The fair closed last Thursday (14) in Serra Gaúcha and brought together more than 360 national and international brands

The 4th edition of Wine South America ended last Thursday (14), in Bento Gonçalves, in Serra Gaúcha, confirming the fair’s vocation of being a business platform for wine business. During the three days of events, more than seven thousand buyers from all states and 22 countries participated in the program.

With qualified buyers and a robust program, the fair promoted more than 2 thousand business meetings in national and international Buyer Projects. Together, the initiatives exceeded expectations and generated more than R$50 million in business for the wine sector. “We welcome here in Serra Gaúcha the main buyers from supermarket chains, specialized stores, hotels and renowned restaurants from all regions of Brazil, as well as importers from more than 22 countries”, says Marcos Milaneze, director of Wine South America.

The event is organised by Milanez & Milaneze, a Veronafiere Group company, and has all the know-how of Vinitaly, which for over 55 years has been the world’s leading trade fair for the wine sector.

In all, around 360 national and international brands took part in WSA. The fair featured labels from 20 countries: Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Chile, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Syria, Uruguay, South Africa and, of course, Brazil.

One of WSA’s biggest differentials is providing a unique experience for buyers, enabling them to get to know the territory, the wineries and the entire label production process. “The importance of holding an international fair in Brazil’s largest wine-producing region is that it allows the whole world to get to know the quality of the wines and sparkling wines we produce,” emphasises Daniel Panizzi, vice-president Consevitis-RS.

In addition to checking out the latest news in the wine sector and conducting business, WSA buyers had access to a series of side events during the fair. The event featured, for example, lectures with market data and masterclasses with high-quality tastings, which were presented by experts such as Ari Gorenstein, CEO of Grupo Víssimo, and Manoel Beato, award-winning sommelier in Brazil and sommelier of the Fasano group – a one of the largest and most renowned restaurants in Brazil.

In addition to producers of wine, sparkling wine and grape juice, the list of exhibitors included the olive oil and cachaça sectors. Buyers also had access to new features in the sector, such as non-alcoholic wines, and new ways of consuming the drink, promoting a shopping experience through artificial intelligence.

The next edition of the WSA has already been confirmed and will be held in September 2024.

Terroirs from all over Brazil were presented at WSA

The diversity and quality of national wines could be seen at various points in this edition of the WSA. Campanha Gaúcha, for example, located on the border of Argentina and Uruguay, consolidates itself year after year within the wine industry, increasingly surprising with the quality of its wines, which have been awarded nationally and internationally. And eight of the wineries that are part of the Association Campanha Gaúcha – Batalha, Bodega Sossego, Campos de Cima, Dom Pedrito, Dunamis, Guatambu, Peruzzo and Pueblo Pampeiro were present at Wine South America. “The event was a success for wineries in the region because it is always a very important moment where wineries show the best produced in Campanha Gaúcha and have personal contact with customers, importers, press, suppliers. For us, WSA is the biggest wine industry fair in Brazil and allows us to have positive feedback from people who visit our stand”, says Pedro Candelária, president of Association Vinhos da Campanha Gaúcha.

Serra Gaúcha, the venue for the event and the main wine and sparkling wine producing region in the country, had dozens of representative brands. Cooperativa Vinícola Garibaldi presented seven products at the fair: three wines and four sparkling wines. “We saw in WSA an opportunity to strengthen, at the same time, the launches of the portfolio, the businesses related to them, the potential of wine tourism in the region and, also, reaffirm the values and purposes that guide the work. The growing and continued evolution of Brazilian winemaking has contributed to deconstructing many myths in the sector. The first is the issue of quality as an exclusive merit of international labels. Another is that good products are necessarily those with high value”, highlights Maiquel Vignatti, Marketing Manager at the Cooperative Garibaldi Winery.

In addition to Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, which were represented with Progoethe and Vinhos de Altitude, producing regions from other Brazilian states were able to be discovered by buyers at the Terroir Brasil stand, made possible by Sebrae Nacional. The initiative brought together 20 exhibiting wineries from states such as Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espírito Santo, Bahia and Pernambuco. “We don’t usually receive buyers from other parts of the country at our winery because our audience is essentially from São Paulo, so for us it is very positive to expand our network of contacts and be seen by other places. People really liked our terroir because we worked with the double pruning technique. It brings a different quality to the wine, which has given us labels that have even won awards”, comments Alyce Oragio, sales manager at Terrassos winery, located in Serra da Mantiqueira, in the city of Amparo, São Paulo.

