“Tales of the Cocktail” Spirit Awards nominees for 2008
Tales of the Cocktail is an annual gathering of spirit and cocktail experts in New Orleans, which is now in it’s sixth year. In addition to the regular sessions, seminars, panels, tastings, as well as general partying, last year they added a new element, the “Spirit Awards” to identify and recognize significant achiements and efforts in various categories. The award process is overseen by Simon Difford, publisher of the popular “Diffords Guides”, as well as the annual recipe tome “Cocktails“, which is now up to “#7″.
At this years Tales of the Cocktail (July 16-20) they will be announcing the winners for the following categories:
Best Drink Selection
A venue stocking an outstanding range of spirits and liqueurs. The judges will favor discernment as well as sheer numbers of bottles stocked.
Best Classic Cocktail Bar
Classic bars continue to uphold best bartending practices and serve drinks in relaxed lounge-like environments. The judges are looking for bars, which uphold this tradition (but are not necessarily old) and offer superb service and consistently well-made drinks.
World’s Best Cocktail Bar
This award recognizes the international influence on cocktail trends and seeks to award the world’s best cocktail bar.
Best New Cocktail Bar
Only bars which have opened in the 18 months preceding the awards may be nominated. This award aims to reward new creativity and ideas as well as well executed drinks.
Mixologist/Bartender of the Year
The absolute best drinks mixer. The winner should be proficient at making all recognized classic drinks and also have created contemporary cocktails, which have been copied by his/her peers.
Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
The best book published in 2007 regarding cocktails, liquor, bars, bar design or bartending in general. New editions of existing works published in 2007 may also be nominated.
Best Cocktail Writing
Great journalism is one of the best ways to communicate to the general public the value and significance of great cocktails and related products. This award is for any non-book journalism (Magazine, Newspaper, Website, etc) which promotes bars, bartender, or cocktails in general.
Best New Product
This is awarded to what the judges consider to be the best new cocktail ingredient (spirit, liqueur, syrup or juice) or piece of cocktail equipment (muddler, shaker etc.). To qualify products must be on general retail sale in at least three US states.
Best Cocktail Menu
The judges seek to reward innovative and thirst inducing cocktail menus. Both the design and content will be considered.
Best Drinks Brand Representative/Brand Ambassador
An award which recognizes the importance of personality in the promotion of drinks brands.
Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award
The impact that some people have on the general cocktail community can span over the course of many years. There are individuals who have worked long and hard to change the industry and educate the public. This award is to provide special recognition to these individuals and the wonderful efforts they have undertaken.
And the nominees are…
Penfolds Grange magnums 1979 – 1998 go to auction
Australia’s icon wine Penfolds Grange, in magnums no less, will be up for auction. Three sets of Grange from the first bottled magnum, 1979, through to 1998 will be available, unreserved.
Each collection includes all 20 wines, potentially valued at up to $25,000. While Penfolds Grange has been available on GraysOnline in previous sales, CEO, Cameron Poolman suggests this is a unique opportunity to access a 20 year span of Australia’s most renowned red wine in rare collector’s sized bottles.
“This auction will give premium wine collectors the chance to get their hands on a remarkable collection of Australia’s most iconic red wine,” Poolman said.
The stock has come from an Australian wine investment company that collapsed in 2005. The wine has been stored in ideal conditions for their entire life. Bidding for the sale will commence at 4.00pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time), Thursday 22 May and will end on Wednesday 28 May.
Visit www.graysonline.com.au. All wine items are offered at an unreserved price of $9.00
Savor le Sauvignon
The warm days of summer are almost upon us — time to break out the white wine. Versatile as an aperitif and food-friendly, Sauvignon Blanc is as varied in style and complexity as are completely different varietals.
At a recent gathering of starving artists, the 2006 Baron D’Aliénor Bordeaux Sauvignon was a real crowd pleaser. Made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes, this bone dry wine with apple on the nose and slightly herbaceous is unoaked, crisp, tart and citrusy on the palate — a vibrant acidity with a subtle mineral finish.
No small feat the plethora of Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux if you consider the fact that 50% of the white grapes from 1979-1986 were uprooted due to the exploding popularity of red, but at $ 7/bottle we can’t expect old vines or even a “mise en bouteille au chateau“, can we?
About 7,207 acres of Sauvignon Blanc is planted in this region while twice as much Semillon grapes are grown here. In many cases these two grapes are blended for a deliciously complex and harmonious wine, so be an adventurer.
Perfect for a Memorial Day beach BBQ a la Bobby Flay the Baron, as we call this best kept secret, is equally delicious with seafood or even fresh salsa. You’d be surprised how well it goes with garlic, tomatoes, avocado and cilantro. So whip up a great salsa, grab a bag of chips/crisps (no genetically modified ones, please), a big blanket, an ice chest of the Baron and meet your friends at the beach to gather up drift wood, build a fire and roast your main course for a groovy Memorial Day celebration.
San Francisco World Spirits Competition
Each year, and with fairly little fanfare, there is a fairly exhaustive spirits judging that takes place in San Francisco. Anthony Dias Blue is the founder of the competition, which saw its eighth year in operation when it held its 2008 judging in mid March.
