Virginia Vintner's Table
May 23 - 25, 2008
Guests
Dan Berger - Dan Berger has been a wine columnist since 1976 and has resided in Sonoma County since 1986. Today, in addition to his privately published weekly wine commentary, Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences, Dan writes a nationally syndicated wine column for Creators Syndicate as well as articles for Decanter, Robb Report, Cheers, Beverage Dynamics, and numerous other publications. Dan says, “Virginia is one of a few states producing wines of structure. Wines must have structure or they don’t belong on the dinner table.” His books include "Beyond the Grapes: An Inside Look at Napa Valley" and "Beyond the Grapes: An Inside Look at Sonoma County," and he has contributed to other wine books including the University of California/Sotheby Book of California Wine and the Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America.
Doug Frost - Doug Frost is a Kansas City author who writes and lectures about wine, beer and spirits. In 1991 he passed the rigorous Master Sommelier examination and two years later became America 's eighth Master of Wine in the American Midwest. He was the second person in history to complete both exams and eight years later he is still one of only three people in the world to have achieved both these remarkable distinctions. Frost judges for many wine competitions including the International Spirits Competition, the Sonoma Harvest Fair, the San Francisco Wine Competition, the San Diego Wine Competition, the Riverside International Wine Competition, the Dallas Morning New Wine Competition and is the director of the Jefferson Cup Invitational. He is also the director of America 's Best Wine Lists, a wine list competition sponsored by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.
Bruce Zoecklein - Bruce Zoecklein worked in the California wine industry and taught Enology at California State University-Fresno prior coming to Virginia Tech in 1985. His education includes: BS Microbiology/Biochemistry, MS Horticulture and Ph.D. Food Science. Dr. Zoecklein is the Head of the Enology-Grape Chemistry Group at Virginia Tech, USA. He conducts research, extension, class room and graduate student education. He has co-authored two books on wine chemistry and analysis (including Wine Analysis and Production and a Spanish language text Analisis y Produccion de Vino), numerous book chapters, research, trade, and extension publications. His research interests include secondary plant metabolites: aroma, flavor and phenol compounds. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, and Practical Winery and Vineyard. He regularly consults internationally and has consulted for the Romanian, Moldavian, Italian, Argentine and Chinese governments and has been invited to speaker at 23 international symposia and meetings. Information on the teaching, research, and extension activities of the Enology-Grape Chemistry Group at Virginia Tech including Enology Notes, electronic technical briefs, is available at www.vtwines.info.