LWF 2016: Technology savvy fair prepares for its 36th outing

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 29 April, 2016

The 36^th London Wine Fair is touting itself as the most technologically advanced wine event in the world.

With less than a week to go, the figures show the impressive amount of engagement that the new Bottlebooks system - the fair's official digital directory - has garnered, with traders and winemakers signing up to events and thirstily researching the wines.

Here's a breakdown of what's happened so far and what to expect at the Olympia next week:

400 - the number of grape varieties

15,000 - the number of searches for wines exhibiting that have been made via Bottlebooks since it launched two months ago

4,760 - how many of the fair's wines are available to view on the database

57% - the percentage of exhibitors that have sign up to Bottlebooks

3,500 - the number of seats booked on Bottleboooks for briefings, masterclasses, pop-up tastings and on-stand events

LWF 2016LWF 2016

This year is the first year that exhibitors have been able to use Bottlebooks to register visitors at their on-stand events, and these have typically been booked out with 48 hours of being listed.

In terms of country searches, France was the most searched for, followed closely by Italy, Argentina and Australia.

Bordeaux was the most searched for region, followed by Mendoza / Cuyo.

Grape varieties showed no clear winner, but red wine has been searched for 2.5 times more than white and the most searched for price point has been the premium (£20 - £50) category.

LWF director, Ross Carter, said ahead of the fair: "We will be opening our doors next Tuesday on the most technologically advanced wine event in the world. As a result of our partnership with Bottlebooks we are now able to offer an unparalleled search and booking system that returns data giving insights into visitor trends and buying priorities.

"The data in the system and the searches being conducted reveal an event that has become more diverse than ever before: the most content; the largest number of regions taking part; the highest number of grape varieties recorded. This diversity reflects the UK wine trade at large, and the success of those operators which work so hard to champion diversity: the premium on-trade and independent wine merchants."

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