Latest news with #OldWorld
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dietz Distillery Wins Silver Medal at San Francisco World Spirits Competition for Five Judges Gin
The award recognizes the Texas-made spirit's exceptional craftsmanship and dedication to Old World distilling traditions FREDERICKSBURG, Texas, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Dietz Distillery is proud to announce that its handcrafted Five Judges Gin has been awarded a Silver Medal at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC). Renowned for its rigorous blind tasting evaluation process, the SFWSC is one of the most respected spirits competitions in the world. This recognition places Five Judges Gin—a small-batch spirit crafted in the heart of the Texas Hill Country—among the finest gins globally. Handcrafted in Fredericksburg, Texas, Five Judges Gin is a juniper-forward, London dry-style gin distilled using old-world methods and the finest ingredients—including bright citrus from the Rio Grande Valley, giving it a uniquely Texan character. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one of the most prestigious and longest-standing in the industry, honors only the highest-quality spirits. Earning a Silver Medal is a proud recognition of the gin's exceptional craftsmanship and distinct flavor profile. "We've always believed in honoring tradition while capturing the bold spirit of Texas," said Dietz Fischer, owner and distiller at Dietz Distillery. "To see our Five Judges Gin recognized on a global stage is a tremendous honor. This award affirms our commitment to slow, intentional distilling and to producing something truly special right here in Fredericksburg." The name Five Judges pays tribute to the five judges who have called our farm home over the past century—three generations of the Wieser family, along with two early Texas justices—all of whom played a role in shaping the legal and civic foundations of the region: J.B. Wieser, Jarvis Wieser, Mark Wieser, M.A. Dooley, and Julius Schuchard. Now, with this award, it also signifies a place among the best gins worldwide. Five Judges Gin is available exclusively for purchase at Dietz Distillery, located at the Fischer & Wieser Farmstead in Fredericksburg, TX. About Dietz Distillery Founded by Dietz Fischer and rooted in a rich family legacy in Fredericksburg, Texas, Dietz Distillery combines Old World distillation techniques with Texas-German heritage. Inspired by his experience at Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods and trained under master distiller Markus Wieser in Austria, Dietz brings a deep commitment to tradition and quality. The distillery opened in 2021 with the debut of Five Judges Gin and now offers a distinctive range of premium spirits—including fruit brandies and other specialty spirits —crafted with farmstead grown fruits and locally sourced ingredients. Visitors are invited to enjoy immersive tastings and experience the artistry of small-batch distillation in a serene Texas Hill Country setting. For media inquiries, interviews, or to request a sample, please contact: Nicole Whorton Marketing & PR Manager Dietz Distillery Phone: (817) 932-5605 Email: Instagram: @dietzdistillery View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Dietz Distillery Sign in to access your portfolio
Mint
25-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Tariffs are challenging the cachet of luxury goods from Europe
UBRIQUE, Spain—Europe's luxury brands have long sold pricey handbags based on the mystique of where they're made. Now the trade war is probing the value of producing in places like this sun-kissed town. Ubrique's workshops have pumped out leather goods for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other brands for years, employing about a quarter of the town's population of 16,000. A giant statue of the patacabra, a wooden tool used to shape and smooth the leather, rises by the road leading into town. 'We're all basically living off leather here," said José Antonio Bautista, the town's deputy mayor. President Trump's tariffs are now shaking the foundations of Ubrique's business model—and that of the broader luxury industry. On Friday, Trump threatened a 50% tariff on goods imported from the European Union. European brands have long cultivated the image that Old World heritage uniquely positions the continent to create goods for the world's most discerning customers—justifying their eye-watering price tags. While high margins offer brands some protection from tariffs, Trump's push to shift production to the U.S. has sparked fresh scrutiny of the 'Made in Europe" value proposition. The worry for some brands: Luxury goods produced in America won't carry the same cachet with consumers. 'It wouldn't make sense to me to have Italian Gucci bags made in Texas," François-Henri Pinault, chief executive of the group that owns Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, told French lawmakers earlier this month. 