The UK’s largest trade show dedicated to on-trade wines and drinks, Imbibe Live, has announced it is working with Master Sommelier Ronan Sayburn to continue to develop its highly successful wine offering for the UK’s leading sommeliers and wine buyers.
With his experience as a top sommelier (Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, The Dorchester) as well as a group buyer (Hotel du Vin and the Gordon Ramsay Group), Ronan will work closely with the organisers, as well as Imbibe’s regular sommelier contributors, to develop compelling content and a programme of world-class tastings and masterclasses, featuring the best names in the wine industry.
Wine buyer attendance at Imbibe live has increased year on year since its launch in 2010, not only due to the quality and relevance of session on offer, but also due to the show’s unique offering of on-trade specific wines, which allows buyers to attend for just a few hours, without the need to spend time sorting through inappropriate wines.
Ronan Sayburn MS commented, “I am thrilled to be working with the leading on-trade drinks exhibition in the UK. As a sommelier, I’ve always viewed Imbibe Live as an essential event in the calendar. It’s a relief not having to waste time avoiding wines that either don’t have UK distributions or are simply made for the off-trade. I’m looking forward to a particularly strong year for the show in 2014.”
Imbibe Live launched a new sommelier-only area last year called The Sommelier Hub which generated a 60% increase in sommelier attendance, offering rare tastings from top producers and masterclasses from the best names in the wine business. The organisers are looking to develop this area for 2014, to ensure the show is a must-attend event for sommeliers and key wine buyers.
The 2014 show will feature a more extensive programme of on-trade, wine-led seminars, masterclasses and tastings within a variety of seminar rooms including the Sommelier Hub, Wine World and Taste Zone. Sessions will be suitable for all levels ranging from top-end sommeliers and wine buyers to key managers and servers looking for inspiration and more general training.
Imbibe Live builds on the enormous success of Imbibe Magazine which fosters its relationship with the on-trade with a constant programme of highly-respected tastings throughout the year. Sommeliers who attended Imbibe Live in 2013 included some of the most respected names in the country, from restaurants like Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Glendola Leisure, Caprice Holdings, Galvin Group, Leon, D&D, hotels (The Savoy, The Four Seasons, Hotel du Vin), bars (Floridita, 69 Colebrooke Row, Be @ One, Ignite Group) clubs (Soho House Group, Playboy Club, Mahiki), pubs (Punch Taverns, Mitchells & Butlers, Stonegate Pubs, Orchid Group, Shepherd Neame), venues (The Roundhouse, Sadlers Wells), late night venues (Luminar, Novus Leisure) and retailers (Waitrose, Harrods, Selfridge’s, Harvey Nichols, Amazon, Booker).