Gilbert's Grape: Surviving the LWF

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 09 May, 2016

The world of wine and spirits can be a minefield for newcomers. So Harpers senior reporter and wine newbie Jo Gilbert has decided to give a straight-talking account of what it's like to be a wannabe wino in an experts' industry.

The world of wine and spirits can be a minefield for newcomers.

So Harpers senior reporter and wine newbie Jo Gilbert has decided to give a straight-talking account of what it's like to be a wannabe wino in an experts' industry.

It's the first day of the London Wine Fair 2016 and the Kensington Olympia is heaving.

Bottles clink as stalls are set up and old acquaintances share pleasantly-surprised smiles as they cross each other on the stairs and in the aisles.

Everyone knows the drill - or at least that's the way it's looks from an outsider looking in.

And as a still relatively new addition to the drinks industry at Harpers, that's what I am right now: an outsider, Tiny Tim looking through the window and drooling at everyone else's brandy-soaked Christmas pudding.

But it's not wine or even pudding that I envy as I walk through the Olympia's labyrinth of stalls, no; it's knowledge.

I'm envious of everyone who can drop appellations into a conversation with ease and instantly knows the difference between their finos, creams and en ramas.

At times it feels like everyone I speak to was born with words like en primeur already in their vocabulary along with 'toys' and 'ice-cream'.

Did I just not get the memo?

I remember the first time someone dropped the word terroir into a sentence, or as I like to call it, the 'T' bomb, because the first time you hear it, you don't know what's hit you.

Yes, the terminology is intimidating, but 2016 is an exciting time to join the trade.

Much of what I heard of the fair was how to bring wine well and truly into the 21^st century, taking cues from success stories like gin, which has managed to create such a bond with consumers.

In fact, there was an entire briefing at the fair - Harpers Debate: Selling Wines Craft Credentials - on that very subject, hosted in excellent fashion by Harpers editor Andrew Catchpole.

What everyone seems to agree on is that wine still has a way to go when it comes to striking a balance between tradition and approachability.

As more than one person has pointed out to me, the strict regulations surrounding wine often leads to strangulation in creativity and the relaxed approach to labeling and marketing afforded to gin and other alcoholic beverages.

But one thing I've learned is that while wine and its language can be intimidating, the people that make it most certainly are not.

Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that we're all in such a social industry - and what an industry it is too.

Where else can you find such thirst for drink, for food, for knowledge and for life in general all under the Olympia's enormous roof?

A quote from the Harpers Debate: Selling Wines Craft Credentials that stuck with me was a comparison between wine and gin.

According to a survey, when asked if wine could be 'cool', one consumer responded by saying, "No. It doesn't belong under the arches in Hackney."

And why not?

Okay, so you can't make wine at a small distillery on the backstreets of London.

But it's made in every corner of the world, in some of the most beautiful places imaginable, made by some of the most passionate people alive.

What the person from the survey was trying to say has something to do with how the consumer perceives wine and wine's ability to tell a story that consumers can connect with.

And what seems obvious to me is that in the wine world there are a gazillion stories to be told and an industry full of the most welcoming and interesting people you could hope to meet who could be telling them.

When the trade finds a way to build a bridge between those two things, then wine will be the Roald Dahl of the international drinks industry - and I can't wait to be a part of it.

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