Wine lovers pack expo
Published Saturday November 7th, 2009
Attendees say World Wine & Food Festival is a learning and social experience
Metro Moncton wine lovers stampeded through the gates of the temporary NB Liquor outlet at the Moncton Coliseum yesterday afternoon to load up their shopping carts with bottles from around the globe.
Organizers of the 19th annual World Wine and Food Expo predicted another record-breaking year.
"I think this is the busiest I've ever seen it," NB Liquor spokeswoman Nora Lacey said as hundreds of wine collectors flowed into the store after it opened at 1 p.m. yesterday. The first few people literally sprinted across the floor with shopping carts and began grabbing bottles off the shelf. NB Liquor staff members, who jokingly refer to the event as New Brunswick's answer to the running of the bulls, were ringing up orders of several hundred dollars as customers filled their carts.
The temporary liquor store at the wine festival has many wines that are not yet available at other NB Liquor outlets, so it becomes a place where collectors and enthusiasts go to purchase the latest on the local market.
"I'm a collector so I do my research," said Marc Gaudet of Moncton, who loaded his cart with about $600 worth of Chilean and Italian wine for himself and a few friends.
He said collectors need to act quickly because some wines at the festival are in limited supply.
"It's getting more and more expensive to buy wine in New Brunswick. There was a price increase on Nov. 1 and that takes a little bite out of the festival. We're increasing and Nova Scotia's getting lower so more people are crossing the border to buy their wine. I have a cellar at home. I'm not a collector to collect, I'm a collector to consume."
As the customers were pulling bottles off the shelf, NB Liquor staff were busy stocking them from the other side.
Lacey said the temporary store had 40,000 bottles with 372 wines from 13 countries, with prices ranging from under $15 to over $400. She expects sales will be as good or better than last year, when NB Liquor sold $426,738 worth of wine in two days.
Standing in the cash line with a couple of bottles of his own, Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc said the festival continues to gain popularity each year and draws people to the city.
"It just keeps getting better and better. It's the social event of the year," LeBlanc said.
As the customers loaded up at the wine store, hundreds more made the rounds through dozens of booths set up by wine makers and distributors for the first session of the Grand Tastings. Visitors paid $50 for tickets to the event.
Jaime Merino, a representative for Vino Ventisquero of Chile, said he has worked at festivals all over the world and is always impressed by the level of knowledge shown by patrons of the Moncton event.
"One of the things that I love about Moncton and New Brunswick is that we have a very educated crowd, a crowd that comes to the table and they want to explore new varieties. They want to learn about wines, they want to know what they are drinking. So that for us is a great opportunity to educate consumers. It happens in New Brunswick and it doesn't happen all over Canada, believe it or not."
He said Chilean wines are growing in popularity on the world market with new varieties at an affordable price.
Méliza Jalbert, a representative of Hope Family Wines in Montreal who also works at shows all over Canada, echoed the sentiment.
"They are very educated. They have a list of the wines they want to try. They do their research and know what they want and what they want to try. They are really aware of what's going on."
George Wybouw, who started the festival 19 years ago, says he never thought it would grow to the point where it is now.
"In 1991 at the Brunswick Hotel, it was small and we didn't even know if we would have a second one. People were too shy to go and taste because they didn't think they knew enough about wine. But now people in Moncton are more confident."
Wybouw said one of the goals of the festival was to help educate people about wine and sweep away the stereotype of the "wine snob" so it would become an event for everyone. He believes that goal has been achieved.
"We tried to do that and it took us a few years, but now everyone who likes wine can come here."
While some wine tasters at yesterday's event had been there before, many others were making their first trip to the festival.
"We just wanted to come as a group and try something different, and learn about wine," said Rhonda Wilson, a Moncton nurse who came with friends and co-workers Natasha Lewis, Anita MacIntyre, Eva Hayden and Tammy Carnahan.
Festival chairman Bill Vance said he expects another record year and believes the festival -- now in its 19th year -- deserves some credit for enhancing Metro Moncton's wine culture.
"A lot of the people who come here do their research, they really have a passion for it. They have a respect not only for the wine, but for the people who are here selling the wine.
"I think the festival can take some credit for creating an environment where knowledge is easily rewarded. There's no point in doing all this research if you can't get the wine, so people enjoy that process. There are some real keeners who will research every wine and every producer, they'll know where it is available and what it sells for. They are usually the ones who are first in line at the wine store, which upsets some of the other customers who want to know how come they knew it was a good deal and I didn't. Well, because they did their research."
Vance expects this year to have record numbers of participants.
The festival continues today with an afternoon seafood and wine tasting from 1 to 4 p.m. As of yesterday, tickets were still available for $50. Tonight's session, highlighting Chilean wines, is sold out.
* For more information on the festival, visit the website at www.wineexpo.ca
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