'It doesn't make sense to my clients. I can't explain that." The allure of European provenance is already being questioned in the industry's second-biggest market: China. After Trump announced his tariffs, a wave of videos flooded TikTok, purporting to reveal the true cost of luxury by showing how a range of high-end handbags—including the Hermès Birkin, which sell for more than $10,000—can be cheaply counterfeited in a Chinese factory. The scrutiny has shone a spotlight on places like Ubrique, where first-year trainees start on the equivalent of around $30 a day, and the most experienced workers earn a daily wage of roughly $57, according to a local labor agreement. Shifting production to the U.S., however, is easier said than done. Louis Vuitton opened a leather-goods workshop in Alvarado, Texas, in 2019 as part of a push to diversify manufacturing and meet growing demand in its largest market. But scaling up has proven difficult. The site has faced growing pains as Louis Vuitton struggled to recruit and train local artisans. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault said he planned to hire a thousand staff at the plant when it initially opened, but years later the facility only employs around 300 people—a slower-than-expected expansion that the company partly attributes to the pandemic. Still, Arnault recently said the group would 'inevitably be forced to increase its American production" if the EU fails to reach a deal to avert Trump's tariffs. Spain quietly plays a central role in the global luxury supply chain—especially in leather goods. Nowhere is that more evident than in Ubrique, where leather craftsmanship took off in the 19th century—helped by the town's abundant water supply, crucial for softening hides and dyeing leather. The area's isolation and poverty played a role too. Families raised livestock while women began sewing and finishing leather goods at home. By the 1970s, Ubrique had become a byword for craftsmanship, drawing brands like Dior and Loewe. Today, handbag makers rely on Ubrique's extensive network of suppliers, specialized machinery makers, tanneries and logistics hubs that have developed together over decades. Their close proximity enables speed and flexibility, which are crucial in an industry that is constantly working on new designs. Workshops often work hand-in-hand with brands to develop prototypes and refine products. Longstanding relationships have fostered trust and discretion, helping protect sourcing strategies and unreleased designs. Chanel purses are made in a discreet workshop with no signage, while Louis Vuitton relies on a longstanding supplier with several sites across town to produce pieces including a $3,000 hobo-style bag. Ubrique's rich industrial ecosystem would be difficult, and take years, to replicate elsewhere. Similar tightknit luxury clusters can be found in Tuscany for leather goods, La Chaux-de-Fonds for Swiss watches and the French town of Grasse for perfume. Economic forces have threatened Ubrique before. During the 2008 financial crisis, many luxury brands moved production to lower-cost countries like China. The result: factory closures, job losses and economic pain. 'You'd see people who had nothing to eat coming here asking for help," said Bautista, the deputy mayor. But just a few years later the brands were back. Factories in China proved susceptible to counterfeiters. When design specifications or materials were leaked, copycat producers could flood the market with knockoffs. Throughout Ubrique, the tap tap of the patacabra rings out from behind workshop walls. At many of the town's factories, workers arrive before dawn, stow their phones in lockers and wait for a 6.55 a.m. alarm. When it sounds, they head to their benches and work—mostly on their feet—until 3 p.m., broken only by a 20-minute break. Luxury brands often promote the image of a single in-house artisan meticulously crafting a handbag from start to finish. In reality, production is more industrial, broken down into a series of repetitive, specialized tasks that require less training—in theory making it easier to shift manufacturing elsewhere. Yet making luxury leather goods still involves a sequence of precise, hands-on steps that require a high level of skill. Leather must be inspected and cut, then thinned, reinforced, stitched and assembled—often using techniques that machines can't easily replicate. Edges are finished by hand and hardware is carefully fitted. More experienced workers are assigned to the most technically demanding tasks. At one factory, employees said men's backpacks were the hardest to make—not just because of the number of components, but also the precision needed to fit the panels, handles and zips. 'Finding qualified people is tough," said Manuel Fernández, owner of the Don Puro workshop, which supplies several luxury brands. 'Out of every three new hires, you might only keep one. The others just don't work out." While businesspeople in Ubrique say they're yet to feel the impact of Trump's tariffs, the uncertainty is leading to heightened concerns in the town. A broad luxury slowdown has already hit Ubrique's producers. While much of the slack has been taken up by Polène, a fast-growing French brand that makes all of its handbags in the town, some workshops are feeling the pain as clients cut back on orders. Marcos Obando, who works for a local employers' association, is hopeful big luxury brands will keep investing in Ubrique, even if tariffs do add to costs. He argues the town should double down on quality, since it can't compete on price—not even with lower-cost neighbors like Portugal or countries in Eastern Europe. 'There is a reason why all the brands have been working here for decades—why this town has been focused on this for many, many years," he said. Write to Nick Kostov at
