2006 VinExpo

[TheEngineer]

Wow.....this thing is big.....and it wasn't even close to VinItaly I was told.....

Hong Kong's newish (now 10 years old) convention centre was the site of this. Great space! Only thing was that was at all strange was that the Australian's boycotted this thing....strange to see a wine venue without the Aussies. TOO MANY wineries to go through...Bordeaux?..they were all there. Spain and Chile were out in force and a good representation from the Germans. Some US wineries made the trip and did well (eg Boony Doon, David Michaels, etc) but the Wine institute made a good booth.

Does wine taste better when poured by the maker (as asked by Decanter this month?)....well when its Guigal... YES... Gaja even sat down with us for about 15 minutes to go through his list....glad that I didn't have to pay for that. August Kesseler was as enthusiastic as ever.

As for the attendees, lots of locals, lots of Chinese mainlanders, lots of Japanese and then many from around the world. ....kinda like a small chunk of Hong Kong where ever you walked. Good experience, nice show. WAY too many wines to write notes on.

[This message has been edited by TheEngineer (edited 06-09-2006).]

[winoweenie]

Sounds like an amazing experience there Eng. As I've gotten older I seem to avoid any tasting experience that has more than 20-25 people. Have been a fan of Guigal since the early 70s. And Randall is a bonifide A number-one character. Know you had a ball. WW

[TheEngineer]

As I age, I can't find 20-25 people who will voluntarily want to be with me..... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/frown.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by TheEngineer (edited 06-09-2006).]

[Thraz]

I can't. But then, if they did want to hang out with me, that alone would mean there is something wrong with them and I would have to stay away from them. I find that most people I meet just don't drink enough wine.

[This message has been edited by Thraz (edited 06-09-2006).]