HAPPY HOLIDAYS…..

Happy Holidays from Liz Palmer and the UPSocial Wine & Spirits Team!!

#happyholidays #happyholidays2018 #happyholidays🎄 #merrychristmas #christmas #christmastime🎄 #christmasiscoming #christmasforwinelovers #wine #winelover #winelovers🍷 #spiritlovers #wineforchristmas #champagne #champagnelovers #cognaclovers #toronto #newyork #chicago #london #paris #reims #cognac

Liz Palmer

Results of 2018 Airline Wine Competition

Global Traveler, the only AAM-audited magazine for luxury business and leisure

Global Traveler, the only AAM-audited magazine for luxury business and leisure travelers, has released the results of its 15th annual Wines on the Wing Airline Wine Competition.

The competition, held at the end of May, took place at The Pierre, A Taj Hotel, in New York City. Expert judges participated in the blind tasting of 22 airlines’ white, red and sparkling wines. The judges hailed from a wide range of specialties, including sommeliers, wine shop owners and winemakers. In total, 18 Champagnes/sparkling wines, 39 white wines and 39 red wines were tasted.

Airlines are required to submit five different wines — two red wines, two white wines and one sparkling wine/Champagne — to be eligible for the overall Best International Business-Class Wines on the Wing award or the Best International First-Class Wines on the Wing award. This year, the winner for Best International Business-Class Wines on the Wing was Delta Air Lines, and the winner for Best International First-Class Wines on the Wing was All Nippon Airways.

In the white wine category, Best International Business-Class White Wine was La Capra Chenin Blanc 2016, South Africa, submitted by Aeroflot. For first class, the winner was EL AL Israel Airlines with Yatir Winery Viognier 2015, Israel.

The best business-class Champagne was American Airlines’ Lanson Black Label Brut, NV. The best first-class Champagne was All Nippon Airways’ Krug Brut Champagne 2004.

When it came to red wine, American Airlines reigned supreme in the first-class category with Valduero Reserva 2012, Ribera del Duero, and United Airlines took the No. 1 business-class spot with Les Graviéres du Roy Sauvion 2016, France.

For the 10th consecutive year, Global Traveler awarded the Best North American Wines on the Wing. North American airlines submitted first-class and business-class wine samples, depending on their domestic flight offerings.

American Airlines was named Best North American First-Class/Business-Class Wines on the Wing, and also won for its red wine, Raymond Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Reserve Selection, Napa Valley, California, and its white wine, Joseph Drouhin Pouilly-Vinzelles 2015, Mâcon, France. JetBlue’s Raventós de Nit Brut 2015, Spain, won Best North American Champagne/Sparkling Wine.

For the seventh year, Global Traveler awarded the Best Alliance Wines on the Wing. The participating airlines were divided by airline alliance. The overall points for each airline were tallied and averaged to determine the alliance with the highest total. Congratulations to oneworld, represented by American Airlines, LATAM and British Airways.

Competition director Eunice Fried spent months preparing for the blind tasting. Fried, an accomplished wine journalist and respected wine expert, resides in New York City.

Global Traveler is the only U.S.-based publication to conduct such a survey in the United States.

The top airlines in each category are:

BEST INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS-CLASS WINES ON THE WING
1. Delta Air Lines
2. United Airlines
3. All Nippon Airways
4. Brussels Airlines
5. British Airways

BEST INTERNATIONAL FIRST-CLASS WINES ON THE WING
1. All Nippon Airways
2. British Airways
3. American Airlines
4. United Airlines

BEST CHAMPAGNE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS
1. American Airlines
2. Aeroflot
3. All Nippon Airways
4. United Airlines
5. Brussels Airlines

BEST CHAMPAGNE INTERNATIONAL FIRST CLASS
1. All Nippon Airways
2. American Airlines
3. British Airways

BEST WHITE WINE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS
1. Aeroflot
2. British Airways
3. British Airways
4. Delta Air Lines
5. Brussels Airlines

BEST WHITE WINE INTERNATIONAL FIRST CLASS
1. EL AL Israel Airlines
2. British Airways
3. All Nippon Airways
4. American Airlines
5. British Airways

BEST RED WINE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS
1. United Airlines
2. Brussels Airlines
3. Alitalia
4. Alitalia
5. American Airlines

BEST RED WINE INTERNATIONAL FIRST CLASS
1. American Airlines
2. All Nippon Airways
3. British Airways/United Airlines (TIE)
4. United Airlines
5. EL AL Israel Airlines

BEST NORTH AMERICAN WINES ON THE WING
1. American Airlines
2. Delta Air Lines
3. United Airlines
4. JetBlue

BEST NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPAGNE/SPARKLING WINE
1. JetBlue
2. Delta Air Lines/United Airlines (TIE)
3. American Airlines

BEST NORTH AMERICAN RED WINE
1. American Airlines
2. American Airlines
3. Delta Air Lines
4. United Airlines
5. United Airlines

BEST NORTH AMERICAN WHITE WINE
1. American Airlines
2. American Airlines
3. JetBlue
4. United Airlines
5. Delta Airlines

BEST ALLIANCE WINES ON THE WING
1. oneworld
2. SkyTeam
3. Star Alliance

 

Global Traveler: http://www.globaltravelerusa.com/wines-on-the-wing-2018/

2018 Champagne Harvest – A Vintage Year

The Champagne Harvest begins on August 21. The region has had a year

The Champagne Harvest begins on August 21. The region has had a year of extreme weather. Growers and houses saw record winter rainfall, with 345mm from November 2017 to January 2018. This beats the previous high of 338mm which was set in 1965, according to the Comité. A prolonged, cold winter has given way to good weather with flowering early June along with above average temperatures and sunshine hours.

