Guilty Pleasure Blog

The London International Wine Fair (LIWF) 2010 (18 - 20 May)

Faced with the sea of wine

I just came from the London international wine fair, which was held from 18 – 20 May 2010. That was mine third presence there and it was also Fair Thirty Years ...more

Young Fair With Overwhelming Energy

I was looking forward to explore wine made by »natural wine artisans«. Founder of RAW fair, Isabelle Legeron ...more

Dalmatia Wine Expo 2013, 3-4- May - Makarska, Croatia

For sure the most charming wine event

In Hvar Island I met a guy, who saw 10 years ago an advertisement about Croatia – “The Mediterranean ...more

II. Orange Wine Festival 2013, 26 April – Izola, Slovenia

Nature Friendly Wine Should be Healthy in the Bottle

Organizers wrote »Orange has become the fourth wine colour. Orange wines are white wines produced using red wine production ...more

Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend 2013 (From 19 to 20 April)

Wine Strategy still Burning Rubber

Very similar atmosphere - arty feeling comparing to last year’s first Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend. I think the ...more

Portugieser Du Monde 12-13 April 2013 - Pécs, Hungary

Guilty Pleasure Portugieser Wine

The first Portugieser Du Monde wine competition and festival took place in April on the 12th and 13th at the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter ...more

Düsseldorf ProWein 2013 (From 24 to 26 March)

Wine United Here

ProWein 2013 again reconnected wines from around the world. Trade visitors from throughout the world (more than 44,000; ProWein 2012: 40,667 visitors) ...more

9. Belgrade Wine Salon In Vino 2012 (Hotel Hyatt Regency, Beograd, Serbia, 21.-22 december 2012)

Wine Could be Treated as Business Too

Beograd known as the place, where knowledge was and it’s thankfully still very important in all levels of life. So it is no wonder, that wine lovers ...more

Zagreb International festival of Wine and Culinary Art (From 30. November to 1. December 2012)

Feel the CRO Wine Strategy in Action

Zagreb VinoCOM is an International Festival of Wine and Culinary art event. It is 7 years old and it’s the biggest and the most important ...more

Ljubljana, Slovenia - Slovenian Wine Festival (November 22 - 23, 2012)

White, Rose, Red & Orange Wines mostly from Slovenia

Slovenian Wine Festival is the event with 15 years of tradition. It’s not the biggest (VinDel in Maribor is larger), but it’s some say ...more

The32nd London International Wine Fair 2012 - LIWF (From 22 to 24 May)

Natural Wines are (finnaly) Getting More Attention

Organizers have finally started to realize, that the exhibition in such form, as we knew it until now, no longer attracted ...more

Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend 2012 (from 13 to 15 April)

Wine is / as Art

Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend is a new international festival of wine and food which was for the ...more

Verona Vinitaly 2012, (from 25 to 28 March)

Updating the taste of Italy

Visiting Vinitaly is always a special event. Manny people complaining it’s too big. I say - well Italy is one of the ...more

Düsseldorf ProWein 2012 (From 4 to 6 March)

Green & Fair Trade are In

ProWein 2012 brought together 3,930 exhibitors from some 50 countries and considerably more than 40,000 trade visitors from throughout the world. Trade visitors and exhibitors ...more

Ljubljana, Slovenia - Slovenian Wine Festival (November 17 - 18, 2011)

Wine and Food are Our Best Friends

It’s great, that Ljubljana is hosting for 14 years Wine Festival & for 4 years Culinary festival. This year it was held (only) in Grand hotel Union. There were represented 150 wineries, ...more

awc vienna International Wine Challenge 2011 (3 November)

The World’s Largest Wine Valuation

awc vienna is the world’s largest wine valuation – more than 9.600 wines from 36 countries - and the only international wine valuation in Austria ...more

The London International Wine Fair (LIWF) 2011 (from 17 to 19 May)

Less is More?

Fair is every year smaller and smaller. But sometimes less is more? Hm. However, winemakers were more or less satisfied, ...more

Verona Vinitaly 2011, (from 7 to 19 April)

Food and wine - Still a good match

I am always amazed how a sunny warm day and impeccable arranged stands can make your day even before wine tastings begin. This year Vinitaly was ..more

Düsseldorf ProWein 2011 (From 27 to 29 March)

Sustainability and organic wine growing

Over 3,600 exhibitors from some 50 countries were present at ProWein. This corresponded to an increase of about 200 suppliers over ...more

Ljubljana, Slovenia - Slovenian Wine Festival (18 - 19 November, 2010)

Slovenian Wines Taste is Multikulti

As you probably know, Slovenia is very small country, only 2 million people, mostly Slovenians, but our wines ..more

Merano, Italy - 19th Merano WineFestival 2010 (November 6-8)

Exclusive Meeting Place

“The Merano WineFestival, founded and organised by Helmuth Köcher, is one of the most exclusive and most elegant oenogastronomic ..more

Merano - bio&dinamica 2010 (November 5)

Some People Love it, Some People Don’t Understand it

Bio&dynamica was the opening event of the 19th MeranoWineFestival. 50 specially chosen ..more

Sarajevo – Wine Festival 2010 (October 29 – 30)

Where Wine Completes Relaxed Lifestyle

Sarajevo, city of many cultures, held an internatinal wine festival with a touch of culinary art ..more

Vienna – VieVinum International Wine Festival 2010 (May 29 – 31)

Taste of Austrian Culture

When I first visited VieVinum, that was in 2004, I was astonished (wine festival is held every 2 years in Hofburg - The Habsburg’s former imperial residence). I said to my self – well done Austrians! ..more

VinDel 2013

I am happy that Maribor has Wine Festival as VinDel. Eastern part of Slovenia has a lot of winelovers, who live for this wine event. It is a place where wine tasters can taste ...more

London International Wine Fair 2013 - LIWF (From 20 to 22 May)

Great Expectations For the Next Year

This year London International Wine Fair – the last at ExCeL – was focused on promotion to new (old) location. “The show will return to Olympia next year as the London Wine Fair with ...more

19th and 20th May 2013, Spitalfields, The Old Truman Brewery, London UK

2nd November 2015, VinDel 2015 - International Salon of Wine and Delicacy Products, Maribor, Slovenia

At the 220 tasting tables the visitors could have tasted about 500 wines mainly from Slovenia, but also from Croatia, France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Serbia and Spain. Several workshops have taken place ...more

RAW The Artisan Wine Fair London 2015, May 17th, 18th 2015, The Old Truman Brewery, London UK

Festivals dedicated to nature friendly production are on the rise. Winemakers and Winelovers are more and more conscious that living without pesticides and other bad things ...more

Salon Sauvignon Arts and Wine Festival 2015, May 16th, Ptuj, Slovenia

One small town and 109 tastes of Sauvignon

t is really difficult to believe that the congress hall of the oldest Slovenian town can bare so many tastes of one variety. An unforgettable and amazing atmosphere really added a touch for loosing oneself in the streets of old monastery ...more

Dalmacija Wine Expo 2015, April 24th, 25th, Split, Croatia

Southern Wine Point

Dalmacija Wine Expo where wineries that are represented come from some of the best sites of South engulfed Dalmatia, Croatia. Tannin, silk and dust are three words that can represent wines ...more

Portugieser du Monde 2015, 10-11 April, Pecs, Hungary

3 Silver for Slovenian Portugieser

Portugieser du Monde, the international showcase of Portugieser producers and wines, organised by the publisher of the Pécsi Borozó ...more

Verona Vinitaly 2015 March 22th - 25th 2015, Italy

It Is All About That Wine in Verona

If the whole world is a stage .... than the wine is the main protagonist!

Once you visit Vinitaly so many times in a row, you are able to discover that you do not step in the same river twice. Vinitaly is a completely different experience each year, not only in the taste and ...more

ProWein 2015 (From 15 to 17 March) - Düsseldorf, Germany

Feeling: Extra Positive!

Statistics of this year's 22nd ProWein:Feeling: extra positive! 5,970 exhibitors (mostly Wineries, but also Destileries) from 50 countries. The fair hosted for 7% more visitors than ...more

Belgrade Wine & Dine 29-30 November 2014 - Belgrade, Serbia

Where Wine is the bridge between Urban Youth and the Vintner

Why: the idea is simple – how to bring wine culture to younger generations, urban public, those forgotten by most ...more

Slovenian Wine Festival Grand hotel Union, November 20 - 21, 2014 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenian Wine Festival 2014

Slovenski vinski festival is very important wine festival in Slovenia especially for those who taste ...more

AWC Vienna Wine Gala Night, 26 October 2014, Vienna, Austria

12,352 Samples of Wine, 1,885 of the World's Producers from 40 Countries

This year's biggest international wine competition AWC Vienna was already eleventh in a row. The AWC Vienna estimated 12,352 samples of wine ...more

