Recent editions of the London Wine Fair have been sorry events. Last year’s effort was notable for the areas of space that were given over to seating – never a sign of a successful exhibition.
2025 marked a return to form. The organisers sold 20% more space, to 10% more exhibitors. Admittedly anyone browsing among the 445 companies who took part would have searched in vain for some of the biggest – and smallest – UK distributors, and big producer-nations were less visibly represented than, say, Serbia or Georgia.
However, the UK remains one of the world’s biggest wine markets and the nearly 10,000 visitors (up 5% on 2024) created a good buzz. More importantly than the total number was the presence of buyers from chains like Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl that dominate UK wine retail distribution.
More spirits
The increased floor space was partly explained by a greater focus on spirits but, more particularly in the expansion of the Wines Unearthed section which was devoted to producers that are looking for UK distribution. There was also a substantial presence of NoLo brands.
Finally, there was a major focus on conference sessions, with eight theatres hosting 80 sessions, covering subjects ranging from UK-centric topics such as Excise Duty and the new EPR - Extended Producer Responsibility sustainable packaging scheme, to AI, zero-alc and tariffs. Almost all of these sessions were full.
Visitors to the 2024 event openly doubted whether there would be a London Wine Fair this year, or if the event would have to become biannual. Bookings by exhibitors for the 2026 fair - London Wine Fair - at Olympia from 18th to 20th May – are already brisk, it seems.
Mike Awin, Managing Director of ABS Wine Agencies apparently spoke for many when he said “London Wine Fair was brilliant for us this year. We saw everybody that we had hoped to and more.”