Optimism around the 2018 vintage is high, said the Comité, which has set yields as 10,800kg per hectare.

Yields are set with one eye on the market. There is an assumption that global Champagne sales in 2018 will not grow significantly versus 2017 in volume terms, albeit exports were expected to lead any increase.

In the last 15 years, 2018 will be the fifth vintage. Global warming is also a local reality that Champagne growers and houses have taken into account.

Expecting stable sales in 2018 and a slight growth over the next few years (especially in the export markets, which now account for more than 50% of the total shipments), Champagne growers and houses agreed today to set the available yield at 10,800 kg/ha, the same level as in 2017. This volume fills the needs of the Champagne producers and maintains a balanced overall stock level.

This harvest is expected to be generous in volume and of good quality. It should also make it possible to reconstitute the Champagne reserve, widely used in the last two years.

Liz Palmer listed by Social Vignerons as one of 2018’s Top 40 Wine Influencers

Canadian award-winning author and wine journalist Liz Palmer has been named as one of 2018’s Top 40 Wine Influencers –Liz states:

“It’s such an honor to listed as one of the Top 40 Wine Influencers and to be amongst notable magazines, brands, worthy peers.” “I’m thrilled!”

Who are the 2018 “Top 40” Social Media Power Influencers around the topic of wine?

For the fourth year, Julien Miquel, founder of Social Vignerons has compiled a list of the top 40 top wine personalities on social platforms.

This list has also proven very useful to the wine community in search of wine & social media action and wondering who’s doing what.

Here is the full list with direct links to social media accounts:

http://socialvignerons.com/2018/02/13/2018-top-40-wine-influencers-who-to-follow-on-social-media/

Vinexpo announces major New York exhibition March 5-6, 2018

Vinexpo New York will feature two days of business meetings, tastings, conferences, master classes and networking events.

The leading international exhibition for wine and spirits professionals is bound for the U.S. with Vinexpo New York, March 5-6, 2018. Produced in association with Diversified Communications, the show is expected to host exhibitors from all wine-producing regions around the globe to the world’s largest wine-consuming market – a distinction the U.S. has held since 2010. Show organizers aim to propose a new type of event for the wine and spirits industry, which will be adapted to the fast-evolving US market. Vinexpo New York will be open exclusively to the national trade. Targeted visitors are importers, distributors, retailers, brokers, e-commerce, on-trade buyers and sommeliers.

Held in the Javits Center’s 45,000-square-foot, glass-enclosed River Pavilion, Vinexpo New York will feature two days of business meetings, tastings, conferences, master classes and networking events. Its exhibition will showcase the newest wines and spirits introduced to the U.S. market.

“The time is right to bring Vinexpo to the U.S. market, which leads the world in wine consumption and whose influence only continues to grow,” said Guillaume Deglise, CEO of Vinexpo, which has held bi-annual exhibitions in Bordeaux since 1981 and has expanded into Asia since 1998, with shows in Hong Kong and Tokyo. “Vinexpo New York will present American buyers with an unmatched opportunity to experience, on their own turf, wines and spirits from international markets, including a number of products that have never before been available in the U.S. market.”

“We’re excited to combine forces with Vinexpo to bring the international world of wine and spirits to New York – the trade capital of the U.S.,” added Mary Larkin, Executive Vice President of Diversified Communications. A leading international media company based in Portland, Maine, Diversified produces trade events across the globe for a wide range of industries.

A catalyst for international wine and spirits business, France-based Vinexpo draws thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of buyers, importers, sommeliers, distributors, retailers and other qualified professionals to its exhibitions in Bordeaux and Asia. Its June 2017 show in Bordeaux will be no exception, with as many as 2,300 exhibitors and 48,000 trade visitors from 151 countries expected to descend on the city’s Parc des Expositions, June 18-21.

Vinexpo New York attendee registration will open in September 2017. For more information, visit www.vinexponewyork.com.

About Vinexpo
Founded in 1981, Vinexpo is the world’s leading show for wine and spirits professionals and a partner for the wine and spirits industry worldwide. Vinexpo is held in Bordeaux in odd-numbered years. Since 1998, Vinexpo Hong Kong (formerly known as Vinexpo Asia-Pacific) has taken place in even-numbered years, and in 2014, Vinexpo expanded to the Japanese market with the debut of Vinexpo Tokyo, also held in even-numbered years. The two have become key exhibitions of the industry in Asia. Before each exhibition, Vinexpo commissions studies on industry-specific issues and presents the findings in conferences around the world. Since 1999, it has produced a world market study with a five-year outlook, as well as a variety of trend reports. For more information, visit www.vinexpo.com.

About Diversified Communications
Diversified Communications is a leading international media company providing market access, education and information through global, national and regional face-to-face events, digital products, publications and television stations. Diversified serves a number of industries including: technology, seafood, food service, natural and organic, healthcare, commercial marine, and business management. Based in Portland, Maine, USA, Diversified has divisions in the Eastern United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.