The Ultimate CEE Wine Fair 2025
The UK’s first wine fair focusing on wines from Central and Eastern Europe
There’s almost nowhere left in the wine world that hasn’t been fully discovered – apart from the heart of Europe. The central and eastern end of Europe, from the Danube to the Black Sea, is home to a long, authentic wine history; a myriad of unique grapes; amazing personal stories and many dynamic winemakers producing great wines in all sorts of styles.
The Ultimate Central & Eastern European Wine Fair aims to give buyers, merchants, distributors and writers the chance to discover why Central & Eastern European wines should be on the radar of anyone seeking the next big wine story.
EXHIBITORS
Wineries looking for UK distribution
Wineries with UK importer looking to raise awareness and sales growth
Wine associations, wine regions, generic bodies
Importers showcasinbg their CEE portfolio
VISITORS
Importers from the UK and neighbouring countries
Sommeliers, buyers, independents, retail buyers
Journalists, opinion formers, influencers
MASTERCLASSES
Regional Tastings
Country Introductions
Discovery Sessions: wine region, grape variety, soil type e.g.volcanic
EXHIBIT
Why participate in the CEE Wine Fair?
- Organised in the UK, one of the biggest wine markets in the world with global influence
- Attracting buyers to a focused, powerful event with high quality participants selected by the organisers
- Focused Wine Fair – Combining the efforts of smaller CEE wine countries helps to achieve a significant share of voice in a wine world dominated by large global players (for example Hungary’s vineyards would fit into Bordeaux twice over). This will build awareness and ultimately sales.Organised in the UK, one of the biggest wine markets in the world with global influence. Attracting buyers to a focused, powerful event with high quality participants selected by the organisers
- Focused Wine Fair – Combining the efforts of smaller CEE wine countries helps to achieve a significant share of voice in a wine world dominated by large global players (for example Hungary’s vineyards would fit into Bordeaux twice over). This will build awareness and ultimately sales.Organised in the UK, one of the biggest wine markets in the world with global influence. Attracting buyers to a focused, powerful event with high quality participants selected by the organisers
- Focused Messaging, PR coverage, individual wineries can build sales efforts, not only in the UK but globally
- New consumers (Gen Z) are open discovering new wines, new origins, new experiences – this is a huge sales opportunity for undiscovered regions, wineries in a shrinking wine world.
Fair Information
Date & Time:
June 9 2025, 10 am – 6 pm
Venue:
St John’s Waterloo
Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8TY
Organisers
Caroline Gilby MW
Host, co-organiser, CEE wine expert, masterclass presenter, wine writer
WINE COMMUNICATIONS
London based wine marketing agency specialising in Central and Eastern European wines. Develops marketing strategies for the region and implements integrated marketing campaigns with the objective of raising awareness and profile of Central and Eastern European wines on the UK market. Supports producers in entering the UK wine market, works with importer partners to build distribution to drive profitable sales.
Organises trade and press tastings, consumer tastings, press and buying trips, builds strategic partnerships with magazines and websites, manages PR campaigns, develops content for press, and websites, runs social media and influencer campaigns.
Team
PARTNERS:
MEDIA PARTNERS:
VISIT
Discover the Best of Central & Eastern European Wines at The Ultimate CEE Wine Fair 2.0!
Wine Communication is delighted to bring The Ultimate CEE Wine Fair back to London for its 2nd edition on June 9, 2025! Get ready to immerse yourself in the rich, diverse, and dynamic world of Central & Eastern European wines — an unmissable opportunity for the UK trade and press.
Discover bold flavors, hidden gems, and rising stars from a hand-selected lineup of 100+ top producers from 15+ countries. Every bottle tells a unique story, carefully curated by Caroline Gilby MW, who will also lead exclusive masterclasses to unveil the secrets behind these captivating wines.
Engage with winemakers and estate owners seeking UK distribution, and connect with producers and distributors already in the market. Network with press, retailers, independents, and sommeliers, and be part of the movement bringing these exceptional wines to a wider audience.
Expect exciting discoveries, unforgettable flavors, and a vibrant showcase of the very best from Central & Eastern Europe. Cheers to new opportunities!
Join the conversation on social media using #ceewinefair
Masterclasses
MASTERCLASSES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN APRIL
EXHIBITORS
By Country
Tasting Book
Both digital and printed versions of the catalogue will be available ahead of the event.
MEDIA&NEWS
ABOUT CEE
About Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe is a large but fragmented wine region, with wine roots dating back several thousand years. Generally the region is defined as stretching from the Hungarian and Slovenian borders and heading east and south to the Black Sea and Mediterranean ( and we’ve allowed ourselves to add a few neighbours like the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Armenia as well as Cyprus which has been through a similar journey). The region is less well-known than it deserves to be having lost several decades hidden behind the curtains of communism, socialism and mass production, but totally reinvented in the new private era since the 1990s. Within the region, individual countries and their wine industries are often small, but by bringing them together under one roof we hope to create a unified message that they all have exciting wines to discover.
One key strength is the amazing diversity of local grapes that each country is developing that offer a strong sense of place. Recent research found that after being domesticated in two locations in the Caucasus and the Near East, grapevines mainly spread via the Balkan peninsula towards Central Europe before heading west. Grapevines were also selected for their ability to adapt to a vast range of soils and climates from cold continental to hot and Mediterranean. Two increasingly impressive Central and Eastern European grapes are strong unifiers as they are important in several countries: Blaufränkisch/Kekfrankos/Modra Frankinja/Frankovka/Lemberger on the red side and Graševina/Grašac/Olaszrizling/Welschriesling as an incredibly versatile white. But in other cases, grapes are extremely local so just a few examples include Bosnia and Herzegovina with Žilavka and Blatina; Croatia with Malvazija Istarska, Plavac Mali, Pošip and more; Hungary with Furmint, Hárslevelű, Kadarka; Slovenia with Rebula; Serbia with Prokupac, Bagrina and Morava; Moldova with Rara Neagră and Viorica; North Macedonia with Vranec and Stanušina; Romania with various Fetească grapes; Georgia with Saperavi and Rkatsitelli; Bulgaria with Mavrud, Misket and Melnik; Armenia with Areni and Voskehat; and Cyprus with Xynisteri, Maratheftiko and Yiannoudi. The story goes on as more old grapes are rescued and get a new story. However, we should not ignore the world-class examples of international varieties from the region too – a great way of benchmarking how these terroirs stack up against international standards.
By sharing these new but old wine stories together, it shows a break from the past and a bright new story. It helps shine a light on the exciting wines and human histories that show why CEE and its neighbours deserve their place on the world wine map.
Albania
This Adriatic country is a hotspot of rediscovery of indigenous grapes and the site of a burgeoning quality revolution. Climate here is warm Mediterranean, with cooler nights moderated by altitude of up to 1000 metres and cool breezes from the mountains. It can date its long wine history back to Illyrian times more than 2500 years ago, but more recently it recently suffered under a repressive regime, but has made rapid progress in the last decade. There are an estimated 8400 hectares under vine producing around 2.5 million litres from 76 or so wineries, across 3 main wine zones and there are 57 grape varieties in cultivation of which the leading ones are Shesh I Bardhë, Shesh I Zi, Kallmet, Puls/Pulës, Vlosh, Serina, Debine, Pamid.
Armenia
Few countries have a longer winemaking history than Armenia – the oldest winery ever found is in the Areni-1 cave dating back over 6000 years. But what matters is the wines today, and there is so much to discover from the country’s five wine regions, with an estimated 13000 ha under vine. The highlands of Vayots Dzor (not far from the famous cave) are notable for vineyards up to 1750m and the volcanic soils have so far avoided phylloxera which means there’s wealth of grapes that no one knows just beginning to be rediscovered, but each region has its own distinctive styles, such as Lalvari from the lower, Caspian Sea-influenced Tavush region in the north. A new wave of winemaking only began after the turn of the century but look out for new takes on local grapes like the fabulous Areni Noir, Voskehat, Lalvari, Haghtanak, Tozot, Milagh, Kangun and many more.
Bosnia I Herzegovina
A fascinating, beautiful, dramatic, welcoming, and sometimes shocking, country to visit, with its wines helping to tell that story. Bosnia-Herzegovina is very much a country at the crossroads. Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav influences all meet here and it’s quite spine-chilling to stand on an ordinary street corner in Sarajevo and realise it’s the place where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, the defining act that triggered the First World War. Its wines are much overlooked with approximately 3000 ha under vine, producing 10 to 15 million litres and around 50 commercial wineries. Most of the wine industry is in the Herzegovina region on sun-drenched, rocky karst and at least 60 to 65% of the wine grapes grown in the country are the indigenous white Žilavka and red Blatina, with supporting roles for inky dark Trnjak, Vranac, Plavka, Smederevka and some international varieties. Small family wineries are leading the moves for quality here.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria today is an incredibly dynamic wine country with so many new faces exploring the native grapes like Mavrud, Melnik, Gamza, Dimyat and the various Miskets. It’s exciting to see new styles from pet-nat, traditional sparklers, bright whites and sleek reds. Vineyard area has fallen to around 25,000 ha in commercial production – smaller but better. Officially there are two PGIs: Thracian Lowlands in the south and Danube Plain to the north, but the industry is lobbying to return to at least 5 and possibly 8 distinctive regions. At the same time, today’s producers are moving beyond winemaking to dig deep into terroir expressions too. Look out for family estates and exciting new personal projects that contribute to this exciting wine scene.
Croatia
A dramatic and fascinating country with a stunning coastline (over 6000km long including its 1185 islands). It has 17,278 ha under vine divided into 4 wine regions: Istria & Kvarner, Slavonia & Croatian Danube, Croatian Uplands and Dalmatia, and grows a huge range of indigenous grapes. Croatia’s Istrian peninsula is a stunning region of rocky coastline and hilltop medieval villages, home to some of Croatia’s best producers – iconic family wineries that have led the revival of this beautiful region. Croatia’s second most important grape exciting and versatile Malvazija Istarska grows almost exclusively here, producing everything from sparkling to orange amazingly well. On the red side the Istrian flagship is the dark, juicy but structured Teran, a grape with serious potential in the right hands. From the sunny Dalmatian coast, Croatia’s leading red grape is the big bold Plavac Mali, along with increasingly impressive local whites like Pošip and Vugava.
Cyprus
Guest country Cyprus was not Eastern Bloc but has also undergone a similar journey of wine revolution. It has switched from basic, volume wines produced by the big four wineries, shipped in quantity to Soviet Union, towards serious and exciting quality from a new era of private family wineries. Today vineyard area is just 7098 ha, but the island has no phylloxera, limestone soils and altitude (up to 1500 metres) that make all the difference on this sunny, dry island. There are genuinely ancient vines and unique grape varieties like Xynisteri, Maratheftiko, Yiannoudi, Vasilissa and much more. The ancient and legendary sweet wine Commandaria – possibly the oldest named wine still in production anywhere in the world is also being revived by some of the family wineries. There’s a new association called Wine Core bringing together producers who want to showcase the new face of Cyprus wine.
Georgia
A small country, of high mountains and huge hearts, with an unbroken wine making heritage of 8,000 years, claimed to be the cradle of wine. Since independence in 1991, a vibrant private wine industry has developed, with particular emphasis on the UNESCO-listed qvevri winemaking method with long skin contact in buried clay vessels. Winemaming is at trh herat of Georgian culture with some 21000 growers producing 320,000 tonnes in 2024 and 600 wineries. Georgia claims over 400 native grapes but in reality, around 45 are in production – led by inky dark Saperavi and whites like Rkatsiteli, Kisi, Kakheti Mtsvane and Tsolikouri, and many more being rescued from obscurity.
Hungary
Hungary today has 56,265 ha of vineyards in production for wine across 22 wine regions and is one of central Europe’s most important wine countries. Its most iconic wines are the glorious, sweet wines of Tokaj, but it has much more to explore. Two thirds of its wine are white – Furmint plays a starring role in a new generation of dry whites as well as being important in Tokaj while the other important quality white grape is Olaszrizling, most at home on the shores of Lake Balaton. Bikavér, once famous as Bull’s Blood has found a new lease of life after being reinvented as a flagship red blend in two regions of Eger in the north east and Szekszárd in the south. It must be based on Kékfrankos and offers two distinctly different styles, plush bold fruit in Eger and elegant spiciness in Szekszárd. Hungary grows 180 grapes, and has a high proportion of volcanic soils that often give a certain fieriness to the wines – offering great food-friendly styles.
Moldova
A small country built on wine roots as it has more grapevines per person than any other country with its 109,000 ha under vines (58,800 ha of wine varieties in commercial production) and 125 processing grapes in 2024. Since legislation changes in 2011, small wineries have been possible, so there’s now a mixture of family producers and larger estates. Wine stories here link back to early 19th century, though there’s evidence of fossil grapevine leaves going back 10 million years. The supple, berry-fruited Rara Neagra is the red flagship of the country – alone but also as an amazing blend component and Moldova shares the Feteasca grapes with neighbouring Romania. Saperavi has also found a special place in Moldova – it can be stunning here while Viorica is a uniquely Moldovan white grape with an aromatic bouquet and zesty freshness and can offer a real point of difference.
North Macedonia
This under-the radar country is the sunniest place in the Balkans and its warm dry climate, moderated by mountain breezes, is ideal for its signature red grape Vranec which accounts for 10,800 ha out of the country’s total of 28,200 ha. Big, bold but always fresh wines with good acidity are typical of Vranec – reflecting their place and with serious ageing potential. Balkan grape Kratošija (aka Primitivo/Zinfandel) also impresses. There’s a long wine history dating back to Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great who used to serve wines from this region to his soldiers. Today wine is the second most important agricultural export and wineries are building their premium bottled wine story and moving away from basic bulk.
