This is a long form article that answers all your questions. It organized into four sections. How to start your wine career Levels of wine …
The wine industry is a massive industry with several different career options to suit different types of people. Whether it is physically dealing with the wine …
Wow, April Cooks at the Wine School! Every month, we run a full week of cooking classes, food & wine pairing classes, and –of course– the Sommelier Smackdown!
In this post, we have supplied you with all the details, from bios of our competing sommeliers to the BEST wine pairings of the week (as voted by our students), and recipes for all the tasty dishes I created especially for the week. Cheers!
Next week is Food and Wine Week at the Wine School of Philadelphia. Beginning on November 18th, three sommeliers and one chef will …
Altadonna is a project by the well-known father & son winemaking team of Stefano and Niccoló Chioccioli. Their portfolio is a line of pan-Italian wines sourced from …
Working on the menu for next week’s culinary and cooking classes. That includes the Corked & Forked Cooking Class, the Sommelier Smackdown, and my personal …
If you don’t know a pinot gris from a pinot noir, resolve this year to become a wine pro.
With the popularity of movies like “Sideways,” a film about love and marriage set in southern California’s Santa Barbara County wine district, as well as increased interest among young professionals who are starting wine clubs and going to tastings, there’s no better time to sip and learn.
Making those choices would be a challenge for even a well-seasoned wine drinker. So I turned to several Philadelphia wine experts for advice – plus specifics on how they would spend that $500 – and discovered a wide range of strategies, styles, and considerations for tackling such a happy conundrum.
The first question each one asked, though, was probably the least sexy: What is the storage situation?
“If wines are not stored in a reasonably cool, dark environment, they’re not going to hold very well,” says Keith Wallace, founder of the Wine School of Philadelphia. “Even two years out, bottles can be compromised.”
Dealing with wine fridges or a genuine basement wine cellar is a project of its own that can easily devour hundreds of dollars. But it’s a necessary evil if you plan to lay an expensive bottle down for a decade or two.
This article is one of the few articles written about Keith’s life before founding the Wine School. It prominently features Rosie, his dog of many years. Sadly, …
It is a case of vintage revenge. Wine merchants in Delaware and South Jersey are now clearing shelf space for their old nemesis: Jonathan Newman, former chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
The “xChairman Selections,” as one shop calls them, are the discounted wines that Newman’s new company will introduce in Pennsylvania border states this month.
Newman had risen to the unlikely status of folk hero among Pennsylvania wine lovers, partly because of his celebrated Chairman’s Selection specials. But one year ago, he resigned in protest after Gov. Rendell’s controversial appointment of Joe Conti as chief executive officer of the LCB.
While Newman’s entry into the private sector is intriguing the sip-and-swirl crowd, it also casts a spotlight back on the LCB. The $1.69 billion-a-year agency has been the subject of skepticism and upheaval since Newman left.
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.
Last month, Jill Weber of Jet Wine Bar dominated in the Holiday edition of the Sommelier Smackdown. This month, the magnificent Henry Greenly is taking up …
The story was originally published by the Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2010. The article is reprinted solely for educational purposes. It is intended to …
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.
