Why You Won’t See Big Names at This Year’s Great American Beer Festival
Well-known names such as Wicked Weed, which has won four GABF awards since 2013, and Goose Island, with 29 total medals, won’t be pouring this year. Neither will three-time medal winner Terrapin Beer Co. or Saint Archer Brewing, which won a gold medal in 2014. Other notable absences include Lagunitas, Elysian Brewing, 10 Barrel, Breckenridge Brewing, Blue Moon, the Sandlot, Leinenkugel, Revolver Brewing, Hop Valley Brewing, Kona Brewing, and Red Hook
The departures are a result of rule changes at the GABF that would seem to be more favorable to small brewers. The changes come months after the Brewers Association, which hosts GABF, launched a seal to go on bottles, signifying the brewer behind it was made by an independent organization, rather than a brewer that has been acquired by a larger company, such as AB InBev. Read more here, from Fortune.
Raise Your Glass: The Value of a Vintner Who Stays the Course
The reason Ecco Domani is so good and consistent is the winemaker. There has been only one at the helm since the wine’s conception more than two decades ago.
Young, talented winemakers, particularly those who work for large corporations, often move around from winery to winery, so it’s rare to find one who has been at the same post very long, but Ecco Domani winemaker Fatrizio Gatto is the exception.
Much to the credit of Ecco Domani producer E&J Gallo Winery, Gatto has been allowed to make a quality wine that has built his reputation as one of the most knowledgeable and respected winemakers in Italy.
Gallo created Ecco Domani in 1996, making the wine entirely from purchased grapes, and at the time, the international wine giant had no wines produced outside of the United States, the company’s website says. Read more here, from Valley News.