The SOMM Journal

August / September 2015

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4 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 { letter from the publisher } IT WAS AN AVALANCHE OF educational adventures for us these past few months as we traipsed across the country to host, promote, participate in, record and, in this issue, document a series of intriguing and informative wine-related events. It started in April with the CIA Sommelier Summit—the sold-out first year of an annual program organized and expertly produced by the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. The SOMM Journal played media sponsor and in that role, we were able to meet and learn from some of the industry's legends (see pages 40–45). The International Chardonnay Symposium descended on the beachfront communities of Pismo Beach and Avila Beach in the heart of California's Central Coast, attracting over a thousand attendees and more than 100 of the wine industry's foremost profession - als including winemakers, sommeliers and journalists. Our prestigious panel moderators included Master Sommeliers Fred Dame, Brian McClintic and Bob Bath. We recap The SOMM Journal's impressive wine panel discussions on pages 84–91. The five-city Cru Artisan College was a tour de force tour, illuminated by 13 interna - tional winemakers who offered up academic courses that were college-level enological experiences, with taste-and-talk insight into their wines and their respective regions. The Cliff Notes are on pages 60–65. And history was made when Yalumba pro - prietor Robert Hill-Smith visited us in Napa and NYC for a dramatic unveiling of the 2012 vintage of Yalumba's "The Signature" (the first in five decades signed by him). The wine buyers who joined us on both coasts tasted through more than five decades of Yalumba Cab-Shiraz blends for an opportu - nity to Aussie time-travel. Take the ride back on pages 49–53. We anticipate that you will relive it all with us in this issue! selected contributors Los Angeles–based Elyse Glickman, who got her start as a beverage industry writer and editor with Patterson's Beverage Journal (precur- sor to this publication) in 2002, is a regular contri butor to THE TASTING PANEL and The SOMM Journal. Her work covering the beverage industry has taken her to over 30 countries, and categories running the gamut from wine and beer to popular global spirits brands and artisanal niche products. In addition to her industry publications work, her coverage can also be seen in consumer magazines including Intermezzo, Taste & Travel and C-Suite Quarterly, where she serves as the Food and Travel Senior Editor. Lauren Mowery is the weekly wine columnist as well as the coffee and tea columnist for The Village Voice. In 2013, her blog, Chasing the Vine, was recognized as America's Best New Wine Blog. A former New York litigator, she transitioned to the startup wine industry though Gilt Taste, before launching her own career as a wine and travel writer. In that span, she has traveled to over a dozen countries, many of which are featured in her articles published in several magazines, including Wine & Spirits, Wine Enthusiast, Saveur, The Tasting Panel, Alquimie, Punch, The Wine Merchant, Palate Press, Bar and Restaurant, Men's Journal and Fodors.com. She holds a WSET Diploma and hopes to enter the Master of Wine program in the fall of 2015. Cliff Rames is a Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier in New York City. He has served as sommelier at the Caudalie French Paradox Wine Lounge at the historic Plaza Hotel. Cliff is founder of and Brand Ambassador for Wines of Croatia and is also a wine educator and regularly teaches at the NYC Wine Class school. Cliff's other formal wine training includes the French Culinary Institute's Fundamentals of Wine program, the WSET Advanced Certificate, and the Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Wine program. In his free time, Cliff enjoys cooking, reading poetry and fiction, playing guitar, disc golf, hiking, watching classic movies and enjoying quality time with his dog, Smokie. Paul Hodgins fell in love with fine wine when he moved to California in the 1980s to teach at U.C. Irvine. He has been a wine, beer and spirits columnist for The Orange County Register since 2009. He also writes about the arts and architecture for the Register. Tracy Ellen Kamens, Ed.D., DWS, CWE, is a wine educator, writer and consultant who combines her passion for teaching with her love of wine. In addition to teaching classes and education skills through her company, Wine TEKnologies, Tracy cur rently serves as Membership Director for the French Wine Society and as a Wine Expert for Wine Ring, Inc, a consumer-oriented app. She is also an Ambassador for both the Napa Valley Vintners and the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc and is a frequent presenter at international wine conferences. Jaime Lewis writes for publications including 805 Living Magazine, Edible Santa Barbara, Edible San Luis Obispo and THE TASTING PANEL, among others, and regularly consults in marketing and PR for the wine and hospitality industries. After gaining her Advanced Certification from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in 2007, she set off to eat, drink, write and work her way across the major wine regions of Italy and New Zealand, participating in nearly every moment of a wine's life from planting and bottling to selling and imbibing. She lives in San Luis Obispo, California with her husband and two young children, and her work can be found at www.jaimelewis.com. Meridith May with Bill Foley, Founder of Foley Family Wines and Foley Food & Wine Society. Photo taken at the CIA Sommelier Summit, where Foley was a guest speaker. PHOTO: ALEXANDER RUBIN College, Symposiums, Historic Tastings and a Summit PHOTO: SARA BEER

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