The wrap on Prowein

Share on email Share on facebook Share on twitter

WIth 300 more exhibitors than the 3630 in 2011, and approximately 40,000 registered visitors (not inc. exhibitors), Prowein's director Danila Avdiu was busy and beaming at the 2012 edition in Dusseldorf.

The California section was buzzing with people, food, and of course wine. Long-time European director Paul Molleman proclaimed of his position, "Constellation is here with eight people, Diageo with four, The Wine Group with seven indicating Prowein has grown to be the leading fair in the world. We're getting CEOs, Volker Eisele from Napa Valley, and others we hadn't seen in times past. It's a 'civilized' fair and we're the popular kid on the block serving food out of our pop-up truck." As Germany's recently appointed Trade Education Ambassador, MW candidate Claudia Schug Schultz led several presentations about her native state. However at a VDP party the following evening I was cornered by a Chinese journo who said that the work of the California Wine Institute there isn't up to par, especially compared to that done by Wine Australia "California wines are universally liked but its marketing and promotions aren't strong enough," said Frieda Xu of China Wine News. "There's a gap in educating distributors and in bringing buyers and journalists to California." She added she was one of over 50 buyers and writers flown to Australia; numbers, she claimed, which are greater than those going to the US. According to a report released this week by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), Australian wine exports to China were worth $AUS181 million in 2010-11 up from $21 million in 2005-06. The Golden State flag was also flown along side those of New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa at a series of 'Flavours' New World seminars presented by Caro Maurer MW, Ronan Sayburn MS, Andreas Larsson, and others designed to draw attention to these New World regions. As for South Africa, director Su Birch of its 'Wines of' told me she'd noticed no change in traffic from 2011 though yours truly was relieved he was able to navigate through the Germany wineries hall far easier than last year.

In the ever-popular Hall 4, the Mosel's Bischöfliche Weingüter launched a portfolio restructuring with its the new director of sales & marketing, Anna Reimann, formerly with Markus Molitor. Its three church properties have merged into one label, 'Three Rivers', made as a QbA style in varying degrees of sweetness replete with modern labeling. "We wanted to reflect both what we own and what we do; the Saar is our off-dry version made from vineyards in Wiltingen and Ayl." Additionally the BW ripped out its red grapes in the 'grand cru' Kanzemer Altenberg in favor of Riesling. The stand containing the Mosel's Batterieberg, Grünhäus, and Siemens wineries was awash with tasters after the '11 wines, far more plentiful than the already sold-out '10s. "We're happy with our sales, primarily in New York and Boston," said Batterieberg's winemaker Gernot Kollman. Jochen Siemens was less enthusiastic with ordering consistency but the former newspaper editor recognizes the vagaries of selling German wines in the US. "People ask for our wines even though we're relatively new, so we're happy."

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board kicked off its 'Cool Wines by the Glass' program emphasizing the suitability of its wines for sale at restaurants and bars. The dynamo that is its director, Willi Klinger, touted his interest in growing the AWMB's presence in using Grüner Veltliner as a way forward with other varieties following in the wake of the grape which is so uniquely successful for this central European country.

Spain's growth in organic vines has tripled since 2010 to more than 54,000 hectares, making it Europe's most important country for organically grown wines . Spain's federation of organic producing companies (FEPECO) reported its strong growth is derived from cooperatives and moves by top producers like Torres in going organic. The vast Castilla-La Mancha saw a doubling of its organic vines to 29,000 ha in only one year. According to Ernst Buscher of the German Wine Institute, "organic cultivation now represents an extra benefit that consumers are prepared to pay for." Germany's 5% of total production grown organically falls just short of France's 6%; Alsace has the largest percentage of organic vines of any French region with 9.1% while Languedoc Rousaillon has the largest area under organic cultivation, at 12,600 ha. Italy, too, is enjoying a surge with 42,700 ha of vines in organic cultivation, an increase of 6% over 2008.

"For us this is the number one fair to focus upon for the European market, especially considering the costs of any fair," according to Nicolas Bonino of Uruguay's Juanicó winery. "Here we're meeting people from throughout Europe, Asia, and even from South America. It's much more focused on business that leads to followups, sales. The timing of early March is also great for planning shipments for the winter season."
An equally jubilant Ricardo Lopes of Portugal's Parras group said, "we opened new markets this week, business was very good. Symstembolaget's largest supplier has decided to bring on Portuguese wines and has chosen four SKUs from us for the Horeca system," adding that he also landed an Irish client that day.

Showing that Europeans aren't immune to gimmicks, Washington state's Precept Wines showed its Coco Rosso, a dark chocolate-infused wine. Met with understandable derision by some, it took little to realize that Vermouth is much the same--an aromatized wine--to which the wine was better accepted.