Real Wine Fair to return after two-year hiatus

The Real Wine Fair is set to return to London after a two-year hiatus, with the event’s 2016 dates just announced.

The Real Wine Fair will return to Tobacco Dock in Wapping, East London, on 17-18 April 2016 (Photo: Les Caves de Pyrene)

The trade, press and consumer event, organised by organic, biodynamic and natural wine importer Les Caves de Pyrene, will bring more than 150 winemakers to East London’s Tobacco Dock from 17-18 April 2016.

In addition to the wines, the fair will also feature an array of artisan food which will be available to taste and buy from a specially created on-site shop.

There will also be a series of masterclasses and seminars on themes around natural wine, as well as other attractions set “to be announced in the coming months”.

Organiser Doug Wregg said that the fair would be taking place on a “two years on, two years off” basis, with fairs scheduled for 2016 and 2017 before taking another break.

“I think it’s a good idea for people to have a rest, otherwise it gets a bit tired,” he said.

“We think two years rather than three is a good thing. You come back refreshed and the growers look forward to it even more because they’ve had a little break.

“I think people get a bit familiar with the format so it allows us to be a bit more creative in planning. It’s a good cycle to be in because we can come back with new ideas, hopefully.

“We’ve never started so early and we’ve never had so many people already on board. That just shows that it was probably a good idea to give it a break because the expectation is there – people are talking about it and anticipating it already.”

While the fair at Tobacco Dock has not taken place in 2015, Les Caves de Pyrene has organised a series of smaller special events to be held over the course of the year.

As well as hosting sherry and tapas crawls around London, the company also held the Alternative Aussie Road Tour earlier this year, with trade members treated to camping, cooking, and wine tasting with Australian natural winemakers.

The company has also held a Feats of Clay amphora wine tasting and is set to hold a New World Discovery Tasting at the end of October.

A Real Chile promotion has also been organised for the on-trade this year with a selection of artisanal, organic Chilean wines offered by the glass in participating restaurants.

As in previous years the 2016 Real Wine Fair will be part of the overarching Real Wine Month, a promotion aimed across the trade, with restaurants offering organic, biodynamic and natural wines by the glass and independent retailers providing special offers on such wines.

Because there are lots of growers attending the fair, there will be a lot of associated special events at various restaurants in London, as well as in outlets around the UK, Wregg said.

“Rather than make it a two-day event we want to make it have a much wider impact,” he added.

“It’s about engaging people with the philosophy, getting people to ask, what are real wines? Why is this a point of difference? What am I drinking? And hopefully people will really get into that.”