Every year, as soon as spring is in sight, a piece of the big wine world meets in Düsseldorf at the international trade fair for wine and spirits. A week ago it was that time again and I wasn't there. Missed something? For us writers, too, the trade fair is a trend barometer, an opportunity to get to know one or two winemakers, to interview one or two retailers or to find out about one or two wine regions. And that's where I simply missed out. Missed opportunity?
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| ProWein 2012 (Photo: Messe Düsseldorf) |
The first comments reach me: "ProWein has become the ultimate meeting place for the international wine and spirits industry". Not only every journalist flinches at the word "ultimate", but also wine merchants, sellers, producers, importers - in short, everyone who has something to do with the industry. Off to the "world capital of the wine and spirits industry" for three days! The agenda is packed full: Newcomers in the international wine business, for example Brazil, India, Japan, China, present their products. 300 exhibitors more than last year, another hall will be opened, 300 expert lectures and tastings, an international tasting zone, which already took me a few hours in the last years. Many of the notes are still fluttering around on my desk. Tastings are still done by mouth and by hand. The computer is of little help.
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| Tasting zone at ProWein (Photo: P. Züllig) |
On Sunday, the climax of the three wine-crazy days, my mind went blank. All this is now to go on without me: not a single sight, no pictures, no notes, no suggestions for my columns and - all the familiar faces of my little wine world so far away? Almost a depressive mood rolled in. What to do? So today - as a sort of substitute - I went to Hombrechtikon, the neighbouring village, as a little consolation for my soul. Who knows this village in the big wine world? 8,000 inhabitants, two churches, a vineyard, a "Landmetzg" (country butcher's shop), a long-disused railway station and a wine shop with the promising name "Wine and Culture". In front of the inconspicuous entrance a small poster: "Big spring tasting". "What's big?" I think to myself, remembering the huge exhibition halls in Düsseldorf.
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| Big spring tasting in Hombrechtikon (Photo: P. Züllig) |
Small - at least in terms of exhibition space - is also the wine shop. The boss himself serves. No - I don't want to buy any wines today. I just want to experience the exhibition atmosphere, get a taste of the wine world, meet the small wine world. Actually, there is everything there to inspire a wine lover. Of course, not every wine region is represented, not every renowned wine is available. It is a selection, the selection of a committed wine merchant, a "pre-selection". Nevertheless, the offer is still large even here: ten countries, about 40 wine regions, maybe 100, 200 wines, I haven't counted them, in (almost) all price ranges. In short, what I understand by a "trusted wine shop". So this is where the end customer ends up if he wants to look around a bit in the small wine world. I know, this is not comparable to an international wine fair like ProWein. The two presentations - the small and the large - have a different clientele. In Düsseldorf, it's the professionals in the wine business who meet there.
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| The big wine world in Düsseldorf (Photo: P. Züllig) |
Business is done, contracts are signed, new territory is sought, sales markets are sounded out, trends are sensed. Ultimately, it is also about being there. To have a foothold in the big wine world: "The professionals drink wine too, but the business only works if the "amateurs" buy the wine and pay for it. And that's where the "small" professionals, in the "small wine shops" take on a decisive function. They have to face the "amateurs", assert themselves against the discounter, who perhaps presents his offer on the other side of the street, as here in Hombrechtikon, in the village; or against the largely anonymised internet shopping, where bottles and cases are ordered, without individual advice, mostly based on their own knowledge, on recommendations and advertising.
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| The small wine world in Hombrechtikon (Photo: P. Züllig) |
My alternative excursion to the small wine world was worthwhile. I didn't get a taste of the big world, I didn't absorb the huge advertising, I didn't taste 100 or more wines, I didn't swim in the feeling of "being there". But I did talk about wine, not for three days, maybe an hour. And wine was closer to me than all the products of the 3,900 exhibitors from 50 countries at ProWein. I stayed in the middle of the village, and the good things about wine came to me, probably via five, ten, 20 places and distribution channels. But if the village, the municipality, the small town, the big city didn't exist, if the small trader didn't lovingly describe a wine, recommend it, make it popular and finally sell it, where would mammoth events like ProWein be? They probably wouldn't exist or they would be much, much smaller. For once, I am glad to have stayed at home, at home with wine.
Sincerely
Yours