On Tuesday 17th September we will be taking part in the International Wine Tasting, which is organised every year by several foreign Chambers of Commerce in London. This event aims to broaden the attendee’s network by gaining access to a genuine international audience. We are pleased to participate in this joint event again along with France, Argentina, Italy, Mexico and Austria and would like to welcome the new participants for this edition: Canada, Japan, Switzerland and Macedonia.
The International Wine Tasting would not be possible without the kind collaboration of the wine sponsors. This year we are proud to have Marqués de Cáceres, one of our member companies, representing Spanish wine culture. Marqués de Cáceres has undoubtedly become one of Rioja’s driving forces, not only in Spain but also abroad by offering a full range of first-class red, white and rosé wines that are exported to 120 markets world-wide.
Marqués de Cáceres will be sponsoring the Spanish wines at the event.
They are commonly known for their dedication to achieve maximum quality, combining the best of tradition with a touch of innovation to highlight the finesse and elegance in its wines. For more information about them and their products, do not hesitate to visit their website www.marquesdecaceres.com. We would like to thank them for kindly providing their wines for this event.
We would like now to introduce some features about the culture of wine in the countries that will be represented in this edtion.
ARGENTINA
The Argentine wine industry is the 5th largest in the world. Argentinians are known for their Malbec wines, but there are some other popular varieties such as Bonarda grape. Argentina is the largest wine exporter in South America and used to be one of the largest producers outside Europe.
AUSTRIA
Austria has specialised in white wines, particularly dry and sweet ones with some worthy dessert wines. Some of their most popular wines are produced from the following varieties: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gruner Veltiliner and Pinot Blancs.
CANADA
‘Ice wine’ is a type of dessert wine from Canada. Ice wine production is obviously limited to that minority of the world’s wine-growing regions where the necessary cold temperatures can be expected to be reached with some regularity. For this reason, they have become the largest ice wine producers in the world.
FRANCE
France, along ourselves, is the oldest participant in the series as the first wine Tasting networking event was organised by both our Chambers in 2010.
France is the largest wine producer in the world. In fact, numerous grape varieties are cultivated there, including both the internationally well-known kinds and also very interesting and more obscure local varieties. Some of the best French wines come from the estates of Pétrus and Chateaux Margaux and one of the most famous Grand Cru vineyard for red wine is Romanee Conti, in the Burgundy region.
ITALY
Charming Tuscany is not the one and only wine region in Italy. In fact, grapes are grown all around the country because of its geographic characteristics, which explains why it also has some of the oldest wine- producing regions in the world. There are around 350 grape varieties officially documented, but there is an estimate of 500 other varieties circulating.
JAPAN
Japan will provide the event with Sake and Suntory. The first one is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice, unlike the fermentation process of wine. On the other hand, Suntory is founded with the idea of providing a diverse range of alcoholic beverages such as whiskeys, beers and wines.
MACEDONIA
The production of red wine dominates the Macedonian wine production.
Most popular cultivations include a large proportion of indigenous grape varieties as well as other grapes that are common across Central Europe and the Balkans. As an example of this, Vranec and Kratosija are common red grapes while Smederevka, Welschriesling and Žilavka are used for white wines. Some international grape varieties can also be found, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Melot and Sauvignon.
MEXICO
Mexico will lift up the guests’ spirits by offering some tequila! Originally, Tequila is drunk straight in Mexico, and it can sometimes be taken with a side of Sangrita, which is a mixture of orange juice, grenadine and chilli. Unlike most people think, tequila is not drunk accompanied by salt and lemon. Tequila blanco, tequila joven, tequila añejo and tequila reposado are the most common kind.
SWITZERLAND
Over the years, the Swiss have developed a number of specialty wines from unique grapes rarely found outside Switzerland. The most popular white wines are Riesling X Sylvaner and Chasselas. As far as red wines are concerned, Pinot Noir and Merlot varieties are the most well known in this region.
Attendees will be able to taste a wide variety of wines.
The International Wine Tasting will be held in Central London, at DSTRKT, from 18:30 to 20:30. This event has always turned out to be a great success, so in order to secure your place and receive further information on this event, please click here.
“Wine can be a better teacher than ink, and banter is often better than books”
― Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles