Here's why too many wine-related events are only bad for wine

The majority of events that purport to promote everything revolving around the subject and the product have no return for the producer. They are simply empty boxes to be financed that only benefit the organisers often supported by local politics. This is true for the majority of events aimed at the end consumer (B2C, Business to Consumer) and not B2B (Business to Business, as in the case of fairs such as Vinitaly, Prowine and most recently, and growing in interest, Wine Paris).

Not much better is the discourse around various recognitions and awards (which I suggest we call 'awards' in order to be always à la page). Here too, the number of honours, plaques, cups and medallions is an integral part of every small event organised, with a clear result: infinite and scattershot distribution of useless awards on the one hand and confused - as well as less and less interested - consumers on the other..

Speaking of trade fairs, if we give well-organised ones the role of making the greatest number of potential new customers available to producers, the capacity and experience of Prowein (in Düsseldorf) and Vinitaly (in Verona) are still currently the best on the market. Beware, however, because the world changes style and direction in the blink of an eye and this trend is not to be taken lightly. The success of the most recent editions of Wine Paris (heir to the defunct Vinexpo in Bordeaux) marks a new way of using traditional trade fair spaces with the aim of addressing communication - young and dynamic - to a specialised public that is very knowledgeable and always on the lookout for new quality proposals. Apart from the fact that a trip to Paris is easier and more enjoyable than to Bordeaux or Düsseldorf, with respect.

For the future, I see it very likely that the classic trade fair formula no longer corresponds to the current business model of the operators. Certainly the solution does not lie in the numerous local events around cities throughout the year. However, I note that Vinitaly remains a highly respected event at international level and it is important that Italy continues to have a wine fair flag; I also see this as an institutional and political signal. It is therefore good that this fair in Verona remains alive and well; if anything, I would suggest that producers limit their participation to local and city events. But I see around that the direction of the wine industry is already there.