4th Annual VA Wine Summitt

The event will bring wine experts and industry leaders from around the country to discuss, taste, and celebrate Virginia’s wine and food culture.  Panels, tastings and discussions will be held throughout this day-long event, featuring remarks by keynote speaker Jon Bonné, one of the leading American voices writing about wine today.

Bonné will be joined by some of the nation’s foremost and influential wine professionals, including:

• Andy Chabot, Sommelier and Director of Food & Beverage, Blackberry Farm (Walland, Tenn.)
• Belinda Chang, Director of Wine & Service, Maple & Ash (Chicago, Ill.)
• Julie Dalton, Sommelier, Wit & Wisdom Tavern (Baltimore, Md.)
• Fred Dexheimer, Master Sommelier (MS), Creator of Rx Wine Lab, POPUP Wine Bar (Durham, N.C.)
• Anthony Giglio, Wine writer and personality (New York, N.Y.)
• Helen Johannesen, Director of Operations and Wine Director, ANIMAL and Son of a Gun! (Los Angeles, Calif.)
• Jennifer Knowles, Sommelier and Wine & Beverage Director, The Jefferson Hotel and Plume Restaurant (Washington, D.C.)
• Richard Leahy, Wine consultant and author (Charlottesville, Va.)
• David Lynch, Contributing Editor, Bon Appetit and Owner & Wine Director, St. Vincent (San Francisco, Calif.)
• Jack Mason, MS, Wine Director, Marta (New York, N.Y.)
• Frank Morgan, Founder, Drink What You Like (Chesapeake, Va.)
• Kathy Morgan, MS, Beverage Consultant (Washington, D.C.)
• Andy Myers, MS, Wine Director, Think Food Group (Washington, D.C.)
• Erik Segelbaum: Advanced Sommelier and Regional Wine Director, STARR Restaurants (Washington, D.C.)
• Chris Tanghe, MS, Wine Portfolio Manager & Educator, Vinum Wine & Spirits Importing & Distributing (Seattle, Wash.)
• Neal Wavra, Founder & Sommelier, FABLE Hospitality and Riverstead (Marshall, Va.)
• Andy Wedge, Sommelier, Husk Nashville (Nashville, Tenn.)
• Jay Youmans, MS, Educational Director, Capital Wine School (Washington, D.C.)

These esteemed wine professionals will join some of the most talented Virginia winemakers to discuss the regional and vintage differentiations that are continuing to raise the profile of the Virginia wine industry.  Experts will address an audience filled with restaurateurs, sommeliers, media, wine-shop owners, winemakers and other industry professionals.

The past few years have been an exciting time for Virginia wines, which have recently established a track record for being an outstanding example of the caliber of wines the East Coast can produce.  In addition to being the nation’s fifth largest wine producer, Virginia has been recognized regularly as one of the country’s most promising emerging wine regions.  The climate and soil of Virginia places its wines stylistically between the West Coast wine region and European neighbors to the east.  Virginia wines tend to be fruit forward like West Coast wines, but also embody higher acidity and balance, similar to European wines.

Virginia Wine Summit attendees will enjoy a lunch celebrating the food and wine of Virginia, courtesy of the Salamander Resort & Spa, as well as remarks from keynote speaker Jon Bonné and panel discussions throughout the day.

The Virginia Wine Summit will be held on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at the Salamander Resort & Spa in Middelburg.  Tickets to the day-long event, priced at $225, are open to the public and include entry to the lunch and post-summit reception.  To register for the event and for more information on panel topics, please visit www.virginiawinesummit.com.