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On August 10th, 2022, Empire Distributors, Inc. of Georgia customers and trade members were invited to our annual Trade Tasting for the Athens area! The 2022 Athens Trade Tasting brought together many of Empire’s suppliers with retail & on-premise beverage buyers from across the Athens, GA area. Read on to get a recap of some of the suppliers & brands that attended the event and their featured items available in the Athens, Georgia market.
About Vera Wang Party: Made with an attention to detail that gives it a distinct, bold aesthetic and unique voice, Vera Wang Party is a light, refreshing, and effervescent wine,with a playful yet sophisticated tone. Vera Wang was integral in each step of the production process-from selecting the wine to designing the bottle.
Product at Trade Tasting: Vera Wang Party Prosecco
About Lobos 1707: Backed by LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lobos 1707 is an independent spirits producer that marries heritage and innovation. Their tequilas and mezcal are finished in PX wine barrels, following a 400-year legacy of tradition.
Products at Trade Tasting: Lobos 1707 Joven, Reposado, Extra Añejo and Mezcal
About 360 Vodka: Six-times distilled. Six-times filtered. Smooth. Clean. And green. 360 Vodka is the world’s first eco-friendly premium vodka and has won awards for quality, brand growth, and environmentally responsible packaging. 360 Vodka is the first luxury vodka that is as good for the planet as it is to drink.
Product at Trade Tasting: 360 Original Vodka, Sorrento Lemon Vodka and Georgia Peach Vodka
About Spindrift Spiked: Spindrift’s story starts in 2010, when they created America’s first sparkling water made with real squeezed fruit – no fake stuff. Spindrift has created a spiked sparkling water made from an ultra-filtered cane sugar base and real squeezed fruit. Instead of artificial flavors, sweeteners, and additives, the only thing you’ll find in Spiked are real ingredients with nothing to hide; It’s the Spindrift fans already love, plus a bit of ABV.
Product at Trade Tasting: Spindrift Spiked Sparkling Paradise Variety Pack
About Atlanta Hard Cider & Distillery: Atlanta Hard Cider & Distillery started with founders Mark & Liz Deno home brewing hard cider in their garage. After much research, Mark decided that he wanted to learn all about making cider. He headed west to Portland Oregon where he took Oregon State’s cider making course and learned the craft from some of the best cider master’s in the world! Fast forward 6 years later and here were are making cider and now distilling it for all to enjoy.
Product at Trade Tasting: Atlanta Distillery Eau De Vie Apple Brandy and Vodka; Atlanta Hard Cider Crisp Apple, Honey Bee, Pomegranate, Rosé and Tiki Haze
About More Labs: More Labs creates smart, problem-solving supplements to dispatch the modern-day stressors that slow you down. Despite the products’ seemingly magical effects, they’re science-backed and thoroughly researched, tested, and verified.
Product at Trade Tasting: More Labs Dream Well, Liquid Focus, Morning Recovery and Sugar Free Morning Recovery
About Francis Ford Coppola Winery: For more than forty years, the Coppola family has searched for innovative ways to implement environmentally responsible practices into the vineyards and winemaking techniques and became 100% certified sustainable in 2019.
Products at Trade Tasting: Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection Cabernet Sauvignon Claret, Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles, Pinot Grigio, Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Pavilion; Director’s Cut Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon.
About Five Farms: Five Farms is made with the richest dairy cream, smooth and sweet and luxurious. Five Farms contains a greater amount of Irish Whiskey than other brands on the market, setting it apart in the category and allowing for an intensity of whiskey flavor and warmth that is truly one of a kind. The result is a superior Irish Cream Liqueur with the richness of Ireland itself.
Product at Trade Tasting: Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur
About Tequila Komos: Tequila Komos creates “luxury tequila, refined.” Each Komos expression uses a specially crafted Blanco as its base. Agave from the highlands and lowlands of Jalisco is roasted in traditional stone ovens, then marries with spring water after which the juice is then twice distilled in copper pot stills.
Products at Trade Tasting: Tequila Komos Anejo Cristalino, Extra Anejo and Reposado Rosa
About Rutherford Wine Co: Rutherford Ranch’s winemaking team crafts elegant, varietally-true wines with fruit from the two estate vineyards and select vineyards sites throughout the valley. The cooler sites yield grapes with bright, rich flavors and tropical fruit characteristics. Warmer sites within the valley produce grapes with deep, intense flavors. Together they provide the winemakers with an unequaled palate of flavor and character and quality.
Product at Trade Tasting: Rutherford Ranch Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
About Kurvball Whiskey: Kurvball puts the barbecue behind the bar as the Original Barbecue Whiskey. Shoot it, mix it or drink the savory & sweet flavors right out of the bottle like BBQ sauce.
Product at Trade Tasting: Kurvball Original Barbecue Whiskey
About Ca’ Montini: Sourced from grapes coming from an area called Valfredda, located in Ala di Trento, Ca’ Montini has set out to “create a premium Pinot Grigio that truly showcases the quality and winemaking history of Trentino.”
