On the Road with the Grape Guy

Details

Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

This year’s Wine and Cheese Show (held April 4-6 at the International Centre) was a bizarre mix of big and small, wineries and breweries, agents and importers.  New York, New Zealand and South Africa had a large presence, while the usual giants of the show like California, Australia and France had tiny one-man booths that had about 4 wines for tasting at each.  There also seemed to be a scattershot mix of exhibitors; some you knew why they were there:  Fielding, Black Prince, Mountain Road (wineries), Empire Cheese, Big Rock Brewery; others like Kitchen Aid, Whirlpool and others seemed very out of place.  It was as if organizers wanted to be everything to everybody and instead did nobody any favours.  Many exhibitors that I talked with, who had been there in the past, said the show had “shrunk” in size and has “lost focus”; others lamented the lack of advertising of the show.  I found this most surprising when I thought about it; for a show that was celebrating its 25th Anniversary – you’d think they would have plastered the city with “Guess who’s turning 25” advertisements; but this year there was very little “show” about the show.  This writer in particular emailed for details and information about the show 2 months in advance, but my emails went unanswered until a week before the show.

But despite all that there were some major highlights to draw your attention to – seems I have a knack for digging up a few at each show I attend... (Read more)

Check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog and all the other feature articles click here.

• Prev
• Next