Tag: 261022

Liquor commission pairs wines and bourbon with eats and fall fun

The New Hampshire Liquor Commission will launch a new program with pumpkins and horse-drawn carriage rides.

“On Oct. 1 we launched our new Seasons of Savings campaign,” said Mark Roy, of the State Liquor Commission. He explained that several times each year the Liquor Commission will partner with different spirit and wine suppliers and manufacturers to sponsor special events and bargains for the upcoming season. And each season will begin with an event. The first one will be a tasting dinner at Charmingfare Farm in Candia on Thursday, Oct. 29.

“It will be a catered dinner pairing,” Roy said, “with select pours, which will be matched with the different courses of the meal that evening as well. There will be some horse-drawn carriage rides, and anybody that’s been to the farm knows they’ve got some animals, and we’ll have some lawn games out there and different things for you to partake in, so it’ll just be a fun evening. It will be a little more intimate setting to [let guests] see some of the brand ambassadors and talk to some of the people from the distillery or the winery, [and] to have the experience of pairing it with food. Some people don’t realize or may not understand that both wines and spirits pair beautifully with different meals and spice levels and things like that. It’s going to be a great evening fun event.”

For this first Season of Savings season, Roy said, “we have Woodford Bourbon signed on as our spirit sponsor and we also have Ruffino wines from Tuscany sponsoring the wine side of things. This fall event [will be] a guiding tasting tour through the Woodford portfolio and the Ruffino Tuscan wine portfolio.” On its website the Liquor Commission described the menu. “Dinner is a self-serve BBQ buffet catered by KC’s Rib Shack. The menu features North Carolina-style pulled pork with BBQ sauce, smoked bone in chicken breast, and hickory smoked sweet Italian sausage. Sides include cole slaw, baked beans, macaroni salad, dirty rice, and corn bread, along with a tossed salad with croutons and your choice of ranch or Italian dressing.”

The Liquor Commission has ambitious plans for future seasonal events, Roy said.

“This is a feature event for this first season and then we’re actually in the process of selecting our next spirit and wine to represent us as we go into 2027. We’ll have some great giveaways to continue, and we’re putting together some ideas for what our event will be for the upcoming season as well. There’ll be some e-coupons floating around out there, so some special values … and sweepstakes too, that they can enter.” As an example, “there will be a Woodford’s [Bourbon] Kentucky Derby Experience. [A] grand prize winner and a guest will [go] to the Kentucky Derby on May 1. Rufino is doing a grand prize of a home entertaining package with kitchen equipment, glassware, Italian specialty goods and a $500 grocery card so you can go buy some of the food that you’re going to sample, hopefully.”

Charmingfare Farm Fall Tasting Event
When: Thursday, Oct. 29, from 4:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Charmingfare Farm, 774 High St, Candia, 483-5623, visitthefarm.com
More: Tickets are $81.88. Visit seasonsofsavings.liquorandwineoutlets.com.

Featured photo: Horse-drawn ride at Charmingfare Farm. Courtesy photo.

Distiller’s Showcase is the culmination of Spirits Week

The Distiller’s Showcase, which will take place Thursday, Nov. 5, in Manchester, is one of the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission’s flagship events. Hundreds of distillers and distributors will have more than 700 spirits available to sample. Twenty-five restaurants will be on hand with samples of their food. Liquor enthusiasts and experts of all types will have the opportunity to try new spirits and connect with each other.

“The Showcase itself is the culmination of Spirits Week,” said Mark Roy, the Director of Marketing, Merchandising, and Warehousing for the State Liquor Commission.”If you go to our website and check that out, [you’ll find] a lot of events going on during the week. But the big Distiller’s Showcase is kind of the [highlight] of the week. In the main expo we have about 165 tables of spirits and non-alcoholic options. We also have about 20 to 25 different restaurants from around the state that come and visit us and show off their goods as well.”

Each of the 165 tables at the Expo will offer samples of multiple products, Roy pointed out. “Each table is maxed out at four products,” he said. “We do encourage each table to offer a pre-mixed cocktail. It showcases what you can do with each individual spirit, but obviously you can have it on its own and we order in responsible amounts to make sure that you can have more than one and enjoy your evening, along with a responsibility piece of it. This year we’re sponsored by Brown Foreman, who represents Jack Daniel’s, a bunch of other brands. They partnered with Grace Limousine again this year for our free ride home program. So in case you happen to overindulge slightly and feel more comfortable getting a ride home, we offer that service as well.”

While a wide variety of spirits are always represented at the Distiller’s Showcase, as drinking trends change, each year one or two types of liquor are more prominently represented, Roy said. “Brown spirits are still up there — they’re still one of the best-selling categories at this time of year. The leaves are changing, and the temperatures are dropping a little bit. As you’re putting your tank tops and T-shirts away and switching over your sweaters and jeans, [drinkers are] moving over to the whiskey category, whether it’s Irish or American bourbon or Canadian. That’s usually the driver, but we’ve got a pretty good spread of spirits this year. There are a lot of new entries this year, a lot of new things to check out.”

One of the surprising trends in the beverage industry that is reflected at the Distiller’s Showcase, Roy said, is non-alcoholic drinks.

“[There will be] some non-alcoholic options. Fever Tree is going to be there this year. [In the state liquor stores] we actually recently implemented a non-alcoholic section or low-alcohol section. It’s usually right adjacent to our ready-to-drink cocktail selection. So, you know, that’s a new group of customers out there and we want to make sure that we’re offering something for all of our guests. Non-alcoholic products is one of the biggest trends right now, and statistics are showing that your customer that comes in and shops for non-alka is also picking up alka as well. So it’s kind of a blend of both, so we want to give them what we can.”

As always, the proceeds from this year’s Distiller’s Showcase will go toward supporting the New Hampshire Food Bank.

“They have been our partner for the last number of years,” Roy said, “and they help out all over the state. Every food bank and soup kitchen and everything [gets support] from the New Hampshire Food Bank right out of here in Manchester. They’ve been a great partner over the years and we’re happy to work with them again. Their team does a great job.”

Most of the people who attend the Distiller’s Showcase are spirit enthusiasts, Roy said, and not part of the Industry.

“This is the 13th time we’ve done this,” he said, “and in all honesty the first year we started we had 225 people. We do do some advertising and social media pushes and things like that, but I think probably 85 to 90 percent it is just word-of-mouth people that have been to the event. We see a lot of new faces — a lot of repeat faces, but a ton of new faces.”

13th Annual Distiller’s Showcase
Where: Doubletree Expo Center, 700 Elm St., Manchester, 625-1000
When: Thursday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: General admission tickets (21+) are $75 at distillersshowcase.com. Connoisseur tickets for early admission are $90. Master Distiller VIP tickets sell out very quickly and are already gone for this year’s expo.

Featured photo: Distiller’s Showcase. Courtesy photo.