Boston Wine Expo: Hit or Miss?

The Boston Wine Expo (held January 23 & 25 at the Seaport World Trade center and Seaport Hotel in Boston, MA) is the largest wine trade event in the United States. The event premiered over 450 international and domestic wineries with more than 1800 wines to taste.The event also included cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, lifestyle exhibits, and trade exhibitors (gourmet foods including cheeses, jams, and sauces, as well as wine packaging suppliers and shippers). Targeted visitors at the Expo include distributors, importers, professionals of food and beverage, and the general public. Having attended the event myself both in 2009 and 2010 I thought there are interesting points to be made both from a consumers perspective and public affairs perspective.

Though I have been drinking wine for quite some time (well, relative to my age that is...) and having worked in the fine-dining industry, I consider myself an educated wine consumer (but by no means an expert!) In having attended the event only one of the two days, I was nowhere able to taste all of the wines. But, I did notice a significant difference between the wine expo of 2009 and 2010. The two major presences were the wines from the Navarra region of Spain and from several regions of Italy. In addition there were the token wine regions including France, Argentina, Chile, and Napa Valley. Though there was presence of domestic wines at the event (including California, Georgia, New York Finger Lakes region, Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts), I was very disappointed to see that Oregon and Washington State were poorly represented (not sure I remember seeing even one!) Aside from this goldmine Pinot Noir region, I felt that the Napa Valley was poorly represented...definitely lacking brand recognition, which I think it a strength of mine as a wine consumer.

I was also disappointed that several of my favorite wineries chose not to participate in the event in 2010 as they had in 2009...Many of the wineries and wines I didn't recognize (though with over 450 wineries and 1800+ wines to taste I didn't expect to recognize more than 10%.) Having arrived at the wine expo when it opened on Saturday, I was able to walk around and speak with representatives at the booths, learning about the vineyard and varietal of the wines they were displaying. I will say that this was one of the more disappointing aspects of the Expo. Though the reps. were very educated on the vineyard and label (as they should be), I became frustrated when I would ask 'well where can I get this?' Though I do understand that they cannot possibly rattle off all of the stores that their wines are distributed to, I think this was one of the greatest downfalls of the strategic aspect of participating in the Boston Wine Expo from a public affairs standpoint. With all of the preparation it takes to participate in the event, couldn't they have taken the time to get with their local distributors and assemble a list of stores in the area that carry the wine? I think that this information would have been just as, if not more important than the notes about the vineyard and wine that they were eager to distribute.

Events such as these are intended to create brand awareness and goodwill toward the brand. With many of the labels being unfamiliar to me and my guest (a German vineyard known for their Reisling heavily pushing a red wine they were looking to generate a buzz about....?), at some point it became about walking around and just tasting the delicious wine without the intent of searching any further to try the wine again...It is no secret that loyal customers are far more lucrative than one-time customers (especially considering the purveyors had to pay $1000/table (some of which had multiple tables) just to be at the event, let alone what it cost for travel accommodations, and to 'eat' the cost of the wine.) Some purveyors made it no secret that they were unafraid to bypass the consumer, displaying signs reading 'distributors needed' and giving out very shallow wine pours. Without distributors, the wine is nearly impossible to get out to the general public (people like myself), but, without the general public looking for your wine, what is the point in having a distributor? When I go to the store, I most often look for wines that I have heard of before. Even one domestic exhibitor told me (on the condition of anonymity) that the event 'isn't what it used to be...you just don't get the return on it like you used to. But, you do it anyway and are hopeful it pays off.'

I will admit, this becomes a question of 'what comes first, the chicken or the egg?' But, as a consumer, I felt slightly snubbed at this event (especially considering the tickets for the general public are much higher than that of the exhibitor's guests and the press). I would be curious to hear from others like myself that attended this event and their thoughts on whether or not participating in such events is an effective public affairs move? I can't say I'm convinced my money was well spent, or whether I'll search out more than one or two of the 1800+ wines that were at the event.