Five wines and a vodka rise to top at VinExpo 2017

Bursts of fireworks illuminated the night sky at Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Speakers in the vineyard boomed out arias from Mozart’s The Magic Flute as attendees streamed into a large white tent for dinner.

That was just one of the parties kicking off VinExpo 2017, the world’s largest wine and spirits trade fair, which was held last week at a giant exhibition space on a man-made lake north of the city of Bordeaux.

Don’t assume the bi-annual event is only about partying hard until dawn at grand wine estates, glass of something fabulous in hand. The wine and spirits’ industry’s four-day schmoozefest is actually serious international business—a place to do deals, discuss politics (Brexit, for example), trade gossip, and bone up on important issues like shipping logistics and how climate change is affecting wine.

On the first day, VinExpo signed a memorandum of understanding with the Alibaba Group’s T-Mall Marketplace to partner in various marketing activities, including promoting the trade expo online, for the next four years. At the final party, rumours were flying that the billionaire Bouygues brothers, owners of Chateau Montrose, were buying cult Loire Valley estate Clos Rougeard. (It’s true—but no word yet on how much they paid.)

And, of course, the tradeshow is a primo spot to launch new products.

I spent my days tracking down the newest of the new among the 2,300 exhibitors from 40 countries, looking for highlights. The 45,000 buyers who flew in from 150 countries were advised in advance to wear comfortable shoes as the exhibition hall is a kilometre long.

New products ranged from the silly to the sublime. Rosés were ubiquitous, as was new, unusual packaging. Provence estate Domaines Bunin combined the two with a special version of its salty, juicy Moulin des Costes rosé in a bottle covered with a dark blue geometric design created by famous tattoo artist Bob Le Blobb. The 1,000 bottle-edition will be released in Provence in August.