United Kingdom: Greek Wine in a Unique Momentum at This Year’s London Wine Fair

The 42nd London Wine Fair, the premier professional wine exhibition for the UK market, concluded with great success.

Over 9,000 industry professionals attended the three-day exhibition, having the opportunity to discover new innovative trends and products, participate in tastings, and attend speeches, masterclasses, and presentations on the new challenges facing the wine industry.

According to Antonis Sioulis, Managing Director of Reco Exports, the exclusive representative of the London Wine Fair in Greece and responsible for the Greek participation, “This year’s organization was excellent, both in terms of the quality of the attendees and the thematic sessions of the three-day event. Masterclasses, seminars, and awards ceremonies. This year’s London Wine Fair was a one-stop-shop for every industry professional, as evidenced by the nearly 10,000 British buyers, distributors, journalists, and wine experts who attended.

Regarding the Greek pavilion, the two Free Wine Tasting & Wine Bars operated very effectively, informing attendees about the varieties and participating wineries, while the informative booklet we designed served as a real guide both for understanding the wines tasted and for the native varieties. A total of 1073 visitors over the three days proves the unique momentum of interest in Greek wine among British importers.

From our side, aiming to meet the needs of both the British in choosing the right wine and winery for a potential collaboration, as well as the difficulty for Greek wineries to understand how the British market operates and respond to its demands, we created the newly established company Orpheus Wine, which aims to support both sides and consequently optimize the penetration of Greek wine into the UK.”

The Greek Participation

The Greek participation in the 2024 event was particularly significant, including a total of 36 wineries. The National Pavilion was, as always, in a prime location, right in the center of the exhibition. Of the 35 wineries that participated in the National Pavilion, 33 were supported by the regions of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace, Central Macedonia, Crete, and Central Greece, 2 were independent participants, and the Greek presence at the exhibition was complemented by Achaia Clauss, with an autonomous stand outside the National Pavilion.

Among the over one thousand visitors to the National Pavilion, buyers were recorded from companies such as Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Hatch Mansfield, Mentzendorff, Friarwood, and others.

The Greek participation was visited on behalf of the Embassy of Greece in London by the General Consul OEB B’, Paraskevi Kampouroglou.

The Greek Wine Bars

Within the National Pavilion, two Wine Bars were organized, where the more than 1,000 visitors to the National Pavilion had the opportunity to find and taste three representative wines from each winery participating in the Greek delegation. All the wines in the Wine Bars were included in the special guide issued by RECO EXPORTS, where visitors could find information about each label and the corresponding winery.

The Wine Bars were managed by two distinguished professionals in the field in the UK:

• Martyna Pawliczek, former head sommelier at La Dame de Pic London, now a member of Clark Foyster Wines Ltd, with extensive experience in the wine industry, having worked in top restaurants worldwide.
• Zigmars Grinbergs, holder of the WSET Diploma and Advanced Sommelier, currently studying to become a Master Sommelier. With over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, he has worked as a head sommelier and is now a wine buyer for Central Europe.

Additionally, the Region of Crete participated independently in the Free Wine Tasting Area, where Klearchos Kanelakis presented the most famous wine varieties from the entire network of wineries in the region.

Masterclass: Greece – an Authentic Modern Classic

The three-day event concluded with the presentation of 9 Greek wine labels selected by Demetri Walters MW from the wineries participating in the National Pavilion, held in a special Masterclass Session.

The masterclass titled “Greece – an Authentic Modern Classic” took place on Wednesday, May 22, in the specially designed “Walk-up Tasting” area of the exhibition, in a packed room of buyers, sommeliers, distributors, and wine enthusiasts.

See more: Orpheus Wine

Source: newmoney.gr – protothema.gr