L–R, Executive Chef Herve Cuyeu, Portofino BayHotel, a Loews Hotel; Executive Chef GeorgeCronk, Royal Pacific Resort, a Loews Hotel; andExecutive Chef Evan Percoco, Hard Rock Hotel

Enter the 2005 MIXIE Awards Hotel Cocktail Competition!, p.13

flatware stylesfor 2005 p.47

6 failproof ways toinspire employees p.43cuisine entertainmentfactor p.23bars with a view delightguests & locals p.36the biggest threatsince asbestos p.45

OfficialPublication

TRIPLE TREATLoews menus for individual tastes

MARCH/APRIL 2005

For Hotel, Resort, and Casino Food & Beverage Professionals

Hotel F&BExecutive

18

Cover Jan 05.qxp 2/16/05 7:33 AM Page 1

� MIXIE PARTNER HONOREDAt the Fairmont San Jose‘s New Year’s Eve Gala,one of their beverage partners is honored with asix-foot-tall ice carving created by world-famous

ice carver Shinichi Sawamura.He created the award-winningsculptures for the opening cere-monies at the Nagano Olympics.

This time the beverage hon-oree was Ciroc Snap FrostVodka, recognizing that it wasthe key ingredient in theirMIXIE Award Winning WirelessCocktail.

“Earlier this year we hosteda gathering of over 80 journalists from all overthe world,” said Lina Broydo, director of publicrelations for the hotel. “Every one of themreceived a promotion piece about our WirelessCocktail, the winner of the MIXIE Award for bestcocktail in the Ciroc Vodka competition, selected

by distinguished judges in New York.”“We want them to spread the word about the

wireless connectivity provided in the FairmontSan Jose’s Lobby Lounge, along with creativecocktails that invite easy socializing with other

‘tireless wireless’ techies in this heart of SiliconValley,” she adds.

Midnight Passion is a new cocktail createdby Keith Durnin for romantic moments.1 oz. Ciroc Snap Frost Vodka1/2 oz. Passion Fruit AlizeSplash of wild strawberry liqueurSplash of ChambordSplash of cranberry juiceShake well with ice and strain into glass.

� EDUCATING ABOUT SPIRITSAt the Woodlands Resort & Conference

Center in Texas, guests are told of the heritage ofthe spirits that are offered.

“Scotch whisky can trace its roots back to theancient Celts of more than 500 years ago . . . Theproduction of Scotch whisky came aboutbecause there was no effective way of storingbeer over a long period of time and distilling a

liquid into a spirit drink was a way around this.” A description of the major distilling regions

of Scotland follows, preceding the listing of fineblends and single malts—17 in all.

“Tequila, the first distilled spirit on the NorthAmerican continent, is known to most NorteAmericanos as a fiery beverage to be dutifullydowned during adolescent rites of passage.Today, tequila and its rustic cousin, mezcal, arefast becoming the newest discovery by sophisti-cates of the international dining and drinkingscene,” introduces this spirit.

Additional paragraphs romance the heritageof tequila and describe its four styles. Ten tequi-las are offered, drawn from all styles.

“We have four tequila drinks that sell verywell,” says F&B Director Mike Maruca. “Mostpopular is the Texas Tini made of Patron SilverTequila, Grand Marnier, and fresh lime juice.Other popular drinks are the WatermarkMargarita made with Sauza Tres GeneracionesSilver Tequila, Grand Marnier, and fresh limejuice; the Woodlands Margarita made with

Dave Steadman

B E V E R A G E POTPOURRI BY DAVE STEADMAN

30 HOTEL F&B EXECUTIVE • MARCH/APRIL 2005

THE WORLD OF WINEBY FRED TIBBITTS

America’s wine-consuming public isthe fastest-growing adult beveragesegment. U.S. restaurants, clubs,and hotels are offering an increasedselection of wines by the glass, the

likes of which hasnever been seen here.Proof positive that pre-mium wine is becom-ing part of theAmerican culture is theavailability of premiumand super-premiumwines in food marketsnationwide. Thenewest superstars toburst on the U.S. retailscene and whichdeserve much of thecredit for eliminatingthe wine glut are “Extreme-Value” wines (winesbelow $4.99 per bottle with Two Buck Chuck leadingthe way in California at $1.99, then trending to $2.99as you head East).

