Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/53193
FROM THE EDITOR Happy New (Anniversary) Year! Anthony Dias Blue and I are so proud that 2012 finds THE TASTING PANEL celebrating its fifth anniversary as the nation's lead- ing beverage trade magazine. It seems like just yesterday when Andy and I bought Patterson's Beverage Journal and THE TASTING PANEL was born. As we kissed the 65-year-old Patterson's name good-bye forever, we stretched our wings across the country with an updated and more relevant publication that we've been proud to provide to you, the leaders of today's industry. Today, with over 100,000 readers internationally (we also have a digital version that's making the rounds overseas), we feel confident that we will continue to be the voice for the hospitality professional on every tier, and we look forward to marking many more milestones to come. In honor of our own anniversary year, we want to help you celebrate your land- mark moments as well. Thus, we are declaring 2012 "The Year of the Anniversary" in the pages of THE TASTING PANEL. This will be a year filled with features celebrating momentous moments for wineries, spirits brands, importers, bars and restaurants, distributors . . . or any other beverage-related anniversary. To kick things off right, we've got a nod to Washington State's Hogue Winery's 30th anniversary (see pages 43–45). We know this is just the first of many important moments to come this year, so please let us know if 2012 is a pivotal year for you or your business! We're also excited to announce that we've dubbed this January GIN-UARY, and we've got an exciting salute to the elegant white spirit gracing pages 91–95. This combined January-February edition is also one of our most globally-inspired issues to date, and we'll whisk you away, from Paris to the Veneto, and from Mexico's back country to Bordeaux. We hope to continue to educate and entertain our readers, and we take great pride in covering the trend-setting faces, places and products in every aspect of our industry. This magazine is as much yours as it is ours, and we're thrilled to feature the talented, passionate tastemakers in the industry every month. Thank you for all your support—especially to those loyal fans who report that they read each and every issue cover to cover. The next time we see you will be March, so keep warm and safe until we meet again. Publisher / Executive Editor 4 / the tasting panel / january/february 2012 ILLUSTRATION BY JUSTINE GVIRTZMAN