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Vinexpo opens with chaos for South Africa
June 18, 2007
Jane Anson in Bordeaux
Vinexpo opened yesterday amid chaos for the South African contingent, whose entire delivery of sample wines had been stopped on the French Belgian border.
Nearly 2,000 bottles for Wines of South Africa (WOSA), Fosters, Gallo, Distel and Cape Legends were stopped as they made their way from Antwerp to Bordeaux. It is unlikely that the shipment will be released before the end of the trade fair.
'This makes the whole exhibition a complete waste of time and money,' Dalene Styen of WOSA told decanter.com.
Styen said it was still unclear exactly why the wines had been stopped and according to WOSA, three different explanations had been given to them.
Following the breakdown of air conditioning breakdown in 2003, Styan said it 'feels right now like there is always some problem at Vinexpo.'
The official opening ceremony, held this morning, was attended by the new French agricultural minister, Christine Lagarde, and Timothy Tong, Hong Kong's Commissioner of Customs and Excise, reflecting the growing importance of the Asian market. Both gave positive news about rises in sales and consumption.
'At Vinexpo 2005, French wines had experienced six years of falling export sales,' said Lagarde, who took over from former agricultural minister Dominique Bussereau a month ago. '2006 saw a reversal of that trend; with exports up 11.4%, and export profits currently standing at €7.7b, equivalent to 150 Airbuses.'
Tong had similarly positive figures, saying that wine consumption in China had grown, from 2001 to 2005, 3.55m to 4.36 hectolitres. The trend is set to continue, reaching 5.89m hectolitres by 2010.
'Today, imported wines account for just 5.6% of that figure, giving a huge potential for growth,' he said.
Since Hong Kong reduced its import duties on wine from 80 to 40% in February 2007, provisional figures have shown a rise of 30% in sales. Tong also said that he would be granting duty exemptions on all wines to be imported for samples during the Vinexpo 2008 trade fair in Hong Kong.
This year's Bordeaux show covers 41,000 square metres, the biggest since it started in 1981 with 6,885 square metres. Local hotels and restaurants are preparing to cash in on the 2,400 exhibitors and 45,000 visitors from 144 different countries.
Have your say...
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 One might have thought you would not have compounded the problem by spelling Dalene Steyn's name in three different ways in your article.
Michael Olivier, Cape Town, South Africa
BEING A RESIDENT OF STELLENBOSCH IN SOUTH AFRICA, MY ONLY THOUGHTS AS TO WHY THE COMPLETE CONTINGENT OF SOUTH AFRICAN WINES INTENDED FOR BORDEAUX WAS STOPPED AT THE BELGIUM/FRANCE BORDER IS THAT THE FRENCH DID IT DELIBERATELY AS THEY ARE CONTINUOUSLY SCARED THAT SOUTH AFRICA ARE WINNING MORE AWARDS AT EUROPEAN WINE SHOWS THAN THE FRENCH! THE WINES SHOULD BE ALLOWED TROUGH TO COMPETE AT THE SHOW AND THEN THE FRENCH ENTRIES WILL SEE SOME VERY GOOD WINES THAT ARE BETTER THAN THEIRS!
ERIC DALTON
A waste of time, only a jolly for the guzzling club! No serious buyers would even consider contracts at this venue. Corporate masturbation for a dying breed
Chris McKay
I would really like to know what three explanations they gave for blocking those wines.
Robin Fernández-Medina
I am glad to see that protectionism is alive and well! Is Sarkosy coming good on election promises and to avoid scenes of burning Carrefour stores at the hands of CRAV activists?
I would suggest that although France is ripe for growth in the imported wine sector, the €2-4 table wine sector has little to worry about from foreign producers that are higher priced and higher taxed.
Seb Hill
I am always surprise by company who import product do not planning their shipment to be in advance in case of difficulty. As I cross the US border from Canada every two week, I can't tell you how many time I was stop for days and the merchandise holding for weeks. Even if we have a "Free Trade Agreement". I know, if I pay for a show, I should try:
1) go the most direct (not passing by a third country)
2) be prepare for exceptional delay
3) do not blame any authority for doing their job before you can prove
they don't
Denis Cottin
I can hardly believe the comments on this article! First of all, as is clear from the news item, the wines were stalled in Belgium and not in France. How is French protectionism and ...Sarkozy to blame for this? Second: why did South Africa wait until the last minute to send its samples to such an important (and huge, therefore with many logistical problems, by definition) event like Vinexpo? (By the way try sending samples to, say, Australia, for an international competition...) If someone is to blame they are living in South Africa. The claim that the French are afraid of South African wines is ludicrous (and Vinexpo is not a competition as this ignoramus seems to believe). Finally, contrary to what the obscene Mr McKay says, this year's
Vinexpo was a fantastic success. I talked to scores of exhibitors and could not find one who was not thrilled by the results of their participation. And as a visitor I can only say that I wished the exhibition lasted longer...
Australia and New Zealand are the losers and will be back, because Vinexpo is the ONLY exhibition in the world that is truly global.
Constantine Stergides, Athens, Greece
Read this article on the WOSA website to get a bit of perspective on this story: http://www.wosa.co.za/wosa_news_article.php?wine_id=10312. You will see that none of the speculative nonsense submitted by contributors to this site comes close to the truth. John Neale, Randburg, South Africa
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