5:30 pm | Welcome Reception | Forum Patio, Meadowood Napa Valley

Celebrate the start of the 2026 Wine Writers’ Symposium in style at our official welcome dinner at Meadowood’s Forum restaurant. This is your chance to get to know your fellow attendees as well as the board of directors and Symposium sponsors.

6:00 pm | Welcome Remarks | Forum, Meadowood Napa Valley

Kelli White, President, Wine Writers’ Symposium

Leadership from founding organizations, Meadowood Napa Valley and Napa Valley Vintners

6:15 pm | Opening Keynote

Jane Anson, Founder and Wine Critic, JaneAnson.com

6:45 pm – 9:30 pm | Welcome Dinner | Forum, Meadowood Napa Valley

Featuring special vintage Cabernet Sauvignon and current release Chardonnay.

8:00 am – 8:30 am | Breakfast | The Napa Valley Reserve Pavilion Foyer

Enjoy a continental breakfast prior to our first full day together which includes sessions, workshops, an offsite excursion (dress appropriately for weather and vineyard walking), and our celebration dinner.

Programming takes place in the Napa Valley Reserve Pavilion adjacent to the foyer.

8:30 am – 8:40 am | Opening Remarks

Kelli White, President, Wine Writers’ Symposium

8:40 am – 9:40 am | Speed Talks: Wine’s Relevance

Osayi Endolyn, Dan Petroski, Elaine Chukan Brown

Three perspectives, three “speed talks” delivered individually, exploring wine’s relevance.

9:45 am – 10:30 am | In Focus: The Art of Storytelling

Zach Dundas, Dorothy Gaiter

A fireside in-focus discussion on what it takes to write a great story.

10:30 am – 10:45 am | Break

10:45 am – 12:00 pm | Panel: Career Study

Jane Anson, John Brecher, moderated by Stacy Briscoe

How do writers sustain creativity while navigating the demands of different professional structures— from entrepreneurship and freelance work to established editorial roles? In this conversation, professionals share how they’ve carved out creative freedom, built personal brands, and kept their work distinctive and relevant in a changing media landscape.

12:00 pm – 1:35 pm | Lunch, Wine Tasting, and Mentorship Sessions

Lunch is provided in the North Barn. Mentorship sessions take place in the North Barn and the Pavilion — review your mentorship assignment for location.

Lunch will span both one-on-one mentorship sessions and a tasting of wines provided by the Napa Valley Vintners. Today’s theme: Napa’s multi-generational families.

1:45 pm – 3:15 pm | Workshop – Perfume, Romance, and Sensory Experience: Expanding our approach to wine writing

Elaine Chukan Brown, Wanda Mann, Alder Yarrow

This workshop encourages attendees to explore scent, emotion, and reader engagement. Realtime exercises will emphasize the skills for visceral and evocative writing that has nothing—or maybe everything—to do with wine.

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm | Transitional Break

Our offsite excursion departs from the Pavilion parking lot. Please bring your things with you on the bus as you will be dropped off at Concierge when we return.

3:30 pm | Bus Departure

3:45 pm – 5:15 pm | Offsite Excursion 1 – Sustainability Nature Walk with Honig Vineyard

Stretch your legs with winemaker Ashley Egelhoff as she elaborates on Honig’s impressive sustainability initiatives including the art of creek restoration, increasing biodiversity, no till farming, trellising for human comfort, and community collaboration for a better future and a healthier Napa Valley.

5:15 pm | Bus Departure

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm | Refresh Break | Meadowood Napa Valley

6:45 pm | Bus Departure

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Big Bottle Dinner hosted by Louis Martini Winery

This evening’s dinner will take place at the historic Louis Martini Winery, now owned by Gallo, which recently underwent a dramatic renovation. Today, it is one of the most beautifully appointed wineries in the valley. Our experience will begin with a brief tour and tasting followed by dinner, where a handful of Napa’s vintners will join us, brandishing big bottles.

8:00 am – 8:30 am | Breakfast | The Napa Valley Reserve Pavilion Foyer

Enjoy a continental breakfast prior to our second full day together which includes sessions, workshops, an offsite excursion (dress appropriately for weather, vineyard walking, and sundown), and our community dinner.

Programming takes place in the Napa Valley Reserve Pavilion adjacent to the foyer.

