Wine Industry Report

Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. announced that as a part of 2006 “the Year of Italy in China,” Vinitaly China 2006 is scheduled to open from November 23 to 25 at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. Co-organized by VeronaFiere, Fiere di Parma and Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd (SIEC), Vinitaly China 2006 aims to promote Italian wine culture and speciality foods. Over 100 Italian and international wineries will meet in Shanghai to showcase their quality produce. Mr. Paolo De Castro, Minister of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture will address the opening ceremony with a speech entitled “Sino-Italian Cooperation.”

Thus far, boosted by the powerful momentum of the economic growth in Shanghai, as well as the 2010 World Expo., the wine market in Shanghai is extraordinarily active, with an ever increasing number of retailers both the supply and demand are prosperous. The annual volume of wine handled approximates 50,000 tons. In 2005, the sale of wines increased by 25%, the biggest growth among all kinds of alcohols and the fastest in recent years. With the wine tariff largely reduced, a large number of wines are coming to China, including brands from France, Italy, the US, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and South America. With Shanghai residents enjoying their wines, they have driven the market to prosper in both sales and purchasing.

Shanghai has become one of the regions with bigger growth of wine consumption, and is regarded as the core domestic wine market by industry insiders.

Vinitaly is an annual gala for the global wine production industry, boasting a history of almost 40 years. As the only wine expo to be consistently held in China, since its first appearance in 1998, Vinitaly has seen seven events here. It now serves as the bridge to connect China and the world’s wine cultures: a platform to promote the exchange between international buyers and sellers, and the window to showcase the magnificence of quality wines. The biggest highlight of Vinitaly China 2006 is the Italian Food Exhibition entitled CIBUS. As an internationally prestigious biyearly Food Exhibition, CIBUS will cooperate with the famous ALMA cooking school to introduce how to make the most famous Italian foods. The audience can also watch the whole cooking process on LCD screens. On site, there will be wine experts to explain how to match quality wines with
good foods.

The 13 most prestigious, most expensive and most recognized members of the Institute of Fine Italian Wines-Premium Brands will participate in Vinitaly China 2006 together with importers, so the audience will have the opportunity to perceive the best Italian wines. Zonin, the biggest wine producer in Italy will showcase their new series of packaged premium wines. Viticoltori Friulani La Delizi will exhibit its series of red wines, white wines and sparking wines. In addition, the delegation from Veneto, the home of Vinitaly and Marco Polo, has organized 15 wine producers to the exhibition. Veneto is famous for Venice and Gondola, and it is also one of the most famous wine production areas. In the exhibition, people can see various specialilty foods and wines from Campania, Sicily, Piemonte and Tuscany.

The organizers will arrange a series of wine tasting parties characterized by abundant choices and focused topics, seminars and related education initiatives, enabling the audience to feel the Italian wine culture and the splendid wine production areas in Italy. Meanwhile, they will also invite the Shanghai Brewing Association to provide some special lectures on the prospects for western wines who enter the China market with a view to promoting the exchange between the Chinese wine industry and its Italian peers.