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Vinopolis was a commercial visitor attraction in Southwark, London, England from 1999 to 2015, operated by Wineworld, London that presented the subject of wine and oenology through exhibits and wine tastings. [1] Vinopolis closed permanently at the end of 2015.
Vinopolis was located at Bankside, to the east of Southwark Bridge , and close to London Bridge on the southern side of the River Thames. There was an attached restaurant, Cantina Vinopolis, and wine was available for sale at the attached Laithwaites Wine Store. [2] Vinopolis spanned 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) and was devoted to the world of wine, including its history, development, and taste. Within the complex, there was a specialist whisky retailer, The Whisky Exchange, which offered a range of whiskies and other spirits. The Whisky Exchange also organized various whisky-tasting events throughout the year [3] at Vinopolis.
Vinopolis was developed by the wine merchant Duncan Vaughan-Arbuckle. He chose a site beneath the arches of a Victorian railway viaduct [4] that was built in 1866 by the Southeastern Railway Company to carry an extension line from London Bridge Station over the Thames to the north bank.
Vinopolis opened on 23 July 1999.[ citation needed ] Its first program was a four-hour guided tour through static wine displays with tastings. The business evolved over the years, and at the time it closed, it operated as both a wine tour and a corporate events venue.
In July 2008, the attraction of the "Authentic Caribbean Rum Experience" was opened, which allowed attendees to sample a selection of Caribbean premium rums.[ citation needed ]
The last range of offerings was put in place in Autumn 2012.[ citation needed ] The site featured wines from around the world. Three self-guided "experience packages" were offered, called "essential", "classic" and "quintessential". Group packages and group guided tours were also available. The wines were served from enomatic dispensers to prevent spoilage.
Throughout the year, Vinopolis hosted a range of events featuring wine, spirits, and food.[ citation needed ] These included a selection of monthly "masterclasses" such as:
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Diageo plc is a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits. Distilleries owned by Diageo produce 40% of all Scotch whisky with over 24 brands, such as Johnnie Walker, J&B and Old Parr.
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, usually alcoholic beverages; a small barrel or cask is known as a keg.
Finishing is the procedure that some whiskies undergo where the spirit is matured in a cask of a particular origin and then spends time in a cask of different origin Typically, the first cask is an American oak cask formerly used to mature bourbon. The second cask may be one that has been used to mature some sort of fortified wine, often sherry, though sometimes casks for port, madeira, or even red burgundy or chardonnay are used.
Glenfiddich distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery owned by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic Gleann Fhiodhaich meaning "valley of the deer", which is reflected in Glenfiddich's stag logo.
Grant's is a blended Scotch whisky, produced by the company William Grant & Sons in Scotland.
Balvenie distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons.
Bruichladdich Distillery is a distillery on the Rhinns of the isle of Islay in Scotland. The distillery produces mainly single malt Scotch whisky, but has also offered artisanal gin. It is owned by Rémy Cointreau and is one of nine working distilleries on the island.
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. While strongly associated with the Caribbean to this day due to its Barbadian origin, rum is nowadays produced in nearly every major sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Philippines, where Tanduay Distillers, the largest producer of rum worldwide, has its headquarters.
Corby Spirit and Wine Limited is a Canadian alcohol manufacturing and distribution company. It was founded in 1859 in Corbyville, Ontario. As of 2008, the company is 46% owned by Pernod Ricard. The company distills several Canadian specialities, as well as marketing Pernod Ricard's products in Canada. Corby is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbols CSW.A and CSW.B. Corby is known for funding free travel on the TTC on New Years Eve in Toronto.
An alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The consumption of alcoholic drinks, often referred to as "drinking", plays an important social role in many cultures. Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.
The San Francisco World Spirits Competition was founded in 2001 by Anthony Dias Blue as an off-shoot of the San Francisco International Wine Competition. It assesses hundreds of entrants annually with tastings involving panels of expert judges selected each year from the spirits industry including mixologists, spirits buyers, and media from across the United States. Producers must submit their product for the competition and pay a fee for its evaluation. Not all entries are given awards but most receive a bronze, silver, or gold award from the tasting panel. The fact that most entrants receive an award likely involves some degree of self-selection, as the spirits producers choose whether to enter each of their brands in the competition and pay to receive a rating. Those entrants that are given a unanimous gold medal by the panel are given the distinction of a "double-gold" medal. Additionally, a "best in show" designation is awarded in each main category of spirits.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation which bottles and sells single cask, single malt whisky. It purchases individual casks from more than 170 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and throughout the world, bottles them and retails directly to its members. It also runs four private members' rooms in the UK and in several international locations.
English whisky is a liquor made from cereal grains, malt and water. There are currently two types of English whiskies produced malt whisky and grain whisky.
Benjamin Prichard's Tennessee Whiskey is a brand of Tennessee whiskey produced in the small community of Kelso, Tennessee in the United States. Although it is produced by one of only two distilleries operating in Lincoln County – and its unaged variation is named Lincoln County Lightning – Prichard's is not produced using the Lincoln County Process. Due to a special grandfathering exemption under a Tennessee law enacted in 2013, the Prichard's distillery in Kelso is the only producer allowed to label its product as "Tennessee Whiskey" without using this process. Prichard's whiskey is produced entirely using pot stills rather than column stills.
The idea of drinking whisky with food is considered outré by many, but there is a growing interest in pairing whiskies with complementary foods. The Scotch whisky industry has been keen to promote this. Single malts, pot-still whiskies, bourbons, and rye whiskies offer an interesting range of tastes and aromas, which are just as varied as wine. Jake Wallis Simons compares whiskies in bourbon casks to white wines, due to their lighter flavor, and those in sherry casks to red wines, with their greater fruitiness. A few Scottish cook books contain reference to the use of whisky in cooking, and a few traditional Scottish recipes that use whisky exist.
Antiquity is a brand of Indian whisky, manufactured by United Spirits Ltd (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo. It was launched in 1992 and is available in two variants – Antiquity Blue and Antiquity Rare.
Ultimate Beverage Challenge, established in 2009, conducts an annual spirit competition, Ultimate Spirits Challenge. The entries for this competition are submitted on a global basis.
