Postcard from the boulevards: My three discoveries at France's biggest wine show

I remember when the wine show first came to Paris. It was a pretty grey February back in 2017 and French trade events organiser Comexposium had launched ‘Vino Vision’.

It was small and French-focused, in the grander scheme of wine industry trade shows little more than a gnat on the flank of the great beasts of the savannah – Vinexpo and ProWein.

Back in 2017 ProWein was well on its way to becoming THE big wine trade fair. In 2019 it amassed 7,000 exhibitors and 61,000 visitors for its four day show.

London and Bordeaux were being squeezed out as many regional trade bodies and producers decided that one European fair was both enough – and all they could afford – as many were also participating in Vinexpo and ProWein’s various Asian shows as well.

What was this little show in Paris going to offer by comparison? I was sent along by the trade magazine I worked for at the time and I recall thinking that it was a good show and Paris was a natural fit for a trade event.

Comexposium went about its work diligently. It acquired a few more regional French shows and relocated them to Paris, doubling the size of the fair the following year.

Then it partnered with Vinexpo to launch Wine Paris in 2020 – just before the you-know-what. And it just blossomed from there.

I hadn’t been back in a number of years, I'd burned through enough shoe leather over the years as a young journalist to earn the right to stay away from trade shows for a while.

But now that I’m based in Paris how could I pass up sliding down on the 12 to see what was up?

And I’m glad I did. Not just to marvel at how the show has grown and evolved in nearly 10 years but also because I made some discoveries…

Favia

A highlight of the show was meeting Andy Erickson and Annie Favia from Napa Valley (pictured above).

It’s partly my own ignorance when it comes to large aspects of the American winemaking scene – and as I write this it's a little shame-inducing to admit – but I was spectacularly unaware about Favia and this (as it turns out) incredibly star-studded Napa power duo.

And if they are to you too then just know that Andy has a roll call of previous posts that includes Stag's Leap, Kongsgaard, Staglin, Harlan and Screaming Eagle – plus consulting at Dalle Valle and Ovid.

They’re moving their winery from Coombsville up to Oakville, with a new place being designed by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo – who’s also part of the duo behind the Pompidou Centre’s current revamp.

Utterly delightful, full of enthusiasm, I liked them immediately. And I like Annie's ethos of organic viticulture and Andy's 'analogue' winemaking approach and I love the wine.

They gave me a taste of their Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 and it is to die for. I don’t often get to taste really good Napa Cab but every time I do it chips away at that veneer of self-delusion that I’m somehow not missing out on something incredibly delicious.

The cracks began with a glorious sip of Philip Togni a little while back and have now considerably deepened with the Favia 2023.

Lithe. Divine. What a treat.

Unoaked Bordeaux

I’ve been on a bit of a heater about Bordeaux recently. More specifically about ways it can beat its fuddy-duddy image and regain some cool points.

Yes, there’s the new attempt to make ‘claret’ a thing again – fresh, drink chilled etc – but I’m not sure I buy it. It’s too focus-group led, a little fabricated.

No, I want good Bordeaux, made fresher and with street-cred for sure, but in order to do that it needs to retain its authenticity.

Making Bordeaux AOC oak-free seems like a winner to me, the way much of it used to be made before drenching everything in oak was deemed to be ‘premium’; which meant chips and staves began to be used as cheap make-up.

No, old neutral barrels and concrete are the way to go. You can retain the intrinsic nature of the grapes and the terroir influence but free from the artifice of pretend-new-oak flavours.

I found two that I particularly liked. The first was Château Vieux Mougnac from near Lussac. Quite an old-fashioned label (which I’m here for) and the wines spend two years in concrete before being bottled.

They were showing their 2015 and 2016 vintages – and both wines were still ship-shape and Bristol-fashion. and pleasingly old school. Which just goes to show you don’t need oak to age a wine.

Second was Château La Maroquine, with a beautiful set of labels showing off local flora and fauna.

They do lovely single variety Sauvignon and Sémillon but the unoaked ‘Chouette Chevêche’ cuvée was exactly what I was looking for; juicy, bright, modern Bordeaux.

And to give oak its due, Maroquine’s two other red cuvées which do see some oak were also pretty smashing.

Burgundy’s other hospices

A little post-show treat was a whistle-stop tasting of the 2025 vintage from the Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges.

This is actually the oldest hospice in Burgundy – founded in 1270 though it’s housed in a 17th century building now – and also holds a charity auction each year (in March).

Both the Beaune and Nuits hospices are run by the same regional health authority and the funds go to the same hospital. That said, the Nuits auction is very much in the shade of the more prestigious Beaune sale.

Now, many local Burgundy négociants quite like that fact because it means the wines are less expensive.

The wines are excellent, however. And it was a fascinating little tasting trying the different premiers crus and seeing the differences between them.

There’s ‘Les Vignerondes’ which abuts Vosne-Romanée and has the structure and squarer-jawed tannins you’d expect from that appellation.

Or the concentrated black fruits of the old vines in ‘Les Didiers’, the full, juicy ‘Les Corvées Pagets and the violet-framed dark fruit pastille of Les Saint-Georges.

Beautiful wines, and I was lucky to arrive in a quiet moment and have a one-on-one tasting with departing technical director Jean-Marc Moron.

He's going out on a high.

What I've been drinking recently

Favia, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2023

A lovely waft of graphite rising up from base of pure blackcurrant with a lightly savoury undercurrent.

Ripe but pearlescent and gorgeously silky. So fresh. Fine-grained tannins and a lovely slatey, mineral texture.

You really feel the combination of what Andy and Annie describe as the 'salinity and fine tannins' from the Coombsville fruit and and the 'grace and power' of Oakville.

Did I mention it's good? It's really good.

Banjo Vino, Guru, Vine de France, 2023

'Bombes de fruits noirs' this says on the label and it's not wrong. A proper blast of black forest fruits, a little cherry yoghurt, black pepper and dried herbs. A creamy palate with nice acidity. Bloody juicy and yummy. Bang tidy stuff.

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