Wine – Page 10 – Keep It Overproof!

12 of the best wines to drink with Christmas dinner

To start things off What is Christmas without sparkle? The holidays are the perfect excuse to crack out some bubbles, and with the astronomical growth of Prosecco, Crémant and other sparklers in recent years, we’re sure you can find a fizz to suit all tastebuds…. Rive di Colbertaldo Prosecco It’s mistakenly believed by many that Prosecco is just Prosecco, when in fact there is much variation in the category, depending on the producer’s approach, and the source of the grapes. The most common distinction is made between the much larger DOC area of Prosecco, and the hillsides of the...

Fine wine predictions for 2020

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

What could be in store for the fine wine market in 2020? A natural uprising? An Italian renaissance? Is 2019 Bordeaux already in trouble? Will South American labels benefit from anti-EU tariffs? Our recent publication of the Power 100 list (aka the ‘Power Rankings’) and Liv-ex’s own end of year report have examined a number of trends in the secondary market. Many are continuing trends but some are really starting to accelerate. The broadening of the market has been happening for a while but it really stepped up a gear in 2019 with 6,367 wines traded on the Liv-ex Exchange from 995 brands. Bordeaux...

Top 10 drinks trends in the US on-trade for 2020

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

The low to no alcohol trend will expand Non-alcoholic ‘spirit’ brand Seedlip’s Mr McGregor cocktail In the coming year, expect to see an increase in ‘spirits’ with no alcohol in the US, with a greater variation in products to appeal to different drinkers. On-premise creativity will continue to fuel alcohol-free cocktail menus and bars across the country. The rising popularity of drinks like spritz-based cocktails has helped this category grow. New takes on classic drinks may emerge, highlighting the emergence of low-alcohol Sherries, vermouths and saké options.

White Claw Ads Help Recruit Wine and Spirits Drinkers

Posted in Beer, Industry.

Dear Client: You may have seen a new round of short black-and-white White Claw ads on major channels like ESPN, MTV and more. The brand seems driven primarily by social – indeed, we reported earlier this month that Trevor Wallace’s “Ain’t No Laws When You’re Drinking Claws” social bits helped catapult the category into uncharted … Continue reading “White Claw Ads Help Recruit Wine and Spirits Drinkers” You are unauthorized to view this page. Read the full article

The biggest drinks acquisitions of 2019

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

As 2019 draws to a close, we round up a year of acquisitions which has seen two prominent British brewers snapped up by foreign investors, Constellation Brands agree a wine sale worth over US$1 billion, and the break-up of retailers Naked Wines and Majestic. Constellation Brands has certainly been one of the most active in the acquisitions scene this year, taking both majority and minority stakes in a number of companies. Its sale of just under 30 wine brands to E&J Gallo, however, was one of the biggest in the drinks industry this year. In the UK, if 2018 was the year of the Conviviality...

Syrah Masters 2019: the results in full

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

Having sampled almost 200 wines for 2019’s Global Syrah Masters, we bring you a full report on the top performers, taking in reds from Colchagua to British Columbia, Hunter Valley to the Valais. The wines were tasted at Les 110 de Taillevent in London on 23 October After a day spent tasting nothing but Syrah, one wonders why this noble variety isn’t a go-to grape for reasonably priced fine wine? If you look at the results from this year’s Global Syrah Masters, you can see that as many as 19 Gold medals and five Masters were awarded for samples sub £50, proving that excellence can be attained...

Chandon China releases sparkling red wine

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

Chandon China, Moët Hennessy’s sparkling wine operation in Ningxia, has been actively designing products specially for the Chinese market. Shortly after the launch of Chandon Me, the first sparkling wine that can be enjoyed at room temperature, the house has created now launched a red sparkling wine as well. Debuted this September right before the mid-autumn Festival, Chandon Xi (?, meaning blissful and auspicious) is the first demi-sec red sparkling wine the winery has produced. The sparkling wine is made from a blend of Pinot Noir, Syrah and Marselan and has been aged on its lees for...

Entries invited for Gerard Basset Travel Scholarship

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

There is still time for UK-based sommeliers to send in their application for The Gerard Basset Travel Scholarship – an annual travel bursary created in honour and fond memory of the late Gerard Basset OBE, MS, MW, MSc (OIV). Commencing in 2020, The Gerard Basset Travel Scholarship #gerardscholarship (brainchild of Nina and Romané Basset, along with Ronan Sayburn MS and Tim Atkin MW) will see £5,000 awarded on an annual basis to a UK-based Sommelier to enable them to visit a winemaking country of their choice and explore its regions, winemakers and wine personalities. Entrants for the award...

MW Chile trip in pictures

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

From 17-23 November, 30 Masters of Wine took a tour of Chile, covering more than 2000km by road and air, tasting over 200 different wines, and working their way through well over 7,000 glasses. Springtime over the Andes – but where’s the snow? The arrival: Passing over the Andes on the last leg of the flight from London to Santiago, it was apparent quite how little snowfall there has been over the recent winter, with precipitation around 80% below average levels. Day 1: Sunday 17 – Concha y Toro: Don Melchor Experience. Following an introduction to Chile by local wine writer Patricio...

André Simon 2019 shortlist announced

Posted in Beer, Spirits, Wine.

The shortlist of food and drinks books for the 2019 André Simon Awards has been announced, featuring tomes on lager, tea, Burmese cooking and wines of the French Alps. A total of 150 submissions were whittled down to 16 with this year’s independent assessors being Niki Segnit for the food books and former BBR CEO Dan Jago for the drinks books. Nicholas Lander, chairman of the André Simon Memorial Fund said that this year’s books, “are deliciously wide-ranging in theme and approach”. In the drinks category the shortlist is: A Brief History of Lager: 500 Years of the World’s...

Tag: Wine