It has taken over 125 years to be realized, butthese days, when shopping for dinner, increasing-ly, along with meat and vegetables, you find a bot-tle or two of premium wine nestled prominently inmany shopping baskets. And it’s not your grandfa-

Fred Tibbitts, the

Globetrotting Wine Guy

Ciroc Vodka is honored

with a Shinichi

Sawamura ice carving

for its contribution to

the Wireless Cocktail,

the MIXIE Cocktail

contest winner.

COCKTAILS FOR YOUNG & OLD

The Crowne Plaza Hotel on the oceanfront onSinger Island, Florida, has two bars serving thepool area. One of them just serves nonalco-

holic drinks for the younger set.“Kids of all ages love these drinks and gladly pay

the same prices we charge their parents for cocktails,”says General Manager Jack Zimmerman. “We offer avariety of drinks by beginning with the wide range ofBahama Blast real fruit products, adding ice and addi-tional fresh fruit. Then we blend, garnish, and serve.”

The Hilton Garden Inn, Pensacola Beach, Florida,bore the brunt of four hurricanes last year and wasshut down until January. “January occupancy was

100 percent, and we’re looking at solid bookingsthrough next summer,” says Joshua Liebowitz,F&B director.

“Being directly on the beach, when guests arrivethey are in an ‘Islands mood,’ thirsting for a daiquiri,piña colada, or one of our specialty tropical cocktails.We begin with the Bahama Blast line of productsbecause they are bursting with fruit flavors, don’t sepa-rate, and are easy to use.”

Nonalcoholic drinks have names like Beach Ball,Kiddie Pool, Flip Flop, and Sand Castle. A variation offlavored rums will be added for cocktails like High Tide,Live Bait, Waterfall, Undertow, and Rip Curl.

What better way to counter summer’s heat thanwith frozen cocktails and smoothies?—DS

Keith Durnin’s romantic

Midnight Passion.

Potpourri 305.qxp 2/15/05 9:31 AM Page 1

Herradura Anejo Tequila, Cointreau, fresh limejuice and sweet & sour; and Spider Byte madewith Tarantula Citrus Tequila, Chambord,Malibu and cranberry juice.”

“When our guests are drawn into the mys-tique of fine spirits,” Maruca adds, “they want toexpand their experience by trying brands that arenew to them and sharing their feelings with oth-ers at their table or at the bar.”

� SHAKKAIf you attended the Nightclub & Bar Show in

Las Vegas, I don’t have to say anymore. The vol-cano erupting in many hues drew everybody’sattention to the introduction of this Hawaiian-themed new age spirit of “Okole Ma Luna”.

Shakka Grape, Shakka Kiwi, and ShakkaRed Apple, exotic new spirits distilled fromgrain, with all natural flavors in vibrant colors,are being brought to you by the importer ofCruzan Rum.

Some drink suggestions are:

South Pacific Mojito1 oz. Shakka Kiwi1 oz. Cruzan Pineapple Rum2 oz. Sprite2 large sprigs of mint, squeeze of lime juiceTop with ice, no muddling needed.

Grape Berry Blast1 oz. Shakka Grape1 oz. Strawberry Vodkadash of SpriteServe in a chilled cocktail glass rimmed withcaramel and sugar. Garnish with lime wheel.

Red Apple Crush1 oz. Shakka Red Apple1 oz. Cruzan Pineapple Rum2 oz. SpriteServe over ice

Aloha.

Dave Steadman is associate editor, wine, beer, andspirits, HOTEL F&B EXECUTIVE.

ther’s Chianti or your father’s Paul Masson. It’s pre-mium Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio,Shiraz, Pinot Noir, or Merlot from a brand-name pro-ducer.

