“Mirror, mirror on the wall whose stand looks best of all?”. Certainly this could have been the familiar nursery rhyme that many of the 2,400 exhibitors were silently singing to themselves at the recent Vinexpo 2005, the 13th, held from June 19-23 in Bordeaux, France. Perhaps Vinexpo could be renamed the Wine Olympics—certainly it has the size, the international representation, the quality, and most important, the spirit of camaraderie that surrounds the games. And of course, for four days, many of the world’s biggest and best wineries and distilleries strut their stuff while networking like crazy.
A “virginal” Vinexpo visitor, I must confess that I was immediately bowled over and a bit overwhelmed by the mammoth proportions of the event—the sheer number of stands, participants, wine and liquor varieties, tastings and workshops, and even the huge pavilion itself, which at one point I calculated was roughly more than a kilometer walking from one end to the other. That means I was averaging a 5k walk/run daily just visiting stands!
Arriving on the first (sleepy) Sunday morning, Vinexpo was not yet in full swing. Quickly realizing the need to employ a “visitation strategy” to effectively check out the event and take its pulse—or risk getting lost, stressed out, and end up seeking refuge in the press room with the cold champagne that they always seemed to be serving—I used that day to plan my attack for the remainder of the event. Upon arrival Monday, I noted that the atmosphere had significantly changed. The buzz had picked up with more than 45,000 visitors from 140 countries circulating through the halls and pouncing the stands of 43 different countries present at the expo.
In terms of the 2005 exhibition, a total of 41,000 sq. m. of stand floor space was assigned to exhibitors, and of that, 62% was occupied by stands from France ( Well, it is their home turf!). After France, the most represented countries were, in corresponding order, Italy (9%), Spain (8%), Chile (3%), Germany (2.6%), and Portugal (2.5%). All New World companies with the exception of New Zealand were present: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, and the United States.
Also new for 2005 was Hall 3, a new hall that provided 12,000 sq. m. of additional floor space, adjacent to the main building. The hall housed mainly French regional pavilions in addition to some stands from Australia, Austria, Scotland, Ireland, Hungary, etc. Vinexpo seemed to be putting a lot of emphasize on the “modern” air conditioning facilities of this hall, which (in theory) maintained the temperature at 25 ºC while the mercury outside soared up to 38 ºC.
One afternoon, in desperate need of a break and a walk, I decided to put all this talk of the “A/C” to the test, especially after having heard numerous stories about the failed A/C fiasco in 2001, which was the main reason that New Zealand skipped this year’s Vinexpo. Starting at the principal entrance, I cruised Hall 1 to the long main hall (2) which seemed to be under adequate climate control. Oddly, as I got towards the end of Hall 2, where the South American wines were housed (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay), the temperature started rising—to the point I noticed that many of the winemakers at Chilean stands and journalists hanging out were dripping sweat down their forehead and complaining about the heat. When I asked about the improved interior climatic conditions for 2005 at the Terramater stand, I got a slight chuckle and response of “What A/C?” from winemaker Cristián Vallejo. Uh-oh.
A little perplexed how the A/C could not be working again (didn’t they learn their lesson?), I continued with the investigation to the new Hall 3. Opening the door, a polar breeze came flooding out and inside, effectively the temperature was quite cool. For as well organized as Vinexpo was in many different areas (such as new features as L’Avenue which rounded up the press room, general office, VIP club, etc.), I find the air conditioning problem unforgivable. Wine is ultimately a perishable good, thousands of bodies create significant body heat, and overall a detail which is totally amateur and utterly unacceptable.
In contrast to previous years, there were less visitors in 2005, although the general consensus was that the visitors who attended were overall more professional and focused. The vast majority were wholesalers, retailers, importers, restaurant professionals, sommeliers, and press. The ambience seemed to be serious but laid back, professional yet congenial, and most importantly, visitors genuinely interested in the stands they were visiting, with many visits scheduled previous to arrival. Being a newcomer, I personally felt some sense of camaraderie not only with the Chilean stands but in general. The people working the stands were truly interested in showing their products and engaging the public. The level of knowledge and contacts exchanged seemed positive and flowing.
