Millesime Bio, Organic Wine Trade Show, Launches 18th Edition January 24 to 26, 2011, in France

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MILLESIME BIO, ORGANIC WINE TRADE SHOW, LAUNCHES 18TH EDITION FROM JANUARY 24 to 26, 2011, IN MONTPELIER, FRANCE
Located on the French Mediterranean coast, the Languedoc-Roussillon region will be hosting the Millésime Bio trade show's 18th edition

Chicago, September 23, 2010 (word count: 424)
Located on the French Mediterranean coast, the Languedoc-Roussillon region will be hosting the Millésime Bio trade show's 18th edition. Exclusively devoted to wine made from organic farming, this professional trade show has become a major event for the sector. From January 24 to 26, 2011, more than 500 exhibitors hailing from across the world and more than 3,000 professional visitors are expected at the Montpellier Exhibition Centre.

Those three days will feature booths – identical for every exhibitor -, the awarding of the Millésime Bio contest prizes ("Challenge Millésime Bio"), free wine-tasting corners to discover those prize-winning wines as well as those from the winegrowers, country-specific conferences about the organic wine market, and an organic lunch offered to members of the press and to all visiting professional wine buyers. The Winegrowers' Evening ("Soirée des Vignerons"), a highlight of the trade show, will feature an organic dinner served to music, and a wine-tasting session of prize-winning wines and all those exhibited during the show, selected by the exhibitors themselves.

The Millésime Bio trade show is a one-of-a-kind concept. It was created in 1993 by a small number of Languedoc-Roussillon winegrowers, who organized it so as to foster discovery, dialogue and conviviality around a single theme: organic wine.

Figures from the 2010 edition:

- 491 exhibitors, all producers or wholesalers (up 38% in one year), hailing from South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Egypt, Spain, the United States, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland.
- 2,700 professional visitors from 25 countries (outside France), mainly coming from Europe, North America and Japan. They represented 700 wine trade companies (up 58% in one year).

Here are a few markers concerning the organic wine market:

- With 39,000 hectares devoted to organic production in France in 2009 (against 28,000 hectares in 2008), organic vineyards showed a 39% increase.
- The number of wine-producing concerns rose by 31% from 2008 to 2009 (2,301 and 3,024 respectively). Heading the pack, there are three French regions holding two-thirds of the surface area in certified vineyards: Languedoc-Roussillon (12,661 hectares, up 52% in one year), followed by the Provence-Côte d’Azur region (8,981 hectares, up 35% in one year) and Aquitaine (5,463 hectares, up 45% in one year).
- On a worldwide level, France ranks second after Italy.
- In terms of consumption, the organic products turnover from 2008 to 2009 rose by 30% in hypermarkets and supermarkets, while organic still wine turnover rose by 65%. 46% of French consumers stated they had consumed at least one organic product per month during 2009.

For more information, please contact:

AIVB-LR
Organic Wines Professional Association for Languedoc Roussillon
Cendrine Vimont
75 avenue de Boirargues
34970 Lattes
FRANCE
Tel.: +33 4 99 13 30 43
E-mail: vimont.aivb@orange.fr
Web: www.millesime-bio.com

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel.: (312) 327-5260
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr