feed

It’s hot, hot, hot. 91 in the shade and there wasn’t any shade! We spent the day in antiquity at the Collisseum and then the Forum. Sue and I have been talking about this for 35 years and finally got here. And it definitely met all our expectations. However wandering around the valley of the Forum at midday at the end of June in this heat wasn’t the best idea…an easy way to get sunstroke. Still and all, I kept repeating one word all day…AMAZING…that this was all still here after thousands of years.

We figured out at least one of the buses in this chaotic system and though we got on going the wrong way, it ended up dropping us right in front of the hotel. Saw the Capitoline museum and the original statue of Marcus Aurelius, and some fascinating displays on the Temple of Jupiter whose foundations are still here and dates back to the late Bronze age.

We succumbed to the heat, enjoyed a bottle of Prosecco courtesy of the Marriott, and then Bellini’s at Harry’s Bar, Roma. Evidently there’s a display inside on the movie Dolce Vita, but we didn’t go in…maybe tonight. Sue liked the Bellini’s but preferred Negroni’s.

After a leisuely post-prandial stroll (good idea…we had only walked about 20 miles already today!) we ran into the proprieter of Narciso a restaurant on Via Sistina who directed us to a good spot for Limoncello and Cafe latte on the Via Del Croce. We’ll plan on having dinner at his place tonight…they make their own pasta.

I’m on a long planned vaca in Rome but will use this opportunity to stay in touch with my readers with industry related comments. I stopped at a little off premise shop that was featuring absinthes. Saw a pretty good selection including Grune Fee, the Hapsburg array (good job Dale!), La Fee and a few European brands I didn’t recognize. Didn’t have my camera, but I’ll bring it today and try and find the shop again…it was a pretty interesting window display.

We had Negroni’s at the rooftop bar of the Hotel Minerva overlooking the Pantheon and with a view across Rome. Very impressive vista, but at 15 Euros per drink it was a pretty pricey premium. Good potato chips though. Then dinner in Trastavere where we sampled the house Prosecco (fabulous) and the house Chianti (thin and expensive. We’re staying at the Marriott at Villa Borghese which is just across the road from Harry’s Bar Rome outpost. Plan to introduce my wife to Bellini’s tonight.

Oh, and one idle thought…is the coffee really better in Rome…or is it that in Rome, everything is better? Ciao till tomorrow.

I seem to have generated a bit of controversy at Wormwood Society with an introductory post So I thought I’d post some more thoughts on MY blog before stirring up the pot over there any further.

I hosted a booth where we presented Mata Hari as well as the range of other Alt Wiener Schnapsmuseum (aka Fischer Schnapps) Absinthes at distil. I ran into George Rowley who claims(and rightly deserves) credit for the renaissance of Absinthe in the U.K. and Europe. George put on a very informative seminar on Absinthe featuring (perhaps a bit too much focus on) La Fee Absinthes. And what I realized was twofold. One, most people even in the industry don’t have much of a clue about Absinthe, what is “real”, what are the different styles, alcohol levels, history, etc. And second, those that are informed tend to bring a biased point of view to the party. Certainly understandable…I’ll be the first to say I’m biased as well. But that bias does tend to color (pardon the pun) how they view the subject. And the informed types fall into two basic categories as well: Purists who hold to a conservative, one might even say reactionary, perspective, and those with a contemporary point of view…sort of “that was then, this is now.”

I think its important to recognize that nobody is right…at the end of the day, Absinthe is nothing more than an alcoholic beverage with a history equally as colorful as some others (think Rye and Scotch and Prohibition). So this whole issue of what is “real” Absinthe is analogous to the Martini. They used to be a mix of gin and vermouth. But by 1972 the martini morphed into a vodka based cocktail. And now we have appletini’s, chocotini’s and more variations of flavors and ingredients. Are they real martinis? To the purist, perhaps no. But to the consumer who orders them…most definitively YES! As Tony Abou-Ganim and Dale DeGroff mentioned in a seminar I went to recently…if it’s served in a martini glass (more properly called a cocktail glass), then it’s commonly considered a Martini…no matter what’s in it.

In fact, take the argument one step further. Historically vodka used to be a very rough spirit so it was traditioonally flavored with something to cover up the roughness…buffalograss in Poland (Zubrowka), Caraway seed in Scandinavia (Aquavit). Then it became the spirit we know today as neutral spirits. Now all the manufacturers are becoming ever more innovative with ever more esoteric flavors and combinations. The TTB standard of identiy for vodka is “neutral spirits so distilled or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color.”

