Innehållsförteckning för January/February 2024 från Market Watch

The trend toward drinking less but better wine appears to be alive and well as the new year begins. Producers with wines at a range of price points are seeing a continued embrace of higher-end entrants even as demand has been uneven. “The state of the wine industry in the U.S. appears both promising and challenging,” says John Jordan, CEO of Jordan Vineyard & Winery. “We continue to see demand for high-quality, premium wines despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. People still want to seek out, invest in, and savor nice bottles of wine for all of life’s occasions.” Pete Przybylinski, executive vice president and chief sales officer for the Duckhorn Portfolio, says his company is closely monitoring the industry. “We’re confident that premiumization is more than just a trend…

Trader Vic’s has long been considered a luminary in the cocktail world. The on-premise outlet practically created the concept of the tiki bar nearly 90 years ago, and its founder, Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr.—Trader Vic for short—is often credited with inventing the Mai Tai cocktail. Over the span of nine decades, Trader Vic’s has evolved from its humble Polynesian bar beginnings into a concept with a global footprint, a massive beverage program, and a well-respected food menu that resonates with guests worldwide. Few restaurant and bar companies can boast the level of brand loyalty that Trader Vic’s enjoys, and that love from its guests has helped the company remain relevant for nearly a century. “Trader Vic was always ahead of his time,” says CEO Rhett Rosen of the company’s founder.…

For a liquor store chain to endure for more than 70 years in a competitive and restrictive market while welcoming its third generation of family managers, it must be doing something right. At Connecticut’s M&R Liquors, the “secret sauce” is the critical role its loyal team of employees has played to ensure its longevity. “I’m so proud of our staff,” says Neal Rounseville, vice president and second-generation owner. “They care about our stores and they care about our customers. In this business, service is key.” The Hartford-area chain enjoys a storied past, yet it has no plans to rest on its laurels as it prepares for the future. M&R was founded in 1952 in Glastonbury, Connecticut by Rounseville’s parents, Marrion and Roy, the M and R in the company’s name.…

It’s like a scene from a futuristic sci-fi movie: A patron walks into a bar manned by a large robotic arm, orders a cocktail from a digital mobile interface, and is served a cocktail crafted by a robot bartender. And it’s happening now at bars around the globe. As technology continues to be a driving force in every facet of life and businesses explore new ways to integrate hi-tech gadgets into the everyday, the bar industry is learning firsthand about machine-led mixology. Italian company Makr Shakr is at the forefront of robotic bartending, offering three robot models specifically made to mix drinks. The company has robot placements at bars in Las Vegas and Biloxi, Mississippi, as well as on several Miami-based Royal Caribbean cruises, and in international locales like Prague,…

While still only a niche in the beer category, non-alcohol beers (NABs) have seen sales skyrocket in recent years as consumers and marketers have responded with a plethora of new brands. Nowhere has the surge been more evident than at Whole Foods, the upscale grocery chain. “Non-alcohol beers started as a small percentage of our beer sales, but that has now jumped to about 10%,” says Mary Guiver, principal category merchant for beer. With the stores’ focus on health-forward food and drinks, the emerging segment is a good fit for Whole Foods. Indeed, NABs are now the third largest beer sector for the chain, following crafts and imports, Guiver notes, and sales continue to soar, up 50% last year. Non-alcohol brews are easily outperforming the overall beer category in growth…

Despite the discontinuation of the heralded Anchor Christmas ale in the midst of Anchor Brewing Co.’s recent shuttering, beer lovers still have a plethora of winter brews to choose from to toast the holidays and onslaught of cold weather. Like the popular San Francisco beer, these labels enjoy rich histories and benefit from pent-up demand as temperatures drop each year. Sierra Nevada Brewing’s Celebration Fresh Hop IPA was introduced in 1981, targeting the holidays primarily, as opposed to winter in general. Lesley Albright, vice president of the Chico, California-based brewery, notes that beer fans look forward to the seasonal release each year. Meanwhile, Samuel Adams Winter lager launched in 1989, following strong response to other Boston Beer Co. seasonals. The release was revised four years ago to “create a crisper…

Denver: Call Me Pearl Offers Inventive Drinks, Classic Hospitality With a focus on hospitality in a contemporary setting that emphasizes creative drinks and bar snacks, Call Me Pearl is an indulgent drinks den in downtown Denver’s McGregor Square. The venue opened in November with a menu of nostalgic and lively offerings. For cocktails, this means a mix of updated classic drinks and modern signatures, which are joined by a list of 20 beers and nearly 50 wines. The cocktail list has a section for Martinis, listing a Botanist gin-based Vesper alongside an iteration that mixes Colorado Vodka Co. vodka with Laphroaig Scotch, and these are joined by house drinks like the Cherished Memories, made with Diplomático rum, Campari, and pineapple and lime juices (cocktails are $14-$16). Beers at Call Me…

Meetings—in the corporate sense—are a somewhat new addition to the daily working grind for Woodinville whiskey co-founder Brett Carlile. Woodinville was acquired by Moët Hennessy (LVMH) in 2017, a move that allowed the Washington distiller to ramp up volume and expand beyond its home state. A lot has changed in the nearly seven years since that deal was struck, including Carlile’s role. “Prior to the acquisition, I was very hands-on, literally on the distilling floor working the shifts alongside the other distillers,” he says. Now, Carlile is in charge of all production at Woodinville and was also involved in an expansion of the facility post-acquisition. In Quincy, Washington, over the Cascade Mountains from Woodinville, the company built a barreling and bottling facility in 2020, which Carlile oversees as well. A…

The winter of 2022-2023 brought massive amounts of snow and rainfall to the Golden State, a welcome reprieve from years of drought. But while ski resorts in Lake Tahoe were extending their seasons through June to take advantage of the unusually heavy snow load, in California’s wine country, Jackson Family Wines was focused on storing that water for future use. “We’re trying to take water when it’s plentifully available in the winter and store it in the ground to make our water supply and the surrounding ecosystems more secure,” says Jackson Family vice president of sustainability Katie Jackson. “This allows us to ‘bank’ the water for use when we have dryer weather.” The process is called groundwater recharge. “The state of California believes that groundwater recharge is a really good…

Stealth wealth may be a cultural trend, but the global upmarket clientele at Wynn Las Vegas want their luxury upfront and in the form of a magnum of 2010 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque rosé ($2,300) or a 3-liter jeroboam of 2010 Dom Pérignon Brut ($7,500). The resort’s guests think big, and the bigger the bottle the better in a hotel where magnums of Champagne are a top seller day and night. Fulfilling the guests’ desire for unique, luxe choices in beverages is the domain of beverage director Mariena Mercer Boarini and wine director Brian Weitzman. The pair oversee the serving of highly creative, custom designed cocktails and wines from iconic producers around the globe. The usual Bourbon Mule or Negroni isn’t going to excite the Wynn Las Vegas guest. Mercer Boarini,…