Tag Archives: Society of Wine Educators

Libraries and Lectures: Professor Maynard Amerine

  By admin | October 7, 2013 - 12:04 pm |
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Professor Amerines BookWhen I was a 21-year-old student at UC Berkley I began to be obsessed with wine, cooking, and food. This was the 80’s in Northern California; the perfect time and place for such a passion to bloom.  California wines were taking the world by storm and chefs that seemed to us like “local hippies” would soon be world-famous for a new style of cooking dubbed “California Cuisine.” All of this would set the nation on a course that would lead to…well, our nation’s current obsession with wine, cooking, and food.

As most people do when they first “discover” the culinary arts, I spent all my spare cash  on cookbooks.  Lucky for me I could wander down to Cody’s Books, the legendary Berkley Bookstore that unfortunately shuttered in 2008. One day I happened to pick up – for 99 cents – a tattered, used copy of a book called “Wines: Their Sensory Evaluation” written by Maynard Amerine and Edward B. Roessler. Even though it would be years, or perhaps even decades before I would be able to really understand what I was reading, I was fascinated by that little book.  I still have my tattered copy and get a kick out of seeing the underlines and scribbled notes I put in that book 30 years ago.

amerine_maynard_aOne of the authors of that book, Maynard Amerine (1911-1998), was, in 1935, the first faculty member hired in the new Viticulture and Enology Department at the University of California at Davis. He became full professor in 1952, was deemed All-University Lecturer in 1962. He continued his research and teaching at Davis until his retirement in 1974, and remained a Professor Emeritus until his death in 1998.

His many contributions to the world of wine include 16 books and over 400 articles on the subjects of viticulture, enology, and the sensory evaluation of wine.  In the early 1940s, along with his colleague Albert Winkler, he developed the Winkler scale, a technique for classifying wine growing regions based on temperature now known to most wine students as “heat summation regions.”

Among his many awards are the Andre Simon Prize, the Croix d’Officier du Order National du Mérite, the Chevalier de Mérite Agricole, Wine Spectator’s Distinguished Service Award 1985 and Wine Man of the Year – Wines & Vines Magazine” 1989.

Today, through an amazing combination of luck, technology, and the UC Davis Library, you can view a series of videos of Professor Amerine’s  class lectures, recorded in 1973 during his class for “Viticulture and Enology 125: Sensory Analysis of Wine.” Just click here: http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/specol/collections/media/index.php?media=viticulture

Professor Amerine donated many of his writings, awards, and references to UC Davis.  You can learn about his archives, now housed in The Maynard Amerine Room at the UC Davis Library here:  http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/collections/vitic/amerine-room.php

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, SWE Blog Administrator:  jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

1855: It was a Very Good Year…

  By admin | September 28, 2013 - 12:21 am | ,
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Bordeaux 1Its a familiar story to wine enthusiasts…in 1855, Napoleon III, the Emperor of France, decided that France would host an event to rival the Great Exhibition held in London four years earlier.  That event, the Exposition Universelle de Paris, would showcase all the glory that was France – including its finest wines.

One of the exhibitors was the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, which decided to feature a list of the region’s best wines. However, knowing better than to draw up the list themselves, they asked the Syndicat of Courtiers (Bordeaux’s Union of Wine Brokers) to draw one up.

It did not take the Syndicat long to think through the list; two weeks later, they were finished.  Their original list included 58 of the finest Châteaux of the Gironde department – four first growths, 12 seconds, 14 thirds, 11 fourths, and 17 fifths.   Apparently, the brokers did what brokers do:  they assigned the rankings based on price, reasoning that the market, in its infinite wisdom, had already ranked the wines based on who was commanding the highest price.  This move makes more sense if you know that in the 1850’s; the wine trade in Bordeaux was still largely controlled by the British.

bordeaux 2The Syndicat’s original list ranked the Châteaux by quality within each class. Mouton-Rothschild, quite famously, was at the head of the seconds.  However, the controversy concerning the entire list was such that by the time the Exposition rolled around, a few months after the list was first released, they had rescinded the quality listing within the categories, quickly claimed that no such hierarchy had ever been intended, and took to listing the Châteaux alphabetically.

As every good wine student knows, the only formal revision to the original list came in 1973, when, following a half-century of unceasing effort by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mouton was elevated from second-growth to first growth, and the winery’s motto became “Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change.”  (“First, I am. Second, I used to be. Mouton does not change.”)

