By Michael Lasky originally posted January 18, 2017
During my first trip to France, I was fortunate enough to attend Vinexpo in 2011. I immediately fell in love with the cuisine, wine and culture of the Bordelais region. I’m thrilled to learn that Vinexpo will debut in March at Javits Center in New York City – Mana Wine
In what is promised to be the first of an annual U.S. trade show, French-based Vinexpo makes its debut at New York’s Javits Center March 5-6, taking over the 45,000 square-foot, glass-enclosed River Pavilion.
The two-day event features business meetings, tastings, conferences, master classes and networking events. But the main lure for the expected 2,500 attendees is visits to the 450 exhibiting companies.
“The purpose of Vinexpo NY is to allow our foreign exhibitors to come to the U.S. and find either importers or distributors here. The largest market for wine in the world is the U.S. and the aim is for our exhibitors to either improve their distribution in the U.S. or simply enter the U.S. market,” Guillaume Deglise, CEO of Vinexpo told Wine Business.
Vinexpo holds bi-annual exhibitions in Bordeaux and has since 1981. It expanded into Asia in 1998 with shows in Hong Kong and Tokyo. The 2017 Bordeaux show has been the largest wine trade show with some 2,300 exhibitors and 48,000 attendees from around the world. Due to the limitations of convention space in New York, the first Vinexpo NY sold out its exhibitor space quickly but will be able to expand in future years for what is expected to be an annual event.
“We are going to have more than 20 different countries exhibiting in New York. In addition to companies from Italy, France, and Australia, some new comers from Croatia, Moldova, and Georgia will be represented,” says Deglise. Less than 10 percent of exhibitors are U.S. wineries.
Attendee registration costs $125 before the event and $150 on show days and is limited to trade and media only. For more information about attending or to see the list of exhibitors go to www.vinexponewyork.com.
