Vinexpo Explorer: How the wine fair will seek to create a match between buyers and winemakers in Mendoza.

For four days, from October 6 to 9, buyers from around the world will be able to taste Mendoza wines , hold B2B meetings, and visit local wineries, with the goal of making a "match" and closing deals.

This is a traveling event, taking place once a year somewhere in the world since 2019.

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Patricia Gimenez, president of the ProMendoza Unit , emphasized the importance of having Vinexposium as a partner for this fair, as it ensures the quality of the buyers they will bring to the province.

On the other hand, they found the format very interesting, because in the past, importers have been sought to come and explore Mendoza, visit it, and taste the wines, but in this case, they wanted buyers to come. He explained that the idea is to maintain this annual event, although perhaps with different offerings.

The goal of the event is for 80 international buyers to meet with 150 local wineries . This will be done through various options: tastings, personalized meetings, and tours . So far, more than 80 wineries have registered for the B2B event, and nearly 50 have signed up to host the event.

Only winemakers with a production facility in the province—or who can demonstrate sustained production over time—may participate. If they have vineyards in other provinces, they may only show wines produced in Mendoza, as the goal is to promote the Mendoza terroir.

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On the purchasing side, the majority are hotels, monopolies, airlines, medium- and large-sized importers, and supermarkets. Fifty percent will be from the main importing countries of Mendoza wine: the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom .

Thirty percent will come from Europe, particularly the Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark. The remaining 20% ​​will come from Asia, with priority given to the United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.

Nicolás Piazza, head of international negotiations at the ProMendoza Foundation , explained that strategies are tailored to the country and its specific circumstances.

For example, in the United States, since they already work with importers, the focus will be on retail, while in Sweden, where there is a government monopoly on alcohol purchases, those who participate in this organization's tenders will be targeted.

The United Arab Emirates—the Muslim country that imports the most wine and has affordable tariffs—also has three monopolies. But instead of inviting representatives, those driving demand will be brought in (they import between US$450 and 500 million annually).

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Wineries that register for the event—they have until July 11—will participate in the first export directory that ProMendoza will create, to showcase the province's export offerings.

To do so, they are asked to complete a lengthy form and provide details of four wines, including the technical specifications, photos, harvest and production data, grape origin, certifications, awards, target markets, and price range.

On the other hand, buyers are asked what they want to buy, at what price, what type of grape, whether they want certification, and whether they want points. All this information will be used by ProMendoza to perform "matching," that is, to identify cases where supply and demand coincide.

It's worth noting that participation is not open; Vinexposium has selected the importers who will come to the province from among the 6,000 members of its buyers' club. They also submit suggestions, and ProMendoza has been completing the selection.