All this is fine, but when you overlay scores ofconsolidations at every level, it becomes very threedimensional. Constellation, the world’s largest winecompany, began as a kind of sleepy Upstate NewYork family business dubbed “the Canandaigua WineCompany” in Canandaigua, near Rochester, andfound fame and fortune marketing Richard’s WildIrish Rose in hip flasks to brain surgeons, rocket sci-entists, and mystics as well as niche products suchas Sun Country Coolers.

Constellation reinvested the profits from theseventures, and before you knew it acquired BartonBrands (spirits and beer purveyors), which just hap-pened to have the distribution rights for half the UnitedStates for Corona Beer, another gold mine. Some saythey were lucky to come so far so fast, but after sucha string of successful ventures and brand launches, it’sfair to say they very much planned it.

Constellation also announced an offer for RobertMondavi. It appears to be moving forward in such afashion as to keep the Mondavi empire whole (with-out the Mondavi family). Southern Wine & Spiritsannounced they are entering the New York City mar-ket by purchasing Premier from David Taub, whichmeans Southern is one step closer to being in everymajor market.

In addition, the Australians and Californians arecooking up joint ventures and investing in each other’swine industry. Trinchero bought Reynold’s;

Constellation bought Hardy’s; Mildera-Blass boughtBeringer; Allied Domecq bought Montana (NewZealand’s largest winery); and Ernest & Julio Gallobought a stake in White Haven (New Zealand).Boisset of France bought Lyeth Meritage in SonomaCounty, Seven Peaks Vineyard at San Luis Obispofrom Southcorp, and De Loach Vineyards in RussianRiver. Constellation pounced once more and bought a40 percent share of Ruffino (now imported bySchieffelin & Somerset, but we’ll see how long thatlasts). And this is just a fraction of the global consoli-dations taking place at every tier.

BOISSETKnown here as

“Boisset America,” theorganization is headed byone of the senior Boissetfamily members, Jean-Charles Boisset, whorecently discussed thechanges in France andhow Boisset (third-largestwine group in France andsecond-largest exporter ofpremium wines fromFrance) is positioning itself to prosper in a complexglobal environment.

Being a man of few words, he acknowledgesFrance is in the midst of an historic self-examina-tion and rebirth to regain its position of unques-tioned prominence as the world’s top producer,marketer, and exporter of premium wines. To under-

Jean-Charles Boisset

HOTEL F&B EXECUTIVE • MARCH/APRIL 2005 31

Potpourri 305.qxp 2/15/05 9:31 AM Page 2

stand his family’s global ambitions is to focus on fourconcepts:

• The transition of Boisset from “negociant-eleveur”to “viniculteur,” the practice of combining excellence inthe vineyards with excellence in the cellars.

• Placing Burgundian “terroir” above all else in thepursuit of identifying and securing the best sites.

• “Upstreaming,” the practice of entering intolong-term grower contracts to ensure best practicesand best quality by forging a dedicated, seamlessrelationship with every partner.

• “Brand-building without borders,” investing forthe future around the world.

And Jean-Charles’s passion? “The relentless pur-suit of locating the best places in the world to growand produce award-winning Pinot Noir and Chardon-nay . . . in terms of California, the decision was easy:Russian River for Pinot Noir and Carneros, GreenValley, and Sonoma Coast for Chardonnay.”

DIAGEOThe combination of GrandMet and Guinness in

December of 1997 resulted in “DIAGEO plc.” For therecord, however, in 1987 the predecessor entity in theU.S. to DIAGEO (some knew it as UDV, Paddington,Carillon, or Guinness) and Moet Hennessy formed ajoint venture for the United States, called “Schieffelin &Somerset” (which was previously two companies,“Schieffelin” and “Somerset”). That joint venture isnow named “Schieffelin.”

In December 2001, DIAGEO plc in collaborationwith Pernod Ricard SA acquired the Seagram Spiritsand Wine Business. They then sold Mumm, MummCuvee Napa, and Perrier-Jouet in 2001 and Malibu in2002 to Allied Domecq, whereupon DIAGEO plcclosed on the marketing rights to Captain Morgan.

From 2002 to 2004, the “Next GenerationGrowth” or “NGG” distributor realignment occurred.It was a strategy to increase revenues and profits bybetter controlling distribution, whereby DIAGEO andMoet Hennessy would be marketed and sold througha common, dedicated sales force in most states.

