London International Wine & Spirit Fair round-up

Last week saw the biggest London International Wine & Spirit Fair on record. Adam Withrington cast his eye over proceedings.

Think pink…​A walk around the LIWSF is a fairly daunting experience: row upon row upon row of producers, distributors and agents all looking for their next sell or marketing pitch. It requires cunning to pick your way through the maze and separate the wheat from the chaff.

However, even the casual observer could not help but notice the number of rosé wines. Is rosé the new black? - brand owners and producers certainly seem to think so.

Mateus Rosé has launched its first brand extension in 60 years with Mateus Rosé Tempranillo, while Californian wine brand Erhmanns launched a new rosé encased in an aluminium bottle. Wine brand builder HwCg was showcasing a new Blason Pinot Noir Rosé and Cellar Trends, best known for its spirits accounts, has introduced two rosado variants to its Faustino brand, while Waverley TBS was even showcasing a pink pinot grigio.

It's all in the grape…​In terms of wine, the big find was HwCg's launch of a new range of French wines. In the La Charmant range the wine brand builder has taken a big leaf out of the New World's book and focused branding entirely around grape varieties.

So the marketing displays wines simply called Shiraz, White Burgandy Chardonnay and Grenache Shiraz. Who would have thought that one day the French would be taking wine lessons from the Australians and the Americans?

Best of the rest​

• As if to highlight the New World's marketing savvy, Darlington wines showed off a new Australian range from the Roberts Estate. Previously unavailable in the UK, the Wanted range offers four single varietal wines, namely chardonnay, shiraz, merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

Wine and spirit distributor Cellar Trends showcased a new member of its portfolio of brands, the Tahbilk wine range. The Tahbilk estate in Victoria, Australia, is just under 150 years old. The range is being aimed at top-end restaurants (it is listed in the Oxo Tower restaurant in London) and gastropubs.

Cellar Trends also confirmed that it would be launching two extensions to its Luxardo sambuca brand at next month's Bar show. Luxardo Passione Ambra, which is cinnamon-flavoured, and the cranberry-flavoured Luxardo Passione Rossa (pictured)​ will sit alongside the original sambuca and the black Passione Nera.

United Brands announced an extension to its XXX Tequila brand with a silver variety now ready to go out into trade alongside the increasingly popular gold.

The German Wine Institute announced it has signed a deal with world football governing body FIFA allowing it to market all German wines worldwide using the official "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany" logo. The deal will also enable German wine growers who sign up to the deal (340 already have) to showcase their wines at official World Cup events.

Constellation Europe used the event to showcase new additions to two of its best known brands. The Quayside range, which will be exclusive to the on-trade, is a new addition to the Hardy's range while Banrock Station Reserve has been launched to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Australian brand.

Looking to exploit the public's growing thirst for energy-boosting alcoholic drinks, The Active Vodka Company has launched Alice's Extraordinary Vodka (AEV). Made in England, the vodka weighs in at 41.25 per cent ABV and contains caffeine, guarana, D-ribose and creatine.

The product's creators believe the advantage of AEV is that by combining these ingredients with the vodka you will get your energy hit while being able to drink it with a mixer more palatable than other energy drinks.