Wine, Wit, and Wisdom

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Today we have a conference preview from Valerie Caruso, DWS, CWE, FWS. Valerie will be presenting a session along with Suzanne Hoffman, the author of “Labor of Love: Wine Family Women of Piedmont.” Read on as Valerie tells use the story behind the book, the wine, and her upcoming conference session!  

As wine professionals we can get pretty excited about tasting wines made from obscure grapes. If there’s a story behind the grape, the wine, or the winemaker, that’s even better. So when the prospect of tasting an Albarossa is presented, chances are we’re going to jump on the opportunity. Is there a story? Again, even better!

The Albarossa grape isn’t new, but was created nearly 80 years ago from another obscure grape, Chatus (once confused with Nebbiolo), crossed with Barbera. The first time Italy decided to make wine with it legally, however, was nearly 40 years later. Fast forward another 40 years and we are finding Albarossa making a valiant effort to escape obscurity through producers like not only the well-known Michele Chiarlo, but also the Marenco family of Piemonte.

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Another valiant effort has also been made to bring the stories behind great Piemonte wines into the light. I once wrote, “I always had this feeling that when I opened a bottle of Italian wine what came out was so much more – tradition, passion – and I had to know what the allure was.” When I read Suzanne Hoffman’s book, “Labor of Love: Wine Family Women of Piemonte”, I got more than a taste of that allure. It was a full-on drink of centuries of rich, thoughtfully extracted wine history that gave me exactly what I want in a great glass of wine. And you’d better believe I want the full experience.

A virtual exploration of wines from some of the world’s most legendary producers will be paired with the author’s stories during the 41st Annual SWE Conference in Portland, OR. We’ll sip through a portion of the table of contents and recount survival stories, courage during wars, and meet heroic wine families – the grandmothers, wives, daughters, sisters, and men – behind the legendary labels. We’ll learn about their historical significance to the Piemonte zeitgeist of grape growing and wine making over centuries, poured into the present day but still transcending generations.

“People do not only want great wine, they want a story and the story must be authentic,” (Andrea Marenco, page 261). From the Deltetto metodo classico sparkling wine through the Barbera, Barbaresco, Barolo, and Moscato – even Marenco’s Albarossa – we look forward to sharing the family stories of brazen sacrifices, romances, and victories, and revere the legacy of the “Comet of Roero.” All of this is celebrated in the bottle today, and I believe it to be the full, authentic experience.

Val, along with the author, Suzanne, will present A Taste of History: Piemonte Wines, Families and the Historic Women Behind Them at the Society of Wine Educators’ 41st Annual Conference, 10 – 12 August, 2017, in Portland, Oregon. This session is scheduled for Thursday at 11:45 a.m.

Advanced, discounted copies are available at a special price for SWE conference attendees. Contact Suzanne Hoffman at www.winefamilies.com.

Valerie Caruso, DWS, CWE, FWS retired from the Air Force after 25 years of service, packed two suitcases, and moved to Italy for a year to study wine and Italian language. She’s a graduate of the advanced wine studies programs at international hospitality schools and culinary academies in France and Italy, a French Wine Scholar, a Certified Wine Educator, and currently serving on SWE’s Board of Directors. Val also holds the Champagne Master-Level Certificate from the Wine Scholar Guild, and WSET’s Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits. Every Thursday you can find her serving up some weekly wine “edutainment” in her podcast, Wine Two Five, along with co-host and fellow CWE Stephanie Davis, on iTunes and iHeart Radio. 

Suzanne Hoffman has a diverse international background as an engineer, attorney, entrepreneur, and writer. Born and raised in south Louisiana, she was a long-time permanent resident of Switzerland before moving to Eagle County, Colorado where she works as journalist and author. She’s a wine family expert who has captured behind-the- label stories, captivating photographs and genealogies to give the first-of- its-kind look into the world of Piemonte’s familial wine industry in her first book, Labor of Love: Wine Family Women of Piemonte. When not immersed in her labor of love of writing, Suzanne delights in alpine skiing, snowshoeing, biking, hiking, and exploring the enchanted world of wine with her husband, Dani.

