Size does count

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

To the novice attendee Vinexpo can be overwhelming in its sheer scale – with the volume and profusion of labels almost mindboggling even to those in the trade. Haskell Vineyards’ winemaker Rianie Strydom and Vinlab’s Hanneli Smit fell into that camp. “There’s almost too much to take in,” they said after day one, likening it to being like the proverbial kid in a candy store. “We want to do it all but keep on seeing new things to try… and it’s just so big that it takes you 20 or 30 minutes to walk from Hall 2 after tasting wines from Argentina to get to the 2010 Grand Cru Bordeaux tasting in Hall 3!”

Sound advice given to them by former Cape Wine Academy principal Christine Rudman and Warwick’s First Lady Norma Ratcliffe was to “focus, focus, focus! Don’t get distracted by the passing parade because before you know it the day will be over and you won’t have got to the wines on your list.” Not that it won’t have been a day well spent, mind you, because there is something for everyone at Vinexpo, still one of the most important wine trade fairs in the world.

“Do your research,” said Ratcliffe. “Work out the most logical route between your wish list wines and have a plan of action. It doesn’t make sense to continually go from the end of one hall to another.” Not only do you lose time but it’s physically tiring since the hall is almost a kilometre long!

Johannesburg retailer Carrie Adams of Norman Goodfellows was a case in point. “I have a few things I need to source for the shop: a good value red, a good value white – and then one or two kosher products, if possible.” By the end of day one Adams had ticked them all off her list and considered her find of the show a kosher vodka from Israel. (Coming soon to a shelf near you is Hava Nagila…no jokes – and at a price that will gladden any recession-strapped drinker’s heart!)

Vinexpo was not only buzzing with the obvious emphasis on attracting Asian buyers but it was fascinating to see how quickly French companies are adapting to their new labelling laws. One case in point was the wines of Georges du Bouef. The company renowned for producing millions of cases of Beaujolais annually has revamped its offering substantially.

On display at its stand were mock ups of a new range of entry level wines, retailing at around three Euro (R30) – bright funky colour-blocked labels which stated simply Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and so forth. The other big difference is that they are called Wines of France – so it’s no longer necessary for the novice consumer to wonder what Vin de Pays or Vin de Pays d’Oc or any other appellation statement might mean.

No doubt there are producers who disagree with this revolution but there are many others who have wholeheartedly adopted it and admit that it makes their life a lot easier when it comes to selling their product abroad.

As one South African winemaker said with some trepidation: “It’s terrifying realising just HOW much wine is available out there in the marketplace – and how good and cheap much of it is!”