A Del Frisco’s Sommelier Smackdown
The Sommelier Smackdown is one of our food & wine pairing classes at the Wine School and one that we gain a lot of attention, even sometimes too much. We brought …
Sommelier Smackdown
Food & Wine Pairing Menu
Chef at the Wine SchoolPart of my job running the Wine School is to create the menus for our food & wine pairing classes. That includes our food and wine pairing …
Philadelphia City Paper: Gary Vaynerchuk at the Wine School
Wine guru Gary Vaynerchuk will be at the Wine School of Philadelphia today, June 12, to promote his new book — Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight and Bring Thunder to Your World (Rodale Books, $19.95). Vaynerchuk– or Gary V, as his followers, the “Vayniacs,” call him — is the director of operations for Springfield, N.J.’s Wine Library, but he’s best-known for his high-energy video podcast on tv.winelibrary.com, where he moves away from stuffy wine practices by using terms like “sniffy sniff” and asking whether a bottle “brings the thunder” when he reviews them. The Internet celebrity has appeared on Ellen and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and he’s been featured in print in places like The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Time.
Los Angeles Times: Rasslers ready to stomp on wine snoots
Vince McMahon doesn’t want anyone thinking his wrestling superstars are a bunch of wine-tasting wimps.
McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. has told the American Wine Foundation, owner of the Wine School of Philadelphia with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, that it is infringing on its copyright by calling one of its wine classes “Sommelier Smackdown.” As any WWE fan knows, “Smackdown” is the name of one of its most popular franchises.
In a letter to the Wine School of Philadelphia, the WWE told the wine sippers that its use of the word “smackdown” is “likely to create consumer confusion as to WWE’s affiliation, sponsorship and/or approval” of the class. Yes, because we all know how similar wine snobs are to wrestling fanatics.
Philadelphia Inquirer: The Wine School vs. WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment is going to the mat against the Wine School of Philadelphia. WWE, which trademarked the term Smackdown years ago, is fighting the Wine School’s attempt to register Sommelier Smackdown for its grape-centric competitions.
Last month, WWE law firm K&L Gates sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Fairmount business, which started Sommelier Smackdowns in 2007.”I feel kind of special,” said Keith Wallace. “I am being picked on by Vince McMahon. I better start working out.” In a note to friends, he wrote that he was calling out McMahon and wrestlerChris Jericho to a wine-tasting double-team cage match.
L’Oca’s Anchovies
This past week, we held the second Sommelier Smackdown catered by L’Oca, the delicious Italian restaurant across the street from the school. Also, for the second time, they provided us with …
The Robotic Sommelier
Looks like the sommeliers of the world may soon look be run on batteries. A new wine-tasting robot has been unveiled by researchers working for NEC System Technologies in conjunction with …