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Today we have a conference preview about a session about the rise of Prosecco—and so much more. Read on to hear a bit of the story of the fascinating “Father of Prosecco” – and don’t miss the part about that time when he named his children after the elements. Now, that’s a good story!

It was a dream in 1868 that gave rise to Carpenè Malvolti—a dream that became Prosecco.

Antonio Carpenè is the father of Prosecco.  He fought to unify Italy under Garibaldi at the battle of Bezzecca, and then went on to study chemistry at the University of Pavia.

For Antonio Carpenè, chemistry held the secrets of the future and he dedicated his life to the pursuit of that future. He named his first son Rubidium and his second, Etile (Ethyl)—who went on to manage the wine company he founded (and was the first to put the term “Prosecco” on a wine label.  But when Antonio suggested that another child be named Oenocyanin, after the pigment in grape skins, his wife rebelled.  That daughter became Mary—who, out of respect for her father, later named her first son Iridium.

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It was his love of chemistry and the patria of Conegliano that brought him to the world of wine.  Antonio believed that wine, more than any other product, completely expressed the character and quality of a place and he dedicated himself to spreading this message throughout his native land.  Despite his position as a professor at the legendary University of Bologna, he preferred to give Chemistry lectures on a chair in the local piazze around the Veneto, so that every man in the street could benefit from his knowledge.

In addition to founding Carpenè Malvolti, the first modern winery in the Veneto—and the winery that created the style and character that is Prosecco today—he also founded the Instituto Conegliano, now the largest technical winemaking school in the world, and a leader in oenology and viticulture in Italy. The school celebrated its 140th anniversary last year.

Over succeeding generations, the Carpenè family has led the way for the wines of Italy: they founded the Italian Institute of Sparkling Wine, pushed for legislative protection for wine regions and production methods, played key roles in Federvini, the national wine association, and today chair the Technical High School Institute for New Technology to improve education and the use of High Tech in the world of Italian food and wine.

Rosanna Carpenè is now the fifth generation of her family to serve as president of the company, and she continues to drive it forward by marketing her wines in more than fifty countries, and producing a range of products from Prosecco Superiore to Brandy, Grappa, and Classic Method sparkling wines.

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And she has plans for the future…the winery is now completely renovating more than five acres of property in the heart of Conegliano, modernizing the production facility, and contributing to the community by constructing a new public piazza in the heart of the city.  The piazza will celebrate the story of Antonio Carpenè and his contributions to the world of Italian wine, culture, and science.

In this year’s conference, managing director Domenico Scimone will explore this history, culture, and wines of this region, with special attention to the leadership of Antonio Carpenè—the father of Prosecco. The session, entitled “Antonio Carpenè and the Birth of Prosecco” will be held on Friday, August 11, 2017 at 3:00 pm as part of the Society of Wine Educator’s 41st  Annual Conference, to be held in Portland, Oregon. See you there!

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Today we have a conference preview from Eric Hemer, CWE, MS, MW. Eric tells us about his upcoming session titled, “International Pinot Noir Styles – A Comparative Blind Tasting Seminar” to be presented as part of SWE’s upcoming 41^st Annual Conference:

International Pinot Noir Styles – A Comparative Blind Tasting Seminar

Conducted by: Eric Hemer, CWE, MS, MW – Senior VP, Corporate Director of Wine Education, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of America

This informal yet informative seminar will focus on Pinot Noir from around the world, including high quality, representative examples from regions such as Burgundy, Austria, California, Oregon, New Zealand and Australia, among others. In all, eight wines will be tasted in a blind format. We will start with an introduction to the variety, including historical background, viti/vini, and current, pertinent information. While tasting each wine, gentle audience participation will be encouraged. Each wine will be revealed after tasting and information on the producer, region of origin and viti/vini will be discussed. Handouts with details on each wine will be provided, and the PowerPoint presentation will be made available to all on the SWE website after the conference has concluded.

Eric’s session, “International Pinot Noir Styles – A Comparative Blind Tasting Seminar” will be held on Thursday,  August 10^th, 2017 at 2:45 pm as part of SWE’s 41^st Annual Conference, to be held August 10 through 12 in Portland, Oregon.

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Speaker Biography: Eric Hemer began his career at Southern Wine & Spirits (SWS) in 1988 as an On-Premise Wine Consultant in Palm Beach County, Florida. He went into management in 1990 and held various positions over the years, culminating in General Manager for American Wine and Spirits of Florida.

In 1998, as similar positions were created around the country at SWS, he was appointed Educational Director for SWS of Florida, a return to his original interest in fine wine. Hemer passed the Certified Wine Educator examination in 1999, the Master Sommelier examination in 2003 and the Master of Wine examination in 2013. In 2014, he was promoted to his current position of Senior Vice-President, Corporate Director of Wine Education for SWS of America and today oversees wine educational endeavors in 46 markets across the US and Canada with the new company, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of America.

Eric is actively involved in wine education with numerous affiliated organizations as well, teaching at The Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University in Miami, acting as consulting sommelier and speaker for Chef Jean-Pierre’s Culinary School in Ft. Lauderdale, and is deeply involved in courses, lectures and examinations around the country with the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Institute of Masters of Wine, the Society of Wine Educators, and the Wine and Spirits Education Trust.

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Today we have a conference preview from Don Kinnan, CSS, CWE, who tells us about his upcoming session, ““Exploring the Backroads of the Cote d’Or (Part 2),” to be presented as part of the 41st Annual Conference of the Society of Wine Educators, to be held August  10 to 12, 2017, in Portland, Oregon.

When is the last time you had a glass of Romanée-Conti?  When is the next time you will have a glass?  For most of us, those are easy answers—NEVER!

Burgundy’s crown jewel unfortunately is affordable only to the rich and famous, and that leaves most of us out.  At $12,000 a bottle for recent releases, Romanée-Conti is slightly outside my budget.  However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t regularly satisfy my addiction to fine Burgundy wines, both reds and whites.  The secret is to seek out less famous and less glamorous appellations, or as we have phrased it, “explore the backroads of La Côte d’Or.”

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At this year’s SWE Annual Conference, we will continue this exploration by delving into the Côte de Beaune.  Specifically, we will visit the villages of Monthélie, Auxey-Duresses, St-Aubin, and Santenay.  Each of these villages produces wines that are extremely popular among the locals—and these are the folks who know where true value lies in the current sea of elevated prices that affects today’s Côte d’Or wine market.

While these four villages do not boast of any grand cru sites, they are blessed with abundant premier cru and village-level vineyard acreage.  Perhaps you already know a bit about them.  Can you identify which village is the correct answer to the following questions?

Test Your Knowledge! !

1. Its white wines are often referred to as “junior Meursault”
2. It is the home of a special pinot noir clone and a leader in Cordon de Royat vine training.
3. 76% of its wine production is premier cru.
4. Its best premiers crus are extensions of Volnay-Caillerets and Volnay Clos des Chènes.

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(The answers are at the end of this article)

During my session at the SWE Conference, you will learn the answers to these questions and much more—particularly just what it is that makes the wines of these villages worth seeking out.  Because of their relative obscurity compared to the “big names”, their distribution is limited in the United States.  However, thanks to the internet and on-line shopping, access is possible, unless you live in a state with prehistoric wine laws.

Here are a few village factoids to whet your appetite and impress your friends.

• Monthélie is the smallest producer of the 4 villages, producing 49,000 cases annually, with 87% of that being red wine.
• Auxey-Duresses produces 57,000 cases and has one third white wine and two thirds red wine.  It is also the home village of the prestigious Domaine Leroy.
• St-Aubin has an annual wine production of 82,000 cases, with 77% being white wine.  It is the 4^th largest white wine producing village in La Côte d’Or.
• Santenay produces 140,000 cases of wine annually, with 82% being red wine.  This production gives it the #6 ranking in wine production among all La Côte d’Or villages.  It also is the home of Burgundy’s only casino.

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With all of this information, you already know more about these villages than 99% of your wine geek friends.  Now all that remains is to attend the session, learn even more, and, most importantly, taste the 7 wines from these appellations.  See you there.

