2012 Speakers – 2012 Italy

Some of the distinguised speakers at the iwinetc 2012 can be found here together with their speaker notes:

Anthony Swift at IWINETC 2012

Anthony Swift

Born in the UK and lived in Cornwall until it was time to start University. Studied for 3 different qualifications. Geography and Biology first. Then Descriptive & Applied Linguistics and finally Marketing & Business Administration. Went into the Training and Consultancy business and have lived and worked in Kuwait, Finland, Sweden, UK & Spain.

In Spain have lived in Madrid, Barcelona, Sitges and now in the High Penedès.So how did I get into the wine tourism business? Well once installed in a new house in the High Penedès I soon discovered that there were wonderful wines and wineries to visit but little tourism. So I made a low budget market research to see if it would be feasable to set up a business offering wine tasting tours – and hey Wine Pleasures was born.

I’m a big fan of Cava Brut Nature and only from certain producers. I enjoy fruity rosados and just love Cabernet Suavingnon and Xarel.lo whites. When it comes to reds I like fruity and slightly oaked cabs and tempranillos.

For future grape escapes would just love to discover Argentina, Chile, Hungary, Romania and South Africa – oh and CA of course!

Speaker notes

Shut up! Let the customers do the talking!

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Antonio Grimaldi speaker at IWINETC 2012

Antonio Grimaldi

My interest in wine dates back a long time ago, when as a child I used to follow my father during cellar work in our Firenze family winery. Thus, at University I had no doubts in choosing Oenology and Viticulture as my specialisation. But with an enormous curiosity for every aspect of wine, I thought that it was not sufficiently exhaustive: I therefore arrived in Adelaide, Australia, to get in touch with a different perspective on the wine world. It was meant to be a few months experience, instead it lasted for five years, where I obtained a Doctorate Degree in Wine Microbiology.
Once this experience was over, I realized that my background was particularly strong in the technical part but was lacking an important aspect: the capacity to understand the market and all its implications. I then filled this gap by undergoing a Master course in Wine Marketing in Italy.

My work career has been quite diverse since my return from Australia, ranging from the wine tourism sector, passing through the wine sommelier world to the export department of a wine company: each time increasing my thirst of a better knowledge. To this I added a short stage period in France during 2004 Summer, where I visited several research Institutes in two of the most famous wine district of France: Bourgogne and Champagne.
Recently I started a career as a wine consultant in Lombardy, where I can give my advice to people in search of that global view that is not simple to obtain. Today it is not enough to be a good wine technical expert, the quest is to go further than simply making wine: dealing with all aspects involved in communication and marketing processes has become of a primarily importance

Speaker notes

Franciacorta and Garda: a different look at Brescia wine scene

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Bill Eyer Cuvee Corner Wine Blog IWINETC 2012

Bill Eyer

I write a blog called, Cuvée Corner where I attempt to impart my passion about the world of vino to a thirsty world. This is not my full time job so yes, I have a day job working for Sales Pros where I hand-sell wine to the general public. The world of wine has my heart and it's what I am most passionate about. I got into wine and the whole wine-experience [as some call it] some 7 years ago and have never looked back.

Thinking I should add some education to my practical experience, I became certified in the Wine Essentials program offered through the International Sommelier Guild. My informal experiences have grown from my many visits to wine country both in the New World and Old World. I attend many Trade Tastings, Wine Store tastings, other informal get-togethers with friends, and participate in wine-tourism where I have had the opportunity to taste some of the best wines available on the market today.

It is this passion for the wine-trade that will continue to fuel my passion for helpling others via my blog and other methods. It's my hope that my unique perspectives on wine tourism and the wine business as a whole will continue to help those new to wine and even insiders feel more at home with filling their own passions for the pursuit of learning more about the wines they drink and the stories behind those labels.

