Wine, Travel & Food News From Vino-Sphere: January 11, 2019

Tacoma Art Museum's New Benaroya Wing Opens January 19

The newest addition to the Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is the Rebecca and Jack Benaroya Wing, a 6,595-square-foot expansion to showcase the Benaroya Collection gift, which opens to the public on January 19. Led by architects Tom Kundig and Kirsten R. Murray the design of the Benaroya Wing balances opacity and transparency providing symmetry with recent TAM addition of the Haub Family Galleries, also designed by Olson Kundig.

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The addition strengthens the visual connection between TAM and the city by activating the north end of the museum, offering a new platform for visitors to observe the urban context from the galleries. "With the Benaroya Wing, I'm most excited about the opportunity to break down traditional thresholds between the museum and the public. The new vista gallery is designed to entice people inside to view the Benaroya Collection by offering a look into what's happening inside the museum,"
says Kundig.

Col Vetoraz joins The Grand Wine Tour Association

Col Vetoraz, a winery situated right next to the Mont di Cartizze in S. Stefano di Valdobbiadene, a municipality in Italy’s Veneto region, has joined the Grand Wine Tour Association. The Grand Wine Tour is an Association of top wineries across seven regions of Italy, offering exclusive wine tastings, boutique hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants & unique activities dedicated to a luxury clientele.

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In 1993, Francesco Miotto, Paolo De Bortoli, and Loris Dall’Aqua founded the winery and planted vineyards that today give rise to the most prestigious wine in the Valdobbiadene DOCG: Valdobbiadene Cartizze Superiore. This style of Prosecco is highly exclusive as there are only 106 hectares of vineyards that fall under the appellation.

Monterey County Tourism Focuses On Destination Sustainability

The Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau (MCCVB) has joined two initiatives that will further its goal of ensuring Monterey County is one of the world’s leading sustainable destinations by both setting ambitious goals and measuring long term impacts.

The first is with Positive Impact, a global not for profit which exists to provide education and collaboration opportunities to create a sustainable event industry – and a vision to address the role of plastics in this industry. MCCVB is the exclusive destination partner for Positive Impact on this project which has already included collaboration with a number of United Nations bodies.

Measuring success is also critical to MCCVB’s mission. The organization joined the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) initiative. The GDS-Index measures sustainability strategies, policies and performance of participating destinations and by sharing best practices from around the world. Monterey County recently scored 52% on the sustainability index just behind Geneva and ahead of U.S. cities like Washington, D.C. and Houston. The scoring allows MCCVB to set a benchmark and improve in the coming years.

New Details and Activities Revealed for NBA Experience at Disney Springs

Walt Disney World Resort is giving guests and basketball fans a glimpse of the exciting action coming to the new NBA Experience at Disney Springs in summer 2019. This one-of-a-kind destination – developed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with the NBA – will feature hands-on activities that immerse guests into the world of professional basketball. The new NBA Experience is set to open at Disney Springs in summer 2019.

"Developed with the NBA, and inspired by the league's 29 arenas around the country, NBA Experience will highlight the heart-pounding action and excitement of the NBA world," said Stan Dodd, Executive Producer, Walt Disney Imagineering. "From training simulations and clock-racing competitions to fan-favorite NBA moments – we're bringing new experiences and thrilling games to life to make fans truly feel like a star player."

NBA Experience will feature something for everyone. Visitors will get a glimpse into the atmosphere at the NBA Draft, participate in their own scouting reports, go through pregame preparations, and step onto the court to make clutch shots and highlight reel-worthy slam dunks. The attraction will feature a dozen unique and innovative activities.

Organic Wine Now Part Of Meal Subscription Plan

Good Company Wines has announced a strategic partnership with San Francisco-based subscription meal delivery service, Sun Basket. Following up on a successful launch in the initial markets, the plan is to expand the organic wine subscription service to a national audience.

The Sun Basket subscription is focused on "cleaner glass" wine selections. Biodynamic, organic and sustainably farmed wines, the program is built on Good Company Wines’ global wine network and Sonoma-based operations. Designed to pair with Sun Basket's core offering, the monthly rotating selection of wines showcases new pioneers, special heirloom vineyards, and a high quality/price ratio.

AIDA Cruises Ship Makes Maiden Call in the Canary Islands as World's First Cruise Vessel Powered by LNG

Carnival Corporation and its AIDA Cruises brand celebrated the start of its operation of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Cruise Terminal in the Canary Islands with the maiden call of AIDAnova, the world's first cruise vessel to be powered at sea and in port by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the world's cleanest burning fossil fuel.

In total, following AIDAnova, Carnival Corporation has an additional 10 next-generation "green" cruise ships on order that will be powered by LNG in port and at sea, with expected delivery dates between 2019 and 2025, leading the cruise industry's use of LNG to power cruise ships.
AIDAnova welcomed its inaugural guests in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, for the first seven-day holiday cruise around the Canary Islands and Madeira in December.

New Organic Wine Producer's U.S. Marketing Strategy Recognized by Chilean Government

St. Stephen Vineyards, has been named named winner of the Chilean government's 2018 CORFO Regional Program of Support for Entrepreneurship for marketing innovation. St. Stephen wines are high quality, certified organic, harvested by hand, and artisanally produced in small batches. Proceeds used to support environmental causes.

The objective of the competition is to support entrepreneurs with high growth potential and international scope. The competition is open to startups, and winners are evaluated on innovation in technology and in marketing. St. Stephen Organic Vineyards submitted a detailed project outlining work to investigate, identify, and test both conventional and alternative marketing channels for small and medium sized Chilean vineyards to enter the US Market.

"This honor validates our work to define and test alternative distribution channels in the United States for organic wine and is a first step to opening the door to roughly 80% of Chile's vineyards who are currently shut out of the US market," said St. Stephen Organic Vineyards President, Tim Edwards. St. Stephen Organic Vineyards wine became available in the US in September 2018.

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