Through its Foreign Trade and Investment Institute, the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha is launching a major promotion project aimed at the WINE sector entitled “CASTILLA-LA MANCHA WINE LIVE 2021”, which will take place between 15 and 25 June in the markets of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany and the United States simultaneously.

The action is aimed at 40 wineries in Castilla-La Mancha and seeks to guarantee contact with over 70 importers in the destination countries, as well as to schedule at least 20 live meetings with the participating wineries.

The event will cover the main countries with the top procurement potential in order to help wineries in the region ride out the current situation caused by the mobility restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

This project comes at a time when the sector lacks any major trade fairs or international promotion events to help stimulate the commercialisation of wines among professionals and at the start of the summer with a forecast for the second half of the year expecting an economic revival that could revitalise wine consumption.

This new format of online meetings and live wine tastings brings a new solution for trade relations between companies. It has been developed by IPEX since the start of the pandemic to significant success and widespread acceptance both among companies and importers especially, who find a simple and practical solution in their search for new wines without needing to attend crowded events.

The activity is split into two separate parts. The first takes the form of a reverse trade mission over the course of three weeks, during which the importers will make online visits to each winery via a 360º video that will be sent to each one so they can get to know the main characteristics of the wineries. To this end, a video will be produced at each one of the wineries taking part in the project. Meetings will be coordinated between the importers and the wineries based on these virtual visits and the interest generated.

The second part will consist of virtual meetings with each one of the importers that expressed an interest in the wineries. Generally speaking, the importers will be present in person at these meetings (with support from the Overseas Network) and the wineries will attend virtually. These events in the destination markets will take place over two consecutive days. Each winery will have a table in each market fitted with a communication system for remote connection with the export manager from the winery, a representative selection of the wines from the winery, glasses and an assistant who can pour the wines and provide support to the winery.

These business meetings will last for 30 minutes so that the importers can visit all the tables of the wineries with which they have scheduled a meeting and taste the wines in question. This seeks to ensure proper logistical management of the wine tasting process. Furthermore, a study will be conducted of importer profiles based on their portfolio and purchase interest in order to manage invitations and obtain the greatest possible interest.

There will be a maximum of 40 participating companies with support from IPEX. Subsequently, financial aid for participation will be granted to cover 65% of all expenses up to a maximum amount of 3,250 euros per company.

 The deadline for submitting closes on 5 April 2021.