Speaker notes

The Accidental Wine Tourist

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Chiara Tuppy speaker at IWINETC 2012

Chiara Tuppy

Movimento Turismo del Vino Friuli Venezia Giulia represents around 120 wineries dedicated not only to producing excellent wines, but also to welcoming tourists and promoting wine culture throughout the region. Our regional association aims to spread a wine culture of quality and to promote areas which are most suited to viticulture. This is made possible thanks to the co-operation and synergies that have been created with important regional organizations and institutions.

Chiara Tuppy is Movimento Turismo del Vino FVG and FVG wine routes tourism director.

Speaker Notes

Wine routes in Friuli Venezia Giulia

 

David Lowe IWINETC 2012

David Lowe

David manages the e-commerce development for various brands within The Travel Corporation, including Insight Vacations, and is an advocate of user-friendly web design and social media. He is also a wine blogger whose site, bigpinots.com, focuses on how technology is being used in the world of wine.

Having spent the last 10 years working in various technology-based roles, and at the same time indulging his love of wine (he holds the WSET Advanced Certificate), David now proudly describes himself as "a wine-obsessed geek".

In 2006, David got married in Panicale, Umbria in the middle of a month-long road trip (with his wife) that covered Champagne, Provence, Liguria, Umbria, Toscana, Veneto and Piemonte. After living in London for 15 years, he now lives with his wife and two young daughters in Oxfordshire, England.

Speaker notes

New wine and food tours with Insight Vacations

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Gillian Arthur

Gillian Arthur

Gillian Arthur is a wine educator living in north-east Italy. She was awarded the Diploma of Wine and Spirits in January 2011 and is a certified wine educator at advanced level. She teaches WSET course at Excol Studio in Udine and Gorizia Italy.

Speaker Notes

2012 IWINETC - PERUGIA

Wine Education and why Italy needs WSET    

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Julie Pegg realfoodtraveller

Julie Pegg

Julie Pegg is a wine professional with considerable experience in, food and wine judging, and pairing wine with food, and cool-cliamte viniculture. She grew up right along with the Pacific Northwest's wine scene. Currently EAT Magazine's (eatmagazine.ca) contributing editor/senior writer Julie has been with the publication for twelve years. She is also wine writer for realfoodtraveler.com. and a contributing author to Island Wineries, a guide to Vancouver Island Wines (and culinary tourism.) She spent fourteen years as product consultant with the British Columbia Liquor Board and still keeps her elbow firmly bent at Kitsilano Wine Cellars. Julie is also a keen amateur cook, loves to write on culinary travel and can be seen driving her Westfalia camper over blue highways, stopping at roadside stands, outdoor markets and wineries, cramming the tiny icebox to the brim with local products.

Speaker notes

Welcome to Wining and dining in thePacific Northwest 

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Marcello Lunelli will be speaking at IWINETC 2012

Marcello Lunelli & Aldo Colonetti

Marcello Lunelli is an oenologist and President of Tenuta Castelbuono. In 1987 he graduated in oenology at the Agricultural Institute of San Michele all’Adige, and then he graduated with honours in agricultural science at the University of Milan and became an agronomist in 1993.
After his studies, Marcello worked abroad in California and South Africa before joining the family wine business: in 2005 he has been appointed President of Tenuta Castelbuono and in 2007 Vice-president of Ferrari Metodo Classico.
Marcello is 44 years old, married with Roberta and father of a 7 years old girl Emma, he is member of the Board of directors of the Italian Wine Association and of the Italian Confederation of Wine and Vine and member of the steering committee of Confindustria Trento since 2008.

Aldo Colonetti (Bergamo, 1945) is a philosopher, and has studied with Gillo Dorfles and Enzo Paci, historians and theorists of art, design and architecture. Since 1998 he is Scientific Director of IED, Istituto Europeo di Design and since 1991 Director of “Ottagono”. He has been member of the Scientific Committee in the Triennale of Milano from 2002 to 2006.
He is author of several books and curator of exhibitions and currently he collaborates with Corriere della Sera in the field of architecture and design.
In 2001 Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II honoured him with the “Member of British Empire” title. Since 2004 he is member of the Advisory Board of 3M Foundation and since 2009 he is part of the Italian Design Council, under the aegis of the Italian Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs.
Since 2011 he is member of the Scientific Committee of Ragghianti Foundation in Lucca, Italy.

