Successful return for Loire organic wine fairs

he various organic wine fairs (for Loire and other wines), which emerged some twenty years ago in Anjou in the wake of the Loire wine exhibition, were held between Saturday 5 and Monday 7 March. Normally held on the first weekend in February, they had to be postponed due to a persistent wave of Covid at the beginning of 2022. They also became stand-alone fairs this year, with the Loire wine exhibition unable to go ahead due to lack of a slot at the Angers exhibition centre.

As a result, the Levée de la Loire (organised by the Loire organic wine association) and Demeter-certified biodynamic winegrowers, who normally take up residence inside the Anjou exhibition centre, moved up the Loire to the Saumur exhibition centre, just a stone’s throw from Dive Bouteille, the benchmark exhibition for natural wines. The long-standing Saint-Jean (ex-Renaissance) exhibition, Les Anonymes and the new Chai fair reserved for artisan winegrowers, held their shows in Angers.

Although detailed figures for each of the events – all of them held over a two-day period – are not yet available, regular exhibitors felt that there were fewer attendees than usual. The largest events usually welcome between 2,500 and 3,000 visitors and combined, they welcome more than 10,000 buyers. “It's true that there were fewer people, but the good thing is that it was very professional. We sometimes have people out for a day-trip who manage to get into the trade fairs”, admitted one winegrower. “This time, it was very business-focused”.