Gastronomy and Wine Portal

The results of the IWSR study, a leading source of data, analysis and insights on the global alcoholic beverages market, were recently presented.

According to new IWSR research, online alcohol sales in key global markets will grow by 66% by 2025 and reach more than $ 42 billion.

Among the countries, which the IWSR study focused on, the cost of e-commerce in 2019 increased by about 12%, and in 2020, during the pandemic, by almost 43%.

In 2025, the IWSR predicts that e-commerce will account for about 6% of the total volume of the off-trade segment of the beverage market, compared to less than 2% in 2018. And the largest growth is on the world’s leading market for online alcohol sales – the United States, where the average annual growth was about 20%.

China, which now accounts for a third of the total cost of e-commerce, is not expected to grow as fast, but will still make a significant contribution. Research has also shown that online business models for selling alcohol are becoming more diverse.

According to Guy Wolfe, IWSR’s strategic insight manager, e-commerce has become more commonplace for many consumers, strengthening its position as a third channel for buying alcohol.

About a quarter of consumers report buying alcohol online, and two-thirds made their first purchase before the pandemic. In China, the largest share of online shoppers among all alcohol buyers is almost 60%, and in the United States – the highest share of online shoppers who made their first purchase during the pandemic (54%).

Wine is one of the main categories of alcoholic beverages among online sales (accounting for about 40% of the total value of e-commerce), excluding China, Colombia, Mexico and Nigeria, where spirits are the leaders in online sales.

Over the next five years, beer, cider and RTDs (ready-to-drink) are expected to grow significantly. They now account for less than one-fifth of the total cost of e-commerce.

Based on the material of theiwsr.com

The results of the IWSR study, a leading source of data, analysis and insights on the global alcoholic beverages market, were recently presented.

The MUMM Champagne house, founded in Reims in 1827, has created an experience to better appreciate the aromas of Cordon Rouge. The Tastes by Mumm experience was open to the public from December 15 to 18, in Paris.

Gently bring the glass to your nose, breathe in its scent, dip your lips in it, taste the nectar it contains and, finally, keep it in your mouth to capture all the aromas. Then you immerse in a storytelling by the experts who talk about golden colour, mineral notes, fine bubbles… The tasting ritual can leave some amateurs perplexed, admittedly appreciating champagne, but insufficiently initiated to grasp all its finesse.

To make exercise accessible to everyone, Maison MUMM called on Gabriel Lepousez, a neuroscientist who has been studying for 15 years how the brain perceives smells and in particular those associated with the world of wine. In partnership with the cellar master of this champagne house, Laurent Fresnet, he imagined an experience that awakened the five senses to stimulate emotions and offer a more global perception of the product.

“Human beings are endowed with 350 scent receptors, but not everyone feels the same way. Half the population, for example, is unable to recognize the scent of violets, explains Gabriel Lepousez. This is why we should not be stuck on a single aroma when drinking a wine”.

Called Tastes by MUMM, this experience creates the ideal conditions for a more spontaneous tasting of the iconic Cordon Rouge cuvée, created in 1876 by Georges Hermann. A complex wine from 120 vintages from 120 different villages, where we find 45% Pinot Noir – emblematic grape variety of the house, 35% Chardonnay – at the origin of the acidity of the wine and 20% of Meunier – which gives it all its complexity.

To better understand its subtleties, the protagonists of the tasting are immersed in an immersive setting, lulled by a background sound in line with the universe of images broadcast on a 360-degree screen. Seated around a table, they have in front of them two cups of Cordon Rouge.

The first step is to taste one of them with your left hand while holding in the right a cornerstone – symbol of purity – and a touch of perfume soaked in citrus zest that you will have previously carried to your nostrils – to better impress the notion of freshness in the brain. At the same time, extremely bright images follow one another on the screen. All of these elements are supposed to enhance the perception of Chardonnay and its citrus notes. And it works! The acidity of the nectar explodes in the mouth.

Next exercise considers drinking the second glass by sliding a small velvet pouch in your left hand and holding a touch of perfume with the scent of salted butter caramel between your fingers. The goal? To highlight the roundness of Pinot Noir, its notes of gourmet biscuits. Unlike the first tasting, this time the champagne gains in thickness, in power, in ‘gourmandism’.

In thirty minutes, the Cordon Rouge has thus revealed all its duality. It is both an aperitif drink and an ideal accompaniment to food and wine pairings. “We didn’t do a magic trick, we just tasted the same thing and used our five senses to amplify the different dimensions that coexist in this champagne,” adds Gabriel Lepousez. The magic of a great wine is having several personalities to offer and things to tell”.

Source: https://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr

Photo credits: https://www.facebook.com/champagne.mumm

The MUMM Champagne house, founded in Reims in 1827, has created an experience to better appreciate the aromas of Cordon Rouge. The Taste by Mumm experience was open to the public from December 15 to 18, in Paris.

SIAL India and Vinexpo India hosted their first exhibit in New Delhi from 9th – 11th December 2021 at Pragati Maidan. The show, which was one of its first kind in India in the B2B space, was jointly organized by InterAds Exhibitions, Comexposium and Vinexposium.

The Government of Meghalaya partnered SIAL India for this edition which was inaugurated by Ms. Amanda Strohan, Deputy High Commissioner Embassy of Canada, Mr. Matthias Radosztics, Deputy Head of Mission at the Austrian Embassy, Mr. Eric Fajole, Trade Commissioner and Director of Business France for South Asia Embassy of Paris, and Mrs. Rebecca Suchiang, Chief Secretary of Meghalaya. The three days of show had 119 exhibitors, 80 B2B meetings and saw over 7500 visitors from across Delhi-NCR.

The show hosted interesting masterclasses with experts from the F&B industry. An exceptional program of culinary events: demonstrations, live cooking classes with renowned chefs such as Mr. Manjit Gill, President, IFCA hosted a cooking demo of forgotten Indian recipes whereas Chef Manisha Bhasin hosted a cooking demo for sustainable cooking. The maiden Vinexpo India show in Delhi had participation from 15 wine and spirit companies. The exhibitors included the only dedicated State Wine Board in the country, the Karnataka Wine Board.

Vinexpo India will now co-locate with SIAL India next on 10-12 May 2022 in Mumbai, the economic capital of India and a major gateway for international trade. Mumbai’s economy is growing fast, and its wine and spirits market is booming with a potential of 300 million consumers.

Rodolphe Lameyse, CEO of Vinexposium, commented “The success of the first edition of Vinexpo India in New Delhi encourages us to open doors to more territories in India. I am very much thrilled by the perspectives of launching Vinexpo India in Mumbai as soon as May 2022, it is an important milestone for the future.”

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/vinexpoindia

SIAL India and Vinexpo India hosted their first exhibit in New Delhi from 9th – 11th December 2021 at Pragati Maidan. The show, which was one of its first kind in India in the B2B space, was jointly organized by InterAds Exhibitions, Comexposium and Vinexposium.

The conference, based on a global study conducted by Geisenheim University in collaboration with WineTourism.com, will be held online on January 25, 2022.

Gergely Szolnoki, Professor of Market Research at Geisenheim University (Germany) and honorary professor of Wine and Beverage Management & Marketing at the University of West Attica (Greece), Judge of the international Wine Travel Awards, together with his colleagues from Geisenheim University and WineTourism.com from Sweden conducted a study entitled “Sustainable Wine Tourism – Findings of a global survey”. The aim of the study was to better understand the importance of sustainability in global wine tourism.

Data began to be collected in November 2021. In total, more than 1,500 wineries took part. “As the pandemic gradually recedes, other issues become the focus of wine tourism. Sustainable development is one of such topics,” say the project organizers.

The scholars will present the results of the research at a webinar to be held on January 25, 2022, at 4 PM (CET). Speakers will be Gergely Szolnoki and Niklas Ridoff, CEO at WineTourism.com.

Agenda of the event:

• Presentation of the survey findings.
• Discussion about best practices of sustainable wine tourism.
• Discussion about sustainability for wine tourism as an operation of the entire wine organization.

You can register and join the event here.

The research report will be published here.

Photo: concealedwines.com

The conference, based on a global study conducted by Geisenheim University in collaboration with WineTourism.com, will be held online on January 25, 2022.

As part of the main event, a conference on “Traditions and prospects of Italian cuisine. Awareness and food resilience” was held. The conference aimed to highlight the quality and individuality of Italian cuisine.

On December 11, a conference was held in Kyiv as part of the VI Italian Cuisine Week, which focused on reliable and organic products. The event was organized by the Embassy of Italy in Ukraine and ICE – Institute of Foreign Trade of Italy at the initiative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The participants of the press conference were greeted by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to Ukraine Pier Francesco Zazo and the Director of ICE Kyiv Tony Corradini.

The program included a master class by Marco Cervetti, a brand Chef of “Silpo”, dedicated to traditional recipes of Italian cuisine and a cooking show by chefs Stefano Antonioli, Phoenix Restaurant and Gaetano Sgroi, Opera Hotel Kyiv.

Italian products and beverages are an important component of the Made in Italy brand, which has a great potential in Ukraine. And to support these trends, an agreement was recently signed between ICE and the Ukrainian supermarket chain “Silpo”, one of the Ukraine’s most powerful retailers.

The event continued with a reception, which included representatives of the alcohol and food industry, as well as other businesses.

Drinks+ Files

According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, in 2020 Italian food, including beverages, was imported to Ukraine in the amount of about 208 million euros. This is 27% more than in 2019. Food products play an important role in the total import of Italian goods to Ukraine and today their share is about 12.3%.

ICE (Instituto nazionale per il Commercio Estero) – Institute of Foreign Trade of Italy, a subsidiary body of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, is a government agency with a well-developed network of regional and foreign missions (17 in Italy, 117 worldwide). ICE was established in 1926.

As part of the main event, a conference on “Traditions and prospects of Italian cuisine. Awareness and food resilience” was held. The conference aimed to highlight the quality and individuality of Italian cuisine.

Carried out in the Côtes d´Auvergne and in Canada, a study shows organoleptic markers specific to volcanic wines.

“The volcanic wines have clearly identifiable chemical and organoleptic markers”. This is demonstrated by the first results of the scientific study conducted by the VINORA association (Salon International des Vins Volcaniques) from September 2020 to June 2021.

The association, which created the first exhibition dedicated to volcanic wines in January 2020 on the Vulcania site, near Clermont-Ferrand, wished to list the international volcanic vineyards with an official label.

The study brought together many international specialists in mineral analysis, chemistry and sensoriality of wine, including John Szabo, Master Sommelier, Canadian journalist and writer. It was carried out on 8 test plots of Gamay d’Uvergne. “The two types of plots turned out to be geochemically distinct and present a low water deficit, but even lower for the four basalt plots, compared to the four clay-limestone plots. Certain elements and parameters are statistically more present in basaltic soils: pH, volatile acidity, lactic acid, tristimular b coordinate (colorimetry), tint, sodium and strontium; also, a lower manganese concentration”.

At the same time, organoleptic criteria have been demonstrated. A typical profile emerged during blind tastings, with very marked characteristics: intense peppery notes, salinity, roundness (lower acidity).

The next stage will continue for the 2021 vintage. On the program, plot micro-vinifications, work to characterize the plant material with an emphasis on the mineral fraction, integration of other types of volcanic soils: nuggets, pumice stones… and continuation analyzes of two vintages.

An ambitious project that will result in specifications for the future “Volcanic wine” label, the objective of which will be to guarantee the volcanic origin of wines to buyers and consumers and to provide winegrowers with a scientifically validated recognition tool.

Photo: MP Delpeuch

Based on the material of www.terredevins.com

Carried out in the Côtes d´Auvergne and in Canada, a study shows organoleptic markers specific to volcanic wines.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law on the abolition of excise stamps for natural wines and honey drinks.

Back in May, the parliament approved in first reading bills 5118 and 5119, which are aimed at supporting craft brewers, including a proposal by Robert Horvat to abolish excise stamps for producers of natural wines and honey drinks.

Recently, the main initiator of the proposal to abolish excise stamps for producers of natural wines and honey drinks, Ukrainian politician, MP of VIII and IX convocations, member of the parliamentary group “Trust” Robert Horvat has announced on his page that the law was passed.

Among other things, the parliament approved amendments to the legislation regarding the import of test samples of alcoholic beverages by economic entities, defined the procedure for electronic licensing and established the indefinite validity of licenses. For connoisseurs of natural wines and honey drinks, they can be bottled in 0.33 liters metal cans from food aluminum.

“From January 1, 2022, these legislative changes minimize the cost of time and money of Ukrainian producers,” – said Robert Horvat.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/R.Gorvat/

Photo: Arsen Fedosenko, agropolit.com

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law on the abolition of excise stamps for natural wines and honey drinks.

On November 18, 2021, Scarlett Johansson was honored to receive the American Cinematheque Award for her lifetime achievements. Château Malartic-Lagravière was served at the gala dinner but was also alongside the famous actress to present her with a 2016 red wine magnum engraved with her name.

Since 1986, this prestigious Hollywood institution has honoured, each year, an emblematic figure of the Seventh Art. In 2019, Château Malartic-Lagravière had the privilege of being alongside Charlize Theron for the presentation of her Award during a memorable evening.

This year, the gala dinner brought together 700 people at the Beverly Hilton hotel and the presence at the tables of Château Malartic Lagravière was no accident. Séverine Bonnie, Marketing and Communication Director of Château Malartic-Lagravière explains “We know people from the world of cinema, in Latin America, and we collaborate regularly for films. We send bottles to the production sites, and we are lucky enough to see them appear in films from time to time. Through this, we had the opportunity to offer our wines to the American Cinematheque Award Tribute, and to see them served at the tables at the annual gala dinner starting in 2019”.

This November 18, 2021, the Bonnie family was represented at the ceremony by Véronique Bonnie, co-manager with her brother of Malartic vineyards. It was a great satisfaction to see that the Malartic-Lagravière white 2016 and red 2014 were perfectly matched to the dishes, and that they delighted the palate.

But Véronique Bonnie also had the privilege of presenting the actress with a magnum engraved in fine gold: “Scarlett Johansson American Cinémathèque Award 2021”. It was the occasion of an exchange during which the actress was “warm, human, not at all distant and very interested in the property and its wines”. She took the opportunity to dedicate the 2016 Malartic-Lagravière magnum engraved in her honor, a bottle that will be offered to Solar Responders, the charitable foundation that Scarlett Johansson runs with her twin brother Hunter Johansson. A foundation created in 2017 following the devastation Hurricane Maria inflicted on the island of Puerto Rico and which has since worked to raise funds for the rebuilding of homes for hurricane victims.

The Bonnie family sees in this meeting points in common between the production of a grand cru and the making of a film: the passion to tell a story, that of the terroir and the people who shape it and share the same universal values: knowledge – doing, emotion, sharing, transmission.

Based on the material of terredevins.com

Photo Credit: Bryan Beasley

On November 18, 2021, Scarlett Johansson was honored to receive the American Cinematheque Award for her lifetime achievements. Château Malartic-Lagravière was served at the gala dinner but was also alongside the famous actress to present her with a 2016 red wine magnum engraved with her name.

Soneva Fushi in the Maldives presents Flying Sauces, the world’s first gourmet zipline.

