The accolades keep coming in for our area bartenders and wineries. In the last week alone, a St. Louis bartender and a nearby winery bested national competition. Another bartender received news that he’s headed to compete in NOLA, all proof that drinking in our fair city rivals any in the country. Here are three reasons why we are cheering on beverage-makers in Missouri:

1. TJ Vytlacil deserves a Saucy congrats for being named among the winners in the DonQ Rum 2011 MixItUP Ultimate Mixology Challenge at the annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic held last weekend in New York City. The bartender, whom you can find behind the bar at Demun Oyster Bar, won for his long drink, Love Burns, which featured DonQ Añejo rum. Vytlacil’s victory earned him a spot on the DonQ Team USA, which will go head-to-head against Team Puerto Rico.

2. Justin Cardwell of BC’s Kitchen in Lake St. Louis received news this week that he is one of 18 bartenders from across the country who will compete in the US Bartenders Guild Bacardi Piña Colada competition at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, a cocktail festival held annually in New Orleans. Cardwell hopes to take home the title with his drink, Pineapple White Wash.

3. Augusta Winery received top honors at the 2011 Riverside International Wine Competition. The winery was named winner of the Terroir Award, which is presented to the winery which displays the best regional character of its wines. In addition, it was Augusta’s 2010 Chardonel that enabled the winery to walk home with the Chairman’s Award, presented to a wine that has won a gold medal with a unanimous vote by the judging panel. Augusta Winery also received gold medals for both the 2010 Seyval Blanc and 2010 Estate Bottled Vidal Blanc and a silver medal for its 2010 Vignoles.

By Ligaya Figueras

Tags: Augusta Winery, BC’s Kitchen, cocktails, Demun Oyster Bar, DonQ Rum, Drinking, Justin Cardwell, Manhattan Cocktail Classic, T.J. Vytlacil, Tales of the Cocktail, Three Reasons, wineries

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Drinking, Three Reasons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.