The biggest change at ProWein this year is the introduction of Peter Schmitz, who will be making his show debut as director having taken on the role in February. For the nine previous months Michael Degen had been acting director and has now returned to his role on the board of management for Messe Düsseldorf, the organisation behind ProWein. “I am absolutely passionate about networking…

The gin boom of the past decade and a half is slowly de­feating in its major domestic markets, most notably the UK. According to the latest IWSR Drinks Market Analysis forecast, gin sales in the UK will decline at a CAGR of 4% over the next three years. It’s tough for gin distilleries at present – costs are soaring and consumers are either tightening their…

Within the industry it’s well documented that Irish whiskey was once dominant, outselling all other whiskies, including Scotch and bourbon. However, what is less well known is that by the 19th century the majority of whiskey sales were in single pot still. According to the history books, there were 93 working distilleries in Ireland by 1835 and, due to taxes on malted barley, single pot…

Mezcal has a claim to being perhaps the world’s largest handcrafted spirits category. It has just had a record-breaking year at nine million litres – a modest sum against the 650 million litres that tequila produced in 2022, but an ocean when we consider how it’s made and where the category was a few years ago. “[When we started] there wasn’t even a demand for…

To the global wine trade, Ribera del Duero is an established region in northern Spain, but the denominación de origen was only established in 1982, making it one of Europe’s youngest wine territories. Of course, wine has been made there for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but over the past four decades there have been significant changes in the style of wines produced. And…

Tequila, mezcal – these are what typically comes to mind regarding spirits produced in Mexico. However, in recent years, the country has been seeing a rise in production of whiskies, particularly those that use corn as a key ingredient, as the category begins to expand. The IWSR Drinks Market Analysis reported that Mexican whisky grew 13% between 2020 and 2021, and is forecast to grow…

If you were setting out to produce a spirit with a low environmental impact, you probably wouldn’t be choosing rum. Converting raw sugar into something fermentable requires a lot of energy and distillation is water intensive. On top of that, sugarcane needs plenty of space to grow, and when rum distilleries often find themselves in space-limited locations, like islands for instance, raw materials must be…