FRENCH BRAND WINS THE GOLD IN ANNUAL TASTE-OFF OF SUPER-PREMIUM VODKAS

In annual competition of premium vodkas, Grey Goose vodka brought home top honors.

MONTPELIER, VT - "Russia may be the birthplace of vodka, but this year the top honors go to France," said Russian Life Publisher and Editor, Paul Richardson.

In the annual blind consumer tasting of super-premium vodkas sponsored by Russian Life magazine, French-made Grey Goose vodka captured this year's gold medal, besting other top brands such as Cristall, Finlandia and Absolut. The contest featured 16 vodkas from 9 countries and took place December 8 at Eastover Resort and Conference Center in Lenox, MA.

This was the Fourth Annual Vodka Taste-Off sponsored by Montpelier-based Russian Life magazine, with participants traveling to the New England event from as far away as Virginia and Florida. Past Taste-Off gold medalists have included Ketel One, Finlandia and Three Olives. This year's silver-medalist was Cristall (Russia), which has now taken the silver medal three years running. The bronze-medalist was a newcomer to the contest, Krolewska (Poland).

Vodka is the best selling distilled spirit in the United States and represents some 25% of a $13 billion liquor market. The premium vodka market niche is the fastest growing segment of this market, with some six million cases sold yearly. The vodkas tasted at the Russian Life event range in price from $16 to over $30 for a .75 liter bottle.

"The US government defines vodka as 'neutral spirits without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color,'" said Russian Life Publisher Paul Richardson, "but nothing could be farther from the truth with premium vodkas. Each of these fine spirits have a very distinct taste, smell and texture, depending on the raw materials used, the manner and degree of filtration and other factors."

In the blind tasting, each participant was randomly assigned eight vodkas to taste and evaluate according to their personal preferences, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest score. Each of the vodkas was blind tasted by 30 or more persons and then ranked according to average scores for all participants combined. Grey Goose had an average score of 3.62, while Cristall had a score of 3.43 and Krolewska 3.25. The last-place vodka, Mezzaluna (Italy), had an average score of 2.68.

Russian Life magazine, founded in 1956, is a bimonthly color magazine on Russian culture, history, travel and life. The magazine has sponsored a International Vodka Taste-Off every year since 1998.

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