Following much discussion about the pros and cons of The London International Wine Fair prior to the event which took place at the end of May, Wines of South Africa can report that the WOSA stand at the event was once again one of the most popular stands at the show and was well attended by press, buyers and the trade.

Despite visitor figures (counted only once per person and without exhibitor personnel) being slightly lower than last year at 13,431, there was a continual stream of visitors to our stand and real buzz around the Wines of South Africa pavilion.

Once again the tasting `pods` proved to be very popular with key press and buyers visiting the stand. To name just a few, visitors included Sarah Ahmed, Oz Clarke, Dror Native (Sainsbury`s), Graham Nash (Tesco), Colin Thorne (Vagabond Wines), Tim Carlisle (S H Jones Wines) and Fiona Beckett who also chose to run a food and wine matching tasting in our welcome zone.

As always a refreshing beer at the end of the show on the first day was welcomed by most of the trade! The teams from Just-drinks, The Drinks Business, OLN, Harpers, Decanter, Imbibe and many more influential industry imbibers enjoyed some biltong, a beer and explored some of the vinous gems on our stand at the same time.

In addition to the WOSA pavilion, Lynne Sherriff MW presented her `Lekker List` as part of a series of seminars run by the IWSC. The packed audience was keen to taste the wines that Lynne had selected and Susy Atkins also found the snapshot tasting a useful way to taste some top South African wines.

Overall, there was a fantastic buzz around the stand and in these more challenging times, the Wines of South Africa pavilion proved to be a positive way to maintain a strong presence at the event and, even in tough economic climate, a worthwhile way to establish trade connections and make the most of business opportunities that arise from contacts made.

Claudia Brown