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 The newly constructed and ultra modern Fangshan Hotel and Resort will be the venue for the first-ever conference and competition being organised by Vinopres in the Fangshan District- one of the newest wine regions coming up fast in this district of Beijing with 25 wine estates already operating under the Appellation laws of the area. Fangshan has made it compulsory for producers to grow organic grapes, restrict yields to 7 Tons/ hA and use only the grapes harvested within the district. An entire range of wine tourism activities is being developed on the outskirts of Beijing on Lake Qinglong.
The Forum-tasting event will take place in this scenic setting.
Forum Tasting
This Forum-Tasting will be divided into four distinct events to be held simultaneously or in succession:
1) Asian Conferences: Experts, including representatives of leading Asian companies, will analyze consumer trends in Asia, as well as discuss marketing strategies and more general themes focusing on economic issues and production techniques.
2) Asian Tasting: Tasting of products classified by country and category.
3) Asian Master classes & Events: A selective range of products will be presented by specialists, with priority status given to extremely rare wines and spirits and antique offerings.
4) Asian Contest: A selection of wines and spirits will be assessed by a panel of international experts in the days leading up to the event. Winning entries will be announced after the Forum-Tasting. Wines will be judged by country, region, and vintage as appropriate. Spirits on the other hand, will be judged by type, age and strength.
 The programme will include a range of trips to wineries and distilleries in the Fangshan region as well as its leading tourist attractions to enable the delegates and participants to get a rounded view of Fangshan district for the wine and spirits connoisseurs and tourists.
Indian Participation
Indian wine industry will be represented by Rajeev Samant, Founder CEO of India’s leading wine producer, Sula Vineyards, Sumedh Singh Mandla, Chairman of the Asian Wine Producers Association AWPA and CEO of Grover Zampa Vineyards and Kailash Gurnani, Chief Winemaker & Director, York Winery Pvt. Ltd. India. They will be speaking at the Conference about the Indian wine industry.
The world-renowned Indian single-malt producer Amrut will be represented by Ashok Chokalingam, Head of International Operations of Amrut Distilleries Pvt. Ltd.
Rojita Tiwari, Beverage Writer & Consultant and Blogger at Drinks & Destination is India Representative for Asian Wine & Spirits (AWS). She says, ‘the idea of organising an international wine and spirits conference & competition for the first time in Asia excited me. When Vinopres, discussed the concept with me last year, I agreed instantly to be associated with the project. It required a lot of planning and back-end work, starting from finalising conference subjects to speakers, to taking care of the Indian entries to the competition. For the first time Indian wine and spirits industry leaders will have a prominent presence in an international platform. We will also showcase our products at the competition in full strength.’
Other international guests
The organisers boast of a list of celebrities and many wine and spirits experts who will speak at the Conference. It includes several Masters of Wine. Doug Frost from Kansas City, USA is one of the only four people in the world to have achieved the remarkable distinctions of Master Sommelier and Master of Wine. Sarah Jane Evans MW is the Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW still does not title the post as  chairperson). Pedro Ballesteros is technically the first MW from Spain and he will be one of the eminent speakers.
Li Demei is the celebrity Professor for Wine Tasting, Enology and food engineering at Beijing University of Agriculture (BUA). Michelle Huang is Head of Country Research at Euromonitor, who ensures the timely output of high calibre data and analysis for mainland China. They are complemented by journalists, producers and wine specialists from several countries who will speak on different subjects but ostensibly the focus will be on China as well.
The program will be updated with news of the latest confirmed speakers and special guests for the Symposium and can be viewed on http://www.aws-silkroute.com/
To enter the competition and tasting visit http://www.aws-silkroute.com/contest/
Asia has everything in place right now to take the leadership role in the wine world with the largest and most dynamic wine scene. Participation in this first-ever Forum-Tasting event titled Asian Wine & Spirits –The Silk Route, in the Fangshan District of Beijing will be highly educative for the wine connoisseurs. Several Chinese are already reported to be registering for the event. But delegates from across the globe will be allowed to register and attend. Please watch this space for details or visit their website.
Subhash Arora
Gallery of Wineries and Vineyards in the Fangshan District-Beijing |