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 The biennial (every two years) Exhibition ran alongside the 20th edition of the biennial Food&HotelAsia2016 (FHA2016), the well-oiled and region’s most comprehensive trade event for Asia’s food and hospitality industry, which was started in 1978. ProWine ASIA 2016, as it has been christened by the principal Exhibition ProWein (note the German spellings!), ended on a successful note with the satisfied exhibitors and attendees developing good quality, new business contacts through networking.
Jointly organized by Singapore Exhibition Services and Messe Düsseldorf Asia, ProWine ASIA 2016 had 257 wine producers and distributors from 30 countries participating. There were 8,285 attendees, including trade visitors, Masterclass and seminar speakers and delegates from 44 countries and regions, attending the four-day trade event.
Success of ProWein duplicated
Having attended ProWein many times and noticing its chart of ascendency, taking it to newer peaks every time, I could see the footprints of the highly professional Exhibition in Düsseldorf at ProWine ASIA. Marius Berlemann, ProWein Director and Global Head of Wine & Spirits, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, was very pleased with the success of the first edition. “We have followed the successful global formula which is unique to ProWein. It brings together a variety of international wine brands and producers under one roof,” he said. ProWein already equals or surpasses Vinexpo and Vinitaly in global importance as a wine fair and the excellence will rub onto this event as well.
Masterclasses
 One of the main features at the Exhibition, like in ProWein, was a number of Masterclasses conducted by experts like Ch'ng Poh Tiong and Lisa-Perrotti Brown MW, co-editor-in-chief for eRobertParker.com. She spoke on the pros and cons of cool climate wine regions and tasted 9 wines from Austria, New Zealand, Australia and Germany etc. and explained the nuances of various varietals. According to Gernot Ringling, Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf Asia, "about 600 visitors attended Masterclasses, exceeding our expectations. The encouraging response we have received at ProWine ASIA, extending the reach of ProWein Düsseldorf to a Southeast Asian audience, is testament to the dynamic potential of this region’s wine and spirits market.” With Vinexpo establishing Hong Kong as its base in Asia, it was natural that Singapore be chosen as the hub by ProWein and there could be no better partner for the biennial event.
Indra Kumar, CSW and the Winner of Singapore Sommelier Competition 2009, opined that the Masterclass on Spanish wines was fantastic. There were overseas and local importers, sommeliers and personnel from F&B sector attending the session, which led to many productive and rewarding discussions, he added.
While it may be debatable that the wine and spirits professionals would find time and inclination to visit FHA2016, “the event did allow attendees from FHA to expand their horizons in this one-stop sourcing platform. ProWine ASIA helped these visitors in a variety of international selection of wine and spirits for the discerning consumers in this region,” said Lindy Wee, Chief Executive, Singapore Exhibition Services, partnering the Exhibition.
 Although there was no direct participation from India, there were a few India related importers and exhibitors present. Amit Aggarwal of Hema Connoisseurs was one of the Indian importers at the Exhibition, who was quite pleased as he was able to meet his principals Grands Chais de France (GCF). Chairman of the € 980 million empire, Joseph Helfrich attended the Exhibition for a couple of days to meet important clients like Hema. Amit says, ‘ProWine ASIA was very successful for me. I was very happy to meet again the chairman Joseph Helfrich and William Fisher, the senior export manager of GCF. Not only did I taste some of the new variants, I discussed with them the possibility of introducing a couple of new labels. I was most impressed with the Champagne Lounge and have even tied up with a well-known producer whose name I shall let you know after signing the proper agreement."
For a couple of related earlier Articles, visit:
Joseph Helfrich- President of GCF Group of France
Passing By: Fisher fishing for more business for LGC de France
Champagne Lounge
 Conceived at ProWein in Germany in 2013, this was the first time in Asia that a special pavilion was erected for champagnes that could be tasted exclusively in one corner at the ProWine ASIA 2016. This seemed to be a very popular Lounge in Hall 10-designated for wines and spirits. One could see people converging and tasting over 25 different types of champagne from 9 champagne houses including Cattier, Angel (expensive but delicious), Brocard Pierre, Dumangin ( I could not taste but their premium champagne is reportedly the favourite of the likes of Paul McCartney), Pierre Mignon (I liked their champagnes, and the owner’s wife conducted the tasting very enthusiastically-besides the products are well priced) and Aimé Cartier.
Taittinger was present too but I did not find their representative or any opened bottles for tasting. An on-site enologist was there to conduct the tastings and answer any questions. Designed in all-white and plush interiors, the stand was able to convey the purity and luxury of the unique bubbly. It was not the only place in the Exhibition to taste champagnes though-there were exhibitors spread all over Hall 10 and in fact some even outside - most of which I could not visit since I presumed wines were all in Hall 10. (A separate Article on Cattier and Armand de Brignac is planned for a later edition.) For details visit www.champagne-lounge.fr. I did visit the stand of Champagne Jacquinot in the Sopexa pavilion.
Man from Nashik and Champagne Jacquinot
 It was a surprise to see in the Sopexa pavilion Jean-Manuel Jacquinot, known perhaps as well in Nashik winery circuit as in Champagne as a winemaker whom I had met earlier. After Sham Rao Chougule founded Champagne Indage and started producing Marquis de Pompadour ‘champagne’ in the mid 80s, the now defunct Champagne Charbaut was approached by a local politician Madhav Rao Moré, Chairman of a new-born co-operative Pimpane in Pimplegaon village for technical collaboration.
