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.
Fuller’s ESB and Vintage Ale Win Gold
I have two favourite brewers - Breakspears, based in my home county of Oxfordshire and London’s Fuller, Smith & Turner. Not sure if the former is availble across the pond but the latter has just won two gold medals at this year’s prestigious 2008 Brewers Association World Beer Cup held in San Diego.
The winning Fuller’s beers were: Fuller’s ESB, a brewing style created by Fuller’s over 30 years ago; and, Fuller’s Vintage Ale, another seasonality special style created and perfected in the 1990s.
The celebrated World Beer Cup awards were presented Saturday, April 19, 2008, at the close of the annual conference. Fuller’s competed against 1,500 brewers and beers from nearly 70 countries from five continents. Beers were judged by a distinguished panel of 120 international judges, most of whom are acclaimed brew masters. Medals were awarded to brewers from 21 countries including a few countries that have gone largely unrecognized in past years, such as Bolivia, Japan and Italy.
Image from the Fullers Website intro page.
American Distilling Institute: A view (2)
I attended the 5th annual American Distilling Institute conference earlier this month, and am happy to report that artisan distilling is thriving in the U.S. When my husband and I started our distillery four years ago, there were about 65 small distilleries in the U.S. Now there are 144 in operation and/or under construction. They can be found all over the country, and making all types of products.
The focus of this year’s conference was whisk(e)y, so we gathered in Louisville, Kentucky. After a day of distillery and cooperage tours (followed by cocktail and spirit tastings galore), we gathered at Huber’s Orchard and Winery (the home of the Starlight Distillery) across the border in Borden, Indiana for a series of sessions about distillation and the liquor industry. Here are a few highlights from the conference:
Informal Product Tastings
Both at the start and later in the conference, we had opportunities to try each other’s products and talk about what we’re doing. The first night, a group of whiskey producers (and one rum) poured samples for other attendees and talked about their products and companies. This group is very informal, and everyone is very approachable, which makes for a really fun and informative tasting.
A couple of days later, many folks brought their products to the conference for more tasting and discussion.
American Distilling Institute: A view (1)
Last week saw the fifth annual gathering of the American Distilling Institute convene at the historic Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. As the trade association for the burgeoning small-scale craft distilling industry, the Institute chose an appropriate location for this year’s theme: whiskey. But the sense of history came not just from the architecture of the grand hotel and its magnificent bar. The buzz among the
membership was not merely from the ample opportunities for product tasting. The buzz was the excitement of creating something new. The historic sense was of that in the making.
As whisky critic Jim Murray put it, “I can tell this conference is going to change the way things happen. There is a fascination…. You are the new frontier.”
Where to begin? The conversation among the Institute’s informal board on how to create a definition of “craft” distilling was spirited yet respectful of the need to assess the viewpoint of the membership. The judging panel for the Institute’s product awards, when confronted with the array of whiskeys submitted for the contest, scrapped the original whiskey categories and spent hours and hours deliberating over what new categories they had to devise in order to fairly 
judge the nascent industry’s offerings. And everywhere one turned, members discussed every aspect of the distilling process, freely sharing their information and experience and loving what they do.
Who are these distillers of the New American Whiskey? While the established U.S. whiskey industry is concentrated in Kentucky and Tennessee, makers of craft whiskey come from all over. Jess Graber of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey established his distillery in Denver. Ralph Erenzo and Brian Lee make four types of whiskey by the Hudson River under the Tuthilltown Spirits label. Rick Wasmund malts his own barley at The Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, Virginia. These three distilleries represent a much larger number now producing or in development.
Of course, attendance was not limited to makers of whiskey. Guy Rehorst of Great Lakes Distillery and (The Spirit World’s own) Sonja Kassebaum of the North Shore Distillery brought their wonderful gins and vodkas. Germain-Robin in California, the first artisanal distillery to open since Prohibition, sent master distiller Joe Corley. It was impossible to overlook Huber’s Starlight Distillery, which hosted the working sessions of the conference and provided demonstrations with their small column still.
The future of American spirits will be one of innovation, variety and craft. As with microbreweries beginning a couple decades ago, some of these distilleries may fail as businesses and others will succeed brilliantly. But as a movement they are breaking the hold that the giant industrial distillers have on what whiskey and other spirits are really about.
Welcome to The Spirit World
Quenching your thirst with sips, nips and tipples.
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