Is there a step-up from Grey Goose? Ranking up with Elit and other pricey vodkas is
Christiania, a vodka manufactured in Norway. The vodka is made with organic Trondelag potatoes and pure Norwegian water. it is six times column distilled, charcoal filtered and aerated using a unique air filtration process. The brand is named after Norway's King Christian IV who in 1602 commissioned a recipe fro premium vodka.Christiania sells for $41.99 and is currently available in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Julian Rinaldi Apr 23rd 2007 2:44PM
This is my favorite vodka. Tastes much better than any others that I've had. I would definitely check it out if you can find it.
Craig Apr 28th 2007 12:11PM
Is there a step up from Grey Goose?
Grey Goose was a vodka tailor made and marketed by liquor-magnate extrodinare Sidney Frank, the brainchild behind the Jagermeister brand. Grey Goose was created under Frank's premise that 'Americans want to pay more, they just need to be told a good story.' The story for Goose is a beautiful bottle, a self-endorcement/procimation as 'the world's best tasting vodka' (says who?) and of course, making it in France, which has a cache of refinement and class.
So is there anything better? Please. Try a blind taste test and see which you really enjoy best rather than falling for Frank's brilliant marketing schemes, which Barcardi took over for over 2 billion dollars. Yes, 2 BILLION for a single vodka brand!
Dmitry Paradis Apr 23rd 2007 5:24PM
#2 Craig: You're right, no self-respecting vodka purist would consider Grey Goose to be topshelf material. This is a vodka house created overnight for N. American market, with no history, which outsources its production to off-season cognac distilleries, and as mentioned, proclaimed itself "best tasting vodka".
Hm.. Maybe I should proclaim myself as "The World's Best Looking Guy"
luciano Apr 24th 2007 5:58AM
http://www.lucianobove.blogspot.com
My favourite one too, I love the bottle Design!
Ciao
Allie Apr 24th 2007 9:03AM
Craig, I couldn't agree more! I still don't understand why Grey Goose sets the standard for every super premium vodka that is released? I guess it is just all about creating your product around a marketing campaign and who can come up with the most creative story...but that would mean vodka drinkers are completely fine with paying 40, 50 and even $60 for a great story? I just don't get it. Shouldn't the focus be on the quality, that is why we pay high prices for wine, champagnes, cognac, etc. There is really not much about Grey Goose that impresses me...I know (and everyone else knows) the entire brand was based around a story, so why should I pay for the supposed French quality ingredients, when there people in France that have no idea what Grey Goose even is...and bar owners who have never even heard of it. (yet it is made in "the fine epicurean tradition of France" )
BirdOPrey5 Apr 24th 2007 11:54AM
Grey Goose was ranked the "World's Best Tasting Vodka" by the beverage tasting institute, and independent organization that ranks vodkas... In 1999 it won hands down, far better than anything else on the market... it's been nearly a decade and after Grey Goose and Sidney Frank created this market, there's dozens of coat-tail riders... Some probably have a better tasting product, but have they ever been blind taste tested? Have they ever published not only their scores, but the scores of all other premium vodkas? No, not that I know of.
And Cognac is perhaps the hardest product to produce correctly... The fact that Goose was made at a cognac distillery is only a plus- I'm sure it was fairly easy for the staff, like having a grand master chess player play checkers....
If it wasn't for Goose and Sidney Frank, there would not be a third of the premium vodka's there are today.
You guys should be grateful.
Dmitry Paradis Apr 24th 2007 2:17PM
#BirdOPrey5: While it's true that Grey Goose paved the market for premium vodkas, the amount of crap vodkas that surfaced claiming to be "super premium" by gimmicky stories (i.e. Ocean Vodka) far surpasses the actual good vodkas which existed on some scale regardless.
>The fact that Goose was made at a cognac distillery is only a plus
-The finesse in Cognac, as you refer, is in quality ingredients, elaborate ageing process, craftful mix of different eaux-de-vie, and limited production with pot distillation. Goose is distilled from run-of-the-mill grain in a column still like all vodkas and shares nothing in common with the Cognac process. This is purely a move to create a perceived notion of quality.
By the way, the Beverage Testing Institute has become a lot more reputable in the last few years as you'll see that Grey Goose isn't even in the registry among top vodkas. They review a lot more vodkas, not because they didn't exist before, but because BTI diversified their sampling.
Cheers
MJM Apr 25th 2007 1:15PM
Where to begin? When discussing the very topic of ultra-premium vodka, Grey Goose becomes the lightning rod specifically because (as has already been noted) that the category was created by Sidney Frank's formulation. True, he was a genius at marketing, but that only goes so far. It garners the attention of consumers at first -- but in the end it is the quality of any product which determines its success or failure.
