The 2006 and 2007 Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival
The 2007 Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival was held at the elegant Ronald Reagan Building and the International Trade Center. Montesquieu poured some of our select wines for the event, as did several hundred other wineries from around the world. Guests of the event had the opportunity to speak directly with Montesquieu's brokers, as well as wine authorities, winemakers, and winery principals from the other companies present. Some of the nation's top chefs also participated in the event. During the 2006 event, which Montesquieu also attended, we offered our pre-released wines for tasting for guests of the exclusive event.
For the 2007 event, distinguished wine authorities hosted the event, as a way to enhance the guests' enjoyment of the wine and appreciation of the tasting experience. The wine experts included such renown persons as Leslie Sbrocco and Suzanne McGrath, as well as Ben Giliberti from The Washington Post, Jay Youmans from the Washington Wine Academy, and Dave McIntyre of Dave McIntyre's WineLine. Leslie Sbrocco is an established wine authority in the United States. Over the past several years, she has written successfully on the subject of wine in the San Francisco Chronicle, O, Family Circle, Redbook, and Working Mother. She has also written a book, Wine for Women, and regularly appears on television. She is known and respected countrywide as an expert on wine and as a consultant. Her extensive knowledge of wine brought a unique flavor to the event, of which Montesquieu was thrilled to be a part.
Suzanne McGrath, the award winning sommelier, also hosted the event. She received the highest score on the internationally and annually given Certified Wine Educator exam and is currently only one of three Certified Wine Educators in Washington D.C. McGrath is also the CEO, president, and owner of The Curious Grape, a wine store with the largest number of "Certified Specialist of Wine" recipients on staff in the district.
The wine expert hosts of the event also oversaw the Grand Tasting. Montesquieu, along with nearly 300 wineries, poured a total of 1,100 wines for the guests to sample during the Grand Tasting. The wine regions were grouped together, making the Grand Tasting easy to navigate and the wines easy to find. In addition to the wine tasting, the hosts gave seminars on their best topics, the wine exhibitors conversed one-on-one with the visitors on the latest trends and helped them choose among the wine varieties, and some of the nation's most talented chefs gave food demonstrations. At the 2007 event, chefs Jamie Stachowski, Jeff Black, Vikram Garg, Noriaki Yasutake, Barton Seaver, and Stephen Hunter represented their six different restaurants and food corporations by creating their favorite dishes, passing out recipes and food menus, and offering tips to pairing wine and food to the event's guests. Chef Alain Bonnet of Brasserie Les Halles with wine expert Ben Giliberti of The Washington Post created a special duo presentation for the event that combined the festivals themes into a single demonstration for the event's guests, who were encouraged to partake in all the samples available to them. The Festival also had a selection of wines, foods, and related products on hand for guests to purchase following the wine seminars and food demonstrations.
Montesquieu was present for both the 2006 and 2007 Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival, which were both tremendous successes for the district as well as for Montesquieu. We poured some of our finest reserve wines for the event, and we enjoyed participating in this special event.