(TDB) - Expected to attract more than 53,000 visitors to Düsseldorf over three full-throttle days, ProWein 2016 looks set to be the biggest and most diverse yet. Find out what you can’t afford to miss here.

It’s that time of year again, when the drinks trade packs its bags and decamps to Germany for one of the industry’s biggest trade fairs – ProWein.

From 13-15 March more than 6,000 exhibitors from 57 countries will converge on the city of Düsseldorf with 53,000 people expected to stream through the doors of its exhibition centre. It might be one fair among many in an increasingly packed industry calendar, but ProWein’s international appeal is unrivalled, according to Messe Düsseldorf’s director Michael Degen, setting it apart as one of the year’s most important events.

Acknowledging that the number of trade fairs on offer is now so huge there “aren’t enough days in the year” to attend them, Degen doesn’t necessarily see such events as competitors.

“There is no event as international as ProWein,” says Degen, the event’s director. “In Düsseldorf we reflect the entire world of wines. This year, 57 nations are represented as exhibitors. This in turn attracts visitors from all over the world – from more than 120 countries – visitors who are so vital to our exhibitors and who gain a perfect overview here.”

WINE AND SPIRITS
Now 22 years old, the show will represent all wine-growing regions alongside a comprehensive range of spirits from across the world. As expected, the largest producers hail from France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Austria. But ProWein also boasts a line-up of producers from “exotic wine regions”, says Degen, citing examples like the Near East with Syria, Israel and Lebanon, as well as Eastern Europe with Moldavia, Latvia and Hungary.

From the New World, Canada’s presence this year will be “stronger than ever” with a total of 22 exhibitors attending. For the first time Mauritius and Korea will be at the fair, bolstering the event’s focus on spirits, while newly extended opening times promise to ease post-fair traffic and lengthen exhibitors’ time with clients. The show will now open from 10am to 7pm with the aim of “relaxing” the situation on roads and public transport around the grounds of the exhibition centre to avoid clashing with morning and evening rush hour traffic.

WHAT’S ON OFFER

So aside from its 6,200 exhibitor stands, offering plentiful opportunity to do business, what can visitors expect from this year’s fair? As always the fair’s main tasting area will be devoted to 500 wines from the Mundus Vini spring tasting – a prize awarded by an international jury of oenologists, wine analysts, specialist retailers, sommeliers, restaurateurs and trade journalists.

After three successful editions the Champagne Lounge – an area dedicated exclusively to Champagne – will return in 2016. The ProWein Forum will host a programme of themed tastings, seminars and lectures on markets and trends in the fair’s central presentation area. Here, Wine Intelligence will present the latest results of the ProWein study on future trends in wine retail, while the IWSR will give tips on how to reach younger consumers.

Other highlights include a lecture by winemaker Bruce Jack on the development of the South African wine industry and a seminar by Chinese oenologist Professor Li Demei on how to do successful business in China. The forum will be complemented by anever-diverse array of events hosted by individual exhibitors at their own stands, from presentations and seminars to vintage and archive tastings.