Exploring the Wines of the World
Alan Simpson has been fortunate in having the support of hundreds of wineries around the world and many have donated products to the studios. Often we have co-operated with them in arranging Wine Tasting's, and Wine Dinners. Although Alan Simpson is licensed by Maryland as a Wine Media Expert we have to work with existing licensed venues to offer tasting's to the public.
Over the past five years we have met with many of the country's winemakers as they lobby Congress to change the laws regarding out of state sales. In addition we are fortunate to have many national and international wine tasting's here in DC, especially at the Embassies.
Jacobs Creek Wine Dinner
One of the most memorable Wine Dinners was for Jacobs Creek from Australia. Phil Laffer their famous winemaker flew in from Australia and we had an outstanding evening at the National Press Club
After the standard handshake in front of the flags, donated by Heads of State, a memorable dinner was created by Jim Swenson, the Executive Chef at the Club.
This sold out dinner was attended by key editors and journalists and was regarded as one of the best held in Washington. Phil brought with him a whole array of new wines, many seen for the first time in the United States. Their new sparkling wine, now the world's best seller, was introduced to the media.
Phil became an instant hit with the Washington media at the dinner, and those who traveled as far away as North Carolina to attend.
We would like to express our appreciation to Jacobs Creek and for their donation of substantial amounts of their fine wines to the studio for demonstrations and development of dishes. Phil did explain the marketing and business drive behind the success of Australian wines, and predicted massive international growth in sales, which has been realized.
Wyndham Estates
Shortly after the success of the Jacobs Creek Wine Dinner Wyndham Estates asked us to develop a similar dinner for them, as their winemaker was visiting America and would like the media exposure made available to Jacobs Creek.
Unfortunately Chef Jim Swenson was not available and we had to move the venue to one of Washington's top rated restaurants.
Wyndham followed the tradition of Jacobs Creek and donated several cases of their product to Chef's Studio to be used in developing new dishes and to expand the wine knowledge of workshop participants. Wyndham Estate wines are bolder and more full bodied than Jacobs Creek and together they offer a learning experience of why Australian wines are becoming world leaders in such a short period of time.
Belgium Cuisine and Stella Artois
OK Stella Artois is Belgian Beer but with Ruth van Hook one of Belgium's top Chef's coming over to demonstrate the cuisine and using Stella Artois in cooking we felt it was worthy of equal billing with the wines.
Ruth created a series of dishes which were eagerly devoured by members of the Washington media, at the National Press Club. In particular her dishes using Mussels were a great hit, and the use of several different kinds of beers unfamiliar to Washington, DC palates.