Answers to quiz questions:

1. Auxey-Duresses
2. #2: Santenay
3. #3: St-Aubin
4. #4: Monthélie

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About the speaker, Don Kinnan, CSS, CWE: For 35 years, Don Kinnan has been engaged in the fine wine trade and for most of that period has been an active member of the SWE.  He was the co-chair of the society’s CSW-founding committee and is currently serving on the SWE Board of Directors. Don spent 20 years as Director of Corporate Education for a major fine wine importer and is presently the Burgundy Specialist and Lead Instructor of the Wine Scholar Guild’s Master Burgundy Certificate program.

Don’s session, “Exploring the Backroads of the Cote d’Or (Part 2)” will be presented on Saturday, August 12^th at 3:00 pm, as part of the 41st Annual Conference of the Society of Wine Educators, to be held August  10 to 12, 2017, in Portland, Oregon.

Photo credits: Don Kinnan; photo of Don Kinnan by Tenley Fohl Photography.

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Today we have a conference preview from Adrian Bridge, the CEO of the Fladgate Partnership and The Yeatman Hotel. Adrian gives us a preview of his session entitled ““Mature Tawny Ports: The Art of Aging and Blending.”

Taylor’s aged Tawnies—10-, 20-, 30- and Over 40-Year-Old—are not only as significant a part of the business as Late-Bottled Vintage Port, but they have grown in importance, a trend which seems set to continue as more and more people discover them. Already the 20-Year-Old is the most popular pouring Port in restaurants in the US and the 10-Year-Old is the leading aged Tawny in Britain. Back home in Portugal, Taylor’s has been adding to its stocks of maturing Tawnies since the mid-1990s, so much so that Tawny stocks now top all other styles.

Aged Tawnies are blends of the wines of several different years, each batch blended to match the last (and labelled, incidentally, with an age which is a guide, not a mathematical calculation). A bottle of Taylor’s 10-Year-Old bought this year will taste the same as one bought last year and one bought in five years’ time.

Being more delicate in taste than bottle-matured Ports they start life in the same way.  What makes them different is the way they’re matured. But first, they have to be chosen.

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Early in the new year samples of the 200 or so Ports from the previous harvest—from Taylor’s own quintas and from farmers with whom it has contracts (some dating back a century)—are sent down from the Douro to Vila Nova de Gaia for tasting, categorising and classifying into the various styles: potential Vintage, Late-Bottled Vintage, 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-Year-Old Tawny, and so on.

So far, so simple; but the classification tasting is anything but simple. Aged tawnies are blended not at the beginning of their life, but at the end, which means that the tasters—David Guimaraens, head winemaker and his team—are not only assessing quality now, but predicting the outcome of wines that will remain in cask for years, if not decades.

The aged Tawny process starts, then, with the tasting of the new wines—always blind, every morning over a period of several weeks at the beginning of each year. “We’re getting into the soul of the wine, really getting to know it, which is why we don’t do more than about 20 a day. It’s the only time we see all these wines together like this,” says David Guimaraens. Their notes and scores are fed into the computer and matched up to each wine’s vital statistics (origin, quantity, chemical analysis) to produce a complete profile, one sheet for each wine.

So what does make a 10-Year-Old or a 40-Year-Old? Ports selected for a 10-Year-Old Tawny are likely to be from the same group as for Late-Bottled Vintage; those destined to be 30- and Over 40-Year-Olds are likely to be from Taylor’s own quintas and to be material of Vintage Port quality which hasn’t made the final cut. A future 40-Year-Old might be slightly lighter in colour than the wines selected for the Vintage; it might be more delicate, perhaps a bit more floral; it might come from a very good part of the quinta, but one that doesn’t produce quite the intensity required for a top Vintage Port.

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It follows that just as Taylor’s doesn’t have the quality to produce a Vintage Port each year, it doesn’t set aside port for 30- and Over 40-Year-Old Tawnies every year. The aim is always to have suitable material for 10- and 20-Year-Olds, but nature can thwart even this: 1993 produced no aged Tawnies; and 2002 yielded nothing suitable for 20-Year-Old and above.

Selecting the right quality and style is only the beginning. The Ports destined to be Tawnies are stored in the company’s lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia and the new temperature- and humidity-regulated facility in the Douro. Here they are nurtured and guided so that they develop in keeping with the Taylor’s Tawny style. Key elements of this are freshness, fruitiness and finesse; complexity and nuttiness, too; but always avoiding the more oxidised ‘Douro bake’ character which comes from ageing in the hot, dry conditions of the Douro and from racking and refreshing the wines infrequently.