9.8-The-Haut-Medoc-4-color-[Converted]Since 1855, many changes have occurred in the names and ownership of the properties. However, as long as an estate can trace its lineage to an estate in the original classification, it can retain is cru classé status. Due to divisions of the estates, the 58 original estates now number 61.

And now for the rest of the story…

As any good CSW Student knows, Bill Lembeck, CWE, has designed the maps for the last few editions of the CSW Study Guide.

Next month, (Spoiler Alert) SWE will launch its 2014 version of the CSW Study Guide, and Bill has once again designed and updated the maps for us – this time in color! As a special bonus, Bill has created this map of the Häut-Médoc which gorgeously lists the Châteaux of the 1855 Classification.  A larger image and pdf of the map is available here.

Enjoy, and many thanks to Bill!

 

 

 

The Rheingau Falls in Line

  By admin | September 23, 2013 - 11:55 am |
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Rheingau 1Here’s some good news:  as of September 1, 2013, the wine classification system in Germany just got a little bit easier.

With the release of the 2012 vintage, the Rheingau is now using the term “Grosses Gewächs” to indicate dry wines produced in their top-tier (Grosse Lage) vineyard sites.  Until recently, the Rheingau was the only region in the country to use the term “Erstes Gewächs” to represent their top-tier dry wines, but as of now, the Rheingau will use the same term as the rest of Germany.

Now, there is still quite a bit of complication to be sure, with the country’s gU’s, QbA’s and Prädikats, but at least for now there is one less piece of the VDP puzzle to figure out.

To explain the VDP – Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweinguter – classifications quite simply, they are the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates – and their goal is to create a terroir-based classification of German vineyard sites, based on the system of vineyard classification used in Burgundy as their model. The idea is to use the quality of the vineyard site in addition to the ripeness of the grape (Prädikat) to define a top-tier German wine.

The levels of quality that an estate can apply for are as follows.   (Note: the method of comparing the VDP classificaton to the vineyard hierarchy of Burgundy is used on the VDP website and can be accessed here):

  • Grosse Lage, or “Great Site” – The highest classification, equal to a “Grand Cru” in Burgundy.  A dry wine from a Grosse Lage is termed a “Grosses Gewächs.”  (As noted above, until September 1, 2013, there was an exception for the top-tier dry wines of the Rheingau, which used the term Ertes Gewächs.  However, the Rheingau estates are now using the term “Grosses Gewächs” along with the rest of Germany – hooray!)
  • Rhengau 2Erste Lage, “First Site” or “Very Good Site”  – Comparable to a “Premier Cru” in Burgundy.
  • Ortswein, or “Classified Site Wine” –  Comparable to a “Village” level wine in Burgundy.
  • Gutswein, or “Estate Wine” – “Comparable to a “Regional” wine in Burgundy.

The 2012 vintage in the Rheingau was notortiously botrytis-free, showcasing grapes that have exceptional ripeness and excellent acidity – a perfect year to highlight the increasingly popular dry style.  We can’t wait to give them a try!

For more information, see the website of the VDP.

Please note:  SWE is trying to keep up with the ever-changing wine and spirits industry, whether it be changes in EU regulations, new AVAs, or newly approved wine regions in  the southern hemisphere.  To access the “quck version” of these updates, see our “Study Guide Updates” pages.  We suggest checking back regularly!

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles. CWE – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

 

The AVA Shuffle

  By admin | September 22, 2013 - 6:32 pm |
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New AVA 1The bureaucrats down at the TTB must have been hard at work lately processing the applications for more than 18 new AVAs.

Read on to learn the details of some of the more interesting proposals!

Big Valley District and Kelsey Bench – Lake County – Two new AVAs have been proposed for Lake County, CA; to be named Big Valley District – Lake County and Kelsy Bench – Lake County.

The Big Valley region is located on the south shore of Clear Lake and has a long history of agriculture (pears and walnuts) and viticulture.  The Kendall-Jackson winery is said to have had its beginnings in the area in 1974, when Jess Jackson and his wife purchased a Lake County farm and soon after planted their first vineyards.

