We often receive mail shots from odd places around the world inviting us to trade fairs and exhibitions. Obviously, from the point of view of selling wine (alcohol), these would only be attractive to us in places where there might be a reasonable demand. For example, there are an increasing number of fairs springing up in the Middle East, and it sometimes strikes me as a little odd to think that you might be exhibiting your wine in a country where the general consumption of alcohol is strictly against the law. Of course, in these Middle Eastern countries, and other places such as India, there still remains a growing demand as the number of foreign visitors, and the construction of new international hotels moves on a pace. In time, these locations may well become the markets of the future and therefore could be worth serious consideration.

I was however, mildly shocked the other day when I saw an invite from a country that would not perhaps figure at the top of your potential new market list…. Libya. Obviously it is a country that needs all the help it can get with its on-going reconstruction programme, but is it really ready for albariño at this moment in time? Probably not is my guess. After all, it’s not that long ago that the old despotic regime was overthrown, and tanks rolled through the streets, quite apart from the fact that Islam is still by far the most predominant religion.

One day in the future perhaps?

We often receive mail shots from odd places around the world inviting us to trade fairs and exhibitions. Obviously, from the point of view of selling wine (alcohol), these would only be attractive to us in places where there might be a reasonable demand. For example, there are an increasing number of fairs springing up in the Middle East, and it sometimes strikes me as a little odd to think that you might be exhibiting your wine in a country where the general consumption of alcohol is strictly against the law. Of course, in these Middle Eastern countries, and other places such as India, there still remains a growing demand as the number of foreign visitors, and the construction of new international hotels moves on a pace. In time, these locations may well become the markets of the future and therefore could be worth serious consideration.

I was however, mildly shocked the other day when I saw an invite from a country that would not perhaps figure at the top of your potential new market list…. Libya. Obviously it is a country that needs all the help it can get with its on-going reconstruction programme, but is it really ready for albariño at this moment in time? Probably not is my guess. After all, it’s not that long ago that the old despotic regime was overthrown, and tanks rolled through the streets, quite apart from the fact that Islam is still by far the most predominant religion.

One day in the future perhaps?

Prowein might not be quite the biggest wine fair in Europe, but in terms of visitor numbers it comes a very respectable third, behind Vinitaly and VinExpo. For the serious international wine buyer however, it could possibly rate as number one on the list, quite simply owing to its level of highly efficient (German) organisation and good access – only minutes by tram, train or bus from both hotels and Dusseldorf’s International airport.

In 2012 Prowein boasted some 3,930 exhibitors from around 50 countries, but more importantly, some 40,000 trade visitors from around the world – very slightly up on 2011 despite the economic crisis. You might be forgiven for thinking that the biggest fair of all is VinExpo, but in terms of visitor numbers it is apparently dwarfed by Vinitaly. In 2011 Vinitaly claimed 156,000 visitors over a period of only four days, whilst VinExpo attracted only 48,000 (even though the latter is only a bi-annual event).

Not mentioned in all of this is the London International Wine Fair – and the reason? It appears that this event may now be in a period of slow decline. Since it’s switch to  the Excel centre in Docklands (east London) it would seem that visitor numbers have been static at best, in 2011 it attracting just under 14,000 visitors, only one third that of Prowein. The London dilemma is no doubt compounded by the high cost of meals, hotels and public transport for visitors (in Germany free public transport is included with the entry ticket).

My own conclusion is therefore, if you need to chose only one fair to visit in Europe, it should be Prowein…….. and that’s coming from a Brit!

Prowein might not be quite the biggest wine fair in Europe, but in terms of visitor numbers it comes a very respectable third, behind Vinitaly and VinExpo. For the serious international wine buyer however, it could possibly rate as number one on the list, quite simply owing to its level of highly efficient (German) organisation and good access – only minutes by tram, train or bus from both hotels and Dusseldorf’s International airport.

In 2012 Prowein boasted some 3,930 exhibitors from around 50 countries, but more importantly, some 40,000 trade visitors from around the world – very slightly up on 2011 despite the economic crisis. You might be forgiven for thinking that the biggest fair of all is VinExpo, but in terms of visitor numbers it is apparently dwarfed by Vinitaly. In 2011 Vinitaly claimed 156,000 visitors over a period of only four days, whilst VinExpo attracted only 48,000 (even though the latter is only a bi-annual event).

