19th Interwine exhibition concludes with a huge success

Interwine had recently concluded with great numbers. The 19th China (Guangzhou) International Wine & Spirits Exhibition wine exhibition which was organized at Pazhou Fair Complex in Guangzhou in the period from 12th to 14th November. The exhibition involved more than 4 halls (over 40.000 sqm) represented by different country associations, pavilions and individual wineries whom participated with their different small, medium and big businesses. 43,629 visitors enjoyed more than 60 various wine related activities during the 3 days and had the opportunity to meet thousands of foreign wineries attracted for the huge demand of wine in China.

The Opening Ceremony started at 9:30 am at grand hall outside Hall 15.2, on the second floor of C Area at Pazhou Complex, the largest exhibition hall in Asia. Officials from all wine producing consulates in Guangzhou, representatives of different Chambers of Commerce from various countries, government officials from all over the country, presidents from different business associations and some exhibitors and representatives were invited to attend this event.  Consulate generals from Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, the United States, Switzerland, Chile, South Africa, Austria, Australia, Mexico and Israel attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition and went to the scene to promote their own fine wines. France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, South Africa, Israel, Georgia and other dozens of countries participating with the delegation and their exhibitors reached more than 1,000 sqm.

Representatives of chambers of commerce from different countries attended too: Mr. Alexandre Beaudoux, Director of the French Chamber of Commerce in China, Mr. David A. López Martín, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Luo Hanlin, Executive Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce Ms. Laura Silva H, Chief Representative of the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China; Mr. Wim Tinning, President of Wines Import Association, Mr. Michael Zimmermann, Marketing Commissioner of Austrian Wine Association, Mr. Gheorghe Arpentin, President of Moldovan Wine Association and Viorel Garaz, Marketing Specialist; Marc-Olivier ROBERT, General Manager of France MBS Group; and Eugénie DELEPIERRE, Regional Director of the Group.

A new level of internationalization with the highest number of national pavilions

During this edition, a lot of wineries from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Chile, South Africa, Georgia, Moldova, Israel, Australia, the United States and other major wine-producing countries attended the show, as well as the major stars of the imported wine industry.

Chile Pavilion enjoys a great area and high number of visitors！

Chile is one of the most promising countries for wine business in China. Actually Chile ranks number 2 for the imported wine in the country with a value of USD 203 millions during the first 6 months of 2017.  More than 40 wineries and importers from Chile attended the fair dealing with Chilean wines and specially we emphasize the presence of one of the biggest wineries from Chile, Santa Rita displaying brands like Carmen, Doña Paula and Sur Andino from the famous valleys Limari, Maipo, Casablanca or Curico.

Another important Chilean winery is Grupo Belen, a big group of 3 wineries (2 from Chile and 1 from Argentina) displaying excellent wines. We should mention too the participation for a very first time of the Chilean-boutique winery Viña Tres Palacios, showing a high-level different wines that perfectly express each corner of the mysterious and famous valley Maipo; among Mondu Winery (most awarded winery in Chile in 2011) and Viña Chocalan, Folatre or Veramonte.

Spain remains powerful for the wine business and with a big area at Interwine

Spanish wines are quite famous due to their grand quality and affordable prices. They have been participating in Interwine for more than 8 years and keep a good work thank to their good results and efforts. Spain ranks number 4 of wine imported in China with a value of USD 126 millions. For this session, the Spanish Pavilion were co-organized with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China (South Division) and another area with IPEX from the well-know place Castilla La-Mancha.

Portugal shows their unique wines right in the middle of the pavilion

Portuguese wineries participated in Interwine represented by TEJO. This is the 3rd time TEJO participates thanks to their great results in Guangzhou and promotion of wines from Portugal.

The Tejo region is located in the very heart of Portugal, a short drive from the capital city of Lisbon. Pulsing with a rich heritage, Tejo claims a bounty of historical treasures scanning the pages of time, from Roman ruins and Gothic castles, to Manueline monasteries and medieval hilltop villages. To the Portuguese, Tejo is known as the land of vineyards, olive groves, cork forests, Mertolengo cattle, and the famous Lusitano horses.

Great impression of the Moldova Pavilion

Wines of Moldova debuted in Interwine with an impressive 24 booth-Pavilion! If you didn’t know, Moldova is famous for its wineries. Winemaking is deeply entrenched in Moldova’s culture through its history, tradition and economy. Once a large supplier of wine to the Soviet Union, Moldova reinvented its wine culture once it gained independence.

All 24 wineries attended Interwine and offered excellent wines to all exhibitors, but we can emphasize for example Vartely Winery as one of Moldova’s top wineries both locally and internationally, receiving over 10,000 wine tourists a year or Purcari Winery, founded in 1827! This winery is well known for its premium Moldovan wines. Their sloped vine fields enjoy a temperate micro-climate that is moderated by winds from the nearby Black Sea, making it ideal for the production of red and black grapes. Purcary Winery got the oldest and most famous cellars in Moldova.

A lot of visitors were impressed with their big Pavilion and enjoyed the culture of wine making tasting all sorts of wines from sweet, semi-sweet, and fortified wines to rare “collection wines,” produced 10-20 years ago and stored in Moldova’s famous underground cellars. Their wines are fabulous!

