Rioja to host the 2023 World’s Best Vineyards

“The World’s Best Vineyards” list is back in 2023 and will be hosted by Rioja, Spain.  Showcasing the best of wine tourism across the globe, the annual “World’s Best Vineyards” list will be revealed at a special live event in July.

As well as its celebrated wineries, charming towns and quaint villages, Rioja is home to Mediterranean forests full of wildlife with high mountain areas to explore and stunning lunar landscapes to discover. The region offers a vast range of fun and memorable outdoor activities for all, including mountain horseback riding, 4×4 driving routes and hot-air ballooning across and over the rolling hills. Known as the gastronomic heartland of Spain, Rioja offers guests delicious culinary experiences from pincho tours to haute cuisine, fine dining and everything in between.

Situated in the north of Spain on the banks of the River Ebro, Rioja is surrounded by the majestic Sierra de Cantabria and Sierra de la Demanda Mountain ranges resulting in a breath-taking and picturesque landscape. It is most well-known for its wide variety of grapes, rich soils, climates, and stunning wineries that never cease to amaze visitors. The region spans 65,000 hectares and is home to more than 600 wineries from world-famous, award-winning destinations with avant-garde architecture to small family-run historical establishments. Preserved generation after generation, each one has something unique to offer guests making it the perfect destination to celebrate this year’s World’s Best Vineyards.

The World’s Best Vineyards annual list highlights the top vineyards to visit globally and aims to promote wine tourism around the world. Each year the list showcases unique vineyards with unrivalled visitor experiences, from modern architectural wonders, UNESCO-protected ancient cellars, and Michelin-starred restaurants to family-run wineries with intimate tours. The Voting Academy consists of over 500 leading wine experts, sommeliers and travel experts and they submit their nominations based on the different criteria that make the best destination vineyard, including quality of the overall experience, ambiance, cuisine, activities, views, staff, and value for money. The results are then collated and converted into the annual World’s Best Vineyards list.

Fernando Ezquerro, President of Denominacion de  stats: “It is an honour to host the prestigious World’s Best Vineyards 2023 event and a great opportunity to show the world why Rioja is Spain’s finest wine region. Rioja’s history and traditions have led it to establish itself not only as the leading winemaking region in Spain, but also as the country’s go-to destination for wine tourism, which has had a driving effect on the recovery and diversification of tourism in Spain. Our passion for hospitality and wine making makes Rioja such a special place to visit.”

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US [on-premise] Wine Sales Total $14.8 Billion

Wine sales in the US on-premise sector totaled $14.8 billion in the 52 weeks ended October 8, 2022 according to CGA Strategy by NielsenIQ.

Latest data from the market research firm CGA Strategy reflects a 22% increase over the same period in 2021, but growth is slowing as the on-premise market recovery continues.

Sparkling wine continues to stand out with sales up 34% in the recent period to $2.6 billion. Total domestic wine sales came to $9.2 billion, up 20%, while imports totaled $5.5 billion. Sales of white wine came to $7.2 billion followed by red at $6.5 billion. Happy to say that rosé sales grew 27% to $904 million.

The growth comes in a competitive market marked by fewer outlets and fewer choices for drinkers. CGA reports the number of fine dining outlets has decreased 4.1% between October 2021 to October 2022, while consumer surveys found 21 % of diners report they have noticed fewer menu items and 40 % of those say there are fewer wine options.

In a webinar last week, Andrew Hummel, CGA client Solutions Director for North America, said surveys of on-premise consumers consistently find 50% report they drink something different at restaurants and bars than what they enjoy at home. “It’s really important to understand the on-premise consumer and segment them differently from the off-premise consumer,” he further states.

In terms of the different types of on-premise wine consumers, 37% of those surveyed by CGA who are wine drinkers fall into the company’s “curious and on a budget” category which represents about 30% of all consumers. These restaurant and bar patrons are “moderately engaged,” typically visiting in the early evening and enjoying trying new drinks yet are price sensitive and attracted to values.

To help wine producers navigate a changing market, CGA developed a new report that offers a “360-degree view” of wine in the on-premise sector. This new report blends market data with consumer surveys and “user” data as well as a channel strategy analysis into what the firm describes as its most comprehensive analysis of the on-premise market for wine. “Whether teams are considering a new brand launch in the market or managing a portfolio of legacy wines, the report will provide a robust set of insights across relevant topics to help drinks suppliers win in the on-premise,” states Matthew Compton, CGA’s regional director of North America.

Sources:
NielsenIQ
Wines Vines Analytics

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Porto Wins “Best City Destination in World 2022” Travel Awards

The City of Porto was voted the “Best City Destination in the World 2022” at the ‘World Travel Awards’ ceremony a few weeks ago.

In a statement, the local municipality said that Porto was given the title of the Best City Destination in the World for 2022, ahead of cities such as Acapulco, Cancún and Mazatlán (Mexico), Bogotá (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Cape Town ( South Africa), Nairobi (Kenya), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Las Vegas, Miami and New York (United States of America), Hanoi (Vietnam), Hong Kong (China), Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Queenstown (New Zealand), London (England), Lyon (France), Marrakech (Morocco) and Lisbon.

The ceremony of the ‘World Travel Awards’, also known as the ‘Oscars’ of tourism, brought together the main decision-makers and prominent figures in the sector.

The councillor responsible for Tourism and Internationalization of the Porto Chamber, Catarina Santos Cunha, received the award on behalf of the municipality, and the president of the Porto Tourism Association, Luís Pedro Martins, was also present at the ceremony.

“The distinctions in over thirty categories in the European edition of the World Travel Awards 2022 is of particular significance after the difficult pandemic years. It is with pride that we see our tourism companies and professionals being acknowledged by their international peers,” said Rita Marques, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Trade and Services.

“All the agents of the sector are to be congratulated for meeting the challenge of consolidating Portugal as a tourist destination of excellence, in whatever circumstances.”

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Just in Time for the Holidays – The World’s 50 Best Bars for 2022 Announcement

The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 (sponsored by Perrier) was announced a few weeks ago at a live awards ceremony in Barcelona.

The list is compiled by votes from The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, which includes 650 drinks experts, including bartenders and industry consultants, drinks writers and international cocktail specialists.

Barcelona, home to “Paradiso” is the newly crowned world’s best bar! For the first time since 2009, a bar outside of New York or London earned the No. 1 spot on the list. It’s a Mediterranean-style speakeasy, where you enter through a freezer door of a pastrami bar in Barcelona’s trendy El Born district. “It’s a big honor to win and a big responsibility. We will work hard to live up to being the best and stick to our principles. Our cocktails try to push creativity,” Giannotti told 50 Best on Tuesday evening state owners Giacomo Giannotti and Margarita Sader. “But it comes down to hard work. The more you work, the more you discover and the more creative you can be. We will celebrate and then go back to the bar to do what we do.”

Italy also made a strong showing in 2022’s top 50, with bars in Rome, Florence, Milan and Naples. Florence also made its first appearance as well as Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon.

London was toppled from the top spot; the city is still one of the world’s premier cocktail destinations. Five London bars made the list, including The Connaught Bar, which dropped from its No. 1 ranking for two consecutive years, to No. 8 in 2022. London’s Tayēr + Elementary, which awards ceremony host Mark Sansom said is “one of the most original bars on the planet,” held onto its No. 2 spot from 2021.

New York City was the city with the most highly ranked bars on the 2022 list with six top 50 bars, including Double Chicken Please at No. 6 and Katana Kitten at No. 9.

Double Chicken Please won the Highest New Entry award for its strong debut. Sansom, who is content director of The World’s 50 Best Bars, told CNN Travel the bar has “an almost Michelin-grade kitchen,” one example of a growing emphasis on food programs at the world’s leading bars.