It is simply untrue to say that the brand was "based around a story". What story are you attributing? That it is manuctured in France? That is truth. That it was bottled in an innovative and appealing package? Also true. That it was awarded the distiction of "the world's best tasting vodka"? True, yet again. This last was not a self-endorsement, but rather, as BirdOPray pointed out, an honor bestowed by the Beverage Tasting Institute. As for Dmitry's notice that in recent years GG has not been listed in the institute's results, it should be made clear that this is not a reflection upon the brand's prestige or tasting results. As with EVERY international "tasting" or "competition" the brands must be submitted for judging. Bacardi (Grey Goose's current owner) has not needed to place it with the institute, as the prior results speak for themselves.
Lastly, the choice to distill in France was calculated not for marketing purposes, but for quality of raw materials, the distillation process itself, and blending and bottling. Taste is inherently subjective. But lest you forget (or simply do not know) all spirits contain an identified mount of alcohol content. Grey Goose (as with most other vodkas) is 80 proof. This means that it contains 40% alcohol. The remaining 60% is water. So, one cannot dispute that the quality of the water is by far a major factor when considering quality and taste. As it happens, France has some of the world's most renowned naturally pure sources of spring water. (Perrier, San Pellegrino, Evian, Volvic)... And this was a major factor in the choice of France for production. GG was not "created overnight", and the only part of production which was outsourced was the bottling -- and this was only because French law prohibited any cognac distilllery from bottling its own. Even this point, however, was short lived because Sidney Frank built one of the most modern full-production spirits facilities in the world. So let it be known that every aspect of Grey Goose production, from distillation to bottling, is done in its own facility.
Oh, and Dmitry, since you seem to have a great many opinions on the Grey Goose brand, how is it that you have come by such "facts" as it being made from "run-of-the-mill grain"? Simply not true. The overall truth is that Sidney Frank did with GG what he did with all else, and what so many other manufacturers, whether vodka, spirits or any other consumer product fails to do -- he actually created a product of extreme merit, quality, and consistency. Is the per bottle price of Grey Goose high? Sure it is. But again, as BirdOPrey points out, 10 years after its introduction it still remains the fastest growing spirit in the history of the industry.
There was a reason why Bacardi paid more than $2 billion for the brand. Because no one can recreate what Sidney Frank did. As an aside, and matter of record, that price is the highest ever paid for a single brand of any product in history. To put this in perspective, IBM sold its entire computer division (admittedly one of the world's most significant and recognizable brand names) to Lenovo for $1.6 billion. Sidney Frank was a visionary who gave the marketplace exactly what he claimed. A damn good vodka.
Dmitry Paradis Apr 26th 2007 9:19AM
MJM: Very well written post. Thanks for some facts which I was clearly missing, notably with the info on Tasting Institute. I do admit I was a bit ignorant in my earlier posts regarding GG, noted.
I wish I could speculate on the quality of "finest French wheat", I'm no expert, I haven't heard of France being that renouned for premium wheat. Eastern Europe, however, does have a reputation for wheat cultivation due to the type of rich blacksoil found there which requires no fertilization. That being said, eastern Europe isn't world renouned for its water. France may have fine springwater (S.Pellegrino is Italian, but point taken), and water is important to the finish of the vodka, but by far and large, not as dominant as the spirit itself (which is distilled to 95% and then cut with water). Again, I'm not contesting the ability of French to distill and filter, but the process is so industrialized and adaptable, that it's location is a function of profitability OR branding. The edge that the new 'superpremium vodka' companies (I use the term lightly) are trying to use now, is to market their quality (disputable) water. Ocean Vodka, 26000, you name it.
The bottom line comes to taste, which I've found rather disappointing for a vodka rated as world's best-tasting and proudly flying that flag. I've tried it around 5 years ago, so maybe something changed post-Bacardi. It's not nearly as smooth as some premium Nemiroff's of the time, Russkiy Standart, or the recent Elit. Enjoy it if you like it.
Cheers
Craig Apr 28th 2007 12:26PM
I'm not sure how my original post got re-located to the bottom of the page, but I apologize for it.
Anyways, anyone involved in the supply-side of beverage alcohol production knows that the Beverage Tasting Institute is largely a farce. The most 'credible' of third-party judgement is the San Fransisco Spirits Competition, and even there the objectivity and neutrality is dubious at best.
And by 'story' I don't mean reading a childrens book to a group of toddlers at the library. The story, as in 'selling story' is exactly what was outlined, France, perceived quality, luxurious packaging.
It is a rapidly growing brand, but that brand has slowed considerably in the last 2 years as consumers are always looking for the 'next;' thing.
French grain, cognac distilleries, etc. yeah they all add up into the image of Grey Goose but the true engine behind it's success is that Americans, more than ever, want to feel rich. Ordering a Grey Goose cocktail gives them the accessible luxury and feeling of class and wealth without buying the Bentley or home in St. Tropez. People choose products because they identify with the brand image. Personally, this is one brand image I can live without, even if the product in the bottle is adequate.