Day 2 (Monday 26 November)
8:00 am to 8:30 am
Arrival of participants and coffee/tea tasting
8:30 am to 9:00 am
A coffee with…Guillermo Cruz, wine director and front-of-house manager, Mugaritz, Spain
• Guillermo Cruz showed how he and his team created one of the most unique food and wine pairing programs in the world.
9:00 am to 10:00 am
Masterclass: ‘Austria off the beaten path’ presented by Austrian Wine
Speakers: Christian Zechmeister, managing director of Wein Burgenland & Katja Scharnagl, chef-sommelier at Le Bernardin in NYC
• This masterclass considered Austria’s diversity wine styles. In addition to Grüner Veltliner, other grapes were tasted, such as white varieties Neuburger, Rotgipfler, Zierfandler and Roter Veltliner and red varieties Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch, Sankt Laurent and Blauer Wildbacher.
10:15 am to 12:15 pm
Masterclass: ‘Rhône Valley Vineyards, North or South?’ presented by Rhône Valley Vineyards
Speaker: Christophe Tassan, MOF, Rhône Wine Valley ambassador
• Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Christophe Tassan, took attendees on a journey along Rhône Valley vineyards with a blind tasting of different flights of wine.
12:15 pm to 1:15 pm
• Lunch presented by Rhone Valley Wines
1:15 pm to 2:30 pm
Masterclass: ‘The irrevocable luxury of rural life and entrepreneurship’, presented by Les Domaines Paul Mas.
Speaker: Jean-Claude Mas, founder and executive manager, Les Domaines Paul Mas, & Alexandre Fontaine, chef of restaurant Côté Mas
• Mas explained how his intuition and passions lead him to new projects such as buying vineyards, planting new vines, owning a restaurant and providing hospitality services. This session also featured an interactive culinary wine pairing competition for all congress attendees with chef Alexandre Fontaine from Côté Mas restaurant.
2:30 pm to 3:45 pm
Masterclass: ‘Dry white Bordeaux, breaking down the styles among a growing category,’ presented by Bordeaux Wines
Moderator: Mary Gorman-McAdams, MW – CIVB Market Adviser for North America
Panelists: Jesse Becker, MS – accredited Bordeaux Wine educator, portfolio manager of Craft & Estates, Chicago
Élyse Lambert, MS – 5th Best sommelier of the world 2016, Sommelier Consultant, Montreal
John Szabo, MS, Partner/Principal Critic, WineAlign.com, Toronto
• The panel of wine professionals discussed the evolution, innovation, and diversity of styles being produced today for an understanding of how to position, buy and sell dry white Bordeaux.
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Masterclass: ‘The unique specificities of the heartland of Garnacha’ presented by Alto Moncayo
Speakers: Marìa Sancho, director of marketing and communications; Keith Ross, brand ambassador (USA); Íñigo Alberto, export director
5:00 pm to 5:30 pm
A glass with…Greg Lambrecht, chairman and founder, Coravin, and Terry Kandylis, head sommelier, 67 Pall Mall, United Kingdom
• The pair considered how to manage a 750 strong wine-by-the-glass programme?
Freetime at the Somm360 CORAVIN wine bar until 7 pm.