At WSA, the buyer was also able to taste the products made in the first Indication of Origin of the wine sector outside of Rio Grande do Sul, based on the Goethe Grape from the Santa Catarina terroir. Furthermore, the first sparkling wine labels bearing the Altos de Pinto Bandeira Denomination of Origin (DO) seal were officially launched during the WSA.

WSA featured newcomers and exhibitors who participated in all editions

Making its debut at WSA this year, Chandon, the first winery dedicated exclusively to the production of sparkling wines, is celebrating 50 years in Brazil in 2023. “In addition to being a great business opportunity, being at WSA is also a way of getting closer to customers in the south of the country and the wine sector. For Chandon, it was an enriching experience with great results, celebrating 50 years of Chandon in Brazil”, defines Delphine Vazquez, the company’s marketing director.

Present in four editions of the WSA, Cooperativa Vinícola Aurora considers participation in this year’s fair “enriching and rewarding”. “Networking was one of the biggest advantages of participating. We had the opportunity to meet many professionals and exchange valuable experiences and ideas”, says Rodrigo Arpini Valerio, General Marketing and Sales Manager at the cooperative.

Another exhibitor who participated in all editions, Grupo Famiglia Valduga, presented the virtual sommelier Val at WSA. “Val is an artificial intelligence, but it goes much further: she is a new member of the ‘Famiglia’, who will contribute together to the customer journey, promoting a humanized shopping experience guided by curation and accurate choices”, explains Eduardo Valduga, director of Grupo Famiglia Valduga.

International participation was a highlight of WSA

In total, labels from 20 countries were represented at the WSA. Among the international highlights are the Italian pavilion, promoted by ICE-ITA; and the collective stands in Argentina, promoted by CFI and ProMendoza; and Chile, promoted by Prochile. In addition, the WSA featured premium wineries from countries such as Uruguay, Spain, France, Portugal and Georgia.

“It’s my first time coming to the fair and it was extremely productive. We didn’t know much about the market in the south of the country and we were able to meet national and international distributors and buyers. The business rounds organized by the fair helped us a lot to prospect for business”, says Marcos Müller, export manager at Bodega Carinae, in Argentina.

Full of programs, the Italian pavilion promoted by ICE-ITA caught the attention during WSA. Gianni Bruno, director of Vinitaly, is keen to highlight the record Italian participation at the fair: “This was also thanks to the action of ICE, which did an excellent job. It means that those who arrived here previously did business and returned, boosting other companies”, he assesses.

WSA hosted, for the first time, exhibitors with the Vinhos de Pago, which is a Spanish certification reserved for the best wines from small properties with a history of quality. It is also worth highlighting that some countries participate in WSA covering different producing regions, as is the case of Chile, for example, which participated in the fair with labels from at least four regions: Maipo, Ñuble, O’Higgins and Maule. “For us, the fair was very important as we want to diversify and show our wine to the Brazilian market, which is very attractive and which is requesting increasingly different wines. Based on the experiences we had both in the business rounds and in conversations with importers, We ended the fair very happy and hopeful that we will continue closing deals, in addition to having increasingly closer future relations with the Brazilian public”, describes the director of the entity Prochile, Cristóbal Herrera Gazale.

About Wine South America

From September 12th to 14th, 2023, Wine South America was held in Serra Gaúcha, the largest wine and sparkling wine producing region in Brazil. The city of Bento Gonçalves, host of the event, is known as the Brazilian capital of grapes and wine and includes the important designation of origin (DO) Vale dos Vinhedos. Recently, the municipality of Pinto Bandeira, which is a few kilometers from Bento Gonçalves, received certification for Denomination of Origin for Sparkling Wines, becoming the first DO for sparkling wines in the New World.

WSA brought together more than 360 national and international brands in a single environment, and offered ample space for carrying out large businesses within the entire wine chain. Importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and wine professionals visited the event in search of news. Wine South America is ideal for strengthening relationships and seeing the largest concentration of wines in Latin America up close.

Wine South America is sponsored by Bento Gonçalves City Hall and supported by Consevitis-RS, SEAPI Secretariat of Agriculture and Corsan and Aegea.

All information about the fair can be accessed at www.winesa.com.br.

Photos: Vagão Filmes