Renowned British author and expert on wine, Hugh Johnson OBE, will deliver the industry keynote address at the 2016 Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood Napa Valley to be held February 16-19. The Symposium is open to qualified wine, wine-food and wine-travel writers.
Other faculty members featured at the 12 th annual gathering include Eric Asimov, chief wine critic for the New York Times; Jay McInerney, author and wine columnist for Town & Country; Jeannie Cho Lee MW, founder of AsianPalate.com; Ray Isle, executive wine editor, Food & Wine; Doug Frost, wine author, educator and one of only four people in the world to hold both the Master of Wine and Master Sommelier credentials; Jamie Goode, author, writer and founder of wineanorak.com; Virginie Boone, contributing editor for Wine Enthusiast; Mike Veseth, publisher of the Wine Economist; satirist Ron Washam, the HoseMaster of Wine; Esther Mobley, wine, beer and spirits writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and Tilar Mazzeo, author of The Widow Clicquot and associate professor at Colby College.
New for 2016, the Symposium is transitioning to a fully-funded fellowship model. Thirty fellowships will be awarded to selected applicants based on their professional editorial status, the quality and originality of their work, and their influence in the world of wine writing. Meadowood and the Napa Valley Vintners trade association, the Symposium’s founders, will underwrite next year’s fellowships and the Symposium plans to create an endowment and expand the fellowship program in the future.
Wine, wine-food and wine-travel publications will also be invited to sponsor their own qualified editorial staff members and contributors to participate as one of 20 additional Editor’s Choice attendees.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to announce this stellar faculty lineup and the new fellowship model for this year’s Symposium,” commented Ann Marie Conover, president of the Symposium’s board of directors and director of marketing & communications at Meadowood Napa Valley. “We’re eager to build an even stronger community for professional wine writers and believe the changes we are implementing for next year will help us to achieve this goal.”
Fellowship applications for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood Napa Valley are now being accepted with a November 1, 2015 deadline. Learn more at WineWritersSymposium.org.
