Ultimate CEE Wine Fair is back

Published: 09 May, 2025

The Ultimate CEE Wine Fair is returning to London on Monday 9 June with a bigger line-up of exhibitors and three new winemaking countries.

This year’s tasting will feature exhibitors 69 exhibitors – 17 more than last year - with Poland, Greece and Georgia joining the roster of participating countries. There will be seven masterclasses taking place throughout the day.

The aim of the CEE Wine Fair is to build on the platform started last year and to continue to shine an even brighter light on the whole CEE region and some of its close neighbours. As one winemaker put it, “It's time for us to work together and speak with one voice and get our story known better.”

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Host Caroline Gilby MW sets the scene. “For the UK wine trade, 2024 was the year when awareness of Central Europe and the Balkans finally went mainstream. And the first Ultimate CEE wine fair was instrumental in flying the flag (or many flags) for this endlessly fascinating part of the wine world. In 2025, we are going bigger and bolder, adding more countries, wineries and masterclasses to this annual showcase.

“Most of these countries are small individually, but they have all moved far beyond their recent shared, and often challenging history. They have emerged from an ugly duckling era of volume to graceful swans with their own unique and fascinating cultures, telling their stories through wine. This is a region where each label tells an often very personal tale of overcoming the past and the rediscovery of a long authentic wine history.”

Co-founder Zsuzsa Toronyi adds: “The UK wine trade is famously open-minded to wine discoveries, provided the wines are good, and nowadays CEE wines definitely deliver quality.

“There's exciting potential in obscure local grape varieties that are finding a bright new future as producers dig into reviving their long heritage. But that's not to dismiss international grapes too, which can showcase and benchmark the sheer quality of the terroir, still often unknown or overlooked.

“The Balkans and Central Europe is a real hotspot of diversity of indigenous grapevines, bridging the routes from grapevine domestication in the Caucasus and Near East on the journey westwards. Visitors will be able to taste the alphabet from Areni and Blatina all the way to Xynisteri and Žilavka. A genuine voyage of wine discovery.”

The Ultimate CEE Wine Fair is taking place 10 am – 6 pm Monday 9 June at St John’s Waterloo, Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8TY.