The Kelsey Bench is located between Mt. Konocti, Lake County’s resident dormant volcano, and the alluvial flood plain on the lower elevations.  The proposed Kelsey Bench AVA understandably has primarily volcanic soils, higher elevations than the adjacent (proposed) Big Valley District, and northeastern exposures. The proposal for both new Lake County AVAs has reached the final ruling stage. To read all the documents related to these proposed AVAs, click here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=TTB-2013-0003

Cabernet TopEagle Peak Mendocino County – A proposal to establish a new AVA to be known as Eagle Peak Mendocino County is in the final ruling stage.  Eagle Peak Mendocino County is proposed in an area of moderately sloping, hilly terrain at elevations from 800 feet to 3,320 feet up the slope of Eagle Summit.  Along with the new AVA, the proposal calls for the modification of the boundaries of the adjacent Redwood Valley AVA in order to avoid splitting two vineyard properties, Golden Vineyards and Masut Vineyards, between the Eagle Peak and Redwood Valley AVAs.  If the proposal passes, both properties would be within the Eagle Peak Mendocino County AVA. To read more about this proposal, click here:  http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=TTB-2013-0004

New AVA 3Paso Robles – After years of debate about the possible division of the Paso Robles AVA into North Paso Robles/South Paso Robles or even East Paso Robles/West Paso Robles sub-appellations, a proposal to establish eleven new AVAs within the existing Paso Robles AVA has made it to the “proposed rulemaking stage” of the AVA approval process.  If you have an opinion, now is the time to speak up! Public comments are welcome through January 21, 2014.  If all goes as planned, the new AVAs will be as follows:  Adelaida District,  Creston District, El Pomar District, Paso Robles Estrella District, Paso Robles Geneseo District, Paso Robles Highlands District, Paso Robles Willow Creek District, San Juan Creek, San Miguel District, Santa Margarita Ranch, and Templeton Gap District. For all the details, click here:  http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=TTB-2013-0009

If you would like to see all of the current AVA proposals on record with the TTB, just click here:  http://www.ttb.gov/wine/wine-rulemaking.shtml

 

Chinato: Cocchi, or Cappellano?

  By admin | September 15, 2013 - 1:07 pm | ,
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cappellanoIf you love Italian wine, you can most likely discuss the intricacies of Brunello, Barbaresco, and Bardolino.  If you love Italian food, you probably crave Bolognese, Balsamic, and Burrata on a daily basis. But what can you tell us about Barolo Chinato?

Don’t worry – you don’t have to give up your Italophile badge just yet.  Barolo Chinato is rare – it’s not exactly easy to find in America, despite it being more widely available than ever these days, thanks to the longevity of the craft cocktail craze and an ever-growing American fondness for all things Italian.

Barolo Chinato is digestive (equally qualified to serve as aperitif) produced in Piedmont, Italy created from a base of Barolo wine.  The word “china” (pronounced “key-na”) in Italian refers to “cinchona bark,” known to Americans as quinine. This, if we want to stay literal, Barolo Chinato (pronounced “key-not-o”) is Barolo wine that has been  infused with quinine bark and other herbs and spices.

Technically, Barolo Chinato is considered a quinquina (an aperitif that contains cinchona bark) as well as an aromatized (flavored) wine.  With alcohol levels of 16.5 – 18%, some versions of Barolo Chinato may also be considered a fortified wine, as some of the flavorings may be added in the form of extracts produced using alcohol.

Cocchi ChinatoWhile the actual recipe of Chinato varies by producer and is a closely guarded secret, the flavorings are rumored to include sugar, rhubarb root, cinnamon, mint, vanilla, star anise, citrus peel, fennel, juniper, gentian root, and cardamom in addition to quinine. Don’t forget that all those layers of flavors are added to a base wine of Barolo – undisputedly one of Italy’s most complex wines to begin with. This is a smooth, spicy, flavorful sip with a hit of bitterness on the end – enough to wake up any appetite, or help smooth out an over-indulged one.

Barolo Chinato was first produced in the area around the city of Turin sometime in the 19th century.  By this time, companies like Martini & Rossi and Cinzano were already producing Vermouth and other aperitifs in the region.

A Tuscan pastry chef named Giulio Cocchi is often cited as the inventor of Barolo Chinato.  After moving to Asti, he was inspired by the region’s vermouth industry and founded his winery in 1891. Soon after, he invented a formula for Barolo Chinato. Dr. Giuseppe Cappellano is also believed by many to the Barolo Chinato’s creator.  Dr. Cappellano was a pharmacist in Turin and the second son of the owner of the Cappellano Winery, which was founded in 1890.

Luckily, both companies are still around, and Barolo Chinato from both the Cappellano and Cocchi wineries are available in the United States. We may never decide who was first, you can decide for yourself who you think is best.

