London Wine Fair brings fine wine to 2015 show

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 18 February, 2015

London Wine Fair's organisers are launching a restricted-access area at this year's fair, specifically for producers of premium wines priced £30 or over.

Although there has been demand for more premium wines at the show in the past, importers and producers have been reluctant to pour their most expensive wines for all attendees.

By setting up a self-contained area, access is restricted to visitors with proven credentials in fine wine buying and specialist media.

The View Tastings, in association with Octavian, will allow importers or producers to showcase their most premium wines to an appropriate audience. Companies that have signed up to date include: Alliance Wine; Antinori; Astrum Wine Cellars; Flint Wines; Hatch Mansfield; Lea & Sandeman; Louis Latour Agencies; Penfolds (via Treasury Wine Estates); and Sogrape UK.

The View Tastings will be located within The Gallery area of the Grand Hall at Kensington Olympia, as a cordoned off area with 24 hour security. It will be restricted to 20-30 companies with the cost per table set at £1,500. It will be managed by fine wine broker and merchant The Wine Register, which was set up in 2014 by Ashley Register, previously of Bordeaux Wine Investments and Quintessentially Wine.

Show director, Ross Carter, said: "The fair's scale has put-off some of this sector from exhibiting in the past, which is understandable when their target customer is relatively niche. The View Tastings will allow fine wine exhibitors to put their high end wines exclusively in front of decision makers from top merchants and restaurants from around the UK and internationally, in a secluded area, whilst benefitting from being part of the UK's largest drinks trade event."

Luca Soldo, brand ambassador for Antinori, said the View Tastings "will be a great opportunity to showcase some of the Tuscan classics that have made the name famous worldwide and the new hidden gems from Piedmont and Puglia which represent the future of the family. The UK market is key for Antinori and the London Wine Fair is, without doubt, the perfect occasion to meet and greet the right buyers from all over the country".

Giles Cooke MW, wine development director at Alliance Wines, said it was "delighted to be back at London Wine Fair with a typically irreverent take on fine wine". He added that Alliance's stand would focus on those who are "currently making exciting, genuine expressions of the land they work, we will showcase only the best - reinforcing our position as the must-have supplier for the quality on-trade and independent merchant sector in the UK".

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