VinDel 2014, 22 October, Maribor, Slovenia

International Salon of Wine and Delicacy Products

After 7 years VinDel become very popular wine event (especially for wine). In one day guests can enjoy tasting wines ...more

Balkan Wine Festival 2014, 7 – 8 June, Grand Hotel Sofia, Bulgaria

Good Wine News from Balkans

When I heard about The Balkans International Wine Competition and Wine Festival 3 years ago, I was extremely happy ... more

Trieste Mare Morje Vitovska 2014, 7 June - Trieste, Italy

One variety and a pleiad of tastes

If the saying goes that the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, it is to say that the tastiness ..more

London Wine Fair 2nd – 4th June 2014, Kensington Olympia, UK

The Sell-out Fair Returned to Kensington Olympia and Saw a 50% Increase in Exhibitors

The show returned to Kensington Olympia to new old location and saw a 50% increase in ...more

Dubrovnik FestiWine 22-26 April 2014 – Dubrovnik, Croatia

Evaluation of Pošip, Crljenak, Plavac mali, Dubrovačka Malvasija, Rukatac (Maraština), Grk - Dalmatian varieties

At the end of the April I was invited to participate in the jury of the first Dubrovnik festi Wine festival. Dubrovnik as itself is a magnet for people who ...more

Portugieser Du Monde 25-26 April 2014 - Pécs, Hungary

Portugieser du Monde - 72 samples from Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Serbia and Slovakia

I am glad I was the second time at Portugieser du Monde, the international showcase of Portugieser producers and wines. Last year when ...more

Orange Wine Festival 2014, 25 April – Manzioli square, Izola, Slovenia

Orange is the New Black

It’s big, it’s trendy, it’s organic, and it’s a path leading back to the roots, right to the heart of the nature. And it has been going on ...more

Verona Vinitaly 2014, (from 6 to 9 April)

Another Wine Story in Verona

Once you have believed that you have tasted it all .... you still have the world. Vinitaly once again surprises with the vast dimensions of versatile tastes, regions, ...more

Düsseldorf, Germany ProWein 2014 (From 23 to 25 March)

As tasty as it gets

The touch of ProWein is the right touch and definitely the right place to be for any wine enthusiast, not to mention for wine business structure and professionals ...more

Zagreb International Festival of Wine and Culinary Art (Hotel Esplanade, from 29.-30. November 2013)

A Real Treat for Foreign Specialized Wine Journalists

Zagreb VinoCOM is an International Festival of Wine and Culinary art event. It is still after 8 years the leading wine event ...more

Slovenian Wine Festival (Grand hotel Union, Ljubljana, Slovenia, November 21 - 22, 2013)

In Wines from Slovenia You Can Taste Alpine Freshness

Every year I am looking forward to this wine gathering. Slovenian wine festival is the place where we can taste ...more

Belgrade Wine & Dine 2013 (Mikser House, Belgrade, Serbia, 16-17 november 2013)

Urban Wine Culture Festival

Belgrade Wine & Dine was organized for the first time in partnership with Mikser House (a multidisciplinary, multicul ...more

15-16 November 2013, 10. Belgrade Wine Salon In Vino, Hotel Hyatt Regency, Belgrade, Serbia

Authentic Taste of Serbia

10th anniversary of Belgrade Wine Salon In brought together more than 70 wineries, mostly from Serbia. 10 were from Slovenia. The festival is for me great event where professional ...more

23th October 2013, 6th VinDel 2013 - International Salon of Wines and Delicacy Products, Maribor, Slovenia

The 4th Portugieser Du Monde wine competition and festival took place in April 1th and 2nd, mostly at the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter in the city ...more

13th-15th March, ProWein 2016, Düsseldorf, Germany

ProWein was as usually, it was well organised. The biggest international wine fair is strictly professional and the Winemaker who invites own guests, holds the responsibility for them as well. Organiser is trying to keep ..more

12. Belgrade Wine Salon 2015 (Hotel Hyatt Regency, Belgrade, Serbia, 11-12 December 2015)

Belgrade wine salon, already 12th in a row in Hyatt hotel. About 70 winemakers, 500 wines samples, 100 varieties, mainly from Serbia, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Italy and France. From Slovenia: ..more

4th December 2015, Label Grand Karakterre Vienna 2015, Vienna, Austria

This year's festival in centre of Vienna (“Architekturzentrum” hall in Museumsquartier) hosted 74 winemakers who produce eko and biodynamic wines. To remind, first Label Grand Karakterre was hosted in Zagreb, second and third in Ljubljana. Vienna's culinary offer is ...more