Soneva Fushi in the Maldives presents Flying Sauces, the world’s first gourmet zipline attraction. After descending a 200-meter zipline trail above the tropical jungle, guests find themselves in a panoramic restaurant with a gourmet menu (12 meters above the ground).

“At Soneva we are passionate about elevating the guest experience to something that is unique and rare, and our new Flying Sauces does just that – creating an experiential dining moment to create long-term memories for our guests. This new experience gives our guests a new perspective of our unique island eco-system, allowing them to reconnect with the sights and sounds of nature while enjoying fine dining hospitality at the same time,” said Sonu Shivdasani, CEO and Co-Founder, Soneva.

Those wishing to make a “flight” over the tropical forest are securely fastened with seat belts, afterwards the descent along the zipline track begins. There is a stop halfway through – the brave heroes will be offered shots and light snacks. The final stop of the journey is a gourmet restaurant.

Set on a tree-topped veranda, the establishment offers sumptuous panoramic views and gourmet cuisine from Chef Rasal Jayawardene. Everything is prepared here, in the open kitchen.

To create his culinary masterpieces, Rasal Jayawarden uses local seasonal vegetables, fruits, herbs and mushrooms, fish and seafood are provided by local fishermen. Particular attention is paid to the selection of wines from the Soneva cellars, in the collection of which there are more than 9000 items.

The zipline and Flying Sauces restaurant are open during daylight hours. In addition to lunches, breakfasts and teas are prepared for guests. You can also go for a zipline ride without a gastronomic component. The attraction is available for adults and children from 8 years old. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete the route.

More detailed information can be found here.

Photo: Collection-PR

Soneva Fushi in the Maldives presents Flying Sauces, the world’s first gourmet zipline.

Californian winemakers decided to produce drinks other than wine to show the world that Napa Valley is not only about viticulture.

Winemakers from Treasury Wine Estates, David Arthur Vineyards, Daylight Wines & Spirits and E&J Gallo have expanded their product lines, according to reports in the Napa Valley Register.

“We were excited about dealing with a different fruit. There are some really cool orchards with five or 10 or 50 trees all over the place, and people don’t know what to do with them. This was a good way for us to explore those corners of Napa and try our hand at something different,” after all, he reminded: “We deal with grapes all day, every day,” said Treasury Wine Estates director of technical viticulture, sustainability and research, Will Drayton, who is also a co-creator of Sawhorse Ciders.

Winemaker from David Arthur Vineyards Nile Zacherle is going to expand his range of beer production: “after two decades of making wine, the idea was to approach beer with more of a winemaker lens. I want people to think about beer on a different level. I think the challenge is getting people to look at beer differently and to be a little bit more open minded.”

Nile is the co-founder of Mad Fritz Brewing, a brewery that offers 14 beer varieties, including “The King and the Frogs” with a recipe dating back to the 13th century. The winemaker-brewer is convinced that this beer will help consumers understand how complex and multi-layered it can be.

“These are time machine beers that take you back in time with ingredients that add a whole other dimension of flavours. That is the journey – exploring all the flavours and dynamics and layers of beer that these different origins can provide, not just producing something that people want or think they want,” said Zacherle.

Andy Wahl, co-founder of Daylight Wine and Spirits, is expanding his bourbon production. The drink is aged in wine barrels. The winemaker says that the idea came to him one evening when he poured himself whiskey into a glass with the remnants of Pinot. “I immediately noticed how it changed the colour of the whiskey, and it was a bit more aromatic.” Wahl uses three-to four-year-old barrels to infuse his bourbon with berry notes.

Winemakers at E. & J. Gallo say they set aside large quantities of wine for distillation in order to then produce products from the California Brandy House, which they founded, to demonstrate that California has much more to offer the consumer, even in lean years.

Based on thedrinksbusiness.com

Photo: facebook.com/davidarthurvineyards, davidarthur.com, folksland.net

Californian winemakers decided to produce drinks other than wine to show the world that Napa Valley is not only about viticulture.