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Longtime Italian restaurant in Peoria Heights closing its doors in July
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — After more than four decades, an Italian restaurant with Old World charm in Peoria Heights is serving its last meals. Tucked away on quiet Voss Street in Peoria Heights, Paparazzi has never needed an advertisement or a Facebook page. It's run solely by owners and husband-wife duo Bruce Brown and Lisa Mancuso. 'It's always kind of been this kind of speakeasy kind of place. You got to know somebody who tells you to go in there,' said Lisa. For 42 years, the couple has run the restaurant by themselves. Lisa handles the front of the house, while chef Bruce whips up the meals in the kitchen. 'There are only two people that work in the kitchen, me and the dishwasher. It is very labor intensive. And on the coin word, it's also dedication intensive,' said Bruce. No line cooks. No computers, only calculators. Every order is written on paper. Each dish is made individually, even if multiple guests at the table order the same one. 'I do every one, I plate every one. I push it towards the server by myself. Every one,' said Bruce. 'If four people order spaghetti with meatballs, they get made in four separate parts at the same time. One, two, three, four. They get tossed into a little sauté pan to cook off the running water, and they get plated one by one. And if somebody here orders four, then those four get cooked separately, too.' 'Each one is cooked to order. It's not like there's a vat of tortellini back there, or somebody orders tortellini and we scoop it out,' added Lisa. That personal touch is what the couple said has built them a loyal following for generations. 'We don't advertise. We celebrate. They're all of their ups, all of their downs. We have one family that we've had four generations as customers,' said Lisa. Even through the pandemic, Bruce kept cooking and Lisa kept the restaurant running. That's because for the Browns, it was never just about the food. 'It's that connection to people that makes this place special,' said Lisa. 'The secret sauce is three words: family, family, family,' said Bruce. Another secret to their longevity? Staying consistent and predictable. 'We've had basically the same concept of the same recipes all this time. We're not one of these places that every other minute is changing and somebody comes in and it's just like, wait a minute, what's different? So I think a lot of those consistencies is what has kept this place going for 42 years,' said Bruce. After four decades, Bruce and Lisa say the time has come to move on and slow down. But its bittersweet. 'This one is going to be very difficult. I'm going to miss this knowing when people come in here and as much as I hate getting down on my knees and reaching in that oven, I'm going to miss that,' said Bruce. If you want to take a piece of Paparazzi home, you can! The artwork on the walls, green tables and chairs are up for grabs. There's even a cookbook so you can try your hand at the Browns' recipes. 'The last day is July 5, which is the day that we opened 42 years ago, July 5, 1983. So if we had an epitaph, the days are the same,' Bruce said with a laugh. Then on July 13, they are hosting one last party from 1 to 4 p.m. with an open bar, bag pipes and a rifle salute by American Post Legion 2. It's a farewell fit for a legend. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
European Stocks: A Rich, And Cheap, Opportunity
Europe by night. Until recently, the Old World has been feeling its age, as European stocks largely lagged behind U.S. equities. Last year, the MSCI EAFE index, which covers developed countries excluding the U.S. and Canada, inched ahead just 4.3%, while the S&P 500 racked up a 25% gain. That situation reversed dramatically in 2025, as of Friday, with the MSCI index up 15.4% and the S&P 500 ahead just 1.3%. There is a strong case to be made that developed-market international equities, meaning non-U.S. stocks and particularly European ones, could have a sold upward path ahead of them. So argues Elisa Mazen, head of global growth at ClearBridge Investments, which is a unit of Franklin Templeton, in an interview. Rising U.S. tariffs and higher European fiscal stimulus stand to expand the Continent's earnings, she notes—and sweeter