Attention wineries: show your wares at virtual Wine Fair

A booth at the virtual Wine Fair

"I floated past an exhibition of fine Burgundies, but I didn't have the organs to sample them. I was interested in a new video sorting table and spent a moment watching it work. But I had an appointment to show off my wines to a Czech grocery store chain, so I instantaneously returned to my booth.

We talked about my wines, in English: I told them about our vineyard, and our commitment to biodynamic farming. We talked about shipping needs and labeling requirements. We haggled over prices. And then we sealed our deal with a glass of … air."

This is how the second virtual Wine Fair works. Last year 47 exhibitors showed their wares to more than 4,300 visitors. This year it should be even bigger -- well, virtually, because it all happens in cyberspace.

This post is an advertorial.

On the surface, a booth at the fair isn't cheap, starting at $1,100. But compare that to actually attending a wine fair in London, for example: there's no airfare, no hotel room, no time away from the winery for key staff and no questionable expense reports for "adult entertainment."

In fact, there are few quicker, cheaper, easier ways for wineries to explore a larger international market for their products. Plus, it's ecologically pristine -- no carbon offsets needed because there's no travel, no shipping, no waste.

The virtual Wine Fair is a private venture launched last year by a sommelier, Jean-Michel Kuzaj, and a wine store owner, Denis Lengagigne. It uses multiple communication tools in its virtual environment, including webcams, audio conferences and live chat. Visitors can browse brochures and business contact information and make appointments for live teleconferencing.

The one thing you can't do virtually is taste. But Gary Vaynerchuk, not to mention flash sites like Wine Woot, have shown us that that's no impediment to wine sales. Tell your story well enough and you might find yourself with new customers in Hong Kong or Denmark or Lithuania.

Speaking of telling your story: The Palate Press Ad Network has an opportunity for US wineries to get a free booth at the fair by submitting a short essay (200-300 words) on the topic "(My Winery): Telling Our Story in the 21st Century."* For information, click here.

* Since what you're reading is an advertorial, I'd be missing a business opportunity if I didn't offer to write this essay for you for a fee. Bwahahaha, my advertorial empire expands.

The details:
WineFair.com second annual virtual Wine Fair
March 14-18, 2011
Sales Manager: Charlotte Fort, charlotte@winefair.com, +33-3-21-80-96-30
For more info, visit www.winefair.com.