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February 15, 2007
16th Annual Boston Wine Expo Draws 12,000 Attendees
Encouraged by a brief respite from New England's sub-freezing weather, about 12,000 people packed the 16th Boston Wine Expo, held this past weekend at the city's Seaport World Trade Center. The largest and most successful consumer wine event in the U.S., the Expo drew some 450 wineries from all wine regions of the world, as well as numerous food purveyors, cellar designers and other merchants linked to food or wine.
In addition to wine, the Expo offered dozens of guided sit-down seminars, including terroir and the art of winemaking, a crash course in wine basics, and the up-and-coming wine regions of Spain. This year's Expo was apparently so well attended that on Saturday city fire officials temporarily closed the admission doors after attendance swelled to 8,000.
"This is great for us. It's a fantastic place to get consumer feedback," said Jennifer Tincknell, co-owner of Tincknell & Tincknell Wine Sales and Marketing Consultants. She was there helping a client market their Romanian wines. Not only is the event an opportunity to gauge consumer wine tastes, "We get people who say 'I don't know wine, but I'll try this one,' " says Felipe Gonzalez-Gordon, President of Gonzales Byass USA, who was there pouring his most recent releases from Rioja. "What type of packaging is catching their attention? It's not just about pouring wine. Otherwise, it's a waste of time," he adds.
One of the many people attending was Marc Maurel, a master sommelier who lives in Paris. The Boston Wine Expo is unique, he remarked when asked what attracted him from France. "Where else can you taste so many wines?" he asked. Unlike France and many other European countries where many consumers now drink more vodka and other spirits than wine, "America is discovering wine. It's open to the entire [wine] world," he said. Another perspective was voiced by Keith Harvell, New England Regional Manager for Pasternak Wine Imports, who noted "The best thing about the Expo is walking around to see what's out there, what's new and different."
Source: “12,000 Attend 16th Annual Boston Wine Expo,” Ken Sternberg,Daily News Links, February 15, 2007
Posted by fortna at February 15, 2007 11:28 AM
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