The top 12 stands at LIWF

The drinks business was joined by Claire Snaith from Norbert Dentressangle on a tour of the stands at the London International Wine Fair, these are the ones which we picked out as the best.

With a slightly smaller space than in previous years many exhibitors found that visitors actually had more time to talk about their products at this year’s fair. But it was still important to attract attention and draw in those visitors in the first place.

There are various reasons why these stands were chosen as the best, these included making great use of the space, offering something fun, great colours or architecture or simply being particularly eye-catching.

Click through the following pages to see which stands we picked out as the best, and let us know if you agree with those we’ve chosen.

Sud de France

Bright and sunny were two words that reflected how it felt approaching the Sud de France stand. The other factor here was that many of the stands that covered a large region separated the individual producers, but at Sud de France there was a very open feel to the whole area.

Barlow Doherty

Wine label designers and wine marketing agency Barlow Doherty made great, and colourful, use of its small space. The fun 3D vine was a colourful draw to the stand, which had been designed as a pop-up studio. We were assured that Clementine’s leaf-pattern dress was purely coincidental.

Riedel

All those great glass shapes, plus some excellent use of light made the Riedel stand really eye-catching. Some good tuition classes on the glasses and how the right shape can help a drink made the Riedel stand a winner, particularly for Claire from Norbert Dentressangle.

Gonzalez Byass

Sherry producer Gonzalez Byass had a stand which appeared to be constantly busy and also featured some really nice presentation of the bottles. The stand also had a great selection of drinks for tasting including the new En Rama, the 1982 Paolo Cortado, the 2011 Quinta do Noval and of particular interest was the Tio Pepe toothpaste.

Friuli Venezia Giulia

This stand was mentioned by db‘s Rupert Millar as one that stood out and it did make great use of it’s space. As well as being bright and welcoming to visitors there were also a range of interactive screens to take you through the land and the wines of the region.

Vinolok

The Vinolok stand offered visitors a great way to look at and interact with the company’s product and showcased its use in a variety of bottles. And while the bright and colourful stands were well liked, this helped Vinolok’s striking use of black and red to stand out.

Hatch Mansfield

It was the buzz and the purple that really brought db‘s attention to the Hatch Mansfield stand. Really busy, with a good fun atmosphere surrounding it and a good range on offer, this stand was very much a favourite.

Treasury Wine Estates

Attention was drawn to the Treasury Wine Estates stand by the huge overhead display, and the stand didn’t disappoint once you actually got there. With a wide range of products and brands to display this was always going to be a busy stand, but it was also friendly and those striking and contrasting brand colours really helped it to stand out.

Wines of Brazil

Sometimes doing something different can really help and Wines of Brazil went all out in recognising the traditions of its country. The football and samba singer brought a smile to the face and people to the stand.

Crus et Domaines de France

It was the two elements of the Crus et Domaines de France stand that helped it to make this list. The strong display cabinet caught the eye and provided a great cover for the meeting room behind. Then on from those was the tasting area, which again displayed the product really well and also provided a comfortable and relaxing environment for tasting.

Fast track to France

The combination of fun and serious made the Fast Track to France stand a favourite. In the Wines with Style area visitors were able to have fun dressing up in French clothing and had their photographs taken in front of a green screen. Next to that was the stand’s innovative way of guiding visitors to the French wine stands. A self-service tasting area with around 80 wines allowed visitors to taste at their own pace and then take the stand numbers of the wines they particularly liked to go and investigate further.

La Rioja Wines

One visitor to the fair that db talked to referred to this stand as “Rioja land” and the area was certainly very striking. This great architecture surrounded the meeting area and the theme was carried on in the tasting area, where a great selection of Rioja wines were available.

And finally…

David Cox, chief executive of The Benevolent stands in the throwing rings arena of the charity’s funfair stand. Golf putting, giant Jenga and hook-a-duck also featured, as well as popcorn and muffins. For bringing a fun element to the fair, as well as cute teddy bears and t-shirts The Benevolent thoroughly deserves an honourable mention.