But wait. It’s not over until the thin lady sings(she’s been on a low-carb diet, you’d never recognizeher). DIAGEO has elected to market their brandsdirectly via DIAGEO North America, taking theirbrands (Including Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Cuervo,Tanqueray, J & B, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Guinness,and several Single Malts) with them from Schieffelin &Somerset (sorry, that’s “Schieffelin” now, right?).Who’s on first base? Don’t answer or I’ll be totallylost.

This leaves Schieffelin with Moet Hennessy,Marnier Lapostolle, Ruffino, and Millennium Imports.Correct? Oh, oh. Constellation bought 40 percent ofRuffino. We better put Ruffino in the Constellation col-umn or my name’s not “Don Federico Perillo de laLechuga” (which it is since I spent a week in Chile onan educational trip, courtesy of ProChile. One of thenotable participants, Norbert Relecker, regional F&Bdirector, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, decided because I was

Wine continued

Potpourri 305.qxp 2/15/05 9:32 AM Page 3

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trip leader, organizer, renowned student of brokenSpanish, and voracious consumer of one head of ice-berg lettuce daily on my new diet, the most aptdescriptor for me, henceforth, would be “Don . . . ”Everyone agreed, and that was the last time I heard“Fred”).

And not to ignore the very latest news, it’s outthat Pernod Ricard SA might be acquiring AlliedDomecq. They say change is inevitable and ishealthy. Well, the “big” are certainly getting bigger,and that’s good for most of us. Right? Better getused to it: The future will be spelled “changesahead, like it or not.”

WHAT’S HOTOn the “What’s Really

Hot” vis-a-vis the technologyfrontier to boost winery, dis-tributor, restaurant, and retailerwine sales, I found what hap-pens when a West Point hon-ors graduate engineer devel-ops a passion for fine wine:You have Bill James, hard-charging president/CEOof Wineops, the Minneapolis-based, one-stop-shopconsultancy with patents on systems and software,such as WebClerk, which is years ahead of its time

and available on CD upon request.Regarding Bill’s revolutionary systems, patented

software, and processes he has authored, heexplains, “Our mission is to increase the profitablesales of wine industry companies by providing bettercommunications, data, and technology and integrat-ing the business systems of trading partners into anetwork of buy better, deliver better, and sell better.”

Bill continues, “The word processor empoweredbusinesses overnight to desktop publish what untilthen was a monopoly controlled by outside printingcompanies and the like . . . Similarly, WebClerkempowers every business, big or small, to desktophost its own website and let the Internet deliver onits true potential.

“For hotels,” Bill says, “this means breakthroughtechnology features such as e-wine lists with virtualinventory (with rich data about every currently avail-able wine and easily accessible from your Blackberryor handheld), web-based take-out sales, web-basedreordering, and much, much more.” Now that’s what Icall innovation worth checking-out. Find him atwww.wineops.com.

The premium wine business is global, from unlim-ited applications of the Internet to the supply chainthat cultivates grapes, makes wines, markets them,ships them, delivers them to your door, and provides

professional wine training and menu pairing. There’sa wine solution for every customer, and if one takesadvantage of the kinds of advice and opportunitiesdescribed, having a successful program in everyrespect is all but guaranteed.

Every wine organization in the global supplychain is at your service more than ever becausewithout your business, they are but a concept: whenyou succeed, they succeed.

We are at last and at once all connected viaglobalization of the wine trade with a common goalfor each of us to prosper in harmony with our clientsand customers. There has never been such a wealthof information, producers, and importers deliveringsuperior wine values that translate to customer sat-isfaction and increased profitability. And there is anabundance of service personnel at every level readyto meet and/or exceed your every need and expec-tation with respect to selection, purchase, delivery,inventory management, marketing, and server &catering sales training.

Onward and upward. �

Fred Tibbitts, senior vice president, Fred Tibbitts & AssociatesInc., is the foremost global wine-by-the-glass consultant,working with on-premise chains around the world.fredbev@fredtibbitts.com

Bill James

Wine continued

key to the pantry

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