Moving Forward as One of the Nation´s Largest and Most Diverse Wine Fairs

The Miami International Wine Fair is returning to the Miami Beach Convention Center on September 26 & 27 with a great diversity of wines, increased participants in the Buyers Program and many countries in representation.

"Despite today's competitive economic marketplace, our wine exhibitors know this is the most important time to have a strong presence within the trade, particularly since some of the nation's most important wine buyers have already committed to attending the Fair," said Wine Fair Associate General Manager Sergio Garcia. "The combined presence of vineyards and wineries from France will occupy over 1,500 square feet. Exhibitors from Italy, including Toscana and Piemonte, Spain, including Rioja, Castilla la Mancha, and Ribera de Duero, Portugal and the United States are increasing the volume of square footage to which they are committing. And smaller producers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Uruguay are investigating how they can maximize their presence at the Fair."

Having sold more than 300,000 nine-liter wine cases last year, organizers estimate that 2,000-plus meetings will take place in 2009, boosting sales to over a half million cases of wine. Hundreds of renowned importers, distributors and retailers will be participating in the Fair's innovative Buyers Program, which guarantees exhibitor meetings with buyers from across the country, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

The Miami International Wine Fair is one of the largest wine tradeshows in America, featuring 85,000-square-feet of exhibitor space, with more than 500 producers presenting 1,500 wines from 20 countries. With Florida rapidly emerging as one of the most important wine markets of the world and as a North American gateway to foreign trade, exhibitors can anticipate an increased attendance of U.S. visitors to this year's Fair.

Wine in the News:

• The Growth of the Wine Industry & the Evolution of Wine Imports to the U.S.

The United States has become the single most attractive market for wine imports in the world and is expected to soon surpass France in wine consumption. According to the Wine Institute's news release, total shipments to the United States in 2007 from all production sources-California, other states, and foreign countries-increased 4 percent over 2006 to 745 million gallons for a total retail value of more than $ 30 billion. Sales of wine keep growing in the United States, increasing by 11.5% in 2007, with imports accounting for 33% of those sales.

The growth of the wine category in the U.S. can be attributed to a few important facts:

• Year after year, wine sales continue to outpace beer sales. Since 2005, wine has surpassed beer as the alcoholic beverage adult drinkers consume most often. In fact, 61 million adults are reported to drink wine at least once a month.
• The benefits and the image of wine as a "health conscious beverage" that promotes heart health continue to grow, particularly in the red wine segment.
• Younger consumers are much more interested in wine consumption, particularly in the import category. Referred to as Millenials, with ages ranging from drinking age to 31, these consumers choose imports 40 percent of the time, whereas Generation X'ers choose imported wine 32 percent and Baby Boomers choose imports 26 percent.

Pop the ring pull: Would you drink wine out of a can?

Just as tires are made of rubber, Swiss cheese has holes and gentlemen prefer blondes, wine is supposed to come in a glass bottle. However, enterprising producers are now delivering wine, including bubbly, in aluminum ring-pull cans.

Australian wine company, Barokes, made history by winning a Gold Medal at the 2009 Berlin Wine Trophy for its Cabernet Shiraz Merlot. The use of these light 250mL cans, which can be easily recycled, saves a huge amount of cost and energy in terms of manufacture and transport. Barokes claims credit for developing the 'Vinsafe' technology which, it says, enables premium quality wine to be canned with stability and longevity.'

Court says Germany can produce "Italian" sparkling wine

A German law recently ruled that sparkling wine produced in Germany from Italian Prosecco grapes can be labeled as 'Italian'.

The administrative court in Trier determined that if the basic wine is imported from Italy into Germany bearing the label IGT, (Indicazione Geographica Tipica) denoting the place of origin, this notation still applies after it has been processed into sparkling wine on German soil.

The court argued the deciding factor was where the unprocessed wine originated from and not where the sparkling wine was made.

The ruling enables two Trier-based wine cellars to continue producing and selling sparkling wine classified as 'Vino Frizzante IGT,' who had been barred by the Rhineland-Palatinate state wine inspector arguing that IGT was a geographical label of origin and could not apply to products made outside the country of origin.

Hidden, Affordable Napa Valley

Writer Tilar Mazzeo takes a salsa lesson at Ceja Vineyards, visits a tasting room on the tailgate of a jeep and otherwise explores Napa's intimate, unstuffy side.

"I wasn't eager to spend time in Napa: I thought of it as the land of flashy second homes and huge wine estates. But in the month I spent there researching, I saw a different side of the valley-a place that's vibrant, young and far more accessible and friendly than I'd embarrassingly assumed."