profits tend spark stock appreciation. Add in the potential for lower European regulatory burdens and the result, she says, would be to 'jumpstart earnings growth and equity valuations in the region.' A ClearBridge research paper (Mazen co-wrote it, with colleagues Michael Testorf and Pawel Wroblewski) points out that 'Europe now offers a better setup for earnings growth from depressed levels and scope for multiple expansion as more investors recognize the region's potential.' Mazen acknowledges that United States stocks boast bounteous strengths, such as tech leadership and deep wells of capital. Still, the U.S. has some drags such as trade imbalances and a spiraling federal budget. Donald Trump's tariffs likely will have a negative effect on inflows into U.S. equities. Meantime, no big fiscal stimuluses are envisioned by Washington nowadays. One big advantage for the MSCI EAFE basket of foreign stocks, which along with Europe includes such big players as Japan and Australia: The exchange-traded fund that tracks them, iShares MSCI EAFE, has an expense ratio of just 16.9, versus the main ETF for the S&P 500, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, at 25.6. In addition, individual European stocks are way cheap: shares in financials, consumer staples, consumer discretionary and health-care companies are trading at large discounts to American counterparts. Then there's the added attraction of European fiscal stimulus. Consider Germany, the world's third largest economy, behind the U.S. and China. In March, Mazen notes, the German parliament approved an infrastructure fund of a half-trillion euros and eased a cap on defense outlays, plus it okayed more spending on energy transition and semiconductors. Political developments are a big impetus for the changes. As the ClearBridge research paper notes, 'Combined with genuine fear of Russian aggression once again in Europe and the rise of the far-right party in the recent German elections, Germany instituted a meaningfully large defense and infrastructure package. More fiscal spending increases are expected in other markets, as well.' At some point, the Ukraine conflict will be over, and the need for post-war reconstruction should provide additional impetus for economic development, Mazen contends. Heavy construction equipment, steel and cement will be in demand. The World Bank projects that the effort will cost $480 billion. Peace could also bring resumption of Russian natural gas shipments to Western Europe and Britain, thus lowering energy costs for businesses and consumers, an economic boon. And that's not all. The ClearBridge paper finds that 'a lasting peace could spur renewed Western involvement in Russia.' Withdrawal of European investment has led to lost revenue of $60 billion, according to the paper, which added, 'Could those return? We believe it's a possibility that markets are not discounting.' Overall, good old reversion to the mean likely is coming, Mazen states. Her firm's paper states: 'Developed market valuations have barely budged in the last 20 years (compared to a 40% rise in U.S. multiples). However, we believe this low starting point, taken together with broader policy catalysts in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape, most notably in Europe, provides scope for a reversion in global equity leadership.'
Hospitality Net
05-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Joseph Violi has been appointed General Manager at Cypress Inn
Denny Levette, owner of the treasured Cypress Inn in Carmel, announced today the appointment of renowned veteran hotelier, Joseph Violi, as General Manager. Violi, a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, brings over 35 years of experience in managing luxury hotels, golf, and beach resorts. His impressive career includes leadership roles at esteemed properties such as Ritz-Carlton, Laguna-Niguel; Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, Atlanta; Ritz-Carlton, Aspen Swissotel Chicago; Hyatt Hotels; Hilton Hotel in Sonoma, California and Key West, Florida; and Carmel Valley Ranch. Cypress Inn has long been celebrated for its pet-friendly atmosphere, with Sunset Magazine calling it "probably the most famous dog-friendly hotel in the country." Violi remarked, "Honoring the legacy created by Doris Day and Denny Levett—blending Old World charm with exceptional service—will be the pinnacle of my hospitality career." Violi also brings extensive expertise in hotel marketing and food & beverage operations. His passion for the culinary arts is evident through his involvement with esteemed organizations such as the international Chaine des Rôtisseurs and Les Toques Blanches. In addition to managing Cypress Inn, Violi will oversee operations at Carmel's Lamp Lighter Inn and Forest Lodge. Originally from Massena, N.Y., where his family owned a restaurant for 70 years, Violi now resides locally with his prized dog, Dino Ferrari, a Vizsla. View Joseph Violi's LinkedIn Profile Joseph Violi is a graduate of Cornell in Ithaca, New York - United States
