Kathy Sullivan
Kathy and Terry Sullivan developed the Wine Trail Traveler website which is dedicated to promoting the wine industry including visiting wineries. They have written an article for each of the nearly 1,000 wineries they have visited since 2006. As they continue visiting more wineries, they look forward to consulting wineries about best practices for attracting visitors to tasting rooms and speaking engagements. Since 2006, they have visited and written about wineries in New Zealand, France, Canada, Croatia, Italy, England and 20 U.S. states. In 2012 they attended and presented at the International Wine Tourism Conference (IWINETC) in Perugia, Italy and a familiarization tour of Campania and Umbria. In November 2012, Kathy and Terry co-authored "A Wine Journey." The work continues in 2013 with a return trip to Long Island wineries. They attended and presented at IWINETC 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia and visited wineries in Croatia and Friuli, Italy. They attend the annual Drink Local Wine Conferences. At the end of May 2013 they toured wineries and vineyards in the Province of Québec. They also visited wineries in Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Savoie with winemakers and winery owners from Washington State University. Their second book “A Wine Tourist’s Guide: Visiting Tasting Rooms” was published in September 2013.
Kathy will be delivering a talk titled:
Quebec: An Emerging Wine Region
This presentation will look at the development of the recent commercial wine industry emerging in Québec. However the story of grapes in Québec goes back to Jacques Cartier when he traveled the St. Lawrence River in the 1500s. Today the region offers almost 50 wineries with many near Montreal and Quebec City. This presentation is based on visiting more than 20 of these wineries, speaking with owners and winemakers, and taking photos. Three of these wineries are on Île d'Orléans across from Québec City.
Highlights will include a look at the numerous grape varieties that are successfully growing in the province and how growers and winemakers have successfully developed a system for harvesting grapes for Icewine production. Icewine harvest in Québec differs from Icewine harvest in neighboring Ontario.
Québec has much to offer the wine tourism industry. Attend this presentation and discover what this Canadian province has accomplished in recent years.