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Vinexpo Bordeaux Starts Off Under Stormy Skies

Hail and political uncertainty usher in the wine trade's biggest trade show, but visitors are excited about wine quality and the industry's overall strength

Eric Arnold

Posted: Monday, June 18, 2007

Vinexpo—the massive wine industry trade show that draws wine producers, négociants, exporters, importers and media—kicked off in Bordeaux with acts of nature and democracy alike hinting at difficult days ahead. On Sunday evening, Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppé, a staunch supporter of Vinexpo, lost his electoral bid for the French parliament (meaning he'll also step down as French Ecology Minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet). Later that evening, massive storms dumped rain and hail across the region.

But by Monday morning the skies and overall mood had calmed enough for Juppé, French Agriculture Minister Christine Lagarde and others to officially welcome the wine world to the region with optimistic words about the future.

Noting that global wine sales continue to rise, Lagarde highlighted how France's wine industry was being helped by the growth in exports, particularly to the United States, which is the country's biggest foreign market. "I lived in Chicago for several years and can vouch for the exceptional prestige which French wines enjoy in the USA," she said. She also stressed the importance of the emerging Asian markets, such as China and Singapore; as a reflection of this, Vinexpo, which is held in Bordeaux every two years, will return to Hong Kong for the third time, in 2008.

Yet Lagarde also devoted much of her speech to the continued challenges that French winemakers face, and said the government must continue to work to bring down trade barriers, develop good relations with key markets (which also include India, Japan and Russia) and fight to protect recognition of geographic origins, such as the French AOC. To be more competitive internationally, she pointed to the need to institute industry reforms and make French wine more understandable to consumers, by methods such as putting the grape variety on the label.

Nearly 50,000 people from 140 countries are expected to pack Vinexpo's several large exhibition halls through Thursday, pouring, sniffing, sipping and spitting. With about 2,400 exhibitors from 45 countries on hand, producers fight to get as much of buyers' attention as possible; some regions have banded together to present all their members' wines in large booths, while other established and new estates alike have carved out elaborate spaces of their own.

Also competing for guests' time are lavish dinners and parties at châteaus, more than 100 tastings, conferences and roundtables---including a presentation on global financial trends and a debate on how to promote moderate alcohol consumption--and an auction of French wines conducted by Christie's.

One pervasive topic of conversation has been money, of course. Up to this point, only a few top Bordeaux châteaus (such as Cos-d'Estournel as Jean-Guillaume Prats announced in his blog) have released their futures prices for their 2006 wines, a process that is usually wrapping up by the start of Vinexpo. However, Bernard Magrez of Château Pape-Clement told Wine Spectator that his release price will be 69 euros, about a 15 percent drop from the price of the 2005 vintage.

Other attendees expressed concern about the strength of the euro. Cameron Hughes, owner of Cameron Hughes Wines, which buys small-lot bulk wine from several different regions around the world, said that it's "been a problem." But he was very optimistic about the quality of some of the wines he has been able to sample and buy. "I've had some dynamite sparklers, some good German wines and some good Spanish up-and-comers," he said.

Overall, attendees seem to be similarly upbeat about their prospects. Julien Martin, export manager for Champagne house de Venoge, said he is meeting interested importers and restaurateurs from as far away as Tahiti. "There's a good feeling that the whole world's come to Bordeaux," he said.

And exhibitors hope that feeling will stretch out through the rest of the week.

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