|  Held in Montpellier in the South of France every alternate year in which the Vinexpo moves out of Bordeaux is travelling the world, the ‘other French Wine Expo’, Vinisud has been gaining popularity not only because of its smaller and more manageable size but also since it addresses to the focused segment of Mediterranean wines. The presence of Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Macedonia adds to the Mediterranean flavour.
Faced with increasingly standardized production at global level, Mediterranean vineyards are stepping up their initiatives to set themselves apart, whilst at the same time adding value to their production – by re-introducing ancestral grape varieties, reinstating historic terroirs and reviving the winegrowing heritage according to the organisers of Vinisud. According to the OIV figures as reported on the website, 50.93% of the world wine production comes from the defined Mediterranean regions.
Out of 1460 producers who had confirmed participation, over 90% are from France, with Languedoc Roussillon chipping in with half of the French participants; Italy and Spain/Portugal follow distantly.
Vinisud also offers a great opportunity to meet several interesting wine personalities presenting Master classes on all 3 days, the first being to meet Paolo Basso, winner of the 2013 World's Best Sommelier award on Monday 24 February. He will talk about ‘Discovering Mediterranean wines.’ This will be augmented by a tasting of awarded Mediterranean wines.
Sparkling wine lovers would have an opportunity to know more about the "Sparkling Mediterranean wines,” presented by Beppe Giuliano, Director of Euposia magazine and organiser of the Euposia challenge, a competition exclusively for sparkling wines produced using the classical method. In a journey spanning 6 countries and a dozen different wine producers, he will focus on the traditional Mediterranean methods.
Grenache is a grape of future for India-being a warm weather variety. It goes well with spicy food and Indians love it in the varietal form or blends in Spanish wines like Rioja or the French wines like Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape from Rhone Valley. "Grenache, an international grape variety" will be presented by the Grenache Association on Monday.
When grape variety and heritage go hand in hand…" presented by Olivier Poussier, winner of the 2000 World's Best Sommelier award, and Raphael Pierre-Bianchetti, President of the Corsican Sommeliers Association will explore the Corsican grape varieties with unknown and magical names.
There is a heavy latent demand for Rosé wines in India. This is visible at various tastings and the desire of all Indian producers to add one such varietal to their portfolios and importers who must carry a few labels from different countries. Provence continues to spin the magic when it comes to Rosé. ‘World trends in rosé wines" will be presented by the Provence Wine Council on Tuesday, 25th February.
The highlight of the Master classes will be a presentation by Gérard Basset and Paolo Basso, winners of the World's Best Sommelier award in 2010 and 2013 respectively on Tuesday 25 February from 2.15pm to 3.45pm. They will jointly present ‘The great red wine appellations and regions of the Mediterranean.’
The delegates will also have the opportunity of a guided tasting of organic Mediterranean wines that have been awarded in the Amphore contest, an International competition for organically grown wines on Tuesday afternoon. They may also be tasted independently in Mediterranean Palace, a Free- access tasting area presented by the Union des Oenologues de France. Visitors can discover the rich diversity of Mediterranean wines, including the organic wines showcased at the exhibition.
The Internet and Social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become indispensable tools for the producers, importers and marketers today- including videos. Topics like ‘How to communicate online with a limited budget,’ and ‘what impact do social media have on the various wine markets?’ will offer interesting tips to those interesting in this area.
Quite a stir had been created by a study published last year claiming that most wine competitions award medals in a random fashion and there is no consistency in the results. Despite these claims which have been disputed by experts, a majority of competitions are seeing a constant growth in participation indicating there must be some benefit offered by these competitions. "What purpose do wine contests serve?" will be an interesting presentation of the results of a survey carried out by Vitisphere.
Wine Tourism is an important aspect of marketing wines and there has been a continuously growing interest both by the producers and consumers- the two being connected by the travel agencies specializing in wine tourism. Round table discussion with contributions from wine tourism estates, travel agencies and institutional stakeholders and named ‘Sunshine, historic and cultural heritage, exceptional wines…the Mediterranean, a wine tourism paradise’ will be presented by André Deyrieux, wine tourism consultant and founder of the web magazine Winetourisminfrance.com. One hopes English translation facility is available for this interesting discussion. Usually, such facilities are provided for all conferences.
Despite domestic and foreign producers trying their best to pair food with wine, it continues to be imbibed mostly with aperitifs in Indian homes. Results of the survey conducted by the London-based Wine Intelligence for VINISUD will throw an interesting light on the international trends in the seminar on The Aperitif and wine – New consumption trends" on Wednesday morning.
Mediterranean Expression area
This new area will showcase the rich diversity of the Mediterranean's wine, culinary and cultural heritage. One can explore vinodiversity of the Mediterranean grape varieties. There will even be a sampling area where you can discover "100 Mediterranean grape varieties you have never tasted before.”
A lot of opportunity to learn and focus on the Mediterranean wines is in store for those partaking as exhibitors or planning to visit Vinisud 2014 in Montpellier on February 24-26.
Subhash Arora |