At the recently concluded Jamaica Observer Food Awards, Anthony Miller of Entertainment Report asked me in effect if Jamaica was drinking more wine. My response was a resounding “Yes”. I explained that from all my indicators, more wines were being sold into the Jamaican market compared to few years ago.

Factors

Events like the annual Jamaica Observer Food Awards, new locations like Bin 26 Wine Bar, this weekly column, new products on the market like Rex Goliath, Torres wines, new wine clubs like CPJs wine club in Montego Bay, more wines being added to Restaurants’ wine list, the fact that more persons are learning that ‘wine is good for you’ are all contributors to this increase in wine consumption. While overall income from wine sales might have gone down for some players, most of those same sources indicate that volume is up. This suggests that while consumers are still drinking, they are looking for better value product.

Who was sipping?

We took a quick look around the East Lawns while at the Food Awards to see who had vino in hand. Here is a pictorial of those we found.

Chris Reckord is an independent wine consultant who operates DeVine Wine Services (Wine and Spirits Edu-tainment) with his wife. Chris & Kerri are also part-owners of Jamaica’s first and only wine bar -Bin 26 Wine Bar. Please send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com . Follow us on twitter.com/DeVineWines