The energy was high as EFFEN Vodka hosted its second regional bartender competition on Thursday August 27th inside Tryst nightclub at the Wynn Casino. Six teams of two bartenders mixed and shook their drink concoctions for a crowd of over 300 with hopes to be named the crowd and judge favorite when all the dust settled.
The Victory went to Heidi Welniak & Antonio Trillo, the son of Ignacio Trillo, Wirtz Beverage Nevada’s General Market Sales Manager. His signature “EFFEN Experience” cocktail made with fresh watermelon juice, EFFEN vodka, guava liquor, fresh sour mix and thyme wowed the judges and the crowd. Antonio, who is the General Manager of Nora’s Italian Restaurant, a local staple in Las Vegas, was thrilled to receive his award.
The first “Silver Bullet Pub Crawl” was held at Town Square in Las Vegas on Saturday July 10th; flooding venues with the new Coors Light aluminum pint cans. The event organized by Miller/Coors, the Coors Girls and WBN was a tremendous success bringing over 400 customers into each stop it made.
The event started at Cadillac Ranch – All American Bar & Grill, in partnership with spyonvegas.com, for an hour long “open bar” featuring the new Coors Light aluminum pint can. This is also where the Coors Light SUV was parked handing out event “passports”, which were required for admission to the remaining venues. Passports also needed to be stamped at each stop to be eligible for prizes at the end of the event.
The second location was Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar; where customers singing loud and proud with various piano players are the entertainment. This was the perfect location for a push-up and endurance competition. The pub crawler that could hold cans of Coors Light at shoulder height for the longest time won a “Beer-for-a-Year” package.
The group then migrated to NU Sanctuary Lounge. This venue provided a very mystical setting and therefore a great place to unveil the full body painted Coors Light girls and a magician to entertain the crowd. This is where pub crawlers exceeded restaurant capacity and many guest had to leave early for the final stop, Blue Martini Lounge.
The pub crawl came into full fruition at Blue Martini Lounge offering many different activities. There was a photo booth where guests could have their picture taken in the Rocky Mountains, a live band, a master magician and an Elvis Presley impersonator. This was also where the stamped passports were turned in for a drawing to win prizes including cruises, Southwest Airline tickets, NFL and MLB tickets. The Coors Light Girls announced nine winners along with handing out T-shirts and key chains to the guests.
By the end, everyone had an amazing time and the first Coors LightSilver Bullet PubCrawl was a tremendous success.
This year marks the 7th year for local celebrities and executives auctioning themselves off to benefit New Vista Community. This year guests will be able to bid on Angelica Bridges from Fantasy Girls & Baywatch, and Taylor Barton, NASCAR driver for Full Tilt Poker! A total of 18 candidates will be up for bidding on Friday, July 9th 2010 at the Golden Nugget’s pool, The Tank.
General admission tickets are only $20 in advance or go in style with a Premium VIP Booth for 6 people that includes the VIP Pre Party from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm, appetizers, 2 cocktails per guest during the pre party, goodie bag and bottle service with mixers during the auction at your VIP booth! All this for only $500. Book your tickets or VIP Booth at www.NewVistaCommunity.org or by calling 702-457-4677 ext. 25.
Ask any local in Las Vegas where they frequent the most and the answer is sure to be Town Square. Since its opening in 2008 the outdoor mall has become the hub of the local Las Vegans. Their newest venue, Lolita’s Cantina, which is opening on July 8th will be the first upscale taqueria and tequila bar in the area.
Featuring over 100 selections of premium tequila, high end tacos and well trained bartenders, Lolita’s should have all the pieces for success in this market. Wirtz Beverage Nevada gladly invited them in to use the Wirtz Alchemy Room for two full days of staff training.
The training included a two hour lecture on Tequila from our Master Mixologist Drew Levinson, continuous pour testing, bar 101 and countless cocktails. With the tools Drew has left them with they should have a fantastic opening just in time for the Coors Light Silver Bullet Pub Crawl which will kick off at this location on July 10th.
This sensational summer libation is perfect for cooling you off during those hot days by the pool. A sangria-style concoction, the Love Drunk Punch is a vodka and red wine based blend that really sets the mood.
We start with the trademarked Johnny Love Aloha (pineapple/coconut) Vodka. To that we add a healthy portion of light red wine, pomegranate liqueur, Combier (orange liqueur), and club soda to enhance the crispness. Dice up fresh fruit – oranges, pears, apples, pineapples – and let the punch marinate in the fruit medley for 1 hour. This tropical twist to the sangria will be the life of the party. So mix up a batch for your next gathering, and let the flavor-filled day ensue.
Ingredients (Batch)
2 parts Johnny Love Aloha Vodka
2 parts light red wine (Pinot Noir)
1 part Pomegranate Liqueur
1 part Combier (orange liqueur)
Fresh fruit medley – oranges, pears, green apples, pineapples
Master Sommelier and Wine Educator Thomas Burke arranged a fantastic education event this past week for industry professionals. The Spanish Wine Academy hosts a select number of Spanish Wine Education tasting classes throughout the world and Wirtz Beverage Nevada was proud to host their latest class inside the Alchemy Education and Training facility. The program is a certified, comprehensive and all inclusive 2-day Spanish wine course; with an intensive tasting component (over 50 wines).
The course covers the most important Spanish Appellations, climates, soils, history, wine styles and grape varieties. It also includes a section on Sherry and the wines of the Andalucia region. The course ended with an exam that consists of a theory section and blind tasting. The top 15 high-scorers from the entire world wide education tour will be treated to a week long Spanish wine tour covering Spain’s top wine making regions.
It’s with great pride that Nevada Wine Agents announces the newly acquired wines from Emmanuel Kemiji. Three different wine projects from renown wine expert Emmanuel Kemiji have been added to the Nevada Wine Agents portfolio. “Miura” the Pinot Noir project from the Monterey County with all single vineyard Pinot Noir, “Tejada” the Tempranillo & Grenache project from Lake County and “Clos Pissarra” which is equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane and Grenache from Priorat Spain.
Wine maker extraordinaire and Master Sommelier Mr. Emmanuel Kemiji visited the Las Vegas market on Tuesday June 1st and Wednesday June 2nd to help kick off the brands with our NWA Las Vegas division and tasted the wines with a number of the buyers and Sommeliers in the Las Vegas market. Mr. Kemiji is well known through out the wine world and was a great addition in the kick off of these brands.
