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Seri Pervas: Homage to the tradition of trade

After being declared a free port in 1719, Trieste became the most significant port in Austro-Hungary and by 1900 it was the fourth-largest city in the empire after Vienna, Budapest and Prague, characterised by the profile of the steam ships that transported goods from the continent to the rest of the world. These also included Seri Pervas, a large-wheeled wooden steamer built in 1839 that travelled along the Danube into the inland areas and out to sea.

At the beginning of 2020, two brothers came up with a line of spirits as a homage to the trade history of the city. They brought the name of the ship back to life to trace the history of the merchants. Their great-grandfather Vittorio travelled to America on the transatlantic ships Vulcania and Saturnia and brought back exotic products that were not available in Europe. Deals were often made by handshake at the ports and sealed with a toast. This is how a modern line of spirits with gin and amaro emerged through artisanal production. Everything is made with passion and pride in Trieste, as can be read on the bottles. Local raw ingredients are carefully selected and enriched with spices. The design was also chosen with reference to the historical era, which was characterised by scientific and technological innovation, cultural dynamism and the emergence of world trade. Pharmaceutical discoveries laid the foundation stone for modern medicine and alcohol was part of many remedies. All of this led to the selection of a bottle as could be found in all pharmacies back then, as well as to the thick paper label and font from that time.

At the World Spirits Award, silver was awarded to Seri Pervas Amaro.

Weingut Beate & Reinmund Reiterer: Versatile epicureans

Five generations of viticulture tradition, an inn and guest rooms – at first glance, it’s a normal Kitzeck vintner family. This is far from the truth, because the Reiterers practice a ‘winegrowing culture for the unconventional’, in a designed ambience with creative indulgences. In addition to traditional inn cuisine, Beate is keen on a contemporary interpretation, with high-quality products from the region such as trout mousse, raw venison ham, wild boar muffins and more. Reinmund’s passion is on the ‘liquid’ side. With their sensory awareness and internal sampling, they trained their three adult sons to become reliable partners when it comes to the evaluation of foods, wines and distillates. The latter have been produced for generations and also brought the winemaker and cellar master to gin: “Its multilayered and complex aspects, similar to a quality Sauvignon Blanc, attracted me from the very beginning.”

It started with a table still that a regular guest of the family had given as a gift years before. “A pharmacist’s scales for the dosages, a walk through the forest and a visit to a spice shop – that was it. After the first winter the table still remained in place, and in the second winter it became clear that I might be onto something. So I switched to a column still.” In the meantime, Distilled Dry Gin is produced using the pot still procedure, with time-consuming double distillation and a lot of manual work. The composition of 18 botanicals, along with the combination of maceration and percolation have one united aim: “Complexity! No aroma may be dominant, instead the gin should consist of a subtle whole!”

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for Distilled Dry Gin.

Diageo – From London to the whole world

Approximately 33,000 employees are employed worldwide at Diageo, the market leader in premium spirits, with Smirnoff (vodka), Johnnie Walker (whiskey), J&B (Scotch whiskey), Baileys (liqueur), Captain Morgan (rum), Cuervo (tequila) and Tanqueray (gin), Guinness beer and branded wines. Production takes place all around the world: from Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Spain and Africa, to the USA, Canada, Latin America, Australia, India and the Caribbean. The global corporation emerged in 1997 from the merger between Guinness and GrandMet. 180 markets around the world are handled from its London headquarters.

A lot of work and lots of attention to detail go into creating the in-depth product descriptions on Diageo’s website. Information and analysis is provided about issues ranging from detailed descriptions of the production down to the most minute ingredients. Finally, they are aware of the size of their company and also of their responsibilities as a supplier of alcoholic products. The name Diageo was also deliberately chosen – it represents their agenda. Put together from ‘dia’ (the Latin word for ‘day’) and ‘geo’ (the Greek word for ‘world’), it means that every day people are celebrating all over the world with products from their company. These products open up possibilities never dreamed of for special days and nights, marking special life events and even making the smaller things in life feel magical.

Participation in the World Spirits Award was magical: there was double gold for Tanqueray No. 10 (Spirit of the Year 2016), gold for Gordon’s London Dry Gin and Tanqueray London Dry Gin, as well as silver for Tanqueray Rangpur.