Wine Fair Modus Operandi

Plus discoveries and favourites from Karakterre 2025

April and May must be the busiest time of year when it comes to European natural wine fairs. Vinnatur, Vini Veri, Orange Wine Festival Izola, Zero Compromise Georgia, Karakterre Austria, Amber Wine Festival, and that’s just for starters….

Most of these events are sizeable. Karakterre this year had around 200 growers exhibiting, 100 different ones each day. Vinnatur’s event is a similar size.

To the uninitiated, wandering around a fair tasting wine for a few hours probably sounds like a dream. The reality is different. It can get overwhelming - too many people, too much choice, too much wine.

Just in case there was any doubt, let me be clear. It’s near-impossible to taste wines from 100 different growers in the space of a few hours. At least in any meaningful way. Let’s say you tasted two wines from each grower, spending on average three minutes to chat with them, have them pour you the samples, taste and then elbow your way to the next stand.

That would be 200 wines in 300 minutes, or five hours, excluding toilet breaks. A feat of endurance that would leave you begging for mercy and probably never wanting to see a bottle of wine again.

I am no superman. In fact I’m pretty lazy. So here are the strategies and tips I evolved to survive and benefit from events like the ones listed above.