While the debate rages on, there are a few things that fans of Barolo Chinato can agree on:  Barolo Chinato can help calm down a rumbly tummy after a hearty meal; it be used like an Amaro or Vermouth in a creative cocktail recipe, and it pairs very well with chocolate cake.

Cappellano Barolo Chinato:  http://madrose.com/index.php/italy/piedmont/cappellano#barolo-chinato

Cocchi Barolo Chinato:  http://www.cocchi.it/eng/barolo_chinato.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stout Report: Advice to a Young Wine Professional

  By admin | September 11, 2013 - 8:17 pm | ,
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SWE's new President, Guy Stout, MS

SWE’s new President, Guy Stout, MS, CSS, CWE

Our new President, Guy Stout, MS, CSS, CWE, has a few words of advice for young wine professionals!

The Stout Report: Advice to a Young Wine Professional

During a recent dinner with Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth, we were discussing how we, as established wine professionals, could advise the next generation of sommeliers and wine industry leaders. As you can imagine, it was quite a conversation!

Here are a few of our thoughts as to what skills and experiences could help young wine professionals be better at what they do, and help pave the way for a successful future. Here’s hoping someone out there is listening!

Travel: It’s the best thing you can do, both for your career and yourself.  My first ever visit to a vineyard was TV Munson’s experimental plot in Denison, Texas. The vineyard, which dates to the 1890’s, is next to a small airport landing strip, and it wasn’t at all what I expected.  When traveling, you never know what you may find.

Passion:  No one starts in the wine industry for the money (although that may come later). However, everyone starts in the wine industry because of a passion.  It’s a good thing, too, as I can teach wine, but I can’t teach passion

Grenache TopCognitive Thinking: Don’t just memorize grapes and places – it takes more than book smarts to grow in the wine trade. Read a book on bull riding, and then go ride a bull (just kidding about the bull.) You will, however, find out quickly that you didn’t really know a thing about bull riding until you felt that bull move.  For further insight, see “travel,” above.

Don‘t be a snob: Trust me, the world already has too many wine snobs.  You don’t want to be the person who always has a better bottle or vintage story (they get gossiped about behind their backs, they just don’t know it, and you didn’t hear that from me).  One for thing:  don’t be afraid to drink out of plastic cups – it won’t kill you!

Don’t worry if you get a wine wrong in a blind tasting: If you follow your tasting grid – either in your head or with a pencil and paper – you will get it “wrong for the right reasons” – and get it right the next time.

Share what you have: Wine is meant to be shared. The most memorable wines I have ever had were those I shared with friends.

Learn your limits: Don’t be the one who gets carried out of a big tasting by your friends. (Even more important: don’t be the one who gets kicked out.) This is very bad form and assures that you will be remembered – for all the wrong reasons.

wine and salmonLearn to cook: Knowing food and wine starts with knowing how to cook (and your friends will love you even more.) As we say in Texas, “Eat more chikin!” Burgers and Bordeaux makes for a great party, by the way!

Don’t get a visible tattoo: Ok, I am old school but truth be told, I don’t like to see tattoos on servers or somms.

The customer is always right: Even when they are wrong, and even when it hurts to admit it. But be advised – I have friends who have lost good jobs over this.

Taste with a group: Share the cost of wines, share your opinions, and make some friends (in a few years you can call them your “network”).

Ask Yourself: Why did you choose wine? Where do you hope it will lead you?

One final note:  Be kind to your mother – I have spent more than 30 years working in the wine & spirits industry and my mother still wants me to get a real job.

Cheers… Guy

 

 

Farewell, Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France…

  By admin | September 8, 2013 - 9:22 pm | ,
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Château de Villandry, in the lovely Loire

Château de Villandry, in the lovely Loire

Farewell, Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France…hello IGP/Vin de Pays Val de Loire!

French wine laws, along with the wine laws of many members of the European Union, continue to evolve.  While consumers are still apt to find their favorite place-names and AOC terms on their favorite wine labels, many “behind the scenes” revisions took place in 2009.

The entry level of French basic wine, formerly referred to as vin de table, is now known simply as vin. Basic French “Vin” can come from anywhere in France and has few specific regulations apart from those required for health, safety, and commercial trade. Vin is not a particularly important category in France, as it accounts for only about one-eighth of all French wine produced, and most French vin is consumed locally.