Speaker notes

Art and wine, as drivers for tourism: the unique experience of Castelbuono’s “Carapace” Winery

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Marcy Gordon speaker iwinetc 2012

Marcy Gordon

Marcy Gordon served as Director of Consumer Marketing for the development and launch of Travelocity, and as VP of Marketing for OpenTable the online restaurant reservation service that debuted in 1999. She is a published travel writer and worked for The Touring Club of Italy, where she was contributing editor and co-designer of the Authentic Italy guidebook series. Her narrative travel writing has appeared online for World Hum and in print in many Travelers’ Tales anthologies including Best Women’s Travel Writing 2011 and 2010. She writes Come for the Wine a popular blog that features wine tourism destinations around the world, and partners with tour operators, vintners associations and wineries to promote travel to their regions using social media, and conversation marketing strategies. Visit www.comeforthewine.com for more information.

Speaker notes

Twitter Toolbox for Wine & Travel Industry

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Mary Cressler speaker IWINETC Croatia 2013

Mary Cressler

Mary Cressler is a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and proprietor of Vindulge Wine Education & Consulting; a wine consulting company focusing on enhancing the consumers wine experience through classes, seminars, private buying in addition to commercial consulting.

A frequent tasting panelist and judge for wine competitions, Ms. Cressler also writes about wine. Her writing has been featured in various publications while also authoring her own site at www.vindulgeblog.com.

Ms. Cressler holds a Masters Degree in Speech Communication and spent three years as a lecturer and Adjunct Professor of Speech Communication before transitioning into the wine industry. Ms. Cressler was involved in the Oregon and California wine communities for several years before moving to Connecticut in 2010 where she now resides.

Speaker notes

A Sense of Place: How to leverage your region and place to enhance the customer experience

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Melba Allen speaker iwinetc 2012

Melba Allen

Melba ALLEN - Leaving the USA for Europe after her studies at the University of Houston, Melba falls in love with the wine and food culture in France and decides to stay. She obtains a diploma from the well-known "Université-du-vin, Suze la Rousse in the Rhone Valley and at the same time succeeds in getting Beginning and Advance Certificates from the WSET [Wine & Spirits Education Trust] Program of London in the same year. As a passionate enthusiast, Melba dedicates herself to Wine Communication and Education.
Operating her own Wine Company in France in 1997, Melba has been involved with buying and selling wines Internationally, judging wines in Tasting competitions, and writing on-line articles for www Elle Magazine.com, Vin & Cuisine Ask an Expert.
Melba now lectures on Wine Science and Business and Wine Tourism at the "Institut Européen de Management International (IEMI) in Paris, as well as write blogs on Wine and Travel under the name "The Wine Profilers by OENO COM.

Speaker Notes

2012 IWINETC - PERUGIA

Who Are The Modern Day Wine Tourists.

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Michael Wangbickler

Michael Wangbickler is the Digital Media Specialist and Senior Account Manager at Balzac Communications and Marketing in Napa, California. Mike is very much a techno-nerd at heart. He is constantly looking for new ways to apply digital tools to help further the interests of wineries and wine regions. Today, Mike is the resident digital strategies/social media specialist at his agency and an active member of the online wine community. He can often be found writing for his blog-Caveman Wines-where he offers advice on wine communications and marketing, conversing with fellow colleagues on Twitter, or contributing to discussions on any of the hundreds of wine blogs he reads. Before moving to wine country ten years ago, Mike knew virtually nothing about the stuff. Undaunted, he threw himself into learning everything he could about wine and the wine business. He now holds a Diploma in Wine & Spirits (DWS) from London-based Wine and Spirit Education Trust and is a Certified Wine Educator (CWE). Mike has spoken on digital strategies for wineries at the Napa Valley Vintners, Wineries Unlimited, Napa Valley College, Wine Bloggers Conference, and Drink Local Wine Conference.

