The Tasting Panel magazine

July 2015

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10  /  the tasting panel  /  july 2015 INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Open Your City T his summer, Heineken is taking ownership of cities through the revival of the brand's 360-degree Cities program, designed to inspire LDA+ consumers to break from their usual routines and make the most out of their cities every time they grab a Heineken or Heineken Light. Now in its second year, the Open Your City campaign will once again feature a limited run of city-specific bottles on the company's iconic green silhouette throughout summer 2015 in 14 select markets, five global cities and nine U.S. cities, including New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, San Francisco and Honolulu. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, shoppers can scan any limited- edition Heineken City bottle as well as Heineken Lager, Heineken Dark & Heineken Light bottles using Blippar, an augmented reality app, to be entered in a sweepstakes to win an epic trip to one of the program's 14 featured cities as well as daily instant summer rewards. First Sonoma County Vintners Barrel Auction T he Sonoma County Vintners held their inaugural Barrel Auction for the trade on May 1. It was preceded by a tasting of all lots, along with other Sonoma County wines, that morning. More than 250 trade and media guests attended. Seventy-one lots, created solely for the auction, were offered. Bids totaled $461,700. Two lots tied for highest bid at $24,000. One was a Russian River Swan selection Pinot Noir blend created by Joseph Swan Winery, Kosta- Browne Winery and Williams Selyem Winery, called "The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost." The other top lot was Williams Selyem "Reverence," a blend of seven Pinot Noir clones from ten top vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Glen Knight of The Wine House (Los Angeles, CA) took the first of these and Drew Goodgame of Porthos Wine Ventures (Sausalito, CA) the second. The auction's top bidders included Robert Merrifield Polo Grill (Tulsa, OK), The Wine House (Los Angeles, CA), Wine Spectrum (Santa Rosa, CA), Wine.com (San Francisco, CA) and Hi-Time Wine Cellars (Costa Mesa, CA). Other top auction lots included Kinsella Estates, Martinelli Winery, Paul Hobbs Winery and collaboration among West Sonoma Coast Vintners. —Fred Swan Left to right: Mark Malpiede, VP of Sales & Marketing at Williams Selyem; Drew Goodgame, Porthos Wine Ventures (Sausalito, CA); and Jeff Mangahas, winemaker at Williams Selyem. Goodgame bought the Williams Selyem Reverence auction lot for $24,000, one of the two highest selling lots. PHOTO: GEORGE STARKE, COURTESY OF SONOMA COUNTY VINTNERS. Acquisitions L ast month, The Wine Group and Benziger Family Winery announced The Wine Group's purchase of the critically acclaimed Sonoma Mountain Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Winery in Sonoma Valley. Founded by the Benziger family in 1981, Benziger Family Winery is located on a biodynamically certified 85-acre estate adjacent to Jack London State Park in the town of Glen Ellen, CA. The Wine Group will also acquire the Imagery Winery and tasting room.

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