MARIANI’S
Virtual Gourmet
Cruise Poster, 1929
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IN THIS ISSUE PHILADELPHIA LOSES THE FOUNTAIN By Brian Freedman NEW YORK CORNER CAFFÈ DEI FIORI By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR THE WORLDWIDE MARKET FOR WINE AND SPIRITS LOOKS . . . TENTATIVE By John Mariani ❖❖❖ GOODBYE TO ALL THAT: PHILADELPHIA LOSES THE FOUNTAIN By Brian Freedman
The Swann Fountain, Philadelphia
❖❖❖ NEW
YORK CORNER
❖❖❖By John Mariani Caffè dei Fiori 973 Lexington Avenue (near 71st Street) caffedeifiorinewyork.com
Those downtowners and
Brooklynites who enjoy dissing the restaurants on
the Upper East Side of Manhattan have obviously
never dined at Le Cirque, Daniel, Café Boulud,
JoJo, The Mark, Orsay and other first-rate
restaurants in that stretch of territory—and those
are just the French brigade. Fine Italian
restaurants also abound—Sandro’s, Sistina,
Caravaggio, Saint Ambroeus, Petaluma, and, now,
Caffé dei Fiori, recently opened by Daliso Gulmini
and Andrea Nanni in a former three-level antiques
store. Caffé dei Fiori is open
for lunch Mon.-Fri. dinner nightly, brunch on
weekends
NOTES
FROM THE WINE CELLAR
By John Mariani
THE WORLDWIDE
MARKET FOR
These are neither
the best of times nor worst of times for the
global wine and spirits markets, but it is a
time of uncertainty about the economy, politics
and societal changes that make predictions about
the future more difficult than it’s been in a
long time. Q. Your
new report makes much of the impact of the Asian
market on global sales, but there is also some
caution in it. A. While 2013's growth in the
region has been curtailed by the Chinese
government’s anti-corruption legislation,
five-year forecasts remain positive at about 3.5%
growth. Cognac and Armagnac have found new markets
in Asia, and sales rocketed by 19% from 2009-12 and are
expected to grow annually at a 3% rate. Right
now Asia-Pacific accounts for 63% of the world’s
total spirits consumption. Q.
Which categories are showing the most growth in
spirits? A.
Premium whiskies and Kentucky bourbons are back in
vogue, with Russia, Brazil, Mexico, India and
Poland driving forces outside of the U.S. Vodka is
still number one in sales but that’s leveling out
now. Baiju,
a spirit like vodka made and mostly consumed in
China, is the number one best seller of all.
Q. Are
the current sanctions against Russia and falling
oil prices going to hurt the Russian market? A.
Russia is difficult to predict. Vodka is still the
best-selling spirit there, but the younger
generation does not want to pursue the same habits
of their elders. They are much more open to
spirits from outside Russia. Q.
What about the weakening of the euro? How will
that affect global sales of European wines and
spirits? A. The
industry has, as a result of the stronger dollar,
become much more competitive
than in the past. A strong dollar translates to
lower prices for French, Italian and Spanish wines
and spirits, which offers clear advantages on the
international scene. I don’t think export will be
much affected through 2016 but that depends on the
future value of the euro. Q. Do
you think some producers in Europe will try to
make up for the falling price of the euro by
hiking their own prices? A. It will
depend on the price category of each wine and on
the stocks available. If there is a lot of stock,
they won’t push prices up; they’ll look to improve
their margins instead. Remember, the U.S. is still
the largest consumer of wines and spirits in the
world. Some producers of very high-end, rare wines
and spirits may raise their prices. Q.
What about sparkling wines? A.
Sparkling wines (excluding Champagne) accounted
for 8% of the world’s wine consumption – and are
expected to rise to 8.9% by 2018. Spanish
cava sales, spurred
by growth in imports to Belgium, Nigeria and
France, escalated by more than 100,000 cases in
2013. In
that same year Italian
prosecco sales doubled. Q. Has
this hurt Champagne sales? A.
I used to work for Champagne, so I know it well,
and consumption has dipped—1.4% globally in 2013--
as consumers everywhere look to cheaper
alternatives like prosecco and cava. Outside
of France, Champagne is perceived as very high
priced, only for special occasions, but I believe
it still has a quality that cannot be matched, and
grape prices in Champagne are very high. Even
though French consumption is down, they continue
to drink Champagne because they have access to
many more inexpensive labels. Champagne
sales are increasing, however, in the U.K, U.S,
Australia and Japan. Q.
What about wine consumption? A.
Red wine continues to dominate, representing 54.8%
of all still wine consumed in 2013. Reduced
demand, primarily in China—where more than 90% of
wine consumed is red--drove worldwide consumption
down by 19.8 million cases. Rosé
sales are going up nicely, by about 9%. Q.
Recent reports indicate that the business lunch
has not only declined in importance because have
so little time and are forced to eat at their
desk, but that when they do dine out they order
less and cheaper wines. Do
you see that in France, too? A.
Oh, yes, there is a big change in consumption
patterns everywhere. Business people don’t take as
much time to enjoy lunch, and they drink less,
though they drink better wines. Not the
high-end labels, however, because the executives
cannot be seen showing off to their clients the
way they once did. Expense accounts have been cut
and, as you know, we are still in a deep economic
crisis in Europe. A.
Yes, the younger generation, especially in France,
is spending more time in wine bars and bistros.
The sales are now being driven by them. ❖❖❖
YOUR HONOR, WHAT WOULD YOU THINK OF "VEGEMITE"? A judge in Valencienne, France, denied a couple the right to name their daughter "Nutella" because it would invite "mockery or disobliging remarks." ❖❖❖
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FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report
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Gourmet is linked to four excellent
travel sites: Everett Potter's Travel Report: I consider this the best and
savviest blog of its kind on the web. Potter is a
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Weekend, Diversion, Laptop and Luxury Spa Finder,
a contributing editor for Ski and a frequent contributor
to National
Geographic Traveler, ForbesTraveler.com
and Elle Decor.
"I’ve designed this site is for people who take
their travel seriously," says Potter. "For
travelers who want to learn about special places
but don’t necessarily want to pay through the nose for
the privilege of staying there. Because at the end
of the day, it’s not so much about five-star
places as five-star experiences." THIS WEEK: Walking
Tour of Austria; Philadelphia by the Book; Skiing Utah/
Eating Las Vegas is the new on-line site for Virtual Gourmet contributor John A. Curtas., who since 1995 has been commenting on the Las Vegas food scene and reviewing restaurants for Nevada Public Radio. He is also the restaurant critic for KLAS TV, Channel 8 in Las Vegas, and his past reviews can be accessed at KNPR.org. Click on the logo below to go directly to his site.
Tennis Resorts Online: A Critical Guide to the World's Best Tennis Resorts and Tennis Camps, published by ROGER COX, who has spent more than two decades writing about tennis travel, including a 17-year stretch for Tennis magazine. He has also written for Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, New York Magazine, Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Money, USTA Magazine, Men's Journal, and The Robb Report. He has authored two books-The World's Best Tennis Vacations (Stephen Greene Press/Viking Penguin, 1990) and The Best Places to Stay in the Rockies (Houghton Mifflin, 1992 & 1994), and the Melbourne (Australia) chapter to the Wall Street Journal Business Guide to Cities of the Pacific Rim (Fodor's Travel Guides, 1991).
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John
Mariani.
Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani,
Robert Mariani, Misha
Mariani,
John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort Hochstein,
Andrew Chalk, Dotty Griffith and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Dargery, Bobby
Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.
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