VINEXPO, the International Wine and Spirits Exhibition created by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce in 1981 in Bordeaux, France has evolved into one of the leading events for professionals in the wine and spirits industry.

In 2002, VINEXPO www.vinexpo.com held their inaugural exhibition of VINEXPO AMERICAS in New York, where they had 10,128 visitors and 600 exhibitors from 28 countries. This year the exhibition was held in Chicago, and although it was a smaller show with 6, 182 visitors and 440 exhibitors from 22 countries, I sampled some excellent wines, champagnes and ports, attended some interesting seminars and even found a notable product or two.

One product that I found to be very interesting were the titanium wine glasses from Schott-Zwiesel AG www.schott-zwiesel. Titanium and zirconium make these glasses chip resistant, almost unbreakable and dishwasher safe making them suitable for family or commercial use.

I stopped at the Terrazas booth to sample their Reserva Malbec 2002 and their Gran Malbec 1999, and fondly remembered my trip to Buenos Aires (see our Destinations article Buenos Aires – A Feast for the Senses). Their Reserva Malbec 2002 was dry and earthy, and their Gran Malbec 1999 made from grapes from a single 75 old vineyard exhibited excellent qualities one expects from Terrazas. The port from Dona Velha Magalhães 2000 Vintage Port was excellent, with only 10,000 bottles made, you would be lucky if you could pick up a bottle or two. Another favorite was the apple ice wine from La Face Cachée De La Pomme from Quebec, Canada, that had a rich, true apple flavor.

A champagne lover, I attended the Piper-Hiedsieck Champagne Forum with Cellar Master Régis Camus, and had the opportunity to taste several vintage years side-by-side. The 1998, which will be released on October 1, 2004, was a brilliant gold, had fine and serene bubbles, mineral impressions on the nose, followed by fern, dried apricots, caramel, honey nougat, en bouche there was freshness with more Mediterranean fruits, leather, tobacco, and although relatively young it was very promising, and should be expressing itself fully within a few months. The 1996 was a straw gold color, very complex, full with an expressive nose with notes of toastiness, fern, South of France flavors with strong thyme influence, producing a lot of depth in the nose. En bouche flavors of grapefruit, citrus, mandarin and pineapple, a very complex champagne and the favorite of the vintages. The 1995 was an interesting harvest year, as there was frost in April, with lots of sun in July and August with harvesting in mid-September. It was a paler gold, with a more discrete nose, with floral notes of heavy flowers, lilacs, hyacinths, dried fruits and candied fruits. At 9 years old it still had a very fresh taste.

VINEXPO 2005 will be held in Bordeaux. For information, contact www.vinexpo.com. Until next year….

For more articles on VINEXPO, please read VINEXPO AMERICAS 2004 – Remy – People, Spirits and Cocktails.

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