Finding gin in Cognac

As the world's leading cocktail commentator Darcy O'Neil points out in his "Art of Drink" blog, the G'Vine Connoisseur Program (GCP) is in a different league from most conventional cocktail competitions. Ordinarily contestants are simply required to create an original cocktail with the winner being that person whose drink is judged to be superior to all others. The GCP, however, requires far more than one good flavour combination. The competition has run over numerous rounds beginning in September 2009, with each participant required to work through online training and exams, submit a dissertation on gin marketing, maintain a regular blog and devise a signature cocktail. On the basis of these results, twelve finalists were chosen from around the world with Ryan being South Africa's sole representative.

Ryan represented his country at the IBA World Cocktail Competition in Berlin 2009 where he finished 7th - the highest ever finish by a South African. This international experience will undoubtedly help Ryan when he spends a week in Cognac tasting, studying, visiting distilleries, attending aroma seminars presented by France's top perfumers and performing numerous challenges covering all aspects of bartending from knowledge through to speed and accuracy. The final challenge will be at the inaugral G'Vine Spring Ball in Paris where each bartender will host a private one man bar with guests deciding who is most popular.

The event will be covered live by two of the top drinks bloggers in the world, with all relevant info to be found on Ryan's blog: http://theafricanbartender.blogspot.com/.

Ryan Duvenage is a mixologist and trainer at the Barcode Bar Academy. For more information visit http://www.barcode-academy.com/