Racking, separating the wine from its sediment (including the colouring matter; hence the final tawny colour) and aerating it, is done more often early on, gradually reducing to annually. Refreshing a Tawny—“giving it something to chew on” (to translate an evocative Portuguese expression)—is, as you might expect, the blending in of some younger Port. Both procedures are critical in the evolution of aged Tawnies.

Alongside the racking and refreshing team, another is kept busy in the cooperage repairing casks. ‘The casks stay with us forever,’ David says (as do many of the staff, as it happens). Oak is used because its tight grain allows the ideal slow oxidation, but it’s always well-seasoned, never new. The last thing anyone wants is the sweet vanilla taste of new oak; port has enough flavour and sweetness of its own. Size matters, too: most of the Tawnies are in pipes (casks of 600-640 litres), but any that need refreshing may be moved from cask to large vat to slow the ageing.

Photo via http://www.taylor.pt/en

With selection and classification at the beginning of the year and quality control ongoing, what remains is the all-important blending in November, the quiet after the storm of the harvest period.

Blending the aged Tawnies is thus anything but whimsical or random. It requires exceptional tasting skills, but also a dab hand with a calculator. As David and his team pick their way through 50 or 60 potential components for the 10-Year-Old, lined up round the tasting room with the age of each written in front on the counter, they are calculating both the average age and the quantity that will result: 140 pipes of number three (the age of which is  seven years, ten month)—“lovely zing and bite”—76 pipes of number 27 (aged ten years eight months); four pipes of 51 (20 years three months years)—“for complexity”. It takes a couple of mornings to do the 10-Year-Old; less to do a 40-Year-Old because there are fewer possible components. But the 40-Year-Old will have a wider variation of age. The current Over 40-Year-Old may contain some wine from the 1930s, but with younger wines to bring the age to within a few years either side of 40.

Blends chosen, the blending itself is done, the finished tawnies are bottled and within months they’re shipped. The rest is our job: drinking them.

Click here to download the Tasting Notes – Taylor Tawny Ports

Photo of Adrian Bridge via http://www.taylor.pt/en

About the speaker: Adrian Bridge is the CEO of the Fladgate Partnership and The Yeatman Hotel. Adrian has worked for Taylor’s since 1994 and in 2000, formally took over the role of Managing Director of the Taylor Fonseca Port Group. Having been instrumental in the group of buying the assets of Borges Port in 1998, he further expanded the company with the purchase of Croft Port and Delaforce Port in 2001, from Diageo. The subsequent reorganization of the group, to form The Fladgate Partnership, and repackaging of these brands has helped the group to become a leading supplier of Port in the major premium markets of the world. Adrian is the creative force behind The Yeatman, a project that he started in 2006. He was involved in every detail of the project: design, branding and launch of the hotel.

Adrian’s session, “Mature Tawny Ports: The Art of Aging and Blending” will be held on Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 4:45 pm as part of SWE’s 41^st Annual Conference, to be held August 10 – 12, 2017 in Portland Oregon.

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Today we have a conference preview from Tim Gaiser, MS. Tim has been one of the top-rated speakers at our conference for many years now, and his sessions fill up fast! This year we are lucky enough to have Tim presenting two sessions, which he will tell you about in his own words, below.

I’ll be doing two sessions at the conference this August in Portland. My first session, “Insights: Best Practices for Teaching Professional Tasting,” will focus on strategies for teaching tasting. I find teaching tasting to be one of the most rewarding things I do as a wine professional—but it can be one of the most frustrating as well. Everyone is wired differently and I need multiple strategies to teach any group, much less to coach an individual student.

These strategies include memorizing a tasting grid; improving recognition and memory of common wine aromas and flavors; calibrating structural elements (acidity, alcohol, and tannin) consistently and accurately; and deductive logic—putting sensory information together in order to make good conclusions in a blind tasting. In this past year I created a survey with the intention of collecting best practices for teaching tasting. I sent the survey to over 50 fellow Master Sommeliers and all were generous in sharing their strategies. This session will focus on strategies taken from the survey as well some of my own. To help illustrate the strategies we’ll taste through a flight of four outstanding wines. Join me as we deconstruct the best the practices of teaching professional tasting.

