Live (it up) and learn

When your palate starts getting jaded from the plethora of tastings at this year’s fair, don’t head back to the office. Instead, stay and take part in one of the many debates, briefings and seminars on offer

Our industry is constantly changing and, whether you’re new to the trade or an old hand, there is always something to learn from the experts at the London International Wine and Spirits Fair.

Biodynamic wine is going to be big at this year’s fair. Converts will doubtless be happy to meet the 70 biodynamic wine producers present, while those of you who think this is just a fad may be interested in learning a bit more about the actual agricultural process.

There also promises to be some lively discussion as the LISWF gives members of the industry the chance to grill leading wine critics at several events. We’ve been busy organising seminars at the drinks business too, and along with French Wines and Wine Intelligence, will be revealing exciting new consumer research, in our seminar “Promoting to Consumers: Have You Got The Bottle II?” Expect some startling insights.

Foodies will not be disappointed either. The Chef/Sommelier Challenge promises to give members of the on-trade food for thought. From the ins and outs of  wines from the South of France to old friends such as the closure debate, there’s something for everyone at this year’s LIWSF. Most major events will take place in one of the Waterfront rooms overlooking the dock at ExCeL.

Tuesday 16 May
10.30–11.30am
Nicolas Joly, Coulée de Serrant: Biodynamic Wine Tasting: a Myth or a Reality?
Nicolas Joly, the well-known exponent of la biodynamie, reveals how it differs from organic agriculture and comments on the growth potential of biodynamic wine.

12.15–1.15pm
Enotria Winecellars: The New World in the On-Trade: Much More Than House Wine?
The New World now dominates the UK off-trade at almost every price point, with Australia taking the lion’s share of the market. Will the UK on-trade follow the same path? Put together by Enotria Winecellars, a panel of experts, including New and Old World wine producers, will discuss what the future holds for New World wines in the on-trade category.

12.30–2pm & 3.30–5pm
Amorim: Wine Faults Workshop
Waterfront Rooms 3 & 4
Ever wondered just what the term “corked” means? What does TCA smell like in a bottle, and how does it differ from TBA? And how exactly does a “reduced” wine taste? The answers to these, and many other questions, can be found at this workshop run by Bordeaux-based winemaker and research scientist Pascal Chatonnet from Lab Excell – one of the world’s leading experts on wine faults.
Pascal will focus on several commonly encountered wine faults, explaining why they occur, and how they smell and taste. This is essential knowledge for everyone involved in buying and selling wine, whether on a retail floor or off a restaurant wine list.
The workshops are sponsored by Amorim, the world’s largest cork-stopper producer, which wants to encourage people to stop using the generic term “corked” to describe every
faulty wine.
Contact: Fiona Campbell (fionac campbell@btopenworld.com)

2–3pm
Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Roussillon (CIVR): Matching French Wines with Traditional English Fare
Eric Aracil, export director of the CIVR, will join forces with Michelin-starred chef Mike North, formerly of The Goose in Oxford, and guide participants of this seminar for the on-trade through a tasting of six Roussillon wines matched with a selection of fantastic English food.
Contact: Natalie Jeune (natalie@focuspr.co.uk)

3.45–4.45pm
Alliance Wine: Malbec & More!
There is more to Argentine wine than Malbec. Argentine wine producer José Zuccardi will take seminar participants on a journey through some of the country’s most exciting wine regions and showcase some of the prize wines that are being produced in Argentina today.
Contact: Ros Whiteford (ros. whiteford@alliancewine.co.uk)

5.15–6.30pm
Supreme Corq Press Launch (invitation only)
Contact: Simon Waller (simonw@supremecorq.com)

WEDNESDAY 17 May
9.30–10.30am
Wine in pubs and bars – opportunity or graveyard?
The Waterfront Rooms
What makes a great pub/bar wine list? How do we encourage consumers to switch to wine and trade up from the house-wine offer? In addition to new insights from Wine Intelligence, this event will feature industry leaders from both the supply side and the pub industry.

10.30–11.30am
South of France Wines:
Taste the Med!
This tasting and seminar invites members of the on-trade to learn more about the diversity of South of France Wines and the “New French Style”, the driving force behind France’s largest wine-producing region.
Tim Atkin MW will host the hour-long seminar, which will focus on how the appellation wines of the Languedoc and the varietal-led Vin de Pays d’Oc wines contrast and complement one another. He will also introduce a selection of VdP d’Oc and AOC Languedoc wines.
Contact: Westbury Communications (ann.burton @westburycom.co.uk)

10am–5pm
Biodynamic Wine: The Return
to Terroir
Waterfront Rooms 5–10
This tasting will give those who have not yet been converted to biodynamic wine the chance to make up their minds about this agricultural process.
More than 70 growers from all over the globe, making up about 60% of the world’s top biodynamic wine growers, will be showing their wines and answering your questions. The winemakers belong to a group called Return to Terroir/Renaissance des Appellations that follows a Charter of Quality system of evaluation allowing the appellation to express itself throughout its wine-growing cycle.
Contact: Eleanor Standen
(londontasting@biodynamy.com)

2–3pm
LIWSF and Complete Media Group: Meet the Critics!
Have you ever wanted to put your questions directly to the critics that hold so much power in the restaurant industry? Well, now is your chance! Jennifer Sharp from Harpers Bazaar, Bill Knott from the Independent on Sunday and Neville Blech, wine critic for askmario.co.uk and author of the top-100 UK restaurant wine lists, are waiting to be grilled. Expect a heated debate!

