In just over 2 weeks’ time 15 bartenders from across the world will be descending on Cognac for 4 days of intense competition to find out who will be crowned the 2013 G’Vine GCP Champion.
For the last few months heats have been taking place from Melbourne to Manchester and from Los Angeles to London (news on the UK heats here). 12 heats have taken place to discover who will be representing their countries at this year’s finals. Add this to the 3 wild cards and the final 15 look like this:
- Francesc Cairo, House, Barcelona
- Gorge Camorra, Cloud 9, Melbourne
- Meaghan Dorman, Raines Law Room, New York
- Cari Hah, Coles Red Car Bar, Los Angeles
- Jamie Jones, The Liquorists, Manchester
- Hannah Lanfear, Boisdale, London
- Irwan Majid, Cut By Wolfgang Puck, Singapore
- Mari Nakano, The Peninsula Tokyo Peter Bar, Tokyo
- Katrin Reitz, La dee da, Berlin
- Kellie Thorn, Empire State South, Atlanta
- Michael Tomasic, Wild Rover, Sydney
- Ivan Villegas, O’Clock, Madrid
- Mathieu Le Feuvrier, Le quarante trois, Paris (Wild Card)
- Antonio Lai, Quinary, Hong Kong (Wild Card)
- Danzel Heath, Soho Molecular Lounge, Port Elizabeth (Wild Card)
The G’Vine GCP is one of the toughest competitions in the world, one look at this list will give you your first clue why and I’m about to give you a rundown of the various heats which will confirm any lingering doubts you may have about the intensity of this event.
With the beautiful vista of Cognac in the background, these 15 finalists will have to battle it out over some of the toughest challenges. judged by a panel of experts which includes Philip Duff (who also comes up with the challenges) and Gaz ‘he’s 61 you know’ Regan.
So here are the challenges:
- Guest Lecture (on this year’s theme of Brand Ambassadors) and Exam
- Grape Spirits Nosing and Tasting Challenge
- Make Your Own Gin
- Technical Bartending (a speed challenge on steroids)
- Cocktail & Spirit Presentation
- Gin & Cocktail Trivia Quiz
All that in 4 days!?! Actually all that in 3 days, there is also the little matter of the G’Vine Summer Ball when a few hundred of Cognacs great citizens flood to a venue to be wowed by the finalists signature drinks served from their own, hand designed bars. Their votes are combined with the scores from the rest of the week to determine who will be crowned champion.
Up for grabs in the superb prize of not only the title itself but also $3,000, a personal and tailor-made training program from Philip Duff, an elite presenting & media-training course, and the chance to present seminars at both Tales of the Cocktail 2013 and Bar Convent Berlin 2013.
Amongst all the pressure and tension are plenty of opportunities to relax, have fun and socialise with dinners, boat trips and pool parties to enjoy (and maybe even a pig luge!).
Last year’s final was an epic event with a great bunch of people having a great time (the write ups can be found here and here) and I am in no doubt that this year will be equally as exceptional. BarLifeUK will be on hand once again to bring you all the news at it happens live from Cognac, so keep an eye on your favourite bar website from June 9th for all the updates.