Product at Trade Tasting: Ca Montini Pinot Grigio
About Gemma Di Luna: Gemma di Luna aims to embody “the artistry and ingenuity of Italian winemaking” to create their sparkling wines and “turn everyday experiences into moments of luxury.”
Product at Trade Tasting: Gemma Di Luna Prosecco and Moscato
About Emporium Appassimento: Emporium Appassimento is “a powerhouse red blend” from the extraordinary land of Salento in Puglia, a region rich in history and culture. The wine is crafted using the appassimento method, a style long prized by the noble courts and aristocratic circles of Europe.
Product at Trade Tasting: Emporium Appassimento Rosso
About VOGA: A fusion of form, function, and taste, VOGA Italia is “the epitome of Italian style.” VOGA prides itself in creating new innovations, like a cork with re-sealable cap closures, and in meticulously crafting their products “to capture the best of Italy in every sip.”
Product at Trade Tasting: VOGA Prosecco and Prosecco Rose
About Living Coral: Living Coral is not just a wine with a cause. Living Coral is a wine that exists because of a cause – to educate wine lovers about the importance of coral reefs, to create awareness of the threats they are facing, and most importantly, to take action to ensure these valuable, vibrant undersea ecosystems that we depend upon do not vanish from our planet. For every bottle sold, the Living Coral Foundation will make a contribution to an organization dedicated to saving our coral reefs.
Product at Trade Tasting: Living Coral Sparkling Rosé
About Lignam: Lignum, the ancient Latin word for wood, is the inspiration behind this Super Sicilian blend. The name pays homage to this element of nature that accompanies the wine as it matures over time.
Product at Trade Tasting: Lignum Terre Siciliane Red Blend
About Banshee: Founded in 2009, the initial intent was to make wines that tasted like the best California had to offer, but were priced so that everyone could enjoy them. Banshee’s main focus is producing Pinot Noir on the cool, rugged, coastal areas of the far Western Sonoma Coast.
Products at Trade Tasting: Banshee Ten of Cups Sparkling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir
About RICKSHAW: RICKSHAW is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of wines with purity, sophistication and a bit of adventure. Each wine is an expression of California’s wind-swept coastlines, mountain meadows, fog crested forests and all the wild places within this truly unique and magical state.
Products at Trade Tasting: RICKSHAW Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc
About The Four Graces: The Four Graces was established in 2003, and named after the founder’s four daughters. As a leading Oregon winery, The Four Graces specializes in Pinot Noir as well as small production Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc.
Product at Trade Tasting: The Four Graces Willamette Valley Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir
About Foley Johnson: For years, Bill Foley and his wife, Carol Johnson Foley, had dreamt of opening a winery bearing their name in Napa Valley. With the launch of Foley Johnson in 2012, the Foleys have created a world-class winery with premier vineyards right in the heart of America’s preeminent winegrowing region. Their Napa Valley collection focuses on Bordeaux varietals from the Estate vineyards in Rutherford and other exceptional sites in the Napa Valley.
Product at Trade Tasting: Foley Johnson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
About Chalk Hill: Since 1972, Chalk Hill has been committed to creating terroir-driven wines of character, richness and elegance from the diverse terrain of Sonoma County’s rolling hills. With a passionate dedication to chardonnay, and showcasing the incredible diversity of our estate vineyards, it is the drive for always improving and making the best quality wines possible that keeps us going with a vision for generations to come.
Product at Trade Tasting: Chalk Hill Winery Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
About Vavasour: The Vavasour arrived in New Zealand and established the founding winery of Marlborough’s smaller, cooler Awatere Valleyin 1890. An intimate knowledge of this dramatic southern pocket of Marlborough produces wines of extraordinary elegance, perfume and texture.
Product at Trade Tasting: Vavasour Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc
About OZV: These old vines have a story to tell. For generations they have stood up to sun and rain, each year producing grapes that capture the essence of the soil that surrounds their roots.
Products at Trade Tasting: OZV Old Vine Zinfandel
About Maggio: After five generations the Maggio family proudly puts its name on bottles that reflect their long and uncompromising commitments to sustainable agriculture and winemaking excellence.
Products at Trade Tasting: Maggio Family Vineyards Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc; Maggio Estates Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
About Old Soul: Old Vines and their descendants are vessels of an eternal soul that offers wisdom, strength, and stability. These prized wines are better balanced, with more body and structure.
Products at Trade Tasting: Old Soul Chardonnay, Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
About Moss Roxx: The vines for Moss Roxx’s Ancient Vines Zinfandel are more than a half-century old, resulting in powerful, deeply extracted wines sourced entirely from Oak Ridge Winery’s sustainably farmed, family-owned estate vineyards in Lodi, CA.
Product at Trade Tasting: Moss Roxx Ancient Vine Zinfandel
Reach out with any questions you may have to see just how responsive, knowledgeable and downright friendly an Empire Representative can be.