There were 847 products submitted, across 439 different brand classifications. Judging was done by a 25 different judges, who come from various parts of the industry and are well recognized as influentials in their fields. The products were submitted by the manufacturers, who also paid a fee (per product) to participate. Judging was done blind, and over the course of two days at this closed event.
Awards were given out for Double-Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, as well as some special awards when the product s merited it. This is not an “Olympics” style award with only a single winner per medal, instead there can be multiple winners per award level. There can also be no winners for a particular award level if the judges didn’t feel any products were worthy of it. Out of the total 847 products submitted, there were 731 awards according to my count.
You can access the full list of award winners, along with more details and information about the competition here: http://www.sfspiritscomp.com/
But here are some highlights:
Able Grape
I’ve recently discovered a wine related search engine. It is used the same way as you would use Yahoo or Google but, as it is wine specific, all you need to do is key in “Spain” rather than “Spanish wine” and you will get all relevant wine related results.
The developers say “We aim to be the world’s most comprehensive, up-to-date, and authoritative source for online wine information”. It’s not for comparison shopping but for learning research. They have built their database by indexing 36,000 sites and 11,000,000 pages so far. It is only a beta version at present and they welcome comments for improvements and suggestions for inclusion.
The search engine came about as a result of studying for the WSET Diploma qualification when they realised how difficult it was to find trustworthy, relevant and up to date information on the internet so they set about making a site where they could share their bookmarks with others. It’s a good example of where an obsession has turned into a business although I think the only income so far comes from donations as there is no sponsored advertising.
I’ve added it to my blog and am looking forward to it helping me with my Diploma studies.
Port Not
If you’re not a captain of industry or you don’t have celebrity status, then you might want to check out my Artists Picks, great moderately priced wines under $10. I’ll be reviewing a different wine in each post, describing the terroir, region and providing tasting notes.
The Douro Valley in Portugal is a spectacular landscape of steep terraces carved into granite hills sloping down to the banks of the Douro River. Although famous for Port, sweet fortified wines, my preference leans toward very dry reds (no fruit bombs, please!).
So I was thrilled to find the inexpensive but tasty Porca de Murca 2005 from producer Real Companhia Velha. Made from a blend of indigenous grapes it is rich ruby in color and medium bodied with subtle notes of cherry and black berry and a pleasant, slightly astringent finish reminiscent of Darjeeling tea with just a hint of pepper and spice. Not bad for just $5 a bottle.
If you’re so inclined to explore the region, check out Like-A-Local and travel like a native!
Savor - American Craft Beer & Food Experience
Comeing up quick - May 16th and 17th May is the Savor American Craft Beer and Food Experience.
Described as a ‘must attend for craft beer aficionados and foodies alike’, SAVOR will offer a memorable craft beer and food experience to a limited number of attendees under the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
There will be a reception-style sampling of your choice of 35+ sweet and savory appetizers and 96 craft beers from 48 breweries. Plenty of oppotunity to chat with the great and the good from the craft beer industry - brewery owners, brewers and representatives and such too. Plan to delight your senses with the diversity of flavors featuring some of America’s finest craft beers and culinary combinations (see Beer & Food Pairings) at this grand tasting experience. Enjoy a reception-style presentation of 35+ sweet and savory appetizers.
There will be no tickets available at the door. All tickets must be purchased in advance.
Did You Know - about toasts?
An interesting snippet from a BBC email highlighting the background to toasting ones health -
According to them ‘toast water’ was a restorative drink during the 18th and 19th centuries and a highly popular one to boot. It was made by pouring boiling water over toasted bread and left to infuse until cool. It was then strained and drunk. Such were its perceived health-giving properties, that it was often used when drinking to someone’s health.
Hence our current tradition of raising any glass as a toast to someone.
The Spirit World Needs You!
Are you a dab hand with the cocktail shaker or perhaps the slurp and spit of a fine Napa Cabernet is your thing?
We have a few spaces for writers here at The Spirit World - whether your love is wine, beer or spirits your words could soon be seen across the world via this website. Your knowledge does not have to be encyclopedic as a well written style and enthusiasm count for more.
We have need of coverage of the drink press via the monthly magazines, of vineyard visits, of web-retailer reviews, of the top-notch drink blogs, of food and wine matching, of topical news items plus so much more.
If you fancy joining our happy band, are active enough to contribute a minimum of two posts a month why not drop us an email with an example of your writing? Please include the topics you would like to cover and a little background on yourself.
Japanese whisky voted best in the world
A Japanese whisky has been voted the best in the world.
Yoichi 20-year-old is the first variety outside Scotland to win the coveted single malt award from industry bible Whisky Magazine, scotching the hopes of dozens of other varieties, including last year’s winner, Talisker 18-year-old, from the Isle of Sky.
Yoichi, which is distilled near Sapporo City on the Japanese island of Hokkaido and sells for up to £150 a bottle, was praised by judges for its “amazing mix of big smoke and sweet blackcurrant“, “explosive aroma” and “big, long and sweet finish“, reports the Sunday Times.
In fact, Japanese whisky makers, traditionally sneered at by connoisseurs, were celebrating a historic double, after Suntory Hibiki, the brand advertised so unenthusiastically by Bill Murray’s character in Lost In Translation, scooped the prize for the world’s best blend.
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Editor: Andrew Barrow
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