Innehållsförteckning för May 2018 från Market Watch

All-Female Team Opens Gin Joint In Los Angeles Emphasizing gin and promoting a female-friendly atmosphere, Genever opened in March in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown. The relaxed cocktail lounge highlights fresh drinks made with natural ingredients, including house-made mixers and garnishes, and most of its specialty cocktails feature either gin or genever. Many cocktails also incorporate Filipino flavors like tapioca, panutsa, pandan, and calamansi in a nod to the bar’s locale and the heritage of the concept’s female ownership team. The venue carries 20 gins and four genevers behind the bar, defining each style on the menu—from its namesake genever to Old Tom, Navy Strength, and London Dry gins. Signature cocktails ($14) include the Butterfly In The Sky, made with butterfly pea flower-infused Aviation gin, Scrappy’s Lavender bitters, East Imperial yuzu…

Control states are expanding their operations rapidly with new store openings, overhauled technology systems, and new business intelligence. These efforts are paying off, as control state spirits sales by value and volume outpaced the performance in license states in 2017 for the second consecutive year. “The increased sales are based on a variety of factors, including increased consumer confidence, economic improvements, and disposable income,” says Andy Deloney, chairman of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. Among the top ten spirits brands in control states, Tito’s ($18 a 750-ml. in Pennsylvania), Crown Royal ($26), Fireball ($19), Jim Beam ($18), and Jack Daniel’s ($26) led the surge. Combined volume growth of these five brands accounted for 61% of total control state spirits gains in 2017. “Aged spirits are performing well, and whiskey continues…

At Pantry Liquors in Miami, rum is already a hot category. Many inhabitants of the Latin-influenced city lean toward rum, and Pantry Liquors CEO Pete Izaguirre believes “there will always be room for growth in the rum market.” In Izaguirre’s store, certain rum brands appeal to different demographics. Nicaraguans prefer Flor de Caña, Haitians go for Barbancourt, Colombians favor Caldas, and Dominicans embrace Ron Barceló and Atlantico. For many Venezuelans, Santa Teresa or Diplomático is the rum of choice, while Cubans are likely to buy Matusalem. Bacardi rum, Izaguirre says, “is everywhere, and everyone drinks it.” For rum, Miami is unlike any other city in the United States. The spirit itself is omnipresent in bars and restaurants across the country, but customers usually aren’t as discerning as they seem to…

Winooski, Vermont-based Beverage Warehouse epitomizes the independent spirit and neighborly values of its home state. The 40-year-old store in northwestern Vermont attracts local consumers, including college students from several nearby universities, tourists, and vacationers, as well as visitors from Canada, which lies just 90 minutes north. Owned by members of the Swiatek family since 1984, Beverage Warehouse has emerged over the years as a resource for many hard-tofind items. The 17,000-square-foot Beverage Warehouse has total annual sales of more than $8 million, MARKET WATCH estimates. Spirits sales are at more than $4 million, making Beverage Warehouse the top agency store for the Vermont Department of Liquor Control (DLC). Spirits represent 46% of sales, while beer comprises 35%, wine accounts for 15%, and miscellaneous items contribute roughly 4%. Over the last…

With French still wine exports to the U.S. rising 14% to 12.5 million cases and 18% to $1.4 billion last year, the Languedoc-Roussillon region in Southern France has emerged as one of the key growth drivers. Languedoc-Roussillon shipments to the U.S. surged 26% to 746,000 cases in 2017, according to Impact Databank, and have roughly tripled since 2010. Leading the way is Gérard Bertrand, whose namesake label accounts for nearly half of Languedoc-Roussillon’s U.S. volume. Bolstered by the rosé boom, the Gérard Bertrand brand enjoyed substantial growth in 2017, depleting 350,000 cases on a rise of 46%. Such strong progress earned the label Impact “Hot Brand” honors. The brand’s surging growth illustrated the increasing impact of Bertrand’s work as the unofficial ambassador of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. “I associate my brand…

AS PICTURED: 1. Actor Orlando Bloom and director Ridley Scott attended a dinner hosted by Black Cow vodka at a private club in Malibu, California on April 3. 2. Ryan Casey, bartender at The Dewberry in Charleston, South Carolina, commem-orated the start of Mint Julep Month with brunch at New York City’s Gramercy Park Hotel on April 8. Maker’s Mark Bourbon co-hosted the event. 3. Veteran wine auctioneer Fritz Hatton got the room going at the third annual Willamette: The Pinot Noir Auction, held on April 7 at the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Oregon. 4. Michael Rigney, Italian portfolio manag-er for importer Wineberry, attended the Harlem EatUp! 2018 Bordeaux Wines trade tasting at Ginny’s Supper Club in New York City on April 9, where over 70 of the…

