With much anticipation and expectations the Wi-Not team reached the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, venue for the first India International Wine Fair (IIWF 2009). The event was scheduled over three days with seminars, talks and summits with speakers including sommeliers, wine advisors, celebrity chefs, wine society directors, importers, and the likes. The event was a bit scattered in terms of its layout so when one room was crowded with delegates dedicating time to these summits, the other room remained with the wine stands looked a bit scantly populated. The main hall was covered with stalls showcasing wine-related products and services.
The main aim of IIWF was to focus on India’s current and future plans and requirements. They managed to collect quite a collection of some noteworthy producers as also some people who will need to adapt before they are India-ready. Chef and Sommelier glassware from the French company called Arc were the official sponsors of the event.
The first day of the event marked a limited footfall which included professionals from the trade, hoteliers, media, wines enthusiasts, consumers and summit delegates. In the evening, participants got ready and reached the lawn of the hotel for a grand networking dinner with 44 wines, orchestrated with the assistance of Magandeep SINGH, who was also the MC for the evening revelries.
The second day remained the busiest of the three with more people and also media coverage. The day was quite exciting personally for the Wi-Not team as Magan was to speak in the summit on ‘Pairing food and wine: discussing continental cuisine and foreign wine’. He was also joined by some of his dear luminous of the trade for a discussion that made the talk even more animated and meaningful.
On the final day every participant was found tasting wines at other stands and making contacts for future associations. Chef Abhijit Saha centred all eyes and ears at his session summit on Molecular Gastronomy.
One highlight of the fair was The Bordeaux Grand Cru wine tasting which was held in a room separately and offered an unparalleled tasting experience. A definite first and applaud-worthy.
As the fair came to an end after an exhausting three day schedule, all attendees and participants returned marking the event a decent success, especially for a first effort.