Poland
Poland is busy writing a new chapter in its long wine history, which dates back to the foundation of the church and monasteries from 966. Recently regarded as too cold to ripen wine grapes reliably, today it has hundreds of licensed wineries, producing increasingly good wine and undoubtedly benefiting from climate change. By 2021 there were 327 estates (all small – the biggest two are just over 30ha) covering 564 hectares and producing around 14,000 hectolitres of wine. Unsurprisingly around two-thirds of production is white though in a very diverse range of styles from pet-nat to orange wines, plus classic dry, sparkling and sweet wines. Cold tolerant hybrids like Solaris, Johanniter, Souvignier Gris, Rondo, Regent and Cabernet Cortis are popular, but there are increasingly good examples of pure vinifera varieties especially Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling.
Romania
Romania is one of the most significant wine countries in the region with over 180,000 ha of vineyards (5th in Europe for area under vine), including 97,000 ha of noble Vitis vinifera varieties. It’s an island of Latin-based language, with strong historical links to its Roman history under Emperor Trajan. Today Romania averages around 4.5 m hl of wine annually, but the vast majority is drunk at home. It grows around 85 varieties, and production is led by local varieties especially Fetească Regală and Fetească Albă. On the red front the (unrelated) Fetească Neagră is widely seen as Romania’s best flagship grape, able to produce complex, age-worthy wines that showcase the country’s very varied territories. It’s a landlocked country, dominated by the sweep of the Carpathian Mountains (home to Europe’s biggest population of brown bears), which enclose the beautiful Transylvanian plateau with its rural villages and cool hilly vineyards. There’s incredible diversity of climates and styles across eight distinct wine regions with 33 PDOs so always lots to explore.
Serbia
Discover Serbia through exciting new-wave wines from several new on the scene producers. Serbia’s most planted grape is Grašac and one example broke new ground for the country recently when it won a top 50 Best-in-Show award at Decanter. Grašac is the historic Serbian name for this important central and Eastern European white grape, rapidly turning from an ugly duckling, volume producer to showcasing exciting quality with a real sense of place. The Serbian wine scene today is a very dynamic place, admittedly coming from behind its neighbours, but catching up fast with new investments rebuilding an old story. Important wine regions include the hilly Šumadija terroir and the slopes of the more northerly Fruška Gora Mountain facing the Danube (where the Serbian wine story was reborn when Roman Emperor Probus got his off-duty soldiers to plant grapevines on the mountain – they clearly weren’t happy as they murdered him later). The east of the country around Negotinska Krajina is also home to exciting winemaking projects and estates with old grape varieties finding a new story.
Slovakia
This small country of majestic mountains, gothic churches and dramatic castles has an exciting wine industry today with strong trends for sustainability and a cult natural, organic
and orange wine scene led by family estates. Slovakia has around 10,000 hectares of vineyards in production and 692 registered winemakers. It lies at about the same latitude as northern Burgundy and has a distinctly cool, continental climate. Vineyards are divided into six wine regions in the country’s warmer south, typically on south-facing sites in the mountain foothills. It shares typical Central European grapes with its neighbours, including
Blaufränkisch, Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Furmint (mainly in Tokaj), St Laurent, Müller-Thurgau and the Pinot family. It also grows several unique local red crosses such as Alibernet, Dunaj, André, Hron, Neronet and Nitria. Local whites include Devín,
Muškát Moravský Milia, Noria and Breslava.
Slovenia
A jewel of a wine country with some of the most beautiful vineyards anywhere and a Mediterranean-meets Alpine climate. The country is green, mountainous and heavily forested with high environmental standards, which also apply in the wine industry. There are 14,589 ha on the vineyard register and 2500 producers who bottle wine. Wine quality is amazingly high, never cheap because many of the vineyards are steep and hard to work, but offering great quality for value and with amazing human stories too. There are three wine regions: Primorska in the west (Rebula, Malvazija, Chardonnay and top reds, often Merlot-based); Posavje in the southeast (great sparkling wines and crisp whites and reds) and the biggest is Štajerska Slovenia in the east (great for aromatic vibrant Sauvignon, Pinot Gris and Furmint, and lighter reds).
Ukraine
Viticulture has long been an important industry in what is Ukraine today, dating back around 2800 years. One notable development was the establishment of a Swiss colony at Chabag in Bessarabia (Shabo today) in 1822 to bring winemaking knowledge in the Tsarist era. Today, Ukraine is on a new path: a search for lost terroirs; the discovery of new local varieties, experimentation with technology and the rethinking of traditional methods of wine production. There are around 20,000 ha divided into Bessarabia, Black Sea region, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhya and recent developments in coller areas to the north. Varieties are led by Aligoté, Rkatsiteli, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Riesling, though the country has some indigenous vines such as Telti-Kuruk, Odessa Black and Sukholimansky White. The full-scale war unleashed by Russia is significantly affecting the state of the industry – some wineries are occupied, some are damaged and looted, vineyards are mined and not cultivated, and the local market has shrunk. But producers continue their fight and by 2022, Ukrainian wines were present in UK, USA, Japan, Poland, Baltic and Nordic countries.
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