2–4pm
Wines of New Zealand: Awesome Aromatics
Wines of New Zealand is hosting this workshop in partnership with Asia de Cuba restaurant. John Forrest of Forrest Estate, Matt Thompson of Saint Clair Estate, Anthony Mackenzie of Spy Valley Wines and Jeff Clarke of Montana Wines (Pernod Ricard) will lead guests through a tasting of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling. The workshop will demonstrate how New Zealand combines New World fruit and vibrancy with Old World structure, and will explore the ageing potential of these styles.
Guests will be invited to try these styles with some delicious Asian/Cuban fusion dishes from the celebrated Asia de Cuba Restaurant (St Martin’s Lane Hotel, London).
Contact: Alison Power (alison@winzuk.com)

3.45–4.45pm
LIWSF and Complete Media: The Chef/Sommelier Challenge
Leading restaurateurs and chefs will supply signature dishes that will then be matched with the appropriate wine by their sommelier. Expect some interesting pairings and some leading names from the food and wine industry.

5.15–6.30pm
Mayfair Street-Smart Report: The Mayfair Connection
As a wine producer or importer, do you know which London restaurants are carrying your wines? And at what prices? What is your share of on-trade distribution? What is the share and pricing of your competitors’ wines? As a sommelier or restaurant wine buyer, do you know how your wine list indexes against other establishments in your category? Is your pricing competitive? Now, at last, this information is available to you. The Mayfair Street-Smart Report contains information from wine lists of more than 100 restaurants in central London.
The database of over 15,000 wines gives pricing, range and vintage information at each restaurant.
Contact: Dick Wallingford, dick@themayfairconnection.co.uk

Thursday 18 May
9.30–10.15am
Wine Intelligence: Trendy or Traditional? How to make wine for the under 30s
The future of the wine industry lies in the hands of young adult drinkers, but what really motivates the under-30s? Are they seeking traditional wines or are these drinkers really after something new and different? This briefing will deliver new research focusing on the needs, and wants of young drinkers and explore issues such as:

• How and why they choose wine
• What packaging turns them on and turns them off
• The role of wine in their lives
• How promotions and advertising affect their perceptions of wine
• What role wine brands play in their lives
Contact: Nicola Engelbach
nicola@wineintelligence.com

10.30–11.30am
Western Wines: What are the predictions for premium wine in the UK market in the 2012 Olympic year?
Charles Back from Fairview in South Africa, Adolfo Hurtado from Cono Sur in Chile and Zar Brooks from Zonte’s Footstep in Australia will discuss what it takes to build a medal winner in the UK market. They will look specifically at the challenges facing their countries and will offer an insight into their own plans and visions for the future.
Contact: Katherine Higgs
katherine.higgs@western-wines.com

12.15–1.15pm
Les Caves de Pyrène: Wild Wines from Southwest France
Some of the most esteemed growers in southwest France have come together to show a range of wines from their homeland. They are united by a love for their culture, terroir and the search for identity and typicity in wines.
Twenty-five or 30 years ago, when most of these growers started making wine, the southwest barely registered as a commercial proposition. Winemaking was dominated by the co-operatives, the grapes were obscure, and the winemaking was substandard. Now, a group of young growers from different appellations – from Bergerac to the Pyreneés, from Gascony to Fronton – has come together to exchange ideas about viticulture and vinification.
Contact Doug Wregg (dwregg@aol.com)

2–3pm
McLaren Vale: Old Vine Shiraz Museum Wines
Some of McLaren Vale’s most esteemed winemakers take guests through an insightful tasting of 10-year-old Shiraz and delve into the viticultural and winemaking diversity of one of Australia’s greatest Shiraz regions. 
The McLaren Vale region was among the first to be planted with vines in South Australia. While relatively small, the area contains a wide diversity of terroirs producing premium-quality wines. Some vines in the McLaren Vale are 100 years old and still producing. Shiraz is by far the most important variety for the region, accounting for about 50% of the total crush.
Contact: McLaren Vale Grape, Wine & Tourism (sandie@mclarenvale.info)

3.30–4.30pm
Haymann Barwell-Jones: Making Your Wine List Work Harder – How to make 20% more gross profit
This in-depth discussion on how to structure a wine list to achieve maximum profitability will include key elements such as:
• How to place certain wines at higher price points without reducing sales
• Structuring a wine list so that staff can trade up even with only minimal training
• Looking at wine-list presentation and format
• Describing wines to make them sell
• What help you should expect from your wine supplier
• Current consumer trends
• Cash margin or GP percent

Industry Briefings

Each year, the latest industry issues and hot topics are debated and assessed in the LIWSF Industry Briefings. All Industry Briefings will take place in Waterfront Rooms 11 & 12.

