Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/391696
{ SOMMjournal.com } 17 New TopNewSomm Open to sommeliers under the age of 30, the TopNewSomm Trophy, sponsored by Southern Wine & Spirits of America, is part of an annual national sommelier competition organized by the Guild of Sommeliers, a non-profit group committed to wine education and service excellence. Sponsorship of the award is an impor - tant part of Southern's three-year commitment to support the Guild. This year's award and scholarship went to Chris John of the Rare Wine Company in Sonoma, California. Commenting on John's honor, Mel Dick, President, Wine Division & SVP/SW&S, said, "On behalf of our entire Southern team, we congratulate Chris on this great achievement. Our longstanding sup - port of the Guild of Sommeliers, and the TopNewSomm Trophy, under- scores the importance Southern attaches to supporting wine-and- spirits education and service excel - lence in the industry." The simplest step you can take to prevent identity theft. Rogue RFID blocking passport holder. $40.00 Rogue RFID blocking clutch. $48.00 The Rogue Wallet. A patented front pocket wallet shielded with WalletGuard RFID blocking technology. $40.00 New technologies often present new vulnerabilities. While RFID enabled credit cards and passports offer convenience, they are rapidly becoming a favorite target of identity thieves, as they can be unknowingly scanned from a distance. distance. Our RFID blocking technology effectively blocks RFID chips from unauthorized access, protecting your private data. Kim Beto, VP of Key Accounts for Southern Wine & Spirits of CA, with TopNewSomm Chris John of Sonoma's Rare Wine Company. Gruet Partners with Precept Wine American sparkling wine producer Gruet Winery has forged a national sales and marketing partnership with Seattle-based Precept Wine. "Gruet, at 25, profitable and still growing, is at the perfect point to leverage the marketing power of Precept Wine, a million-case-per-year wine company with a strong national footprint," says Nathalie Gruet, the company's President. "We have the benefit of keeping every element of our winemaking and talented team intact while expanding on a distribution footprint we have worked very hard to build." World-class winemaker Laurent Gruet took his father Gilbert Gruet's legacy of making Champagne in France to U.S. soil—in the state of New Mexico—and went on to realize great success as an American sparkling wine producer. For a quarter century he has unwaveringly adhered to the méthode champenoise to make wines that most closely resemble French Champagne. PHOTO COURTESY OF SW&S OF AMERICA