2014 A Year in Wine and Spirit

2014 A Year in Wine and Spirit

The International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) has announced its 2014 drink predictions from General Manager Ewan Lacey.

SOPHISTICATION

·         With the guidance and growth of voices such as the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) consumers can start to demystify wine and move towards good quality wines, not just cheap ones.  IWSC Gold Award winning wines from 2013 include Jules Taylor Wines Marlborough Chardonnay 2012, Columbia Crest Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2010 and Gatt Shiraz 2008.

SIPPING

·         In 2014, ‘sipping’ of premium aged tequila and mezcal will become more frequent over the traditional ‘slammer’. The IWSC Spirits of Mexico Trophy 2013 for Tequila was awarded to El Tesoro Tequila Reposado.

YEAR OF WHISKY

·         An exciting category to watch over this year is whisky from around the world including South Korea, Switzerland, Denmark, South Africa, USA and world leader Scotland. This year the Worldwide Whisky Award for single malt whisky was awarded to Kavalan Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask Strength from Taiwan.

ARTISANAL DISTILLING/BREWING

·         The New Year sees the continued growth of craft distilling and brewing industries. In 2013 IWSC received a 20% increase of entrants in the gin category. This category and others are raising awareness through the success of quality drinks being produced in small batches. One of these was the Gin Guild Trophy winner, Adnams Copper House Gin.

The International Wine and Spirit Competition’s General Manager, Ewan Lacey, said, ‘2014 is not only an exciting one for new entries, it is also the 45th year of the International Wine & Spirit Competition which aims to highlight the best spirits, wines and liqueurs in the world. 2014 will focus on premiumisation with consumers more concerned about the quality and diversity of flavour profile rather than just value and volume. This is good news for both producers and consumers because it means we’ll be drinking less but better quality. We also think that the personalisation trend we saw with food in 2013 will be big in drinks in 2014 with customers making savvy choices, created by their increased knowledge about drinks. People will be requesting the brands they want to drink by name rather than just generic gin / vodka etc.’

Notes to editors:

For more information please contact Holly Axelrad at Green Row, Holly@greenrow.co.uk

The International Wine and Spirit Competition was founded in 1969 and is the premier competition of its kind in the world. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs. All entries are blind tasted in groups divided by variety, region and vintage as necessary.

Each year the IWSC has a new president and 2014 marks the start of Laura Catena’s presidency.