My second session, “Hungarian Furmint: Ancient Grape, Modern Wines”  will focus on Furmint, arguably Hungary’s greatest white grape variety. Furmint has been the primary grape used in the production of Tokaji, one of the most remarkable, historic, and complex dessert wines of the last several centuries. In the last decade a new generation of winemakers has been using Furmint to produce some of the most exciting dry white wines found anywhere. Join me as we take a tour through the history and vineyards of Tokaj and Csopak, and discover the brilliance of dry Furmint by tasting an outstanding flight of wines.

Tim Gaiser, MS

About the speaker: Tim Gaiser is an internationally renowned wine expert and lecturer. He is one of 175 individuals worldwide to ever attain the elite Master Sommelier wine title.  Over his 25-plus year career, Tim has taught thousands of students in wines and spirits classes at every level as well as developing wine education programs for restaurants, winery schools and wine distributors. He has experience in all phases of the wine industry – online, wholesale, retail, winery, and restaurant – including stints at Heitz Wine Cellars in the Napa Valley and Bix and Cypress Club restaurants in San Francisco, and Virtual Vineyards/the original wine.com.

Tim has written for a number of publications including Fine Cooking Magazine and Sommelier Journal. He also writes for numerous wine and spirits clients including Champagne Perrier Jöuet, Wines of Germany and the Portuguese Cork Quality Association. Gaiser has served as the author and lead judge for the Best Young Sommelier Competition and the TopSomm Competition, the two major American sommelier competitions. Considered one of the leading wine tasters and educators, Gaiser was recently featured in the Think like a Genius Wine Master training product, created by the Everyday Genius Institute.

Tim’s first session, “Insights: Best Practices for Teaching Professional Tasting” will be held on Friday, August 11, 2017 at 8:45 am. The session on Hungarian Furmint will also be on Friday, August 11, at 3:00 pm. For more information, see the website of the 41^st Conference of the Society of Wine Educators to be held on August 10 – 12, in Portland, Oregon.

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Today we have a conference preview written by Meridith May, who is bringing several panels of experts from The Tasting Panel Magazine and Somm Journal to our August Conference in Portland. Read on to learn more about these fascinating sessions! 

Since I took over The Somm Journal, we have opened doors to thousands of new readers from all aspects of the wine industry. Our audience continues to grow at breakneck speed, from wine buyers at restaurant and retail to winemakers, F&B Directors, distributors and importers.  From this perspective we are thrilled to bring in three panels to SWE’s August conference in Portland, and proud of the panel moderators we have gathered together. It will be thrilling to observe and learn from the panelists and we plan to document these panels in word and image in our October issue.

On Thursday, August 10 at 10:00 am, spirits expert/mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler will moderate our panel entitled “Deconstructing Spirits.” Jeffrey will question his panel of brand experts on what goes into creating the flavor profiles, the distillation processes, and the ingredients of eight different spirits – which the attendees will taste along with the panel.

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We will “Dig into Unique Terroir” on Friday August 11 at 3:00 pm with moderator Eric Hemer, MW, MS – Senior VP of Education for Southern Glazer’s. Eight winery representatives from regions such as Victoria, Australia; Navarro, Spain; Rias Baixas; Mendoza, Argentina and Alto Adige will taste their wines with attendees and dive deep into how terroir affects the character of these wines.

Our third session, scheduled for Saturday, August 12 at 10:30 am, will feature a “Coached Blind Tasting” program. While attendees attempt to blind a flight of wines, they will be coached by moderators Bob Bath, MS/Head Beverage Professor at CIA Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, and Somm Journal’s Deputy Editor/Advanced Sommelier Allyson Gorsuch. While the attendees taste and write down their guesses, the two coaches will give hints about the regions and varietals. When time is up, papers will be collected and each winery’s representative will “reveal” their respective wines and discuss the details.

All of these fascinating sessions will be presented at the Society of Wine Educators’ 41^st Annual Conference, to be held August 10 to 12, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. See you there!