VieVinum #197
Key platform for the success of Austrian wine
The VieVinum has been the key platform for the success of Austrian wine exports since 1998. The success of the fair in 2022 means that there is a good chance we can expect a new export sales record in the near future. Back for the first time after four years, the VieVinum proved to be the vibrant celebration of Austrian wines everyone hoped it would be. In order to ensure maximum added value for Austria’s winegrowers, the focus last year was on attracting an audience of industry specialists. Austrian Wine supported this by bringing more than 1,000 international experts from the wine trade, the hospitality industry and the press from more than 50 different countries to Vienna. “We have had to wait four long years – but it was well worth the wait!” confirmed a happy Chris Yorke, CEO of Austrian Wine. “Our winegrowers were able to showcase themselves perfectly and every one of our international partners was blown away by the wines, the atmosphere and the organisation of the fair».
The programme of supporting events
The programme of supporting events, including a selection of masterclasses at the School of Wine, as well as events put on by winegrowers’ associations and individual wine-growing regions. An online city guide created especially for the event by Austrian Wine gave visitors a clear overview of all supporting events organised by the various regions and associations. Austrian Wine organised a high-quality, all-day flight tasting with 92 “international heroes” – Austria’s leading wines that have won the highest awards from international media. The feedback on this tasting, which was attended by 220 experts, was extremely positive with regard to both the quality of the wine and the organisation.
VieVinum Austrian Wine participated in the ProWein
One week before the VieVinum, Austrian Wine participated in the ProWein trade fair in Düsseldorf, together with around 300 Austrian wineries. There was a really positive atmosphere here too, after the fair had been postponed twice. “Visitor numbers were down slightly on the last ProWein – but the experts that came were of a good quality,” enthused Chris Yorke. “Even though the fact that it was so close to the VieVinum was a major challenge for our winegrowers and for Austrian Wine, it was important that we be well represented in Düsseldorf in order to maintain existing business contacts and establish new ones.”
The specialist public was also able to gain detailed insights into the Austrian wine industry at twelve masterclasses organised by Austrian Wine. By way of example, Sascha Speicher from the Meininger publishing house demonstrated the ageing potential of Austrian wines using selected Sekts, white, red and sweet wines, Willi Schlögl from the Freundschaft wine bar in Berlin, together with Florian Schütky (Austrian Wine), explained the practices adopted by Austrian winegrowers to ensure environmentally-friendly wine production, and renowned sommelier Gerhard Retter guided interested parties through exciting alternatives to wines such as Grüner Veltliner and Blaufränkisch, to name but two.
