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NEWS
Wines Overland: the gateway to Asia-Pacific for European wines
Philippe Carrant and Michael Rogers are two likeminded
partners who created Wines Overland to
help European winegrowers export their wines to
the Asia-Pacific region. The Frenchman deals with the
sourcing and the British-Singaporean handles sales and
marketing. Both speak French, are passionate about Asia
and interchangeable. The company posted turnover of
€16m last year and has offices in Paris and Hong Kong.
Its markets are primarily Japan, Hong Kong, Australia,
New Zealand, Taiwan and China. The main focus is to
develop long term sales, “not one shot deals” and “not just
value wines”, says Carrant. Their portfolio includes simple,
medium and high-end wines from small producers,
co-operative wineries and a few premium estates. “In Asia,
wines need to have a private label, something with a story
to tell consumers”, says Rogers. “We help them do that”.
Covid has made logistics challenging but lockdown
measures may have had two beneficial effects. With
restaurants closed, some Asian consumers in Singapore
and Korea have started drinking wine at home. This type
Philippe Carrant and Michael Rogers, the two founders of Wines Overland
of consumption is less “showy”, and more “pleasurable”
and “sincere”, and the hopes are that it will continue.
Similarly, in many countries, consumers have turned to
better quality offerings, with higher average prices, and
that is excellent news for European winegrowers!
Have the partners ever considered importing Asian wines
into Europe? “That’s a different business altogether!”, the
two men reply in unison.
https://www.winesoverland.com/en
Vinitaly: welcoming the return of in-person trade shows
PThe world of wine got back
on track with OperaWine and
Vinitaly Preview in Verona.
The two events organised by
Vinitaly-Veronafiere hallmarked
the resumption of shows attended
in-person after fifteen months of
compulsory stops when only
digital events were allowed. They
offered a preview of Vinitaly Special Edition (in Verona
17-19 October) in the run-up to the 54 th edition scheduled
10-13 April 2022.
The Gallerie Mercatali – the former fruit & vegetable
market and industrial archaeology venue opposite the
exhibition centre – hosted OperaWine’s tenth anniversary
event on Saturday 19 June. The Grand Tasting, that usually
precedes Vinitaly’s official opening, presented some of the
finest Italian wines selected by the American magazine
Wine Spectator to an elite audience of buyers, journalists,
sommeliers and international wine professionals. The
weekend was complemented on Sunday 20 June by the
Vinitaly Special Edition Preview, a B2B event presenting
consortia, 70 companies and
associations to more than 300 firms
and national and international
buyers from 14 European and
non-EU countries. Vinitaly Preview
illustrated the recovery of market
demand for Italian wine, including
within the country itself, as the
hospitality industry re-opens for
business and social life gets back on track, paving the
way for Vinitaly Special Edition, the first full-scale trade
fair event dedicated to the wine sector. Domestic and
international markets will be in the forefront at the Vinitaly
Special Edition. This trade-only occasion in October is
perfectly timed for doing business in the wine industry,
and Veronafiere is working with the ICE-Trade Agency
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation to ensure that selected international buyers
can enter the country. Live-streamed masterclasses are
scheduled to ensure direct contact with market players that
are unable to attend in person.
More information at www.vinitaly.com
8 SUMMER 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE