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/

#Worlds50BestBars #50BestBars #50BestTasteHunter #Awards #Barcelona #BCN #Barca #BarcelonaBars #Speakeasy #ThingsToDoInBarcelona #No1 #Worlds50Best #Bar #Bars #Cocktail #Cocktails #Travel #Imbibe #Drinkstagram #Paradiso #Perrier #Restaurant #Bar #Bars #Restaurants #BestRestaurants #BestBars #FineDining #CasualDining #Dining #Chefs  #50BestDiscovery #Bartenders cocktails #winelovers #wine #winelist #winenews

 

 

Wine Paris 2020 set to launch initiative to identify and understand eco-friendly certifications

Wine Paris is launching a new initiative “Wonderful” which will be aimed at helping global buyers identify and understand the eco-friendly certifications and endorsements developed by winegrowers, estates, co-operatives, and negociants.

The aim of “Wonderful” will be to “improve visibility for winegrowers, estates, co-operatives and negociants that have committed to at least one organic or eco-friendly scheme; clarify existing certifications and endorsements, top buyers, while also highlighting market and consumer developments; and signpost future trends and solutions”.

In order to achieve this, the dedicated “Wonderful” day February 11 2020 will comprise of presentations, round table debates and workshops in which trade and industry experts will share their experience of the market.

Topics selected for the day include: Family portrait: gaining a better understanding of the range of organic and eco-friendly certifications; How valuable are organic certifications in the global marketplace? Does biodynamic winegrowing change the flavor of wine? When vine growing goes green, what are the effects on supply, with more to be added.

Wine Paris, which is It is organized by Comexposium and overseen by 13 French wine marketing boards, is poised to welcome over 2,200 exhibitors at its second international trade show in 2020, with more than 30,000 visitors expected to attend the event.

In addition to “Wonderful”, other new features include ‘Wine Match’ – a 100% business and 100% online networking system designed for all exhibitors and visitors to help participants arrange pre-planned meetings with targeted and bespoke contacts.

https://en.wineparis.com/

Australian Cabernet Sauvignon Insights

According to Wine-Searcher, Australia produces seven of the world’s top 10 value Cabernet Sauvignon. Based on wines with at least a 90-point rating + and dividing the rating by the wine’s price, Cabernet Sauvignon from Australian regions Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek and Margaret River out-performed wines from international competitors Napa Valley and Bordeaux.

This comes on top of Australia’s strong performance at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards. Of the 27 gold medals awarded to Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia received the most with seven golds ahead of France and South Africa.

Gold medals awarded to Cabernet Sauvignon at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards:

Australia 7
France 4
South Africa 4
Chile 3
China 3
USA 2
Italy 1
Romania 1
Bulgaria 1
Israel 1
Total 27

Did you know that Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s most planted grape variety?

According to IWSR, Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s largest selling variety with 163 million cases (9-liter case equivalents) sold across the globe in 2018. Cabernet Sauvignon is Australia’s second most planted red variety behind Shiraz.

In 2019, while the overall Australian grape-crush declined by 3 percent, the Cabernet Sauvignon crush increased by 3 percent to just over 250,000 tonnes and reflecting growing demand, the average purchase price of Cabernet increased by 14 percent to $846 per tonne. Reflecting the premium nature of Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 % of the Cabernet Sauvignon purchased by Australian wineries was at prices above $1500 per tonne (vs 7 % for all grapes).

Australian Cabernet Sauvignon is shipped to over 114 markets around the world, with China and the United States the two biggest export destinations with a combined 70 percent value share.

The premium status of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon is also evident in the latest export figures. Exports of Australian single variety Cabernet Sauvignon averaged A$6.71 per liter in 2018–19, well-above the total average for all red wines of A$4.54 per liter. Australian Cabernet Sauvignon was destined for 114 markets

According to IRI Worldwide, in 2018–19, sales of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon grew 6 % in value in the USA’s off-trade market, double the overall Cabernet market growth rate of 3 %. For Australia, the strongest growth is coming at US$8–14.99 per bottle and, albeit off a small base, above US$25 per bottle.

The Clones
Wine Australia is also investing in R & D into Cabernet Sauvignon. The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) is currently into the final year of a three-year project, ‘Cabernet Sauvignon trials to evaluate response to climate and management.’ Three field sites of Cabernet Sauvignon plantings will be established in contrasting climates and soils. Each will contain at least 10 Cabernet Sauvignon clones that will be selected in collaboration with the sector and monitored to ensure that vines are well-established.

In the future, clone performance will be evaluated via a range of parameters including vine phenology, vegetative and reproductive growth, water relations and berry traits. The construction of the trial will allow comparison between different clones at the same site and between the performance of each clone in different.

SARDI
https://pir.sa.gov.au/research/about_sardi

Wines Australia
https://www.wineaustralia.com/

Cocktails are becoming one of Britain’s fastest-growing drinks categories, according to new research

The popularity of cocktails and the fact they are more widely available has helped boost sales through Britain’s pubs, bars, and restaurants by 10 % over the past 12 months taking the market value to £587m, says CGA’s Mixed Drinks Report Q1 2019.

The number of licensed premises selling cocktails has risen 7 % in the past year, with 42,000 on-trade outlets. Drinks-led pubs have been particularly fast to respond to demand, with a growing number opting to sell pre-prepared or draught cocktails.

Based on the on-trade, number one in the Top 10 list of mainstream cocktails is the vodka-based Pornstar Martini, served with a shot of Prosecco on the side. Sales of Pornstar Martini have risen 2 % over the past 12 months and accounting for 15.3 % of cocktails sold.

Having fallen from its top slot, the white-rum based Mojito is Britain’s second favorite cocktail, accounting for 12.4 % of mainstream sales, down 1.2 % from last year.

Occupying the rest of the Top 10 are: Long Island Iced Tea, Sex on the Beach, Daiquiri, Woo Woo, Espresso Martini, Martini, Pina Colada and Collins.

Charlie Mitchell, CGA drinks expert said: “There are two clear trends coming through in the mainstream consumer’s preference for cocktails – that of shorter, more complex drinks with a higher ABV like the Martini cocktails, but also a growing preference for longer, more refreshing drinks such as the Collins which has a more sophisticated, less sweet flavor profile.”

“Tastes have moved away from fruity, sweet drinks with the Woo Woo, Sex on the Beach and Cosmopolitan losing the most favor over the past 12 months.

“The growing popularity of Aperol Spritz and other spritz serves are part of the trend towards a lighter, more refreshing drink with a lower ABV and fewer ingredients allowing the taste of the base spirit to come through.”

European Wine is dominating Canada

New statistics released last month by Canada’s national statistics agency confirm that wine is increasingly gaining popularity. Canadian consumers’ attention seems to be drawn to foreign products. Statistics show that 70% of the total wine consumed in Canada between 2017 and 2018 was imported.

Canada is a market that the European Union cannot underestimate. While beer seems to retain its position as Canadians’ favorite alcoholic beverage (39, 68% of the value of total alcoholic beverages sales), Canada’s national statistics agency has data to confirm that wine is not far from gaining first place (32,43%). This is a tendency arisen within the last 10 years: wine sales in Canada have been consistently increasing year on year (averaging 4,2% a year; 4,6% compared with the previously investigated fiscal year, 2016/17). At a global level, analysis by Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV) on the state of the viticulture in the world market has found that in 2018 Canada was the 13th country in terms of wine consumption, but the 6th for volume of imported wine (joint with the Netherlands). As mentioned above, Canada’s significant wine import rate is confirmed by Canada’s own data, which reports that 70% of the wine consumed in Canada between 2017 and 2018 was of foreign origin.

The Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union played a fundamental role in imported wine’s conquer of the Canadian market. The treaty was provisionally applied on September 21th, 2018, and eliminated 98% of the exporting tariffs between the signing countries. The CETA also signified the official acknowledgment of European denominations of origin, a remarkable achievement for high-quality European products. For the first time, the treaty banned the sale in Canada of imitations of 140 European delicacies, making European designations of origin an unequivocal guarantee of products origin and craft.

However, protecting these products from imitations is not enough. In order to make the most of this opportunity, the European quality system needs to be demystified and communicated to the ordinary customer. According to NGO participant Kurtis Kolt, wine consultant and sommelier, wine experts are aware of the superior craft of EU products marked with quality labels, but the difference is still unclear to the general public: It should not be taken for granted that everyone knows what PDO and PGI mean.

This is precisely why the European Union has created educational programs such as Native Grape Odyssey. Comments from participants confirm that the full potential of European wines in the Canadian market is still to be expressed: “Wine consumption, sales, intrigue and interest are on the rise in Canada currently and it is a great time for the premium wine market. Wine is currently on trend in Canada and it is a great time to focus on more niche or lesser known wines varietals and regions.“ commented Jeffery Osborne, Sales Manager at Grape Brands Ltd. and sommelier.

The situation seems promising for European exports in Canadian market, but these products need to be properly introduced and explained to the consumer. This is a role that only people of authority within the market can undertake. The above-mentioned 25 wine experts have thus found in NGO a way to deepen their knowledge about the subject, so that they can effectively express it to the Canadian market. Joanne DiGeso, wine educator, stated that NGO has perfectly identified what is needed to take European wine sales in Canada to the next level: «I think that NGO is doing great work at educating influencers, sommeliers and educators on the broader range of Italian wines. This, in turn, should ‘trickle down’ to consumers.» Sommelier Jeffery Osborne commented further by praising NGO’s educational activities content: «NGO-organised seminars are fantastic deep dives into perspectives on the grapes and wines which we are typically not exposed to by CMS or WSET. »

The success of this first edition encouraged NGO’s organizers to expand the program: large scale events have already been planned for the months to come, and this time NGO will literally bring European excellence to the world, organizing educational activities directly in the target countries.

About: Native Grape Odyssey is a project financed by the European Union and managed by Unione Italiana Vini and Zante Agricultural Cooperatives Union for the promotion of PDO and PGI European wines abroad, in particular in three countries: Japan, Canada and Russia. In order to achieve this, the Native Grape Odyssey educational program will organize wine seminars, workshops and b2b meetings both in these countries and in Verona, Italy, inviting wine experts and influencers from these countries. These events, realized in the span of three years (2019-21) aim at creating awareness about European native wines abroad, in particular, Italian and Greek wines, which share a long tradition and a high standard of quality.

Source:
Native Grape Odyssey (NGO), an EU-financed educational project for the promotion of European native grapes