Speaker notes

Wine Tourism does not exist

Getting the Word Out - Marketing to Millennials

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Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo

Paul & Merrill Bonarrigo

Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo were part of the early Texas agricultural group that pioneered the Texas wine industry into what it is today. Paul grew up in the Bronx, New York, and he was the first of his family to get a college education. He graduated from Columbia University in 1968. Merrill was born and raised in Bryan, Texas, and she graduated with one of the first classes of women at Texas A&M University in 1975.

In 1977, Paul and Merrill married and settled into a home in Bryan, Texas. During that same year, they watched the television mini-series “Roots,” which inspired them to learn about their family heritages. Paul’s family came to America from Messina, Sicily, and Merrill’s family emigrated from Hof, Germany. Later that year they began planting their first vineyard. They named their vineyard Messina Hof, after their family roots, and incorporated traditions from each family into the wine, food, and hospitality of Messina Hof Winery and Resort.

Speaker Notes

2012 IWINETC - PERUGIA

Connecting with visitors and turning them into long term customers.    

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Robbin Gheesling will be speaking at IWINETC 2012

Robbin Gheesling

Robbin Gheesling is a two-time recipient of the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s La Toque Scholarship in Wine Studies, the Christine Ansbacher Wine Educator Award winner from Les Dames d’Escoffier and a grant from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

A graduate of New York University with a master’s degree in Music Technology, Robbin worked for more than a decade as a recording and mastering engineer on major label albums before receiving the Advanced Certificate in Wines & Spirits from the International Wine Center and progressing to the Diploma program. She is an active member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Society of Wine Educators.

Prior to founding Vineyard Adventures, she was the Tasting Coordinator for Food & Wine Magazine’s Wine Guide 2009.

Speaker notes

Is Formal Wine Education Important For Tasting Room Tour Guide Staff?

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Terry Sullivan

Terry Sullivan

After a 34-year career in education teaching elementary school students through university graduate school students, Terry began a new career as a travel writer specializing in the wine industry. Kathy was a home/hospital teacher working with special needs students in Howard County. Taking thousands of photographs and writing articles, Terry and Kathy visited wineries and vineyards in the Tuscany region of Italy, southeast England and Wales, New Zealand, Canada and numerous states in the United States including: California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

Formal wine education includes the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Intermediate Certificate. However in 2009 the direction of wine education shifted to making wine. While taking online winemaking courses through Washington State University, Terry and Kathy also crafted a barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia, and worked with a group to make a barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon at Tin Lizzie Wineworks in Maryland. During Spring 2010 they helped to plant an experimental vineyard at Tin Lizzie Wineworks.

Speaker Notes

2012 IWINETC - PERUGIA

Best practices for increasing traffic to wine regions    

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Thomas Schilde speaker at IWINETC 2012 in Italy

Thomas Schilde

1989 Thomas established his travel agency „Thomas Schilde  Sport + Reisen“ in Ludwigshafen am Rhein providing services  including: Travel agency, Individual travel planning, planning organization of events, planning and execution of global group travel. Member of the General Assembly of the Chamber of Commerce of Palatinate.

Speaker notes

Wine Tourism in Germany Chance for Incoming? !!

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Tom Plant speaker at IWINETC Croatia 2013

Tom Plant

My wife Laura and I had our first date at The Wine Company in Temecula, CA. We discovered early on we share a passion for wine. Neither one of us claims to be an expert in the wine field, but we know what we like and we’re happy to share our discoveries with you. In the past two years we have paid several visits to Paso Robles, have toured wineries in six other states and one other country and we visit the Temecula Valley Wine Country almost daily. It is, after all, in our own back yard. Our intent is to introduce you to wineries and winemakers we’ve found, good restaurants with good wine lists, lots of photos and some good stories. We also offer intimate wine tasting Temecula tours for up to six people.

Speaker Notes

2012 IWINETC - PERUGIA

Adding the human touch    

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