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 Wines of South Africa (WOSA) will be the highlight of the World Bulk Wine Exhibition after being awarded the 2014 Voice of Wine prize. With this prize, the WBWE will reward the efforts made to promote South African wine abroad, as well as the improvements on image, like the bag-in-box packaging, according to a Press Release by WBWE..
WOSA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to contribute to the success of the South African wine sector by creating the Brand South Africa as country producing exciting wines with a superb quality-price ratio. Besides helping to improve the image and reputation of South African wines on key international markets and helping develop new export market its objective is to develop South African wine tourism-in essence, the same parameters that the Indian Grape Processing Board is mandated with and is taking the baby steps.
Voice of Wine is a prize created by the World Bulk Wine Exhibition which recognizes and rewards notable groups or people who defend the values of wine and the sector’s economic, cultural and social features.
Argentinean Viticulture Corporation (COVIAR) and the Fondo Vitivinicola Mendoza –in charge of the Argentinean Wine campaign were awarded the prize last year in recognition for their respect, care and support to the wine sector, especially lobbying with the government that culminated in a presidential decree that declared wine as the national beverage on the 24th of November 2010.
Started in 2009, WBWE had 70 exhibitors and 1700 visitors from less than 30 countries in the maiden edition. In contrast, there were 176 exhibitors from 16 different countries and 5800 visitors from 68 countries. The reason for the unprecedented growth for a wine exhibition is obvious- more and more international producers of quality bulk wine are looking to open new export markets.
France and Spain were the countries with the largest number of participating wineries (43 wineries from each country) closely followed by Italy with 22 last year. Due to the quality of the wines presented, the attendance of Argentina with 15 wineries seems quite important- just like Chile (15), South Africa (8) and Australia (8).
Wineries from Uruguay (5), the United States (3), Belgium (1) and Liechtenstein (1) have maintained their presence and are contributing to the diversity and quality of the meeting. A highlight last year was the first attendance of producers from Moldavia (3), Bulgaria, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Last year, a total of more than 30 million hL (hectoliters) of bulk wine was on offer at prices that varied generally between € 0.65 to €0.90 a liter although some offerings were as low as €0.55 and as high as €1.20 for the award winning oaked reds.
 According to Federico Castellucci, the then Director General of the International Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV) which supports the event, the bulk wine sector represents more than 40 percent of the worldwide wine trade and ten percent of the value and is growing constantly.
Competition, Cooking and Conferences
In order to encourage quality in bulk wines, the organizers started tasting wines in an international competition in 2011, with the help of a panel of international judges. At the 3rd edition of the International Bulk Wine Competition, 70 wines were entered from nine countries. The 4th Edition of the International Bulk Wine Competition slated to take place on November 23, is open to all wines, in accordance with the definitions of the “International Code of Oenological Practices” of the O.I.V., which like in the past 3 editions, will designate an expert as commissioner for the supervision of the Competition. Subhash Arora has been invited as one of the judges for the panel.
The visitors attending the Exhibition in Amsterdam next 24th and 25th November will also find a showroom with culinary creations inspired by the wine regions of the participating countries, being their wines pairing dish elaborations. The Galician Chef Kike Piñeiro and his team will be again in charge of supervising the live cooking area of the World Bulk Wine Exhibition and creating a unique gastronomical space specially designed for this Fair by using wines in every dish.
Conferences are an interesting feature of this Exhibition. On both days Speakers invited from different countries will speak on various aspects of wine trends in their countries and regions. Traditionally, the Conference is inaugurated by the OIV representative-last year Federico Castellucci,the then Director General who had single handedly orchestrated India’s entry into the OIV unanimously, was the keynote speaker.
Attractive Venue
The organizers have chosen Amsterdam as a very convenient city. RAI with its exhibition facilities and a mere 15 minute by train from the airport offers many European buyers an opportunity to even come in the morning and leave by the evening. Last year, I met Robert Joseph at the Exhibition on the second day in the afternoon. Seemingly in a hurry, he had arrived from London to spend merely a few hours. ‘It is not prudent to leave out such an important show,’ he told me. John Salvi MW who is a regular visitor and also writes occasionally for delWine says, ‘the show is becoming more and more popular every year. The improving quality of bulk wines must also be a factor in their favour.’ A Chinese delegation of buyers was looking for unique wines with indigenous grapes. ‘We are getting bored with the regular international grapes and are hoping to find some interesting wines.’
Interesting for India
 I also visited a couple of stands who already export some bulk wines to India but as BIO. To that extent, those importers who are trading down or those who like to sell as their private labels, would find it a very interesting and useful exhibition. With many domestic producers anticipating grape shortage due to massive uprooting by the Nashik farmers in recent years and continued growth in the wine market recently ,would find the shortage detrimental to their business and may be forced to import these wines-however Maharashtra producers cannot afford to import bulk wine and bottle in their plants due to excise limitations.
In any case, it is an interesting alternative one cannot ignore in the Indian market and the Show offers a excellent opportunity to interact with the top producers of bulk wine and/or those producers who have left-over stocks because of imbalance of demand and supply and therefore are keen to sell in bulk.
For one of the many articles about this Exhibition in the past, visit WBWE: Big Leap for World Bulk Wine
For more information, please contact, info@worldbulkwine.com.
Subhash Arora |