From a Successful ProWein to ProWine Asia 2018 in April

“Whoever has made their passion for wines and spirits their profession simply cannot afford to miss ProWein in Dusseldorf,” was how Hans Werner Reinhard, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf, organisers of the Show summed up the Show. The high international participation can be gauged from the fact that one in two visitors came from abroad from 133 countries, with most visitors interested particularly in the new vintages from Italy, France and Germany- the major exhibitors- 1700, 1550 and 990 respectively.

Organic Lounge

The organic segment was broad-based. Trade visitors were able to meet with all relevant organic growers’ associations from Germany, Italy and France as well as numerous individual exhibitors from all over the world, approximately 300 producers in all. The leading German organic associations Bioland, Demeter and Ecovin offered an additional source of information complete with a matching gastronomic concept in the shape of an Organic Lounge.

Knowledge Transfer  

Information ranked high at ProWein with around 500 information events and guided tastings organised at the exhibitors’ stands and at the ProWein Forum in Halls 10 and 13.where there were themed events and hosted tastings. The event focused on themes such as Champagne, spirits, craft drinks, organic and bio-dynamic wines, maturity and potential, food and wine pairings as well as on marketing and logistics issues of relevance to retail. About 70 events centred around “Wine made in Germany”.

ProWein as a Trend Gauge 

The question of wine trends was also addressed this year. There appears to be a trend towards light, uncomplicated wines with a focus on terroir as well as on wines from climatic regions where only 20 years ago growing wines of an appealing quality was impossible such as Denmark, Poland and the UK. (India has been overlooked perhaps due to lack of participation).    

City with ProWein Fever

The host city Düsseldorf also caught the ProWein fever. Several vintners presented their “noble drops” at trendy venues after trade fair closed every day. Under the heading “ProWein goes City” 110 events were organised at restaurants, hotels or specialist retail stores that revolved around wines and spirits.

Sum up

The Show has been summed up succinctly by Joel Payne, Editor of the well-known German Wine guide Gault-Millau who returned to his office with computer, rather than a flight of bottles in front, made sense of the three days at ProWein in Düsseldorf by his following comments:

” The organisers are certainly happy. More exhibitors and more visitors than ever before! It is, though, almost too much off a good thing. There were halls that I never even managed to enter and producers that I wanted to see but did not for lack of time.”

“There were not that many Asian visitors this year in Düsseldorf. Most of my acquaintances told me that they would be attending only Vinexpo in 2018, but I did see two or three people from the Indian subcontinent,” he adds. Well, there may be a sizable number at ProWine Asia as well!

24 to 27 April will see ProWine Asia 2018 being held in Singapore. ProWine China 2018 in Shanghai will follow from 13 to 15 November. The next ProWein in Düsseldorf is scheduled from 17 to 19 March 2019. For more information on ProWein please visit www.prowein.com.

ProWine Asia 2018

Leading Asian wine and spirits companies, including Rockland Distilleries (Sri Lanka), Siam Winery (Thailand) and Rachelle The Rabbit Meadery (Singapore) will showcase their latest offerings at the second edition of the biennial ProWine Asia 2018 which returns after 2 years, alongside some of the biggest names in the industry. This event is held alongside the well-known Food and Hospitality show FHA.

The rise in a small but growing number of Asian winemakers is due to Asian vintners, who have been trained overseas in countries like Australia and France, and have returned home and are now using what they learnt and with their own spin, incorporating new techniques for local markets. Each winery has developed its own unique brand of wines and spirits. Despite the tropical climate, Southeast Asian wineries are producing much better quality of wines.

Eddie McDougall, Chairman of Asian Wine Review (AWR) and speaker at ProWine Asia 2018 says, “My work with the AWR has convinced me that the excitement around Asian wine production is not just a passing fad. Driven by a broader interest in a wine-lifestyle, domestic wine production has seen significant growth across Asia. There are currently 13 countries in East Asia producing commercial wines and each of those locations has created their own localised demand. I see the paradigm shifting daily from an elevated consumption level of imported brands towards those that are produced on the doorstep of Asia. This is an exciting era for the artisans of the region.” Visitors can taste many such wines at the Show.

The global wine market is set to grow by an ambitious 25% by 2022, according to the organisers. They claim that the majority is driven by Asian markets, as they quote the International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR). In 2015, World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Health Observatory Data Repository report places Vietnam as second to Korea in terms of alcohol consumption in Asia, at 8.7 litres a year. Thailand came up close at 8.3 litres of alcohol a year.

From 24 – 27 April 2018, visitors can learn more about the latest wine and spirits trends through specialised masterclasses and seminars, tasting sessions and workshops by renowned industry speakers at ProWine Asia 2018.

For a few earlier related Articles, please visit:

ProWine ASIA 2016 in Singapore Successful Debut

ProWine Asia 2016 in Singapore Successful Debut

Prowein 2015: Crescendo for a truly International Wine Show

PRO-WEIN: Very Pro with Plenty of Wine

Subhash Arora

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