Events

Vinoble: sweet fair
«Vinnaya Karta» №6(97) August 2008

Life of dessert wines producers hasn’t lost its sweetness.

This conclusion was inevitably suggested to those who recently visited an international fair Vinoble in a Spanish town of Jerez de la Frontera. If we didn’t know the realities of the wine market and if we were only to judge by the mood of organizers and exhibitors, we could easily be led into thinking that the segment of fortified, dessert and naturally sweet wines is thriving. Many producers’ representatives were trying to convince visitors that their sales are only growing. And the name of the fair — Salon de los Vinos Nobles (Exhibition of Noble Wines) appeared quite condescending towards other types of wine, i.e. dry and not fortified.

Facts, though, tell a different story. The category of dry wines enjoys the biggest demand on the market, and a handful (on a scale of world wine production) of estates committed to natural and fortified sweet wines need a lot of optimism to survive. Once their products were in a mainstream category, but today they are narrowed to a niche. Consumer tastes changed, and the demand for once favourite sweet wines plummeted. Yet, this segment deserves its place on the wine market and should not be allowed to disappear. Some of the world’s outstanding and unique wine offerings are found here — Sauternes, Tokaji, Ruster Ausbruch, Jerez, Port, eiswein and a number of others. Vinoble fair is, literally, their bastion. It takes place in the Arab castle El Alcazar that hasn’t lost its fierce and impregnable appearance throughout the centuries.

Vinoble’s advantage is that it has no casual visitors. Unlike general fair formats, where attention is scattered between a huge number of wine types and styles, the event in Jerez has a very clear goal — to promote wines with certain sugar content. Vinoble has succeeded in achieving it. This biennale is now in its sixth edition, featuring over 1,200 wines from 23 countries. Six new countries joined Vinoble this year including exotically sounding Mexico, Jordan, Turkey and India. While the number of exhibitors and visitors reached critical mass some time ago and thus is not much discussed, organizers are still happy to report their increasing numbers. The fair is indeed an excellent ground to assess and analyse a sweet segment in a general context of the wine market, as well as to establish direct business contact with specialized producers from major winemaking countries. A traditional guest circle of wine buyers and press was extended by inviting an international contingent of sommeliers at the recent Vinoble. This is a wise move as sweet wines — more than any other — require hand selling. A role of a knowledgeable sommelier can hardly be overestimated.

Participation in Vinoble is not cheap for producers. According to Jan Pettersen, owner of an established, medium sized Jerez company Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla, prices for exhibition spaces are close to those at big fairs. Yet, he believes that the investment is justified. “Vinoble has a fantastic concept. Our type of product is in focus. It is encouraging that the fair is getting bigger and attracting more countries. The quality of people is high. It is very important for us that the event is not for general public. Our business contacts here are valuable, and we welcome more international visitors at our stand”, says Pettersen. Clara Verheij of a boutique Malaga producer Bodegas Bentomiz with an excellent range of sweet wines adds that “Vinoble is important for image, but it brings results only in a long term perspective”.

Local wine industry that is known by a long history of producing a wide range of dry and sweet fortified wines, uses Vinoble to the best advantage. Sherry bodegas were represented in the greatest number of all participants. Some, such as Harveys, Gonzalez Byass or Hidalgo — La Gitana, prefer to work on own stands. Others — about thirty of them — join forces at the exhibition space of Consejo Regulador for Jerez and Manzanilla de Sanlucar de Barrameda. The choice of wines was comprehensive. Many bodegas offered over ten various products — from younger Fino and Manzanilla to well aged Palo Cortado, Oloroso, Amontillado and rare soleras. Some outstanding and even unique sherries could be tasted at Pedro Romero, Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla, Emilio Lustau and other producers.

The visitors were appreciative of the fact that Vinoble hosted the best, internationally acclaimed sherry bodegas which have already proved their high standing and which, really, could have opted not to participate. Spanish producers in this respect are much more appealing than their French colleagues of a similar rank. The latter usually ignore any large exhibition formats. Vinoble was no exception. France was represented by a few scattered stands — Vins d’Or de Bordeaux with 5 estates, Regulating Council of Roussillon wines, two independent Alsace producers and an unknown group of three companies from Sauternes and the Loire. The programme of additional events featured a vertical and enogastronomic tastings of Chateau d’Yquem, but even they couldn’t compensate for the absence of top representatives from the great “sweet” French appellations of Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and Alsace.

In the meantime, visitors showed live interest to classic production zones of sweet and fortified wines outside Spain. The stand of Hungarian association Tokaj Renaissance with wines from Arvay & Co., Patricius, Hetzolo and Oremus was always crowded. Ports from Adriano Ramos Pinto, Niepoort, Quinta do Noval and others in the room of the Institute of Port and Douro Wines were also popular. Wines from such esteemed producers as Burklin-Wolf, Fritz Haag, Bassermann-Jordan, Georg Breuer could be found at the stand of leading German producers VDP. Superb late harvested wines, though, sadly, little known internationally, were offered by members of the Swiss group Charte Grain Noble ConfidenCiel from Valais. Many good samples were brought from Austrian Burgenland. The Canadian stand where bottles with ice wine were opened was also busy. Apart from Spain that patriotically supported the fair through participation from all of the country’s sweet and fortified wine producing regions, Italian wineries from Sicily, Trentino and Elba were represented reasonably well. Greek stands featured about ten producers, while Greece was chosen the guest of honour for this fair’s edition.

Vinoble is rich not only in presenting commonly known wines, but also in all sorts of curiosities. Visitors had a chance to taste fortified Tannat from Uruguay and naturally sweet Saperavi from Georgia, though these wines can’t yet compete on international markets due to quality issues. An Indian producer showed his ‘liqueur wines’ which turned out to be herbal and fruit liqueurs. Versions of still and sparkling ice cider — positioned as a premium product and already on sale in duty free shops of Moscow airports — could be tasted at the Canadian stand.

Vinoble was busy for all four days, and even bad weather didn’t deter the exhibitors and the visitors. The fair did have to close down for 3 hours daily, though. Despite its sweet appeal, organizers didn’t dare break a great Spanish tradition of after-lunch siestas.