BORDEAUX, FRANCE – June 18, 2017 – Vinexpo Bordeaux 2017 is now underway, launching a packed, four-day schedule of deal making, networking, and enlightenment for the worldwide wine industry at Bordeaux’s Parc des Expositions. This year’s program is set to probe critical global issues from Brexit to climate change, explore the growing sustainability movement, delve into new technology available to the wine trade, and shine the spotlight on small and organic growers.
The leading show for wine and spirits professionals is also the industry’s most international forum, bringing together 2,300 exhibitors representing 30,000 brands from 40 producing nations to meet leading buyers and industry experts from 150 countries. More than 230 of this year’s exhibitors are introducing their products to Vinexpo for the first time.
On the program’s launch, Vinexpo CEO Guillaume Deglise said, “The industry’s key decision-makers are now in Bordeaux to address the most important topics affecting our shared interests, from the economy to e-commerce, international agreements and climate change. Vinexpo is a springboard for the global wine and spirits business, connecting all facets of the trade for thought sharing, tastings and international sales.”
World of Organic Wines adds WOW! factor
New this year at Vinexpo Bordeaux is World of Organic Wines (WOW!), a section of the exhibition hall devoted exclusively to organic and biodynamic wines. Among the 150 wineries in this section is Tempore Winery from Spain, also representing the Bordeaux 2017 “Country of Honor.” Tempore’s Export Manager Elena Hernandez Hibbert noted, “We’re at Vinexpo to help people understand that organic production isn’t just about sales numbers, but also about the process of working with what the land wants to yield. Organic wine making is focused on quality, not necessarily quantity. We look at and listen to the vineyard, and have built a process around what works best for it, not us.”
The green movement will also be explored in tasting tables, round tables, and educational sessions including June 20th’s “Biodynamic and the Truth in the Glass,” led by Nicolas Joly, a pioneer in biodynamic winemaking.
U.S. producers share early insights
On the heels of its “Country of Honor” designation at Vinexpo Bordeaux 2015, the U.S. will continue to play a prominent role at this year’s show, representing the third largest visitor base (behind France and China) and featuring a strong presence in the Exhibition Hall. Napa Valley Vintners will be among the leading players, hosting pop-up seminars three times daily at its own pavilion.
Emma Swain, CEO of St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery and board member for Napa Valley Vintners remarked, “Vinexpo is one of the more important international fairs. For St. Supery and NVV as international brands, it is important to see our customers from Europe in one location. In April we started off working with the producer and wine merchant Ulysee Cazabonne, and this will make it easier to pick-up stock in Bordeaux.”
Honig Vineyard and Winery’s Stephanie Honig added, “We are focused on building a global presence for Honig wines and the Napa Valley appellation, and I expect to forge great new opportunities and reconnect with existing importers this week. I benefited from Vinexpo’s One to Wine meetings service in 2015 and plan to use it again to make connections.”
“This is our first year at Vinexpo Bordeaux, and we’re already seeing the benefits of being here,” said Susan Pence, vice president of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. “Many wineries throughout the U.S. are family-owned, smaller operations. To succeed and ensure their business prospers for future generations, they have to expand into other markets and build relationships. Vinexpo helps them do exactly that.”
Master Distiller Drew Kulsveen of Kentucky’s Willett Distillery has attended Vinexpo Bordeaux for 14 years. He commented, “In the handful of days we spend at Vinexpo Bordeaux, we are able to identify business trends that we wouldn’t otherwise know about. Vinexpo is the world’s meeting place for the industry, and it’s vital that we are here to understand what is going on around the world, especially in key markets for our business.”
21st century issues and solutions addressed in four days of programming
A sampling of Vinexpo Bordeaux 2017’s hard-hitting programming includes the panel discussion Fire and Rain: Climate Change and the Wine Industry (June 18), featuring prominent Napa Valley vintner and former U.S. Ambassador Kathryn Hall along with John P. Holdren, a former senior advisor to President Obama and leading international expert on energy and climate change; the keynote Big Data at the Heart of the Wine Industry’s New Opportunities (June 19); and a think-tank session with a panel of European experts on Wine and Spirits Market after Brexit (June 20). Insights from these and other sessions will follow in a series of daily press releases from the show. For the full program of events, visit www.vinexpobordeaux.com.
About Vinexpo
Founded by the Bordeaux Gironde Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1981, Vinexpo is the world’s leading show for wine and spirits professionals and a partner for the wine and spirits industry worldwide. Vinexpo is held in Bordeaux in odd-numbered years. Since 1998, Vinexpo Hong Kong (formerly known as Vinexpo Asia-Pacific) has taken place in even-numbered years, and in 2014, Vinexpo expanded to the Japanese market with the debut of a third biannual fair Vinexpo Tokyo. The two have become key exhibitions of the industry in Asia. In 2017 Vinexpo launched a new concept, Vinexpo Explorer, featuring two days of business meetings and discovering vineyards. Vinexpo New York, which takes place for the first time March 5-6, 2018, will open doors to the U.S. market for international exhibitors.
