A festival of wine at Bordeaux

Bordeaux, France: Sip velvety, delicious chardonnay from New Zealand or South Africa or, better still, France to decide which one you like best - all under one roof. As global wine consumption goes up, more than 48,000 visitors are expected to taste new products and catch up with the latest trends at VINEXPO, the festival of wines and spirits from across the world. With 40 percent of the exhibitors coming from outside France, VINEEXPO 2013, from 16-20 June, will set a worldwide standard for the industry, its organisers said. It will be spread over 90,000 square meters venue with more than 13,250 industry professionals expected here to share their experience under a uniform concept called “Tastings by Vinexpo”.[caption id=“attachment_637553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Wine at Bordeaux. Reuters[/caption] World renowned groups such as Castel Frees and Champagne Lanson will be exhibiting alongside a large number of fast-moving companies Domaine du Tariquet, Gerard Bertrand and Bernard Magrez Vignobles. The main producing countries have also reserved space to set up national pavilions. These include Germany, the US, Chile, Italy and Spain, among others. For the first time, Mexico and South Africa would also attend the exhibition. According to a study conducted by VINEXPO, worldwide consumption of wine increased by 2.8 percent between 2007 and 2011, reaching 2,679 billion nine-litre cases by the end of the period, the equivalent of 32 billion bottles. In 2011, sparkling wines accounted for 7.7 percent of all wines drunk in the world, but their consumption grows faster than still light wines, it said, adding red wine was still preferred across the world. In 2011, 61.5 percent of the world’s spirits were drunk in the Asia Pacific, the study said. IANS