Napa Valley Vintners to Host Inaugural MICHELIN Guide Napa Valley Summit
Sunday, September 11 marks the opening day of the Napa Valley Vintners’ (NVV) inaugural MICHELIN Guide Napa Valley Summit. The program will bring wine directors, sommeliers and chef-owners from more than 20 MICHELIN-star restaurants in New York, Chicago and the Bay Area to Napa Valley for three days of professional development and education.
“We can’t wait to welcome these important guests to our beautiful Napa Valley,” said Linda Reiff, president and CEO of NVV, a nonprofit trade association of more than 525 Napa Valley winery members. “The MICHELIN Guide stands for the utmost in quality in the restaurant world and we are eager to share our region’s rich history, spirit of collaboration and commitment to crafting some of the world’s finest quality wines with them.”
More than 50 Napa Valley winemakers and winery owners and some of the region’s leading restaurateurs will meet with the group during the summit. The NVV has organized ten different professional development and networking sessions, including:
- “Stars of Napa Valley” welcome dinner, prepared by Chef Thomas Keller of Napa Valley MICHELIN-star restaurants The French Laundry and Bouchon Bistro
- A wine and food pairing exercise led by Chef Ken Frank of Napa’s MICHELIN-star La Toque restaurant
- “Inside Secrets to Napa Valley Winemaking” blending session focused on wines from the Premiere Napa Valley brand and led by current and past vintner chairs of this NVV signature event
- “Harvest Down & Dirty” where attendees will have a hands-on winery or vineyard experiences as wine grapes are being picked and delivered to the crush pad
Michael Ellis, international director of the MICHELIN guides, will deliver the welcome address. “We’re delighted to partner with NVV on this summit,” said Ellis. “The Napa Valley’s commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with our core values and the NVV’s belief in the importance of collaboration is something we’re eager to learn about and share with our restaurant partners.”
The summit runs from Sunday, September 11 through Tuesday, September 13 at various Napa Valley locations.
About the Napa Valley Vintners The Napa Valley Vintners nonprofit trade association has been cultivating excellence since 1944 by inspiring its 525 winery members to consistently produce wines of the highest quality, to provide environmental leadership and to care for the extraordinary place they call home. Learn more at napavintners.com.
About the MICHELIN Guide
Thanks to the rigorous MICHELIN Guide selection process that is applied independently and consistently around 27 countries, the MICHELIN Guide has become an international benchmark in fine dining. The selections of all restaurants in the Guide are made by Michelin’s anonymous inspectors, who are trained to scrupulously apply the same time-tested methods used by Michelin inspectors for many decades throughout the world. This ensures a uniform, international standard of excellence. As a further guarantee of complete objectivity, Michelin inspectors pay all their bills in full, and only the quality of the cuisine is evaluated. To fully assess the quality of a restaurant, the inspectors apply five criteria defined by Michelin: product quality; preparation and flavors; the chef’s personality as revealed through his or her cuisine; value for money; and consistency over time and across the entire menu. These objective criteria are respected by all MICHELIN Guide inspectors, whether in Japan, the United States, China or Europe. They guarantee a consistent selection so that a star restaurant as the same value regardless of whether it is located in Paris, New York or Tokyo.