Zagreb International Festival of Wine and Culinary Art (Hotel Esplanade, from 27.-28. November 2015)

by stasa cafuta trcek (text and photos)

International wine and culinary festival, tenth time already, during november 27 and 28 in Zagreb, Croatia. The founder and director of festival Ivan Dropuljić was very excited to ...more

1st, 2nd April 2016, Portugieser du Monde 2016, Pecs, Hungary

The vibrant ruby colour, quite high acidity and cherry to ripe raspberry and of course a good vintage are conditions for perfect Portugieser

October 26th 2016, VinDel 2016 - International Salon of Wine and Delicacy Products, Maribor, Slovenia

VinDel is after 9 years still one of the most important wine events in Slovenia. This year wine lovers were ...more

4 - 6 June, 2016, VieVinum International Wine Festival 2016, Vienna, Austria

This was VieVinum 2016

3 day wine festival every 2 years in Vienna Hofburg – I call it the Vienna Castle is perfect hot spot for get to know Austrian wines. Around 550 exhibitors, ...more

15 - 16 May 2016, RAW The Artisan Wine, The Old Truman Brewery, London, UK

Raw Wine, literally. Wine to be “born” as the nature creates. This is how one could describe the Raw Wine festival, where winemakers or wines produced ecofriendly ...more

7 May, Salon Sauvignon 2016, Ptuj, Slovenia

Salon Sauvignon kicked-off the festival season in Ptuj

On the first Saturday of May, Ptuj has hosted the 2nd Salon Sauvignon – The art of good living. International Salon of Sauvignon wines took place around the hall of gothic Dominican Monastery About 800 guests ...more

25 Apri - 1 May 2016, Dubrovnik FestiWine, Dubrovnik, Croatia

The third year in a row. In Dubrovnik. Regional Wine Festival and international competition of South Dalmatian wine varieties. For the third time in a row Bojan Kobal ...more

Salon Sauvignon 2017

Salon Sauvignon 2017 took place in Ptuj on 20th of May. Dominican Monastery hosted 64 Winemakers from Slovenia (far the most), Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, France and New Zealand, ...more

19 - 21 March 2017, ProWein 2017, Düsseldorf, Germany

ProWein 2017 - The Worlds no. 1

ProWein stays the best international wine fair in the world. This year I was more focused on tasting sauvignon blancs cause in Ptuj Slovenia will be on 20 May international wine festival Salon Sauvignon. And at ProWein I had a chance to taste ...more

12 -13 March 2017, RAW The Artisan Wine Fair, The Store, London, UK

I think that visiting RAW wine festival /The artisan drinks fair is as an important as it is a ProWein. Do not get me wrong. Both fairs are completely different. But both of them show ...more

9 -10 December 2016, Belgrade Wine Salon 2016, Belgrade, Serbia

It was again perfect event where we were able to taste 500 wines (70 varieties) from 90 vineries. Mostly of them from Serbia and also from ...more

3rd December 2016, Label Grand Karakterre Vienna 2016, Vienna, Austria

First year in Zagreb, second and third in Zagreb and Ljubljana. Last year the festival overgrown those cities and ambiciously moved to Vienna. This, the 5th year in a row again in Vienna, ...more

25-16 November, 2016, Zagreb VINOcom, Hotel Esplanade, Zagreb, Croatia

During November 25 – 26, Hotel Esplanade has hosted already 11th international festival of wine and cuisine Zagreb VINOcom. To become leading wine event in Croatia where winemakers can present their work to interested public was a wish of ...more

17-18 November 2017, Slovenian Wine Festival 2017, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Festival of the Festivals!

This year Slovenian Wine festival celebrated 20th anniversary. The festival contributed to the higher level of winemaking and wine drinking culture ...more

20 May 2017, Salon Sauvignon 2017, Ptuj, Slovenia

I still think ProWein is the best wine fair in the world cause all the world is at ProWein

Over 6,900 exhibitors of wines and spirits were registered for 25th ProWein. They represented 64 different nations, with the exhibition space clearly structured between ten different exhibition halls based ...more

25-26 November 2017, VINOcom Zagreb 2017, Hotel Esplanade, Zagreb, Croatia

During November 25 – 26, Hotel Esplanade has hosted already 11th international festival of wine and cuisine Zagreb VINOcom. To become leading wine ...more

17 - 19 march, ProWein 2019 Düsseldorf, Germany