Wines of Greece just completed the Canadian portion of the Spring Road Show
- Author: admin
with events in Montreal on May 1st and Toronto on May 3rd. The events in Canada now rival those in the US. In Montreal the SAQ had a large presence that included a training workshop for close to 50 store employees as well as the new Greek category buyer Sabrina Boucher. The LCBO in Toronto was also well represented, which included a visit by Dr George Soleas, President of LCBO, a supporter of all up and coming regions around the world. The LCBO had a strong presence in the Wines of Greece event which included Ms Carolyn O'Grady, Vice President as well as the European wines buyers Mr Igor Ryjenkov MW and Mr Bobby Panchu.
The Greek Ambassador to Canada, H.E. Mr Dimitris Azemopoulos made a surprise and ever so welcome appearance in Montreal, accompanied by the Greek Consul in Montreal Mr Nikolaos Sigalas, together with Ms Sophia Tsamicha, the Commercial and Trade Commissioner in Ottawa. In Toronto, we were happy to host the Greek Consul Mr Alexandros Ioannidis together with Ms Areti Skafidaki, the Greek Trade Commissioner. Both events included, several beverage directors from the top restaurants in Montreal and Toronto, many agents looking to add Greek wines to their portfolios in addition to journalists and other wine professionals exploring the PDO and PGI wines from throughout Greece.
The events featured Grand Tastings of wineries from all the winemaking regions of Greece, and included educational workshops presented by Ms Veronique Rivest in Montreal and Master Sommelier John Szabo in Toronto.
The events are a testament to the growing popularity that Greek wines continue to receive in Canada. Sales in Canada are up by 19.66% in value in 2017 and 12.16% in volume over 2016. The per liter price was also up by 6.7%. Next stops include Seattle on May 8, San Francisco on May 10 and the finale in New York on May 15. Stay tuned!
