MODESTO, CA, January 19, 2017 — What’s the secret to producing the best wine and, once it’s packaged, selling it through? To gain insights into those two key questions, plugged-in winemakers, wine marketers and winery purchasing professionals have marked their calendars for the fourth annual “Wine Conversations: A Global Tasting and Marketing Forum,” Monday, February 6, in Woodinville, WA, and Wednesday, February 8, in Santa Rosa, CA. This popular, efficiently-run event takes place from 10AM to 1PM, including lunch.
Hosted by DIAM Closures USA, part of global technical cork closure leader DIAM Bouchage, and their U.S. distributor G3 Enterprises, this annual event has fast attained “must-attend” status thanks to its ability to feature industry powerhouses whose insights can impact your bottom line. Costco’s principal wine buyer, Annette Alvarez-Peters, Assistant General Merchandise Manager for Beverage Alcohol, is this year’s keynote speaker. The other attraction is that the event is intimate enough for attendees to share ideas and experience a truly delightful global wine tasting. “What separates this event from others,” says DIAM’s North American Sales Manager François Margot, a trained winemaker himself, “is that this is not just a technical presentation — though we will be announcing an exciting new product. The focus is on fun and learning from one another. It’s all about tasting great wines and building the DIAM community.” Last year alone, over 1.5 billion bottles were sold with DIAM technical corks – closures formed from natural cork after being ground and treated with the patented DIAMANT® Super Critical CO2 process.
The conversation kicks off with an annual favorite: a double-blind tasting of 12 top quality wines from around the world, all closed with DIAM corks. Always a voyage of discovery, attendees are invited to take their best guesses as to the provenance and grape composition of the wines. Last year’s tasting included a surprising, top-quality wine from China. This year’s tasting will be led by Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein, who not only brings extensive knowledge to the table, but creates an entertaining environment that participants are sure to enjoy. In 1987, Goldstein became the eighth American — and at the time the youngest ever — to pass the prestigious Master Sommelier examination. He has since written several critically-acclaimed books, including Perfect Pairings, Daring Pairings and Wines of South America: The Essential Guide.
Following the global tasting, two local winemakers will share some of their most valuable winery experiences and observations. At the Washington State event, guests will hear from winemakers John Bigelow, Owner of JM Cellars and Trey Busch, Co-owner of Sleight of Hand Cellars. At the Sonoma event Elena Franceschi, Associate Winemaker at Silverado Vineyards, and Rick Sayre, Senior VP Winemaking at Rodney Strong Vineyards, will present.
The keynote speaker at both forums will be Costco’s Annette Alvarez-Peters, who will share her latest insights on the current market. One of the most influential wine retailers in the U.S., Costco has been recognized as Retailer of the Year by Wine Enthusiast (2015), Washington State Wine Industry (2015) and Market Watch (2011). As chief wine buyer for the chain, Alvarez-Peters has been included on Decanter’s biennial Power List (2005-2013) and in Fortune magazine’s and Food &Wine magazine’s joint list of the 25 Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink (2014).
To register for the Feb. 6 forum in Woodinville, WA, visit: WineConvoWoodinville.eventbrite.com
To register for the Feb. 8 forum in Santa Rosa, CA, visit: WineConvoSonoma.eventbrite.com Or call 415-683-0696
For more information, please email: sommelier@fullcirclewinesolutions.com
DIAM is a leader in the manufacturing of technological corks offering a guarantee of supplying closures with no detectable TCA, thereby assuring absolute consistency cork to cork. DIAM offers corks with different levels of oxygen transmission rates. Using CO2 via its DIAMANT ® process, over 150 compounds are removed from each cork, eliminating the risk of “cork taint.” Final printing, coating and distribution of DIAM corks are done in the U.S. by G3 Enterprises. G3’s factory in Modesto, CA, meets the world’s most stringent environmental, ethical, and economic sourcing standards with Forest Stewardship Council® Chain-of-Custody (FSC® CoC) certification. DIAM FSC® Certified corks can be produced on request. For more information, visit: http://www.diam-closures.com/.
G3 Enterprises serves the wine and spirits industry with quality packaging products and supply chain services. With a talented team of experts providing customers a variety of creative solutions and outstanding customer service, G3 offers a wide range of solutions including labels, closures, alternative packaging (kegs, single serves), bottling, transportation and warehousing. G3 is the exclusive distributor for DIAM closures in North America. For more information about G3 Enterprises, visit www.G3Enterprises.com.
