Wine industry global influencers to speak at celebration

Wine industry global influencers to speak at international celebration

A selection of the crème de la crème of the international wine world will be presenting at the inaugural International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration, held in Marlborough from 1-3 February.

20 guests from as far afield as Canada, the US, France, UK, and China will be speaking at the event, sharing their knowledge and experience of Sauvignon Blanc with over 350 delegates, from 18 different countries.
Chairman of the organising committee, Patrick Materman said the response from invited speakers has been outstanding: “of the A-list of people we asked to speak, we had only one person who couldn’t make it,” says Mr Materman.

Five Masters of Wine are among the speakers, including: David Gleave (founder of Liberty Wines in the UK), Jancis Robinson’s assistant Julia Harding, and New Zealanders Sam Harrop, Alastair Maling and Jane Skilton.

Alexandre Schmitt, known in the wine world as ‘the nose’, will explore the sensory pleasures of aroma in wine. Mr Schmitt began his career in Paris in the perfume industry, before working alongside Jean-Claude Berrouet, winemaker at world renowned Château Pétrus, for 12 years. Mr Schmitt has trained numerous top winemakers over the last 15 years, and has client list that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the wine.

American based Matt Kramer has worked as a wine commentator for over 40 years, and has been described as ‘an intellectual guerrilla among wine writers’. As a guest speaker Mr Kramer will take a look at ‘where to from here’ for Sauvignon Blanc.

Leslie Sbrocco, recently voted as one of the Top 100 most influential people in the American wine business, also joins the list of acclaimed speakers. Ms Sbrocco is well known as an award winning author, wine consultant and television host.

Further sessions will be headed up by renowned UK writer Jamie Goode on ‘the Science of Sauvignon Blanc,’ and frequent BBC host Oz Clarke on ‘How region defines style.’

The International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration is the largest Sauvignon Blanc event ever held in New Zealand and promises attendees an in-depth look at the variety on a global scale.

ENDS

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