Leading vintners from across the globe will be at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre May 23-25, promoting their wines at Vinexpo, the world's largest and most significant wine show. Held bi-annually in Bordeaux since 1981, it now offers overseas exhibition s in the Asia-Pacific region in alternate years. Hong Kong staged the first in 1998 with Tokyo wrestling it away in 2000 and 2002, but exhibitors resoundingly requested a return to the fragrant harbour for this year's event.

Sadly for general wine buffs, Vinexpo is strictly a trade show, attended by wine and hospitality professionals. But it's their attendance that will ultimately influence what you can select next time you ask for a wine list at a Hon g Kong restaurant. With that in mind, I spoke with the directors of three top Hong Kong restaurant groups: David Yeo from Aqua Group, Paul Hsu from Elite Concepts and Martin Allies from Cafe Deco Group.

Local wine pros'
attendance will influence
the wines that you drink

Amongst the 7,000 wine professionals expected to attend Vinexpo will be the wine media with their collective buzz on what's hot and what's not circulating on the "grape vine." Yeo believes that whilst there are clear region al favorites like Bordeaux and strong brands like Cloudy Bay, Hong Kong consumers are willing to try some thing new. Personally, he is greatly interested in indigenous varieties from lesser known regions that are coming into vogue. Having recently flirted with Vermentino from the island of Sardinia, he advocates, "These wines are as good as any chablis I have tried and great value."