The next tier of French wine was formerly known as country wine (vin de pays), and it accounts for more than one-third of French wine. In the new EU system, these are considered table wines with geographical indication (PGI). The wines may be varietally labeled, and may use the term Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP), the traditional “Vin de Pays,” or a combination, as in “IGP–Vin de Pays.”

There are few restrictions on these wines, except that at least 85 percent of the grapes must come entirely from within the boundaries of one of the 152 delimited Vin de Pays regions. At this level, French wine seems more focused on grape variety than on region of origin – and, in many cases, this allows these wines to compete directly with the consumer-friendly varietally labeled wines of the New World.

 

The Kitchen Garden at Château de Villandry

The Kitchen Garden at Château de Villandry

There are five large regional IGPs:

  • IGP/Vin de Pays d’Oc, perhaps the best known of the regions, covering the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
  • IGP/Vin de Pays Val de Loire, covering the entire Loire Valley, was formerly known by the lovely title Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France.
  • IGP/Vin de Pays Comtés Rhodaniens includes portions of the Northern Rhône Valley, Jura, and Savoie.
  • IGP/Vin de Pays de Méditerranée, covering southeast France.
  • IGP/Vin de Pays  Comté Tolosan, covering southwest France.

Two other regional Vin de Pays designations, Vin de Pays de l’Atlantique, covering Bordeaux and Charentes (Cognac), and Vin de Pays de Gaules for the Beaujolais region, were also approved in 2007, but have been disputed, and remained unpublished in the Official Journal of the European Union.

There are fifty-two departmental IGPs whose boundaries match the political boundaries of a French département (“county”), located within the larger regional IGP areas. Another  ninety-plus IGPs, known as vin de pays de zone, are smaller, locally specific areas, often named after a historic or geographical feature.

Thankfully, the terminology and titles of most of your favorite French AOCs remain the same…but you might be seeing the term “AOP” replace “AOC” as time goes by.

The changes in the status of the Vin de Pays are some of the many wine-world updates you can find in SWE’s new, improved, and updated CSW Study Guide, to be released in September 2013.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator bevspecialist@societyofwineeducators.org

 

PX: Thin Skinned and Not Too Sharp

  By admin | August 28, 2013 - 11:46 am |
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PX BarrelsThin-skinned and not too sharp. It would sound like an insult if hurled towards a person, put for the distinct grape known as Pedro Ximénez, it is just a statement of fact. And it is just those qualities, the thin skin, the low acidity, and an array of other grapey-uniqueness such as extra-large bunches, susceptibility to Botrytis, and berries of uneven size, that make Pedro Ximénez the star of an interesting array of truly unique wines.

Pedro Ximénez is grown widely throughout Andalucía in the south of Spain, including Jerez, Málaga, and particularly Montilla-Moriles. The grape is also grown in small amounts in some far-flung regions of Spain, such as the Canary Islands, Valencia, La Mancha, and Extremadura; as well as parts of Portugal.

Pedro XimenezFurther afield, Pedro Ximénez used to be quite widely cultivated and is still grown in a few plots in Australia, where it often goes by the nickname “Pedro.” Pedro is, not surprisingly, used in some of the “stickies” produced in Australia.

PX should not be confused with PG, although it is hard not to confuse “Pedro Ximénez” with “Pedro Giménez,” a grape grown in Argentina and Chile. In South America, Pedro Giménez (Pedro-with-a-G) is sometimes used to produce simple, fruity, dry white wines; but the majority is distilled into Pisco. PG, it is thought, is related to but not identical to PX. Rather, it is believed that Pedro Giménez is native to Argentina, having mutated or descended from the original Mission/Pais grapes that were originally brought to the Americas from Europe, so many centuries ago.

To students of wine, Pedro Ximénez is best known as the third player in the three grapes of Jerez.  Any one of my students can probably recall reciting “Palomino, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximénez” over and over in preparation for the CSW. What is rather surprising, however, is that much of the Pedro Ximénez that makes its way into Sherry is actually grown in neighboring Montilla-Moriles.

PX 2Producers of Sherry are allowed to purchase Pedro Ximénez grapes grown in Montilla-Moriles for use in their wines, as long as the wine is aged in Jerez.  This unusual law most likely came to be as the PX grape variety does not really thrive in the humid atmosphere of Jerez. PX is often used to make sweet Sherries, and is blended with Oloroso to make Cream Sherry.