Tuesday 16 May
11am–12.30pm
A drinks business event sponsored by French Wines: Promoting to Consumers: Have You Got The Bottle II?

New and exclusive consumer research from Wine Intelligence, commissioned by French Wines, reveals some startling facts about the real influence of price promotions on consumers’ perception of value for money. The debate will also explore to what extent innovation can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions, particularly when it comes to French wines.
The drinks business and French Wines have organised a packed session that will cover the following issues:
• What are the key buying cues for French wine consumers?
• Which promotions offer the best value for money?
• How do other wine attributes, such as branding and country of origin, influence perceived value for money?
• What is the optimal mix of attributes to produce the highest-perceived value for money for French wines?
• How do recent developments, such as screwcap, packaging innovations and label design, influence consumer purchasing?
Contact: Angeline Bayly angeline@thedrinksbusiness.com

2–3pm
Oeneo & Cube Communications: The Closure Debate
The closure debate has moved on significantly in the last three years. First, the supercritical CO2 extraction process has been proved to be effective in eradicating all detectable TCA from cork. Second, it is becoming clear that it is the oxygen-transmission properties of different closure types that influence the wine’s development after bottling. The most contentious issue at present is the chemistry surrounding the interaction between closure oxygen transmission and complex sulphides.
Oeneo & Cube Communications will explore how different closures perform as well as the impact of different levels of oxygen ingress on the evolution of the complex sulphides that contribute to unwanted reductive characters.
Contact: James Gabbani (James@cubecom.co.uk)

Wednesday 17 May
10.30am–noon
The Harpers Debate in association with Wine Intelligence: “This house believes that what’s on the outside of the bottle is more important than what is inside.”
This is a proper debate – Oxford University-style – with a proposer, an opposer and a vote on the motion. The proposer and opposer will both be industry-respected leaders, and each will have a seconder team to help present their case. Christian Davis will chair the debate and Lulie Halstead, Wine Intelligence, will be the expert, impartial witness.
The issues covered include:
• Confronting the trade-off between wine quality and brand proposition
• Reconciling wine quality with delivery to specific price points and discounting strategies
• Building consumer loyalty – with brands, or wine style and quality
Contact: Brian Howard
(brian@wineintelligence.com) or
Christian Davis (christian.davis@harperswinespirit.com)

2–4pm
The 5th LIWSF Wine Industry Forum: Skalli & Rein in association with Brintex: Dealing with the Most Influential Press of the Wine World
With more than 20 key wine reviews, the British press goes far beyond Great Britain’s borders. Two dynamic PR consultants, Barbara Scalera from Eviva Communications and Lorraine Carrigan, Adam Lechmere from Decanter and Robert Joseph, founder of the International Wine Challenge, will introduce the best methods and strategies for communication.
A great opportunity for overseas PRs to understand how to consolidate their relationship with the influential British wine press.
To register, please log onto www.skalliandrein.com

4.30–5.30pm
Brintex and Phébos: The Impact of Wine Labels on Consumer Buying Behaviour
Is it possible to understand and improve the impact wine labels have on the purchasing decision? Is it possible to identify the features of a label that make a wine sell or, in contrast, those that hamper a purchase? Are there any differences between the perceptions and reactions of British and French consumers towards wine labels?
Contact: Pascal Farrow (pascal.farrow@phebos.fr)

THURSDAY 18TH MAY
11am–noon
WRAP: Waste Minimisation
In the UK, we consume around one billion bottles of wine every year, generating 550,000 tonnes of green-glass waste in the process. Around 80% of this wine is imported in bottles, meaning that more green glass is coming into the UK than can be used in our domestic glass-container manufacture.
With the market expected to continue to grow, something needs to be done to minimise the amount of wine-bottle glass waste and ensure there is a sustainable market for that waste.
At this briefing, representatives from leading research, brand and retail organisations will discuss the economic and environmental benefits of light-weighting wine bottles and bulk-importing wine into the UK to be bottled here.
Contact: Fritha Flint (Fritha.Flint@uk.grayling.com)

2pm–4pm
International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR): The Global Still Light-Wine Market to 2010: The New Frontiers
The IWSR provides annual wine and spirits data from over 200 countries and territories. This presentation will be based on the IWSR’s latest research, due for publication in June. A Q&A session will follow, and a small panel of leading industry figures will give their views.
The presentation will include topics such as the current state of the market and forecast trends, the opportunities and barriers for wine in Asia and how to address the significant potential of Central and Eastern Europe.
Contact: IWSR (agata@iwsr.co.uk). db May 2006