Jean-Manuel who was then 25 years had joined Charbaut as an intern winemaker to avoid military service; his family produced champagne and he had some experience of champagne making. He came to India under contract for a couple of years in 1988 and went back after producing the sparkling wine labelled as Pimpane which could not be exported for various reasons. After going back he started working as a flying winemaker but took charge of his family winery in 1998 after his father and uncle died. He was invited to India again to start ND Wines and later by Seagram’s to set up Nine Hills. Since then he visited India 3-4 times a year till 2012. For more information based on my visit to Pimpane in February 2007, click: 'Champagne de Pimpane' to be 'born again' soon
Although they produce champagne from their own grapes only and could qualify as an RM (grower champagne producer), his grandfather chose to register as NM, Negociant Manipulant (those who buy grapes and make wine unlike RM who can use only their own grapes). Coincidentally the winery was founded in 1947, India’s year of independence. I tasted 4 of his champagnes- all of them brilliant. Though the basic wine seemed a bit expensive compared with known brands, his high ended-champagnes were the best value-for-money champagnes I have come across. They surely deserve a place on champagne connoisseurs’ palates. I liked his comment that ‘in India people drink labels not champagne.’
SOMAC from Neuillac making Cognac
 I was also surprised to find Amit Keval of SOMAC Spirits sitting in his 3-corner open booth facing the entry to Hall 10 from Hall 9. He owns Oakwood Winery in Shrirampur near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, India. A bit taken aback, I learnt later that his French wife’s Great Grandfather, Paul Alexandrre started making eaux de vie in 1899 and the family has been making Cognac –including VSOP and XO.
He was quite happy being at the Exhibition and shared with me that he had reached the final stage of negotiation with a distributor in Singapore and also in Indonesia. His stand was expensive because of the location but apparently it did for him what he wanted-to find a Distributor. He hopes to sign the deal within the next couple of weeks.
Angus Dundee Distillers, right across his stand was also manned by an Indian- Sanjiv Puri, the Delhi based Director of the predominantly Scotch bulk supplier. He was looking for a Distributor.
Little Provenance and other groups
 Provenance pavilion is a pleasant sight with softer pink-coloured Rosé bottles defying the conventional shape and colour of bottles. ‘Little Provence’ at ProWine ASIA was very attractive although only a miniature module was seen here- perhaps because Rose is not as popular in Singapore as in France. One could however, taste around 35 Rose made from Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Rolle (Vermentino) and other grapes of the area and with prices ranging from €2 to over €12, making it was a very popular stand.
Other stand that saw an unending crowd was the tasting of Best of Spanish wines as selected by the prestigious Spanish wine guide, Guia Peñin. There were 15 group pavilions from 11 countries-Austria, Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa and Spain. As might be expected, many principals were there alongside their Singapore distributors while others were scouting for distributors from Singapore and countries around-including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
Concluding Remarks
That it was a successful event, especially being the maiden edition, was not in doubt. But a few exhibitors complained of its being slow on the first couple of days while the others felt that they expected bigger participations from the countries around Singapore which has been considered a hub for the region. Ironically, some felt that the criterion for defining professionals was too strict and they could not even invite many of their acquaintances to visit for tasting-the limited passes allotted notwithstanding. But overall, the satisfaction factor was quite high with a majority confirming they will be back, either directly or hopefully with their newly acquired local partners.
 There was confusion about the location of several stands. A significant number was located outside Hall 10. Mo-Rhe-Na, a regular exhibitor at the wine shows around the world, was represented by its President- Patrick Langguth known to me since he joined the family business; I ran into him accidentally while passing through the Germany pavilion. He said there were no Germans in Hall No. 10 so he preferred to stick with the Germans. I came across a Polish wine producer marketing Italian sounding labels like Chin-Chin and Michelangelo at the Polish agro stand with the rep missing and obviously no tasting. Of course, within Hall 10 people were displaying champagnes in different stands under Sopexa. With an exhibition aligned with FHA, this is perhaps bound to happen; one needs to go through the Exhibition directory well in advance and set up the requisite meetings.
A big irritant was the internet. It was highly erratic- mostly not working or crawling at best. For a city like Singapore this was a shocker. In the world of twitter and Instagram, it needs to be looked into. Logistics to Hall 10 was quite poor-it was connected to the foyer between 6 and 7 only on foot. Even the shuttle buses that passed No. 10 would not stop to offload passengers even though there was a drop off zone. But otherwise the arrangements were very good-a point I noted was that eatables were not much more expensive than outside- something unheard of in many countries where a captive audience is fleeced to the hilt.
Overall, ProWine ASIA was a very good Exhibition. Those who stood on the fence to observe the performance might want to pencil in 24-27 April, 2018. For more information, visit www.prowineasia.com. meanwhile, the fourth edition of ProWine China is scheduled to be held from 7 to 9 November 2016 in Shanghai. The next ProWein will take place in Düsseldorf from 19 to 21 March 2017.
Subhash Arora
Flavours of ProWine ASIA |