Here is a List of the top 25 World’s Best Bars for 2022

  1. Paradiso, Barcelona (Winner: Best Bar in Europe)
  2. Tayēr + Elementary, London
  3. Sips, Barcelona (Winner: Highest Climber)
  4. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City (Winner: Best Bar in North America, Legend of the List)
  5. Little Red Door, Paris (Winner: Sustainable Bar Award)
  6. Double Chicken Please, New York (Winner: Highest New Entry)
  7. Two Schmucks, Barcelona
  8. The Connaught Bar, London
  9. Katana Kitten, New York
  10. Alquímico, Cartegena (Winner: Best Bar in South America)
  11. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
  12. Jigger & Pony, Singapore (Winner: Best Bar in Asia)
  13. Hanky-Panky, Mexico City (Winner: Art of Hospitality)
  14. Bangkok Social Club, Bangkok (Winner: Best New Opening)
  15. Salmon Guru, Madrid
  16. Drink Kong, Rome
  17. Coa, Hong Kong
  18. Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
  19. The Clumsies, Athens
  20. Baba au Rum, Athens
  21. Cafe La Trova, Miami
  22. Attaboy, New York
  23. Satan’s Whiskers, London
  24. Tropic City, Bangkok
  25. Kumiko, Chicago

The full list of the top 50 can be found here:  https://www.worlds50bestbars.com/

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Californian Vintners Report “High Quality” for the 2022 Harvest

The California Vintners Report came out this week and described this year as “a tale of two harvests”, with the heatwave in the week around Labor Day dividing the season into earlier and later picks. . Besides some of the “curve balls” one winemaker states the quality was “off the charts”

The summer growing season was ideal on the North Coast, the report said, until the late August heatwave accelerated the harvest and reduced yields in many places. Mendocino, however, saw yields up in 2019, because of the cool spring and milder-than-normal temperatures, even though the extended heat wave and limited water resources for irrigation proved challenging during the harvest.

Meanwhile, Lodi and the Sierra Foothills saw some late frost after a mild spring “dramatically” reduced the size of the crop.

There was good news from Napa Valley, which recorded excellent quality. More than 20 inches of rain fell in October and December 2021, bucking the years of drought seen across the region, which was followed by dry conditions from January until March. The Spring was mild and cool, but the Labor Day heatwave sent temperatures soaring into triple digits – up t0 110 -118 degrees in some places – for nearly a week, although cools nights helped to temper this and allows the vines to recharge.

This caused ripening to accelerate throughout the valley, and picking began earlier-than-average for many varieties, although growers had to use multiple techniques to help vines ride out the heat, where unripe grapes had been left to hang. There was some dehydration though, resulting in lower yields but greater concentration and flavor intensity, the report said.

Nate Weis, vice president of winegrowing at Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars in the Napa Valley said 2022 was likely to be “a pretty intense vintage — concentrated and powerful”, with particularly Pinot Noir from the Russian River, Anderson Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands, and good Merlot and Cabernet Franc. “The quality,” he said, “is off the charts.”

Duckhorn Vineyards’s vice president of winemaking Renée Ary noted the estate’s Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were “some of the best ever and the Chardonnays are bright, balanced and focused”, she said.

“Given the range of ripeness, blending will be important for the 2022 vintage as we balance our early and later picks.”

Meanwhile, in Sonoma County, limited rainfall, early season frost, warm spring and an early summer proved to have no ill effects, although some yields were lighter than average. However, the report noted that “fruit quality thus far is stunning and the overall smaller berry and cluster sizes point to a stellar 2022 vintage… [with] vintners… reporting wonderful concentration and flavor in the wines.”

Lisa Amaroli, director of winemaking at Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County said it was “one for the record books”.

It comes as California’s Wine Institute has begun a new push to increase Californian wine exports – part of its ten-year strategy to grow US wine export sales to more than $2.5 billion by 2030.

View the full 2022 California Harvest Report, including regional reports from Amador County, Calaveras County, El Dorado County, Lake County, Livermore Valley, Lodi, Mendocino County, Monterey County, Napa Valley, Paso Robles, San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, Santa Clara Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains and Sonoma County: https://wineinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wine_Institute_2022_Harvest_Report.pdf

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