While working at a vineyard in Bordeaux in 2014, Matt Dukes came across the wine re-bottling technology that would eventually inform his startup company, Vinebox. “For a tiny producer making around 3,000 bottles a year, it’s very prohibitive to send out full-size bottles to négoçiants and restaurateurs in the name of getting exposure,” Dukes says. “So the French came up with this sampling method to help small producers, where they place their wine in tall, slender tubes that perfectly preserve quality, as if it were in a full-size bottle.” Dukes loved the format, especially the fact that consumers could easily transport and sample wine without waste. Upon his return to the U.S. in late 2014, he launched Vinebox: a wine subscription service that offers unique, small-lot wines packaged by the…

As one of San Francisco’s liveliest wine bars, Press Club curates a domestic-focused wine selection that showcases a range of California white wine styles. “I’m hoping to feature all regions of California—from Mendocino, Sierra Nevada, and Santa Barbara,” says Mauro Cirilli, wine and beverage director for Press Club and its sister restaurant, Schroeder’s. While Chardonnay remains formidable within the California white wine space, Cirilli notes surging interest in Sauvignon Blanc among Press Club’s clientele, as well as a growing sense of discovery among local producers for lesser-known white varieties. “I love the fact that a lot of winemakers are experimenting with indigenous grapes from Spain and Italy like Vermentino, Albariño, and Grenache,” he says. Perusing a wine list that offers about 50 wines by the glass and 400 by the…

Meininger Verlag, a German media company specializing in publications for the wine and spirits trade, held its annual awards ceremony on March 17. Among the honorees, Marvin R. Shanken, chairman of M. Shanken Communications, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. “Very few people can be said to have helped transform an entire industry,” said Robert Joseph, editor at large of Meininger’s Wine Business International. “But that is what Marvin Shanken has done.” Shanken was recognized for building Wine Spectator into the world’s highest-circulation wine publication; organizing wine events that bring together professionals and consumers from around the world; and establishing the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation, which has contributed tens of millions of dollars for wine education and research. An audience of 600 wine industry professionals gathered at Düsseldorf’s InterContinental…

Bistro Celebrates New Orleans Cultural Influences Former “Top Chef” competitor Nina Compton unveiled her second New Orleans venue in March with the opening of Bywater American Bistro. The eatery in the Crescent City’s Bywater neighborhood showcases seasonal fare with roots in the many cultures that make up New Orleans cuisine. The varied menu includes appetizers like hog’s head boudin and pickled shrimp ($4-$14), as well as such larger dishes ($20-$26) as fried gulf oysters over jasmine rice, rabbit curry with pecans and rice, and steamed red snapper with broccoli rabe and Hollandaise sauce. The drinks program at Bywater America Bistro is a key part of the experience, with cocktails ($8-$13) designed to showcase simple flavors that complement the food. Signature drinks include the Bab Sour, mixing Rittenhouse rye with Angostura…

It’s all about brand discipline at Vintus. The company, launched by former Kobrand senior executive Michael Quinttus in 2004, has a goal of developing a focused portfolio of exceptional, family-owned estate wines. It’s well on its way and gaining critical mass—and in very deliberate fashion. Vintus represents about 45 wine estates, mostly from France and Italy. Though small, the portfolio is notable for having some of the most respected names in the wine industry, including Bordeaux first growth Château Margaux, Bollinger Champagne, Rhône’s E. Guigal, acclaimed Super-Tuscan producer Ornellaia, and California’s Chateau Montelena. Quinttus takes a long view of things, often fostering relationships for years before striking a deal to represent a winery. “It’s been a steady progression and evolution, with a focus on adhering to our original direction and…

SPEAKERS With change rampant across the beverage alcohol sector of late, the industry’s leading voices convened in New York City on March 8 to discuss the state of play at the 42nd Annual Impact Marketing Seminar. Hosted by M. Shanken Communications chairman Marvin R. Shanken, the event featured presentations from some of the biggest names in the industry. The festivities began with a welcoming reception the evening of March 7 at New York’s Ousia, hosted by Pete Carr, regional president at Bacardi North America. The following morning, Seminar attendees gathered at the Pierre Hotel to hear remarks from industry leaders including Carr; Javier Ferrán, chairman of Diageo; Ted Baseler, president and CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates; David Trone, founder and co-owner of Total Wine & More; Tom Cole, president…

Many retailers have hosted brand ambassadors to lead in-store beer tastings—only to find that some know little about the products and engage poorly with customers. But poor experiences may become a thing of the past, thanks to the emergence of professional pouring agencies. “Suppliers can pay professional models $50 an hour and get nothing in return,” says Nolan Rodman, vice president of Rodman’s Discount Food & Drug, which has three locations in the Washington, D.C. market. “Professional pourers, however, can help drive sales of their featured product.” For tastings at his stores, Rodman’s has opted to partner solely with ExperTaste Marketing, an agency that arranges beer sampling events and also shares results and analysis with suppliers and retailers. “We do samplings all the time—for food, wine, soap—and ExperTaste is the…