Some of the first-timers such as Beijing Dragon Seal Wines Co. of China and Khao Yao Winery of Thailand were creating a lot of interest with visitors (and lines) to get to know their product. One of the hot areas throughout the whole expo was the Wines of Portugal. There was constantly a swarm of people not only trying the ports (and their really fun tastings paired with foie gras, desserts, or cheeses) but also the other varieties such as the excellent whites from the Alto Douro, Estremadura, and Alentejo regions. In general, Portuguese wines seem to be taking on a higher profile and reputation for their great quality and fragrant whites. Although always an old world wine producer, perhaps this Vinexpo helped transition them more into the world limelight, showing that Portugal’s wines can heavily compete on the world market and break out of the “only port” image. Another area causing significant noise was the Uruguay stand area, which increased over 48% from the last Vinexpo. On various occasions, I was at least 3-5 people deep to get a taste of the lovely Tannat grape variety. With proper marketing, it would seem that this wine could definitely provoke major interest worldwide.
As mentioned before, New Zealand was the only new world wine not in attendance. Although unfortunate that they opted not to be present at this Vinexpo, especially from a comparative perspective for trying their wines in reference to the other new world countries, overall the deterrence from the “Vinexpo experience” seemed somewhat minimal. In the end, there were so many stands to visit and wines to try that one simply refocused on other countries.
Chilean Wines at Vinexpo
Chile this year held fourth place in terms of stand space with 1,089 sq. m. With the exception of Concha y Toro, which opted to stage its Vinexpo “headquarters” in the very chichi Club des Marques outside the main hall, the rest of the Chilean stands were towards the end of Hall 2, grouped with other fellow South American wines from Argentina and Uruguay. In general, there always seemed to be a constant flow of visitors to the Wines of Chile area in addition to the pre-arranged contacts many of the wineries had scheduled. Many visitors (and workers) with whom I chatted both at Vinexpo and the nightly dinners/events felt that Chilean wines remained extremely consistent in their quality and price value in comparison with other years. Lesser known valleys abroad such as Limarí or San Antonio and the smaller, boutique-style wineries also were of interest to many visitors, leaving a good taste (literally). Certainly the increased presence of Chilean wines as a concerted whole is a positive sign that the weight of Chile in the world wine market is a permanent upward trend. At this Vinexpo, Viña Ventisquero was honored by a special panel of international judges as one of the Producteurs Laureats, as was its Carmenere 2003 for the Prix Special category.
On the “other side of the stand”, that is, the perception of the Chilean wineries present at Vinexpo, many made mention that this Vinexpo was vastly improved from the last—in terms of organization, level of visitors, and the quality of business generated. René Merino, General Manager of Viña Casa Tamaya and President of Chilevid, noted that in general, “Vinexpo was excellent for us as it allowed us to open various new markets that are very attractive, such as Sweden, Norway, and even France.” He did emphasize though the Casa Tamaya had done a significant amount of previous work to schedule meetings with distributors and wine negotiants which were key in achieving a successful Vinexpo. “You cannot wait at the stand for clients to come to you, you have to prepare beforehand and maximize the time there to meet with everyone,” as Mr. Merino mentioned.
Perhaps the only, but quite significant, criticism was once again the problem with air-conditioning, which seemed to only affect the Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay areas. Mr. Merino, representing Chile, joined with Argentina and Uruguay during Vinexpo to present a formal complaint about the unacceptable condition. In fact, during a recent phone interview he said that, “It got to the point where all red wines had to be kept in the refrigerator and during meetings, clients would be profusely sweating.” Chilevid and Wines of Chile have taken this problem seriously, indicating that they are seriously considering Chile’s participation at the next Vinexpo if no guarantee is given to avoid this problem. However, ending on a positive note Mr. Merino added, “Apart from this, I think it was a very good Expo for everyone”.
Perhaps there are no gold, silver or bronze medals given at Vinexpo, but one thing is certain, it is a heavyweight in business contacts, opening new markets, and press for the wine world. I certainly enjoyed it from an interactive spectator perspective. Until 2007!
