The UK head of Wines of Chile says he will advise bosses to boycott Vinexpo 2009 if air conditioning issues are not resolved.
Michael Cox, director of Wines of Chile UK told decanter.com he would ‘suggest’ a boycott of the wine trade fair unless they received ‘sufficient guarantees that the air conditioning will be improved or that we are moved to a better location.’
Cox said that despite assurances made by the organisers since the infamous 2003 air conditioning failure, high temperatures were still an issue.
‘There is no question that the air conditioning is either defective or faulty,’ said Cox. ‘If it [Vinexpo] positions itself as the world’s premier wine fair and charges large sums for taking part, they are duty bound and honour bound to provide world-class facilities. The facilities at Vinexpo are not world class and they must do something about it.’
Cox added a note of caution, however, saying that any decision by Wines of Chile would have to balance this with the fact the show had been ‘good for business’ and ‘good for Chile’.
Cox said he had expressed his concerns to Vinexpo organiser Robert Beynat, but got the impression ‘they were not that bothered.’
Beynat could not be reached for comment but a spokesman for the wine show said that they had not received any other complaints about the air conditioning system.
‘A considerable amount of money has been spent in the last two years upgrading the system,’ he said.
Written by Oliver Styles
