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NEARLY 150 PORTUGUESE<br />
EXHIBITORS ATTENDED<br />
WINE PARIS IN 2024<br />
trying to grow. Portugal is growing, Spain, Italy, maybe Chile’s coming in next<br />
year. A lot of exhibitors are growing, so the organisers need to capture more<br />
buyers, otherwise a lot of people will be showing their wines but no-one will be<br />
there to buy them. So the big challenge is to attract more buyers to the fair. But<br />
so far, they’ve been successful in bringing in a lot of people. That’s the trend I see.<br />
G & G: What are your thoughts on Italy?<br />
F. F.: Yes, Italy’s growing very fast, so next year they will have a big pavilion just<br />
for them. They are also disinvesting a lot in ProWein. I think this wine fair is<br />
doing very well and that it was a smart move to switch to Paris from Bordeaux.<br />
It’s nicer to be in Paris, the hotels are not as expensive as they were in Bordeaux<br />
or they are in Dusseldorf. It’s easier to fly into Paris than it is to other places<br />
and it’s more sexy, more attractive to come to Paris instead of Dusseldorf or<br />
Bordeaux. So it was a smart move and I think that’s an important part of the<br />
success and the growth of this event.<br />
G & G: Portuguese wine production has changed a lot over the past few years,<br />
with increased exports. Can you explain about this development?<br />
F. F.: We know that we export on average 47% of what we produce. So nowadays,<br />
almost half of our production is exported. Portugal has been producing wines<br />
since Roman times and even before then. But during the 20th century, we were<br />
closed and only focused on the domestic market. In the 1980s we didn’t export<br />
that much wine. Portuguese consumers drink a lot – we are the largest per capita<br />
wine consumers in the world – so we didn’t feel the need to export our wines<br />
and to show our wines to the world. And then suddenly, I would say in the 1980s<br />
and 1990s, we started to look outside of our country and try to export more of<br />
our wines. Thirty years ago, nobody knew about Portuguese wines, except for<br />
34 SPRING 2024 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE
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