8:30 am – 8:40 am | Opening Remarks

Maryam Ahmed, Program Director, Wine Writers’ Symposium

8:40 am – 9:45 am | Panel: Wine And…

Jessica Dupuy, Zach Dundas, Mary-Frances Heck, moderated by Clive Pursehouse

Wine doesn’t always need to be the headline to strengthen a story. This session explores how writers can position wine as a meaningful secondary lens intersecting with travel, culture, lifestyle, politics, and place to develop compelling, pitchable stories that resonate with a particular audience.

9:50 am – 10:35 am | In Focus: Collaborative Book Publishing

Osayi Endolyn, Jessica Dupuy, moderated by Maryam Ahmed

A fireside in-focus that stretches voice beyond personal perspective; what does it look like to nurture these avenues of writing and their formats? i.e. Ghost/Co-Writing, PR Writers

10:35 am – 10:45 am | Break

10:45 am – 12:00 pm | Translating the Technical

Alex Maltman, Stacy Ladenburger, Samantha Cole-Johnson, moderated by Alder Yarrow

Technical knowledge is only powerful if it’s understood. This session explores how to translate complex concepts for different audiences by underlining when depth matters, how to simplify without losing integrity, and how to make technical details useful, resonant, and engaging on the page.

12:00 pm – 1:35 pm | Lunch, Wine Tasting, and Mentorship Sessions

Lunch is provided in the North Barn. Mentorship sessions take place in the North Barn and the Pavilion — review your mentorship assignment for location.

Lunch will span both one-on-one mentorship sessions and a tasting of wines provided by the Napa Valley Vintners. Today’s theme: Napa’s heritage varieties under natural closures.

1:45 pm – 3:15 pm | Workshop: Pitching the Technical

Stacy Briscoe, Mary-Frances Heck, Stacy Ladenburger

This hands-on workshop helps writers turn technical knowledge into strong, targeted story pitches. Through guided exercises, participants will practice shaping ideas for different audiences, tailoring pitches to specific publications, and clarifying why they are the right voice to tell the story.

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm | Transitional Break

Our offsite excursion departs from the Pavilion parking lot. Please bring your things with you on the bus as you will be dropped off at Concierge when we return from dinner which is directly following our offsite.

3:30 pm | Bus Departure

3:45 pm – 5:30 pm | Offsite Excursion 2 – Soil, Rocks, and Vines | Continuum Estate

Using the idyllic Continuum estate as a backdrop, Professor Alex Maltman will deliver a mini-masterclass on the science behind vine growing, specifically on the ways in which rocks, soils, and vines interact. His approachable delivery of this complex topic will itself be a valuable example of translating technical information for a nontechnical audience.

5:30 pm | Bus Departure

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm | Community Dinner | Gott’s Roadside

Our casual farewell dinner takes place at a Napa Valley icon – Gott’s Roadside. No visit to the valley is complete without a Gotts burger (or other classic fare). This evening, we will be joined by a group of vintners showcasing some of the less common varieties of Napa Valley.

8:00 am – 8:30 am | Breakfast | The Napa Valley Reserve Pavilion Foyer

Enjoy a continental breakfast on our final day together. Hotel checkout is 12pm—if you will need to leave for the airport directly following the program’s conclusion, please bring your belongings with you to the Pavilion.

Programming takes place in the Napa Valley Reserve Pavilion adjacent to the foyer.

8:30 am – 8:40 am | Opening Remarks

Maryam Ahmed, Program Director, Wine Writers’ Symposium

8:40 am – 9:10 am | The Science and Culture of Natural Corks

Patrick Spencer, Executive Director, Natural Cork Council with Kelli White

Kelli White interviews one of this year’s sponsors, Patrick Spencer of the Natural Cork Council, on the long culture of Portuguese oak tree cultivation, natural cork’s environmental advantages, and recent scientific advances.

9:15 am – 10:15 am | Panel: Charting Your Path

Samantha Cole-Johnson, Jessica Dupuy, Clive Pursehouse, moderated by Wanda Mann

This interactive panel reflects on key lessons from the Symposium as fellows and speakers ask themselves: “what’s next?”

10:15 am – 10:45 am | Closing Keynote

John Brecher, Senior Editor, Grape Collective

10:45 am – 11:30 am | Final Remarks and Farewell Toast

Teresa Wall, Senior Director of Communications, Napa Valley Vintners

Kelli White, President, Wine Writers’ Symposium