Ep. 1231 Latvian Wine Market | wine2wine Business Forum 2021

Welcome to episode 1231, The Latvian Wine Market. Wine2Wine Business Forum 2021 Series. The sessions are recorded and uploaded on Italian Wine Podcast. wine2wine is an international wine business forum, held annually in Verona Italy since 2014. The event is a key reference point for wine producers and a diverse variety of wine professionals eager to develop and grow their wine business worldwide. About this Session Latvia is very young as an independent country and as a wine market. Distance from the former republic of the Soviet Union in 1991 when the city of Riga – the capital of Latvia with a population of about 1 million people was a city with a dozen restaurants and bars, to today’s hundreds of wine sales and consumption points and the Latvian sommelier Raymond Tomsons who won the title of the Best Sommelier in Europe in 2017 and took the 3rd place at the World’s Best Sommelier in 2019. Italian Wine Ambassador Andrejs Batkilins living in Latvia and Valdis Lucis – owner of Latvian wine importing company will make introduction and the spotlight on the wine market in Latvia. Who are local major players in this business sector, how to work small/medium size importers and retailers of Italian wines? Distribution channels and the difficulties that Latvian importers have working with Italian wine sector. Short overview of Latvian customer’s habits and behaviour. About the Speaker: Andrejs Batkilins IWA is a wine writer and journalist and the owner and scholar of “Prosecco & Lambrusco” wine club in Latvia. In 2018 he obtained the WSET Level II certification. He became Italian Wine Scholar at Wine Scholar Guild in 2019 and Italian Wine Ambassador of Vinitaly International Academy in 2021. Connect: Instagram: andreabatkilin About the Speaker: Valdis Lusis is the Owner and CEO of the wine and spirits importing company VINEA MEA sia. The main clients of company are HoReCa and private clients. Company works mainly with leading restaurants and hotels. 25 years experience in the business. Let's keep in touch! Follow us on our social media channels: Instagram @italianwinepodcast Facebook @ItalianWinePodcast Twitter @itawinepodast Tiktok @MammaJumboShrimp LinkedIn @ItalianWinePodcast If you feel like helping us, donate here www.italianwinepodcast.com/donate-to-show/ Until next time, cin cin!