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 VINEXPO, the international wine and spirits trade show closed its doors in
Bordeaux after five days of frenzied activity. Producers, merchants,
importers and the media spent five long, busy days holding meetings,
interviews, conducting tastings and closing deals.
An
estimated 50,000 people from 140 countries crowded the aisles of VINEXPO’s
massive exhibition halls, where 2,400 exhibitors from 45 countries were
competing to
 attract the buyer’s attention. France had the lion’s share
with the largest contingency by far, commanding 61 percent of the exhibit
space. It was France’s way to show to the Asian buyers, that
France
and Bordeaux are still kings of the hill in the Wine Industry. Spain was
number 2 for the first time, surpassing
Italy
as number three.
 The
general consensus is that the show was a big success, with a marked increase
in the number of buyers present from China, and other countries of Asia. US
producers ranked as the sixth largest contingency whilst producers from
Australia
and New Zealand were virtually absent from the exhibit floor.
Few
wines are more internationally recognized than Bordeaux’s classified
growths, and the talk of the town were the prices for the region’s latest
vintage. Due to the sky high wine prices of the châteaux in 2005, there was
much nervousness in the anticipation of the 2006 prices. At this point, the
 2006 Bordeaux wines are considered to be very good, though not at the
quality level of the 2005 vintage. So, the prices of 2006 have dropped,
somewhere between 15 and 20 percent, which are still higher than the 2004.
 But
VINEXPO was not all about
Bordeaux;
a wealth of beautiful stands also bore witness of the impressive vitality of
Champagne and Burgundy. Yes, the French wine industry is still number one
in the high quality range and will greatly benefit from new markets such as
India, China and Russia.
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