Salon du Champagne comes to Brussels

Champagne, a sparkling region

In 1927, the champagne vineyard is the first one to receive the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC). It covers 35,280 hectares, divided into 278,000 parcels. It accounts for 15,800 wine growers for 320 champagne houses.

The three champagne grape varieties are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, with a production of 295 million bottles. More than half goes to export, and the Belgian market ranks 5th just after Germany, with the biggest consumers being the English.

The Belgian craze for champagne is constantly growing, and this consists of a beautiful opportunity for them to see over two days the region coming to them. Winemakers and Champagne Houses, united in the framework of the Inter-professional Committee of the Wine of Champagne, continue to develop this heritage and share with the greatest number the values of their prestigious name. This organization, created in 1941, manages the interests of winemakers and traders as well as the producers of wines of Champagne. It also determines which crops are worthy of being considered vintage.

Champagne is usually not vintage. However, when the year is exceptional, producers can create a vintage champagne exclusively from the harvest of the year. These generally have a higher lasting potential.

Salon du Champagne / Brussels Champagne Fair

Brussels takes over with panache for this first edition, which should be the initiator of many others. As a symbol of an excellent party, this show aims to be the meeting place of amateurs, enthusiasts and professionals; for them to have the opportunity to meet both the traders and the producers. This weekend promises beautiful encounters and also opportunity to place live orders for the end of the year celebrations.

Gathered around 26 champagne producers and some exhibitors offering macarons, biscuits and other delicacies, the visit will have the merit of being both greedy and festive. Each visitor will receive at the entrance a bracelet that will give them access to the lounge during both days. They will also receive a champagne glass to taste the precious bubbles.

The weekend will consist of fun and informative activities such as competitions and masterclasses. For the competitions, the visitors will be offered some bottles put into place by the producers. As for the masterclasses, they have planned two dedicated spaces in which producers and specialists will be able to speak. These will be accompanied by Eric Vauthier who crisscrosses Brussels aboard his tuk-tuk with he name of Beaubbles.

He will share his knowledge of the sensual universe and sparkling champagne. Another personality of this effervescent world, Michiel Demarey, author and publisher of the champagnist.com, an exclusive information platform for champagne and wine, constituted of experts with solid experience in the field. Michiel Demarey will give a tasting course.

Last but not least, AP Event organizer of the show is already well-known in the world of exhibitions with three major fairs in Belgium, namely Brussels, Liege and Tournai. Pierre has been practicing in the world of exhibitions and he is also the editor of the magazine Vending & Barista news, after having traded in the coffee business for many years.

Good to know:

• Dates: 27 & 28 October, 2018
• Address: Tour & Taxis (Hotel de la Poste) – Avenue du Port, 88 – 1000 Brussels
• Time: 27 October from 11- 19:00 & 28 October from 10:30-18:30
• Price: 10 Euros in advance/ 12 Euros at the place