Not mentioned in all of this is the London International Wine Fair – and the reason? It appears that this event may now be in a period of slow decline. Since it’s switch to  the Excel centre in Docklands (east London) it would seem that visitor numbers have been static at best, in 2011 it attracting just under 14,000 visitors, only one third that of Prowein. The London dilemma is no doubt compounded by the high cost of meals, hotels and public transport for visitors (in Germany free public transport is included with the entry ticket).

My own conclusion is therefore, if you need to chose only one fair to visit in Europe, it should be Prowein…….. and that’s coming from a Brit!

Prowein is certainly one of the most important wine fairs in Europe, and spans over six huge halls at the Messe Düsseldorf. Indeed, owing to it’s sheer size and the layout of the different halls (something akin to Tetris) it’s very easy to lose your bearings, and is certainly not a fair to visit without a specific objective in mind. It would be pretty much impossible to see everything during the three days that the doors are open.

As with the majority of large wine fairs the world and his dog are all represented, and it’s possible to taste wine from every corner of the planet. All of the more obvious producing countries are there in force, but also there are many of the not so obvious too: India, Israel, Georgia, Croatia, Moldavia, Serbia and the Czech Republic to name just a few. Whilst our main reason for being there was to sell our albariño, we did also seize the opportunity to taste a couple of interesting things from outside Spain, including a fascinating tasting of sweet German rieslings from as far back as 1976….. it’s always important for us to stay in touch, and to see what the rest of the world is doing.

The one thing that Prowein has in common with every other wine fair is that it’s completely exhausting, and that’s without including the marathon journey to get to Germany and back. Getting up at 7.30am on a Sunday morning to go out and sell wine comes as a shock to the system at my age (or any age for that matter). It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it – just as well that we love our Bodega!

Prowein is certainly one of the most important wine fairs in Europe, and spans over six huge halls at the Messe Düsseldorf. Indeed, owing to it’s sheer size and the layout of the different halls (something akin to Tetris) it’s very easy to lose your bearings, and is certainly not a fair to visit without a specific objective in mind. It would be pretty much impossible to see everything during the three days that the doors are open.

As with the majority of large wine fairs the world and his dog are all represented, and it’s possible to taste wine from every corner of the planet. All of the more obvious producing countries are there in force, but also there are many of the not so obvious too: India, Israel, Georgia, Croatia, Moldavia, Serbia and the Czech Republic to name just a few. Whilst our main reason for being there was to sell our albariño, we did also seize the opportunity to taste a couple of interesting things from outside Spain, including a fascinating tasting of sweet German rieslings from as far back as 1976….. it’s always important for us to stay in touch, and to see what the rest of the world is doing.

The one thing that Prowein has in common with every other wine fair is that it’s completely exhausting, and that’s without including the marathon journey to get to Germany and back. Getting up at 7.30am on a Sunday morning to go out and sell wine comes as a shock to the system at my age (or any age for that matter). It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it – just as well that we love our Bodega!

No sooner had we made reservations for our flights to Dusseldorf for the annual Prowein wine fair, than the airline that we had booked on suddenly went out of business.

Despite living in an area with three regional airports, all vying for the same business, there are actually very few international flights, and so to get to Dusseldorf from Galicia entails two flights on two different airlines. Our second flight booked from Barcelona to Dusseldorf on Spanair (albeit ironically, the flight is actually operated by Deutsche Lufthansa).

A day or two after booking Spanair suddenly disappeared from our radar, leaving passengers stranded around Europe, and us holding flight tickets that were absolutely worthless (Lufthansa would not honour them as our payment had been made to Spanair).

After much scrambling around on the internet we finally re-booked with Lufthansa (at a premium price), leaving Angela making claims through our credit card company in an attempt to recover the money from our lost flight……

No sooner had we made reservations for our flights to Dusseldorf for the annual Prowein wine fair, than the airline that we had booked on suddenly went out of business.

Despite living in an area with three regional airports, all vying for the same business, there are actually very few international flights, and so to get to Dusseldorf from Galicia entails two flights on two different airlines. Our second flight booked from Barcelona to Dusseldorf on Spanair (albeit ironically, the flight is actually operated by Deutsche Lufthansa).

A day or two after booking Spanair suddenly disappeared from our radar, leaving passengers stranded around Europe, and us holding flight tickets that were absolutely worthless (Lufthansa would not honour them as our payment had been made to Spanair).

After much scrambling around on the internet we finally re-booked with Lufthansa (at a premium price), leaving Angela making claims through our credit card company in an attempt to recover the money from our lost flight……