London Wine Fair to dig up new wines for U.K. market

Wines Unearthed is a new exhibitor area for this year’s London Wine Fair, dedicated to global wine producers seeking U.K. representation. The feature, which has been created in association with JK marketing and The Wine Agency, will be a distinct stand-alone “village” to showcase up to 70 wineries. There will be a pre-selection process with criteria for inclusion based on quality and reputation to ensure participants are appropriate for the U.K. market. The exhibitor feature will have staggered opening hours to prioritise the most relevant visitor audience and to control footfall. Early opening will ensure those U.K. importers already exhibiting will have priority access to Wines Unearthed before the Fair opens each day.

Wineries participating will be invited to a workshop seminar on Sunday, 17th May – “The Road Map to Export to the U.K.” – which will offer an invaluable toolkit covering pricing, distribution channels and marketing. This will be hosted by Robert Joseph, wine business advisor and journalist, and will take place at Olympia from 4pm to 6pm. There will also be a drinks reception on the Monday evening, exclusively for exhibitors within Wines Unearthed and Esoterica – the feature which showcases the portfolios of U.K. based niche and micro-importers – to encourage productive networking between the two groups. Additionally, on the Tuesday evening, Wines Unearthed exhibitors will be able to tour key retailers and on-trade outlets participating in London Wine Week, to gain a greater understanding of the U.K. trade at the coal face.

Ross Carter, show director, comments: “we want to give these wineries a truly immersive experience; whilst the ultimate aim is to generate export leads, we also want them to come away with a much greater understanding of the U.K. trade at large – which, frankly, can be somewhat complicated.”

Wines Unearthed will be located in the Grand Hall of the Fair, with distinct branding and full servicing. Each 3sqm pod will cost £1,500, which will include the workshop seminar, the drinks reception, and tie-in with London Wine Week. Wineries interested in participating should apply by contacting: JK Marketing (wu@jkmarketing.co.uk or +44 1829 720130/07770 472717); or Bob Davidson at the London Wine Fair (r.davidson@hgluk.com or +44 20 7973 4661). The 35th London Wine Fair will take place from Monday, 18th to Wednesday, 20th May 2015 at Olympia (www.londonwinefair.com).

Notes to editors:

Staggered opening times for Wines Unearthed are: 8.00am open for importers exhibiting at the Fair; 9.00am open for wine buying visitors; 12noon, open to all.

For further information, please contact:
Sally Bishop at Relish PR
E: sally@relish-pr.co.uk / M: 07930 416 353