ボルドーで開かれたワイン＆スピリッツの世界最大の見本市「ヴィネクスポ 2011」は、５日間で約４万8000人の来場者を集めた。
主催者発表によると、最終的な人数は確定していないが、09年より３％増加した。フランス以外の来場者が増え、中でも外国からの来場者の３人に１人がアジアだった。中国を中心に、台湾、シンガポール、ヴェトナム、マレーシア、インドからの参加もあった。
ヴィネクスポのロバート・ベナCEOは「アジアからの来場者は我々の楽観的な予測を上回った。アジアの存在は、世界のワイン＆スピリッツ・ビジネスの見通しに対する我々の調査結果を裏付けている」と語った。
次回のヴィネクスポ・アジアパシフィックは来年５月29～31日に香港で開かれる。
（2011年6月29日 読売新聞）
The wines tested were priced up to £30 a bottleWine costing less than £5 a bottle can have the same effect on the palate as those priced up to six times as much, a psychological taste challenge suggests.
The blind test at the Edinburgh Science Festival saw 578 members of the public correctly identify the "cheap" or "expensive" wines only 50% of the time.
They tasted a range of red and white wines including merlot and chardonnay.
University of Hertfordshire researchers say their findings indicate many people may just be paying for a label.
Two champagnes costing £17.61 and £29.99 were compared, alongside the bottles costing less than £5 and vintages priced between £10 and £30.
The other varieties tasted were shiraz, rioja, claret, pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc.
The participants were asked to say which they thought were cheap and which were expensive.
By the laws of chance, they should have been able to make a correct guess 50% of the time - and that was the exact level of accuracy seen.
The findings demonstrate the volunteers cannot distinguish between wines by taste alone, the organisers of the test say.
Lead researcher psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman said: "These are remarkable results. People were unable to tell expensive from inexpensive wines, and so in these times of financial hardship the message is clear - the inexpensive wines we tested tasted the same as their expensive counterparts."