Recently, Barbara Philip MW hosted a virtual food and wine tour webinar for the Wine Scholar Guild. The cuisine of central Italy is as fascinating as it is delicious. This is where tomatoes and olive oil begin to replace the butter and cream of the north. Heavy, stuffed pastas give way to long pastas and are joined by more vegetables. The food of central Italy reflects the agricultural treasures provided by the warmer climate. Local grape varieties also enjoy their time in the sun, ripening to juicy perfection, creating wines that really reflect their surroundings.

Join Barbara Philip MW in another wine lover’s tour of Italian cuisine.  This time the virtual voyage will take us through Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo as we discover the classic regional ingredients and dishes. We will also have a chance to look at the famous wines that go with the food and why.

Presenter: Barbara Philips MW

Learn more about Italian Wines:

• Italian Wine Scholar study and certification program
• Tuscany Wine Study Tours with Jane Hunt MW
• Piedmont Wine Study Tours with Kerin O'Keefe
• Italian Wine Blog Articles

Valencay, Epoisses, Camembert and Brie—it is no wonder that France holds the reputation as the king of cheeses! Join us as we offer homage to fromage, both the rustic and refined French cheesemaking tradition that has inspired artisan cheese across the globe.

From the citric tang of Loire Valley goat cheeses to buttery, silken bloomy rinds to piquant, decadent sheep milk blues, you’ll see exactly why we fall for France.

Presenter: Dan Belmont

Dan Belmont has always been hungry! He has joyously ordered off the adult menu since he was six. Fast forward to college in North Carolina – four years of glorious grits, beautiful biscuits, bad-ass B-B-Q and southern hospitality.

After college, he returned to his home state to pursue a theatre career in the big apple – and it’s here Dan found himself in a true food mecca. With several regional and off-off-off-off-OFF-broadway credits under his belt, he decided to make a modest attempt at paying off his student loans by joining the team at B.R. Guest Hospitality as a Maitre’d and Event Sales Manager. There he refined his passion for food and wine; and, when it was time to move on, he knew the next step was to dedicate his skill set to local producers of the artisan food products that fascinated him. Dan fell in love with New York's Finger Lakes wine region and worked as a brand ambassador at tastings and events in NYC and as a hospitality consultant for several winery tasting rooms.

Dan joined Murray’s as a Cheese Cave Apprentice and then Cavemaster’s Assistant, followed by a year as a Cheesemonger at the Greenwich Village flagship store, and now leads the education team in the Murray’s Classroom. Dan and his love of food and wine has been featured in the New York Times, Playboy.com, Gotham Magazine, HuffPost Taste, Culture Magazine and Real Simple Lifestylers.

Learn more about wines with the Wine Scholar Guild's study & certification program and sign up for our Wine Study Trips.

Traditional food and wine pairing recommendations focus on basic wine dimensions such as aromas, acidity, tannins or sweetness. 

This is sufficient to create a list of standard grape variety wines to match all kind of dishes, including pasta and pizza. Yet, heavenly food and wine pairing  -- the one plus one = three -- goes well beyond this simple approach.

To achieve the perfect match and create memorable associations also requires the consideration of a wine's power; complexity of its aromas and taste; saltiness; and its overall structure. Moreover, the food needs to be decomposed into its main ingredients and cooking method, as well as accompanying side dishes or sauces. 

In this webinar, you will discover a method to select the perfect wine, or adjust your dish ingredients to be a perfect companion to your selected wine. Thierry will illustrate his approach with the selection of a wine to pair with a shrimp, avocado and pink grapefruit salad. After this webinar, the art and science of food and wine pairing will become an intellectual challenge that you will be ready to meet.

Presenter: Thierry Meyer, Lead Instructor for the FWS Alsace Master-level Program

Thierry Meyer was born and raised in Alsace. He began writing about wine in 1999 when he started using the newly emerging wine forums to share tasting notes and insights on the 1000 Alsace+ wines he tastes each year.

In 2001, Thierry started his signature dinner series dedicated to Alsace wines. These have quickly become an important occasion for wine lovers from all over the world to experience fine Alsace food paired with some of the finest wines in the world.

In 2006, Thierry founded L’Oenothèque Alsace (www.oenoalsace.com), one of the most comprehensive modern resources dedicated to Alsace wines. At the same time, he started to promote a program of structured Alsace wine master classes and dinners, each dedicated to a specific theme and each aimed at discovering the richness and variety of Alsace wines in all categories. These sessions are open to all wine lovers, from absolute beginners to professionals, and aim to help them discover the wines of Alsace or further develop their knowledge and preferences. L’Oenothèque Alsace also organizes visits to local vineyards in order to discover the unique geological complexity of Alsace. L’Oenothèque Alsace does not sell wine, and is not connected to any wine producer or association and therefore offers completely impartial advice, allowing wine lovers to discover the quality and diversity of Alsace wines.

