More Upcoming Events

Tomorrow is looking to be quite a busy day on the road, as October is now in full motion!

First, I'll be starting my morning early, along with my coworker Laura, as we head to the Hartford Business Journal's "Social Media Summit". The agenda for the Farmington-based event looks to be a jam-packed schedule of different workshops, geared to business professionals of varying levels of experience in Social Media. The event will be capped with a Keynote on "The Power of Social Media Communities", delivered by Amanda Nelson, Community Manager for Radian6.

After that, I'll be making my way down to New York City for a not-to-be-missed spirits and wine tasting event, The Ultimate Blast! The Ultimate Blast is assembled by the team at Ultimate Beverage Challenge, an emerging set of spirits, cocktails, and wine evaluations developed by founder F. Paul Pacult. I must say, the list of participating brands and celebrity book signings appears to be never-ending; the Ultimate Blast will include over 100 cocktails prepared by esteemed mixologists, 300 spirits and 120 wines! The Dizzy Fizz herself, Selena Ricks-Good, offers this preview of the event at her column over at CBS New York online.


Some other events of note before the month is out include next week's VinItaly US Tour, where you'll find BAT's own Steve Raye sitting on a Social Media seminar during the New York tour stop. Portland Cocktail Week is also slated for October 20-23; I'm disappointed I won't be headed to the Left Coast for the event this year so you'll have to suffice with last year's preview instead. 

What other alcohol-industry events are slated on your schedule for the rest of October? Leave us a comment and let us know what you're up to in the beverage alcohol world! 

Cheers! 

Vinitaly Brings World Tour to the US

After spending much of the year traveling to cities throughout China, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, and Russia, Vinitaly's world tour is preparing to land in the US for its whirlwind tour of both Washington, DC (Mon., October 17) and New York City ( Wed. October 19).  Both cities will host a slew of events geared to the media and trade that include a Grand Tasting, guided tastings, wine business seminar and a Sommelier Class.

Though the final schedules are still not released, there are definitely components of these "Tour Stops" that cannot be missed! One of the events to note, Brand Action Team's own Steve Raye will sit in on a panel at the New York business seminar speaking to Social Media's impact on online wine conversation.  Other speakers are Snooth Editor-in-Chief Greg Dal Piaz, Wine Enthusiast Tasting Director and Senior Editor Joe Czerwinski and Italian Wine Director at Glazers Alfonso Cevola; it will be moderated by Stevie Kim of Veronafiere/Vinitaly.

If you're a member of the beverage alcohol media or trade industry, Vinitaly's US Tour is not to be passed by. You can learn more information and register for each of the events by visiting the two links included below. Other questions can be directed to info @ vinitalytour dot com. 

Keep your eyes peeled for Steve in New York! Cheers! 

Washington, DC Registration and Event Details here
New York Registration and Event Details here

Upcoming US and European Wine and Spirit Events and Competitions

We hope you'll find this compendium of upcoming wine and spirits events and competitions useful. We'll be updating this with information on the 2012 TBD's as they are defined.

EVENTS

Wine Enthusiast Toast of the Town
Miami, Sept. 23, 2011, 2012 TBD
http://www.toastofthetown.com/

Indy Spirits Expo
Sept. 28, 2011 Chicago. 2012 TBD
www.indyspiritsexpo.com

Wine Riot US Tour
2011 LA, BOS, CHI, New York, Sep. 23/24, DC, Oct. 21/22
Consumer event targeting Millennials
http://secondglass.com/wineriot/

Ultimate Blast
Oct. 14, 2011, Marriott Marquis, New York
http://www.ultimate-beverage.com/spirits_wine_tasting/ultimate-blast-registration/

European Wine Bloggers Conference
Franciacorta, Italy Oct. 14-16, 2011
http://winebloggersconference.org/europe/

Vinitaly Tour: USA
Oct. 17-19, 2011 Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
http://www.vinitalytour.com/

Wine Spectator NY Wine Experience
New York, Oct. 20-22, 2011, Marriott Marquis
2012 TBD
http://www.winespectator.com/micro/show?id=40311

Fancy Food Show
Winter show: San Francisco, Jan 15-17, 2012
Summer show Washington DC, June 17-19, 2012.
http://www.specialtyfood.com/do/fancyFoodShow/LocationsAndDates

