Wine & Gourmet Taipei 2016
Raises Wine and Food Pairing Culture and Growing Industry Demand in Taiwan
2016/6/21
Taiwan’s most prominent professional exhibition Wine and Gourmet Taipei marked its sixth edition with record breaking participation and attendance once again, playing host to 100 wine and food exhibitors. A crowd of more than 15,192 buyers from across Asia and beyond arrived at the Taipei World Trade to sample some of the best new and old world wines paired with the finest cuisine. From the most complete wine industry supply chain, well-known wine merchants and wineries displayed various red wine, white wine, ice wine, champagne, port wine, sherry and other rare wines. This year also saw strong participation from Europe, Australia and the Americas, anchored by exhibitors from France, Italy, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Peru, amongst others. Against an encouraging backdrop of Taiwan’s robust food industry, this year saw Wine and Gourmet Taipei pay special focus to the art of wine and food pairing, led by a strong domestic representation of fine food producers, including Covile Food Co., Ltd., Rosekitchen, Dashine, Hsei-Yi Co., Ltd., Yu Chocolatier, Roi de Pan, Hao-Heman Cheese Cake, Greendragon Lifestyle International Trade Co., Ltd., Aficion, Peaknology Corp. Taiwan Branch, and Delicia Corporation Ltd.
“Delivering business results for our exhibitors whilst offering a wide range of quality products for our visitors remains central to the work we do with every edition of Wine and Gourmet Taipei. It is therefore heartening to see that once again we have surpassed our own expectations, and more importantly, that of our key stakeholders who have experienced a very fruitful three days. The business connections forged and deals sealed at the exhibition certainly bodes well for the future of Taipei’s wine and food industry, and we’re happy to have facilitated that”, said Mr Gerd Keim, President, Kaigo Pte. Ltd,organizer of Wine and Gourmet Taipei.
Food and wine pairing culture programmes proved popularity as visitors’ favourite
The evolution of food culture characterized by the wealth of world cuisine dishes available in Taiwan now and the ever-changing way of seasoning gained tremendous spotlight at the exhibition. Industry professionals enjoyed the wide food choices coupled with the correct wine selection brought exquisite touch to both the delicious food and rich wine taste.
In keeping with the theme of the exhibition, Wine and Gourmet Taipei also curated a refreshed and comprehensive master class series to deliver key insights shared by experts on honing this art. The upcoming trend of pairing food with wine was undoubtedly popular as the well-known wine expert Daren from Suzerain winery‘s sommelier composition drew the most crowd with his creation of “taste buds of wine master classes". He demonstrated how the ever-changing interpretation of the wine and food allows visitors to explore the fascinating world of wine by freely experimenting their taste buds and sense of smell. Spain’s top CAVA sparkling wine and Iberian acorn also became among the crowd’s favorite with their black pig ham hoof perfect mix of soul. The showcase proved to be an early success as tickets were sold out one month before the commencement sold out. In addition, wine fans also grabbed opportunities to participate in popular courses such as appreciating the imaginative artistic taste of strict selection of wine from France’s famous wine-producing areas and French restaurants.
Another highlight at the exhibition was the "Pisco is Peru" event put together by the Peruvian commercial offices in Taipei to introduce the mysterious legendary Peruvian wine country, where visitors got to taste the perfectly proportioned acidity Pisco. The wine bartender’s Vinoza’s creative play of carrying wine as the base and changing the tone of the diverse kinds of cocktails showed visitors a new face of the new flavor of the wine.
“This is the third year we are participating in at the Wine and Gourmet Taipei and each year we meet fantastic wine lovers who like to explore our tastes and try new wines. The quality of the visitors is remarkable, coming come from young, starting wine lovers to the most knowledgeable experts. We thank WGT for providing this platform for us to engage with all the enthusiasts and get direct feedback about our wines. The event even gave the chance for consumers to meet some of our winemakers. We hope to give them a lot of new wines to explore and feel the real wine passion. I would say Wine & Gourmet Taipei: thank you and we are looking forward to participate next year! ” said Maarten de Haas, Founder & CEO of Vinoza.
Wine & Gourmet Taipei 2016 successfully showed the unique charm of vintage and sought-after wines as wine consumption and demand prosper in the Taiwan market. As Taiwanese consumers are certainly willing to try a variety of wine types, this indicates a promising wine market with enormous hidden potential for the country. The exhibition is geared for a bigger and better return next year where the organizer is optimistic that trend-setting wine companies will continue to respond to wine lovers’ expectations for another exciting wine feast with higher quality selection and exclusive opportunity to promote closer connection across food and wine cultures between Taiwan and the world.