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About the Wine Writers’ Symposium

About the Wine Writers’ Symposium

ABOUT THE WINE WRITERS' SYMPOSIUM

The Wine Writers' Symposium, founded by Meadowood Napa Valley and the Napa Valley Vintners, draws top wine book authors and editors, wine magazine writers and critics, newspaper wine columnists, bloggers and other editorial wine content creators to Napa Valley to speak, listen, debate, explore themes prevalent in contemporary wine writing and network with their peers for four days. A combination of lectures, panel discussions, group and individual writing sessions, wine tastings, and fine dining make the symposium an unmatched career enrichment opportunity for editorial wine, wine-food, and wine-travel writers.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Wine Writers' Symposium is to encourage, promote, and expand the wine writers’ community, to strengthen connections between emerging and established writers, and to provide a forum to discuss and explore the key issues facing an ever-evolving industry.  

DIVERSITY STATEMENT

The Wine Writers' Symposium is committed to fostering developing voices and promoting diversity, both key issues for the wine writing community.  

AUDIENCE

The ideal attendee of the Wine Writers' Symposium is a writer who has already demonstrated a degree of professional commitment to writing about wine. This demonstration can take multiple forms, and potential attendees might communicate across multiple platforms or media, but the application to the Symposium must be in the written word.

Team

Sarah Bray

Sarah Bray
Executive Director

Sarah Bray began her career in publishing at Condé Nast and SAVEUR magazine, and then later at Sotheby’s. She then stepped into a role as an international consultant and educator, working with top estates across Europe focusing on strategy and communications, before landing in Napa in 2020. As a writer, she has contributed to Food & … Continued

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Maryam Ahmed

Maryam Ahmed
Program Advisor

Maryam Ahmed is the owner of Napa, CA based Maryam + Company and the co-founder of the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum. She works at the intersection of sommeliers, chefs, activists, sustainability experts, media, and organizations focused on diversity and sustainability to design impactful educational programs and execute strategic projects in the food and wine … Continued

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Matt Shirk

Matt Shirk
Web Services Manager

Matthew Shirk is a Gardening Enthusiast, Taco Aficionado and Wine Lover currently living in Napa, CA. As Web Services Manager, Matt is responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of a variety of web properties for the Napa Valley Vintners, including building out and supporting the Wine Writers’ Symposium web footprint. Matt earned his Master … Continued

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Board

Brett Anderson

Brett Anderson
Director of Culture & Communications, Domain H. W. Harlan

To his role as senior vice president and editor in chief of Robb Report magazine, Brett Anderson applies a broad background in content creation spanning multiple industries and media. His areas of expertise encompass general business journalism, enterprise technologies, personal computing, telecommunications, the Internet, multimedia, consumer electronics, entertainment, and lifestyle. The various media in which he has … Continued

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Amanda Harlan Maltas

Amanda Harlan Maltas
Family Director, Domain HWH

Born and raised in the Napa Valley, Amanda Harlan Maltas was immersed early on in the cultural, social, entrepreneurial, and philanthropic life of the region. Around the dinner table, discussions about winegrowing were nightly events, with her father speaking on the importance of creating, as a family, something that would last for generations. The family’s … Continued

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