Wines a-plenty at Expovino 2007

By: Marijulia Pujol Lloyd

Expovino 2006 was a success, this year will be better.

An expanded International Fair of Wines, Foods and Delicatessen, Expovino 2007, will open its doors again from Thursday June 28 to Sunday July 1.

Thirty exhibitors from Italy, Spain, Argentina, South Africa and Chile, among others, will take part with Argentina as the guest country.

Expovino 2007 began 10 years ago, when three restaurant owners: Rafael Ciniglio of Restaurante de las Américas, Willy Diggelman of Chalet Suizo and Pedro Masoliver of Café Balear decided to create the Wine Club.

The first fair took place in the Union Club, but as its popularity grew it was moved to the World Trade Center in Marbella and for the last six years, it has been celebrated in Atlapa.

Expovino´s Director, Rafael Ciniglio said that although Panama is a small country, with a population of around three million, the consumption of wine has increased over the last five years. and it has become one of the biggest wine consumers per capita of Latin America.

Preliminary figures indicated that in 2005 more than 300,000 cases were drunk and it is estimated that this number increased in 2006 by 17 per cent.

More than 17,000 people visited the fair last year. Among them were hundreds of direct buyers from Panamanian hotels, restaurants, wine shops and a few from Latin American countries.

Every year, wine societies from Argentina, Spain, France, Chile, the United States, Uruguay and Italy participate in the event together with wine and delicatessen distributors based in Panama.

Taste new flavours, like sushi.

Altogether they represent 800 different kinds of wine.

Discover your favorite wine at
Expovino 2007.

This year with the idea of increasing the influx of potential buyers, the First Restaurant Fair will take place simultaneously with Expovino. This food event will put under one roof the most important restaurants in the country. Additionally, it will be an area dedicated to an arts exhibitions.

The entrance fee is $2.00. Once inside you can purchase coupons for the wine tasting. They cost $10.00 and you will receive a glass and the opportunity to sample 10 different wines. Proceeds from this event will go to the Apostolic Vicarage of Darien. This charitable organization will use that money to finance projects dedicated to religious instruction, coordinating responses to human disasters, and the execution of community programs.

Expovino will start June 28 and finish July 1. The opening hours are from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.