Wines, Spirits, Beers, And Their Pairings
With Great Food
Tasting Notes, Special
Wine Event Coverage, Cellar Awards To
Members' Restaurants, Etc. Etc.
Internet/Phone Bids Welcome for Moet
& Chandon's Rare Vintage Auction
Benefitting CCAfrica Foundation
Business Editors
JOHANNESBURG, South
Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17,
--Moet & Chandon will be auctioning
two magnum bottles of vintage
champagne to benefit the CCAfrica
Foundation on July 18. Proceeds from
the auction of L'Esprit du Siecle,
the rarest champagne ever produced,
will be used to develop skills of
young students from rural regions
interested in Africa's eco-tourism
industry.
Telephone and Internet
bids can be made until the July 18
gala event celebrating the creation
of the "Siya Kwamukela" Education
Program. Guests of this 20th
century-themed affair will enjoy
music, dance, poetry readings, the
exclusive opportunity of tasting
several rare Moet & Chandon vintages
and fine pan-African cuisine.
Only 323 magnums of L'Esprit du
Siecle have been produced, with a
mere 30 bottles for sale worldwide,
two of which made available for the
CCAfrica Foundation auction.
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April 2007
QSR PLAYERS AIM TO
DRINK IN HIGHER
SALES WITH NEW
BEVERAGES
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The lucrative
beverage component
of the quick-service
restaurant business
is taking a big leap
forward as
McDonald's and other
traditional segment
players try to
siphon off market
share from leading
coffeehouse chains
by offering new
varieties of teas,
coffees and bottled
drinks. McDonald's,
now an espresso
source like
Starbucks, has
ramped up its McCafe
specialty coffee
test following a
15-percent bump in
its coffee sales
since upgrading its
regular and decaf
brews last year.
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FOUR POINTS' BEER CHIEF
STRIVES TO DELIVER 'SIMPLE
PLEASURES'
Touting high-quality beer as
a symbol of its "simple
pleasures" brand
repositioning, the Four
Points by Sheraton hotel
group is one of an
increasing number of
operators putting greater
stock in the nation's
fastest-growing category of
adult beverages. Four Points
guests will find a Best
Brews list in the lounge and
other new trademark
amenities on the property,
like apple cinnamon pie,
gourmet coffee, free bottled
water and more comfortable
beds. It's all part of a
plan by the White Plains,
N.Y.-based company, an arm
of Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide, to recast itself
under the slogans
"delivering honest,
uncomplicated comfort" and
"delighting with simple
pleasures."
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CHEFS FIND INSPIRATION IN
COUNTLESS WINE VARIETIES,
ABUNDANT LOCAL PRODUCE OF
CENTRAL CHILE
Before digging into informal
meals, young Chilean hosts
may say, "Atacamos." The
term literally means, "Let's
attack." In the South
American country, as in many
others, food and wine are
enthusiastically embraced.
But for many Chileans, the
pleasures of the table also
provide a major source of
income. "Wine has a lot of
importance here in Chile,"
says Giancarlo Mazzarelli,
who is the chef and owner of
Puerto Fuy restaurant in
Santiago, the country's
capital and an informal
cosmopolitan hub of the
central Chilean wine region.
The chef also says that in
Chile food and wine are
equally regarded. "One is
not more special than the
other," he says. "Many
people make their living
from it."
SPAIN'S WINEMAKING REGIONS
STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT WITH
A DIVERSE RANGE OF CHARACTER
On Wine by Mary
Ewing-Mulligan and Ed
McCarthy
This year is shaping up to
be our "Year of Spain."
Everywhere we turn we are
finding opportunities to
taste wines from the
country. Spanish wines have
come so far so fast that the
category is perhaps the
single most compelling part
of the wine world at the
moment. Spain's rise to
superstar status on the
international front has been
occurring for many years
now, but compared with the
trajectory of other major
wine nations, it is a recent
phenomenon. Together with
France and Italy, Spain has
long been a leader of the
wine world in terms of
production: Spain produces
about 20 percent less wine
than France or Italy but
about 50 percent more than
the United States, the
world's next largest wine
producer.
GREEN ZEBRA'S NONALCOHOLIC
COCKTAIL AND FOOD PAIRINGS
LET EVEN TEETOTALERS INDULGE
On Beverage by Gary Regan
Pity the designated driver.
Not because he or she can't
partake of a little
tipple-if we need alcohol in
order to enjoy ourselves it
might be time to take a
break for a while-but
wouldn't it be nice if
whoever takes on the task of
ferrying friends around from
bar to bar had something
interesting to drink while
the rest of the crowd quaffs
their cocktails? Sadly, that
is seldom the case. Unless
Tim Lacey, beverage director
for the Spring Restaurant
Group in Chicago, happens to
be in charge of things, that
is.
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A
message from FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF CITRUS
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A
message from FRANCHISE FOCUS
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GROWING NUMBER OF COFFEE
VENDORS TURN TO BARISTAS
The number of coffee houses
has nearly doubled in the
past six years, and
approximately a third of the
24,000 shops are operated by
Starbucks. To stay
competitive, more and more
coffee vendors are turning
to barista training.
(Courier-Journal.com)
22-YEAR-OLD JOLT COLA EYES A
COMEBACK
Energy drinks have been
enjoying great success in
recent years, but the
original - Jolt- has been
quietly hanging out in the
corner. Now the 22-year-old
drink that once touted its
status as the drink "with
all the sugar and twice the
caffeine" is ready to
re-stake its claim on the
market. (AdAge.com - free
registration required)
GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE SEEKS
TO PRESERVE CHIMP HABITAT
Green Mountain Coffee is
rolling out a new drink in
an effort aimed at saving
chimpanzees' habitat in
Africa. The new variety of
coffee, called Gombe
Reserve, is being launched
along with the new
initiative, which includes
partnering with the Jane
Goodall Institute. (BurlingtonFreePress.com)
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