So, the question might be asked…”What is vodka?”

I’m at our booth at the London International Wine Fair/Distil and I am surprised at the lack of top-of-mind awareness, much less any experience with or understanding of what I’ll call new media marketing. By that I mean everything from organic SEO and PPC to the social marketing programs we’re working on with outreach to bloggers, drinks sites and social networking sites. It simply doesn’t come up in conversations either at Distil or the Wine Fair side of the show. And even when I mention it the response is something vague like, yeah…we sort of heard about that stuff.

And fuhgeddabout e-commerce!….lots of interest but no idea on how to or who to ask about it. We’ve got two very creative solutions we’re developing for those opportunities. And I’ll speak to both of them in future posts. Ta for now.

I was the only one working our booth so had limited time to explore the two shows. The wine side was huge with a diversity of places, varietals, styles and types that , well honestly, surprised me that I was surprised. Coupling my lack of familiarity with the European market with Europeans’ lack of familiarity with the U.S. market gave me a new perspective on what we’re doing with the U.S. Drinks Conference…clearly there’s a need there, and I believe it’s much larger on the wine side than we initially thought.

I did a brief interview with Charlotte Hey,Managing Editor and Publisher of The Drinks Business’ DBTV, so check out www.thedrinksbusiness.com for that clip next week.

I eschewed more formal dinner options in favor of taking in a production of the Midsummer Night’s Dream at the New Globe Theatre…a recreation of Shakespeare’s original theatre in Southwark…theater in the round, groundlings and all that. It was a magical experience.

The Pisco producers of Peru had a very large and active booth and spokesman Johnny Schuler gave a fascinating lecture on the history and heritage of the spirit. Everyone had high praise for Diego Loret de Mola’s activities promoting the category and his BarSol brand in the U.S.

(l to r: Cyril Necker, Steve Raye, Eugen Schwartz)
This was my first experience at the LIWF, and also the first time they’ve separated the spirits booths from the wine show into a separate hall. Overall, I’d give it a positive review. While traffic is significantly less on the Distil side, the consensus among exhibitors I spoke to was that the quality and focus of the attendees is pretty high. So, less traffic, but more valuable leads.

I’ve seen a number of clients and friends including Cyril Necker of byNecker—Girl liqueur; Eugen Schwarz from Oval Vodka; Dale Sklar of Wine and Spirit International. with Hapsburg Absinthe and the European HQ of MHW and the U.S. Drinks Conference in London; George Rowley of La Fee Absinthe; Emmanuel Solinsky, Nancy Little and Veronica Lamb of Walders Liqueur fame, Marc Charles of DBI and James Steiner of Cutty Sark. I also met with David Rose of The Drinks Business and Chris Boaz of Just-Drinks, both of whom are sponsoring the U.S. Drinks Conference. And surprisingly had literall run into Dave DeBoer on the street at Canary Wharf on Monday. Dave and I worked together at Heublein, and had a chance to catch up. He left Conn. for the vineyards of California, and has been heading up international sales at Delicato Vineyards since.

What is it about food in the UK? Overcooked beef,watery eggs, (and oh by the way, the portions are so small!) And yet, they make spectacular beer. Go figure.

In conjunction with our client All About Greek Wines, I had a great meeting with a group of Greek wineries and importers in New York Friday. The primary focus of the presentation was the development of an ecommerce concept and system. It was great to see everyone’s eyes light up when they “get” the concept of virtual inventory through the Beverage Network database and the 50+ retailers for whom they provide the e-commerce functionality. If you’re interested in more detail, check out the excellent article (and headline) Ian Griffith wrote: The Long Tail isn’t Yellow.

(l. to r. Pablo Miguel Musi, Jeff, Eucario Gonzalez, me and Joaquin Segura. Pedro Quintanilla not shown because he took the picture!)
We had a great meeting with the folks at Senor Frog’s in Cancun last week. And though the sun was shining and the Caribbean was an achingly aquamarine blue, we engaged in a marathon indoor, no window, 12-hour session that can be summed up by the headline “GYST” (paraphrased for publication as Get Your Stuff Together). Suffice to say though, the extension of the restaurant chain brand name of Senor Frog’s with a line of tequila makes eminent sense. A critical question we’re wrestling with now is what is the right retail price for the brand. What do you think? We invite you to comment with your opinion…just click on the blue “comment” linke at the bottom of this post and answer three questions:
1. How old are you?
2. Are you aware of Senor Frog’s restaurant?
3. Would you expect a Senor Frog’s tequila (100% agave!) to be priced above, same as or below Cuervo Gold?