greater attention from the wine trade, often because it is undergoing a renaissance.

Beaujolais would certainly fit with such an aim, as a region with a new more quality-orientated focus. It is also an area that generally produces wines in a relatively light style, which are deemed to be in line with a rising demand for more medium-bodied reds.

Also present in Sonoma was Dominique Piron, from Domaines Piron, who is president of Inter Beaujolais, the organisation representing the wine region worldwide.

“I am delighted for Beaujolais that we are the first French wine region to enter the Vinexpo Explorer family,” he said.

Speaking to db following the announcement, Piron expressed his enthusiasm for the event, noting that the wines of Beaujolais deserve wider appreciation as they are in line with current tastes.

“The consumer is tired of strong wines, they want wines for drinking, and Beaujolais has improved the wines a lot,” he said.

Continuing, he said: “Now we are writing a new story in Beaujolais.”

“Beaujolais Nouveau is no longer the head of the train,” he added, commenting that the region has abandoned a traditional hierarchical structure and now saw itself as a place offering wines for different occasions and tastes.

“We have three types of wines in Beaujolais, Nouveau for parties, Gamays from the crus, which we call character wines, and exceptional wines from special sites,” he recorded.

The event in 2019 will follow a similar format of two days of tastings, masterclasses and business meetings, and will be held once more in late September.

As previously reported by db, Vinexpo Explorer was conceived to immerse leading buyers in the winemaking and culture of an up-and-coming wine region or country, with Vienna the host city for the first edition, followed by Sonoma County.