Great impression of the Italy Pavilion

Italy is one of the biggest wine producing countries in the world, and wines from Italy usually take a considerable share in mature wine markets including the US, UK and Germany. China represents a crucial market for the Italian wine sector; Chinese sales of wine and spirits are projected to reach nearly 8 billion euros by 2017 and nowadays Italian wines are 5th on the ranking of imported wine to China. During this edition, attendants visited several Italian wineries and coffee, biscuits and olive oil companies from the beautiful country of Italy.

France Pavilion, a must in China！

France is the most important country for wine business in China and ranks number 1 about imported wine in China. Interwine cooperates with CCIFC. The French Chamber of Commerce in China (CCIFC) was established in Beijing in 1992, is a non-profit social groups according to Chinese law, is the association of French companies in China. Again in this session, a strong cooperation with Interwine displaying 14 french fine wineries.

Great impression of the Ningxia Pavilion

For the very first time, Ningxia participated with a beautiful pavilion bringing 12 boutique wineries delegation to participate in Interwine. Moreover, the Westin Hotel held a "Helan Mountain Night - Ningxia Helan Mountain Yinchuan Wine Region Special Promotion", inviting consuls from different Consulate General in Guangzhou, wine industry associations, representatives of wine regions, domestic and international wine distributors, celebrities and mass media.

The alluvial plain at the foot of Helan Mountain, with Yinchuan as its core, is the "gold" belt recognized by the world for its grape cultivation. The area planted with grapevines reached 257,000 hc and 59 wine factories were built and put into operation with an annual output of over 50 million bottles of wine. In addition, well-known wine companies built wineries in Ningxia (for example Cofco)e, doing their bases and engaging in the operation, promoting the internationalization, and starting the high-end and brand development of the producing areas.

Mr. Hao Chunming, from Yinchuan Municipal Bureau of Commerce, expressed “through  Interwine and its platform we can promote our wines from Ningxia Helan Mountain Wine East Foothill Region, improve our visibility, seek for a future cooperation development and learn international brewing technology. We should participate more in this international exhibitions in the future."

More than 60 different theme activities programmed for 3 days！

During the three-day event, more then 60 activities related to wine are scheduled for the people’s enjoy and increase the knowledge about wines. Activities are: the French Treasures - Master Languedoc Languedoc, Robert Geddes MW2017 Wine Tasting Contest Winners, Tudor Portuguese Master Class --- Left Bank and Right Bank, which you do not know, Find South Africa - in the end is the old world or the new world, take you into the Italian boots with - Puglia producing areas, "China Wine Industry Cross-border Alliance" Forum, "beauty wine, enjoy the beauty, seek business opportunities --- delicious unlimited , Innovative business opportunities, wisdom in the thousands of miles, "traveled Scotland 100 whiskey factory - CV Knight sharing," stuffed Jiangnan, wine town - Ningxia Helan Shandong Yinchuan boutique winery master class, into the new production area Time Dialogue Global High-quality Production Zones - China's First World-renowned Producing Area Summit Forum, Innovation Forum for Integration of Big Data Services and Imported Wine Industry Resources, Modern Wine in Ancient Thracian Productions, MWL Bookshow Conference, Black Leather Connaught's Footprint - Comparison of Burgundy and the New World, Muchen Wine Forum Eastern European Wines - A Variety of Wines - Italy "BBC" Taste Italian Wine Tasting, 2017 Interwine Sommelier Contest Finals and other themed events.

Satisfaction and good vibes among exhibitors

Marco Zamorano, Export Manager at Vina Tres Palacios from Chile, expressed his satisfaction for presenting his winery for the first time at the exhibition saying: “It was a really beautiful and inspiring experience. I got the opportunity to present my wines and each a bigger number of people in only 3 days. Moreover, I have earned more confident in myself and my business. I would like to thank Interwine for providing us with this chance and for its continuous support for wineries that want to develop the business in China”.

Mr. Carlos Narbona, Export Manager at the Spanish Grupo Caballero and one of the participants in the exhibition, ensured the importance of participating in such fair as he considers as a true experience for the wine business in China. In addition, Mr. Narbona said: “I really have learned a lot throughout the discussions and exchanging ideas with the different exhibition’s participants and visitors. I came 1 year ago with nothing and right now I can tell I have got 2 customers thanks to participating at Interwine during 3 editions".

Mr, Lorenzo, General Manager of EHD (Explotaciones Hermanos Delgado) is very satisfied with Interwine. “We have been participating since 2012 in both editions and we will keep doing thanks to our great results. With our customers from Beijing, Shanghai, Guanzghou, Hanzghou...we sell more than 500.000 bottles per year and participating here we meet new customers and we support the old customers too. This fair is well organized".

Mr. Duarte from the Portuguese winery Casal Branco expressed his happiness during his participation. “This is only my second time at Interwine participating with TEJO and I have the good feeling I will find an importer soon. I had interesting meeting and met nice people here. Besides the fair, I am happy we participated at Zhuhai, Foshan and Shenzhen roadshow too".