A quick look at the wine side of this exhibition.
The recently held ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2018 drew the strong participation of around 300 international wines and spirits exhibitors. Held for the second time in Singapore, it witnessed the attendance of 7,200 trade visitors. Local visitors made up 60%. Overseas visitors to this exhibition were mainly from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.
Though the primary purpose of an exhibition such as this is to bring producers and buyers together, give prospective buyers a chance to get to know the products up for offer and possibly result in the makings of successful deals, the organizers did better by arranging wine & spirits seminars, cocktail competition and even held a wine course under WSET to keep visitors actively engaged.
Seminars
Wine related seminars took a major chunk of these seminars organized over the four days. Apart from wine, other topics covered were on beer, sake and whiskey. One interesting wine seminar topic was on the production of wines in South East Asia by Eddie McDougall. It highlighted wine production in newer regions and showed South East Asia in a new light ... of being a region for wine producers as well … small steps yet but a promising start.
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ProWine Asia 2018 Seminar Speakers
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Amidst known seminar speakers like Tan Ying Hsien, Edwin Soon, Eddie McDougal and Indra Kumar, it was refreshing to see new faces like Sean Ou, Dr Jackie Ang and Huijuan Wu coming forth to share their knowledge in wine & spirits.
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Seminar Speaker: Eddie McDougal
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Apart from seminars held at the main seminar room, there were individual wine pavilions organising their own wine talks as well. Local wine professionals like Stephanie Rigourd, Daisuke Kawai and Jessica Tan contributed at these wine talks. By and large one can see a good turnout at most of these seminars and wine talks.
More photos of the seminars are at: Seminars Photos
Competition
One highlight at this exhibition was the National Cocktail Competition. It was held in collaboration with the Association of Bartenders and Sommeliers (ABSS) with more than 50 participants taking part in various categories.
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ProWine Asia 2018 Cocktail Competition
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ProWine Asia 2018 Cocktail Competition
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Champagne Lounge
An impressive showpiece during this exhibition was the Champagne Lounge. It showcased different types of champagne and offered tastings from 17 champagne houses. Visitors also had the opportunity to talk and learn more from representatives of these champagne houses who were present at this lounge.
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| ProWine Asia 2018 Champagne Lounge |
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| ProWine Asia 2018 Champagne Lounge |
More photos of the Champagne Lounge are at: Champagne Lounge Pictures
Common interest tasting spots
Similar in concept of the Champagne Lounge, other wine tasting spots with a common theme were also located amidst different wine pavilions. One example would be the booth focusing on Albarino wines from different producers originating from Rias Baixas. Another example would be the rose wines tasting booth showcasing rose wines from Provence. Chianti and Rioja producers offered similar tasting spots as well.
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Albarino tasting booth |
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| ProWine Asia 2081: Rose wines tasting booth |
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Chianti wines tasting booth |
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Rioja wines tasting booth |
Less familiar wine exhibitors
French, Italian and Spanish wine exhibitors took the major portion of the wine exhibition floor area and marked their presence in good numbers. On a smaller scale there were exhibitors from wine producing countries like Australia, Portugal, South Africa, Germany, Austria and US. Wines from these countries are fairly known and can be found in Singapore. There were wines from less familiar wine regions (less familiar at least in this part of the world) during this exhibition as well. These came as pleasant surprises offering wine professionals something new to taste and learn about. These wines came from countries like Croatia (Dalmacijavino Winery), Belarus (Minsk Sparkling Wines Factory), India (Grower Zampa Vineyards), Thailand (Siam Winery) and Romania (Dealu Mare Vineyard). Wines from these countries are not easily available in local wine retail outlets yet which makes them an interesting find at this exhibition.
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| ProWine Ssia 2018: Dalmacijavino Winery (Croatia) |
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Minsk Sparkling Wines Factory (Belarus) |
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Grower Zampa (India) |
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Siam Winery (Thailand) |
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Dealu Mare Vineyard |
Local producers
Two local producers stood out at this exhibition. One is the producer of craft beer Brewlander and the other a local producer of 'wines made from honey, Rachelle The Rabbit Meadery. It’s lovely to see local boys getting into the production side of the alcoholic beverage world.
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| ProWine Asia 2018: Rachelle The Rabbit Meadery (Singapore) |
More pictures of the exhibitors are at:
ProWine Asia 2018 Exhibitors' Photos
