Belgrade Fair Hosts Second Open Balkans Wine Vision

Wine (Photo: Pixabay)

From Nov. 16 to 19, the Belgrade Fair will be hosting over 600 exhibitors from nearly 30 countries in the second Open Balkans Wine Vision, a wine, food and tourism expo organized within the Open Balkans initiative under the aegis of the governments of Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania.

The first day of the event will be reserved for professional buyers and invitees, while the doors will be open to the public from Nov. 17 to 19.

Half of the wineries, distilleries and gastronomy companies participating in the fair are from Open Balkan countries: Serbia (260), North Macedonia (24) and Albania (21).

Over 3,000 business meetings regarding potential collaboration have been set between local winemakers and professional visitors, buyers and sommeliers via the event’s website, the organizers have said, adding that they expect four times more professionals to attend the fair compared to last year.

This year’s expo will again include the Open Balkan Wine Trophy competition, where over 600 regional wines will be judged by 30 experts from throughout the world according to the same standards used by the most famous wine competitions, such as the Decanter World Wine Awards or the International Wine Challenge.

The 44,000-square-meter exhibition space will comprise six halls for wineries and an extra two dedicated to gastronomy. It was announced that Hall No.5 will host a gastronomic extravaganza featuring chefs from around the globe, master classes and cooking competitions, while Hall No. 11 will be showcasing food, particularly Balkan delicacies.

Hall No. 1 will be reserved for wines from the three Open Balkan countries, while Hall No. 4 will display wines from there rest of the world. The upper level of Hall No. 1 will feature distilleries and Serbia’s best rakias.

In addition, visitors will be able to attend lectures on wine marketing strategies for Balkan wineries, on the basics of professional tasting and on the art of pairing food and wine. The Wine Vision expo will also include talks on the EU’s latest rules regarding wine labeling, on viticulture in the digital era and on the future of sustainable winemaking.

Product purchases on site will be possible only in a specialized store in Hall No. 1a. The price of admission is RSD700 while wine tasting glasses will be rented for RSD500 each.