Boston Wine Expo
Jan. 22-22, 2012, Boston, MA
http://www.wine-expos.com/boston/

Vino2012/Italian Wine Week
TBD 2012 (Usually in Jan. in New York)
http://www.italtrade.com/index.htm

South Beach Wine and Food Festival
Feb. 23-26, 2012, Miami, FL
http://www.sobefest.com/corporate/

NY Wine Expo
Mar. 2-4, 2012 at the Jacob Javitz center, New York
http://www.wine-expos.com/wine/ny/

Nightclub & Bar Show:
Las Vegas, March 12-14, 2012
www.ncbshow.com

ProWein
March 4-6, 2012, Dusseldorf, Germany
http://www.prowein.com/

VinItaly
March 25-28, 2012, Verona Italy
http://www.vinitaly.com/

U.S. Drinks Conference and Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Annual Convention and Exposition
April 2-5, Las Vegas, NV. U.S. Drinks Conference will be co-located with this event
www.wswa.org
www.USDrinksConference.com

American Craft Distilling Conference
2012 TBD (most likely April)
http://www.distilling.com

Manhattan Cocktail Classic
May 11-15, 2012 in New York.
http://manhattancocktailclassic.com/

London International Wine Fair
May 22-24, London Excel Center
http://www.londonwinefair.com/content/

Vinexpo Asia-Pacific
May 29-31, 2012, Hong Kong
www.vinexpo.com

Aspen Food and Wine Classic
Aspen, CO, June 15-17, 2012.
http://www.foodandwine.com/classic-in-aspen/

San Diego Spirits Festival
June 30-July 1, 2012, San Diego, CA
http://www.sandiegospiritsfestival.com/

American Wine Bloggers Conference
Aug. 17-19, 2012, Portland, OR
http://winebloggersconference.org/america/agenda/

Bar and Wine Show
Formerly the NY Bar Show, June 26/27, 2012, Jacob Javitz Center NY
www.thebarandwineshow.com

Tales of the Cocktail
July 20-24,2012, New Orleans
http://www.talesofthecocktail.com/

Miami International Wine Fair
2012 TBD, Usually Oct.
http://www.miamiwinefair.com/

European Wine Bloggers Conference
2012 TBD, Usually mid-October.
http://winebloggersconference.org/europe/
 
TASTING COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS

Micro Liquor Spirit Awards
Eligibility: Product sells less than 50,000 9-liter cases annually in USA. Deadline Oct. 17, 2011.
http://www.microliquorawards.com/

New York International Spirits Awards
New York, Oct. 16, 2011
www.nyispiritscompetition.com.

San Francisco Spirits Competition
2012 dates TBD. Entries usually due mid Feb, event Mid-Mar.
http://www.sfspiritscomp.com/

San Francisco Wine Competition
Entries due May 25, 2012. Event June 15-17, 2012.
http://www.sfwinecomp.com/

Ultimate Beverage Challenge
http://www.ultimate-beverage.com/

Ultimate Spirit Challenge
2012 dates TBD, but expected to be early Mar for judging, event early April
Ultimate Wine Challenge Deadline for entries for 2012 TBD, but expected to be mid-April, Event early May, New York

Ultimate Cocktail Challenge
Event early April at Astor Center, deadline for 2012 TBD, but expected to be mid-March. This has been expanded in 2011 to include two sections, “Classic Cocktails” and “Signature Cocktails”

Beverage Testing Institute
BTI conducts a series of tastings of both wine and spirits by category throughout the year. They also run a value wine competition and packaging competitions for spirits and wine.
http://www.tastings.com/trade.html


The Wine Trials
This is actually a book published annually and focusing on generally available wines retailing at under $15. There is no fee to participate. Deadline for entries usually in October.
www.fearlesscritic.com

IWSC (International Wine and Spirits Competition)
2012 deadlines TBD.
http://www.iwsc.net/news1/488

International Spirits Challenge
Put on by Drinks International Magazine, Entry deadlines vary by category but generally April/May.
http://www.internationalspiritschallenge.com/

Spirit Masters
Run by Drinks Business/Spirits Business Magazine. 2012 dates TBD, but usually end June.
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/content/view/10862/444/

SIP Awards
Deadline for submission May, 201
www.sipawards.com