From 2007 to 2011, Thierry was contributing editor for Bettane & Desseauve, the influential French wine guide. In this, he covered the Alsace region, as well as the Jura, Savoie and Bugey regions. Thierry is a member of the Confrérie Saint Etienne d’Alsace, which gives him numerous occasions to taste Alsace wines which are up to 80 years old.

In 2012, Thierry joined the Decanter World Wine Awards jury as Regional Chair for Alsace. 

Study under Alsace expert Thierry Meyer on our Alsace Master-Level Program and Alsace Study Trips.

In this new series, we will approach wine & food pairing from another angle to give you even more delicious ideas. Let us take you for a gastronomical trip thru the seasons and around France from the comfort of your home.

You will get to know French gastronomy with "virtual hands on" cooking lessons and recipes to try at home and of course a Tour de France of wines that will be traditional, perfect or even surprising matches.

Webinar 3: Autumn - Cosy, Gamey & Foresty

Remember the warm cosy feeling of a cup of cocoa by the fireplace or the scents of that walk you took into the woods? Well this webinar will take you through all of these Autumn sensorial memories. Truffle, game, mushrooms, nuts and berries we hope you will enjoy the dishes and wine selection for this cosy, gamey and foresty moment.

Presenter: Arnaud Valour, Gourmet Gourmand or Gourmand Gourmet

Arnaud Valour describes himself as a gourmet gourmand or a gourmand gourmet. He is a lover of food, wine and travel.

He has studied marketing and communications in both France and the U.K. and  worked for several years promoting small and medium sized enterprises in the Rhone-Alps region. Most recently, Arnaud was in charge of the Chablis and Grand Auxerrois Bureau of the Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) managing the Maison des Vins de Chablis et du Grand Auxerrois.

A Burgundian resident, he is currently a consultant in the fields of food, wine, and Burgundy wine travel.

Do you feel you are rather French or German?

Here's the question you should never ask when going there. Alsace is Alsace and has a personality of its own so do its wines and food.

Close to neighboring Germany, Alsace is a melting pot of influences. For the wines it is where geology, climatology, grape varieties and savoir-faire blend to offer a full array of scents and tastes from Edelzwicker to Grands Crus and of course the deep rich flavoured Grains Nobles.

For the food forget about "Cuisine Nouvelle", here it really is a question of local specialties you can taste at a Winstub, literally meaning Wine Room, you can't go wrong with that, can you?

First discovering the atmosphere of Alsace, we'll then lead you thru different wines' profiles and draw an aromatic map of the expressions of Alsace wines. From then on it will all be about local Charcuterie, Flammekueche,  Baeckeoffe, Fleischschnackas and of course Sürkrüt, to smelly and delicious Munster and finishing with a Kaeskueche or Kugelhopf.

Not sure what all that is? Join us, all will be revealed to make your mouth water before lunchtime.

Study Alsace wines in-depth with our Alsace Master-Level Program and Alsace Study Trips. Learn more about French wines with the French Wine Scholar study & certification program.

Presenter: Arnaud Valour, Gourmet Gourmand or Gourmand Gourmet

Arnaud Valour describes himself as a gourmet gourmand or a gourmand gourmet. He is a lover of food, wine and travel.

He has studied marketing and communications in both France and the U.K. and  worked for several years promoting small and medium sized enterprises in the Rhone-Alps region. Most recently, Arnaud was in charge of the Chablis and Grand Auxerrois Bureau of the Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) managing the Maison des Vins de Chablis et du Grand Auxerrois.

A Burgundian resident, he is currently a consultant in the fields of food, wine, and Burgundy wine travel.

Once thriving and celebrated round the world the Beaujolais wines are sometimes today looked down upon. Laying in between Burgundy and Côtes du Rhone this region still produces some amazing white, rosé and red wines and benefits from the culinary influences of the French Capital of Gastronomy: Lyon.

Starting with Beaujolais Nouveau and traveling thru the different crus you will take a tasty trip in the vineyards of France's most renowned producer of Gamay.

First discovering the ambiance, we'll then lead you thru the different wines' profiles and draw an aromatic map of the expressions of Beaujolais wines. From then on it will all be about food as we'll share pairings from around the world just to make your mouth water before lunchtime.

Presenter: Arnaud Valour, Gourmet Gourmand or Gourmand Gourmet

Arnaud Valour describes himself as a gourmet gourmand or a gourmand gourmet. He is a lover of food, wine and travel.

He has studied marketing and communications in both France and the U.K. and  worked for several years promoting small and medium sized enterprises in the Rhone-Alps region. Most recently, Arnaud was in charge of the Chablis and Grand Auxerrois Bureau of the Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) managing the Maison des Vins de Chablis et du Grand Auxerrois.

A Burgundian resident, he is currently a consultant in the fields of food, wine, and Burgundy wine travel.