In Montilla-Moriles, the grape is used to make a variety of wines, including low acid, dry white wines and fortified wines somewhat similar to the various styles of Sherries.  However, the truly outstanding wines of Montilla-Moriles are its rich Pedro Ximénez-based dessert wines, some of which are fortified, and most of which are aged solera-style, like the wines of Jerez.

The extreme heat and rugged conditions of the Montilla-Moriles region produces Pedro Ximénez grapes with extraordinary richness and very high sugar levels.  After harvest, the grapes are dried in the sun for several days. The concentrated, shriveled grapes are then pressed and the resulting rich, thick, syrup is fermented and aged, solera style. The resulting wine is unbelievably dark, rich, and sweet, with flavors of chocolate, caramel, smoke, dates, nuts, and figs.  Montilla-Moriles PX is a natural match for rice pudding, ice cream, or any dessert made with caramel, toffee, figs, dates, hazelnuts, or chocolate.

PX Montilla MorillesA colorful legend tells that the Pedro Ximénez is indigenous to the Canary Islands, and somehow got transported to Germany where it thrived.  Somehow, somewhere the grape was then smuggled into Jerez in the belongings of a soldier named Peter Siemens who had served under Charles V (1500-1558) in the Spanish Netherlands.

Like many a really good tale, this one is most likely not true, as it seems unlikely that a warm weather grape such as PX would have survived so far north. Current wisdom points towards Andalucía or the Canary Islands as the most probably homeland for Pedro Ximénez, and it is likely that the name was borrowed either from a local winemaker, as  Ximénez/Ximénes is a common name in the area; or from the town of Jiménez near Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE; your SWE Blog Administrator – bevspecialist@societyofwineeducators.org

 

 

Meet the Board of Directors: David Glancy

  By admin | August 22, 2013 - 5:37 am | ,
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Today we are continuing our series of posts to introduce you to the new members of SWE’s Board of Directors.  Read on to meet Master Sommelier David Glancy!

David GDavid Glancy has been a wine professional for over twenty years, and has earned more than his fair share of impressive credentials along the way. David is a Master Sommelier, Certified Wine Educator, Certified Specialist of Spirits, and French Wine Scholar. If we were to spell out all of his post-nominals it would look something like this:  David Glancy, MS, CSS, CSW, CWE, FWS.

After several years in the hospitality industry both the U.S. and Asia, David created and taught the Certified Sommelier Program at the Professional Culinary Institute (now known as the International Culinary Center) in Campbell, California. His educational experience also includes teaching wine and business management at Le Cordon Bleu’s California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

More recently, David launched the San Francisco Wine School, offering professional wine courses and certification prep courses, in June of 2011. In addition, David currently runs SFsommelier Consulting, is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Sommelier Journal, and is Echanson Provincial for the Chaine des Rotisseurs Pacific Northwest.

David’s first love was a glass of Vouvray, soon followed by another glass. Today, he says he could happily live on Champagne alone. Welcome, David!

Meet the Board of Directors: Missi Holle

  By admin | August 20, 2013 - 10:53 pm | ,
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Last week, SWE welcomed its new Executive Committee and Board of Directors.  While many of our board members have served for quite a few years, there are also some new faces in the group as well.  Today we’d like to introduce you to one of our new board members, Missi Holle…and thank her for her service to the Society!

Missi HolleMissi Holle, CSW, CSS is a newly elected member of the Board of Directors for the Society of Wine Educators.  She has over 16 years of experience in the wine and spirits industry, has trained through the Court of Master Sommeliers and has most recently earned the Wine Location Specialist (with distinction) designation through the Center for Wine Origins.

Missi found herself “accidentally” in the beverage industry after earning her Marketing degree from the University of Florida.  Having worked nights and weekends as a server and bartender throughout college, her hospitality experience and the attraction of daytime hours led her to a full time job with a Central Florida wine & spirits distributor.  After 2 years, she decided to try her hand within the Corporate Meetings industry, working for Hard Rock Café and GES Exposition Services before passion led her back into the beverage business as a National Account Manager for Banfi Vintners (4 years) and now Kobrand Corporation (10 years).

Education has always been a focus for Missi and today, in addition to her position as National Account Manager for the southeast US, she is the Education Specialist for the Channel Division at Kobrand.

When not working, her favorite times are spent at the dinner table sharing her husband’s home cooked meals and great beverages with family and friends.  She loves to travel and check out new restaurants and bars, enjoys running and a good book!

Welcome, Missi Holle!