2012 London International Wine Trade Fair: Wednesday 23rd May

Benoît and Matthieu Fleuriet of Domaine Bernard Fleuriet, Sancerre   

 Isabelle Legeron MW, creator and organiser of the recent RAW fair (above and below)

I caught up briefly with Isabelle Legeron at the LIWTF press office. She was delighted with way that that RAW fair (20th and 21st May), held in a space in the Old Truman Brewery on London's Brick Lane, had gone. 

"The venue was perfect, especially the level of natural light and its slightly edgy feel fits our event. We will certainly go back there. We had just over 3000 visitors with 1900 trade including sommeliers and restaurant managers. Of the remaining 1100 just under a 1000 were paying visitors with the press making up the rest. There were 206 producers pouring over 800 wines and I had 50 producers on a waiting list. I felt it was a real community event in a professional environment."

Many people I spoke to agreed with Isabelle about the venue. Certainly I found it way better than the series of overground bunkers in Holborn that the Real Wine Fair used. However, one dissenting voice was Chris Kissack who thought the venue was one of the least attractive he had been to recently.          

Tim Pearson of Seven Springs Vineyard (South Africa)  and Donna Jackson (Wisequeen.com)