London's first Fairtrade wine tasting

The first-ever Fairtrade Wine Tasting takes place in London this week. Oz Clarke will be on hand to talk to visitors at the event, which is hoped will become an annual one. Guy Smith, of the Fairtrade Wine Committee, told ThirtyFifty that, ‘The key about Fairtrade is that it’s a guarantee that people aren’t being exploited in the production of wine. The idea is that you’re not paying more – it’s trade, not charity, so everyone in the chain benefits.’ Certainly, Fairtrade wine is already proving to be a hit with consumers. The retail market is now estimated to be worth £7 million worldwide. This is a massive leap of 220 per cent value-wise since Fairtrade wine was launched two years ago. And shops in the UK are responding to the interest. The Co-op, for example, which has been a champion of the movement in the UK, has just started to offer the first Fairtrade wines from Argentina. The four wines will join the supermarket chain’s own-label Fairtrade stable, which already includes Chilean and South African bottles. The Fairtrade Wine Tasting is at Vinopolis on the 2nd November, from 5-7pm.