| 2006 Jury
Members (2007 Jury Coming Soon) Daniel Johnnes Kevin Zraly Mary Ewing-Mulligan MW Mary is president of International Wine Center (www.internationalwinecenter.com) in New York, an independent wine school founded in 1982. She is also executive director of U.S. programs for the internationally respected Wine & Spirit Education Trust® (WSET®). At International Wine Center, Mary runs the academically rigorous programs of WSET, geared to those in the wine trade; these courses offer Americans the traditional pre-Master of Wine training. Besides her newest book, Wine Style (www.winestylebook.com), published by Wiley & Sons, she has co-authored (with her husband, Ed McCarthy) Wine For Dummies, 3rd Edition, and seven other wine books in the …For Dummies series. Mary is wine columnist for The Daily News in New York, the internet-based Wine Review Online (www.winereviewonline.com), the national trade weekly Nation’s Restaurant News and the magazine, Beverage Dynamics. On a freelance basis, she has contributed wine articles to several publications in the U.S. and England including the Los Angeles Times, Martha Stewart Living, The Wine Journal, The Wine News, Wine Enthusiast, and Family Circle. She is the chief judge of the Critics Challenge wine competition and frequently judges at other major national and international tasting competitions. She is also a regular presenter at major wine events across the U.S. Mary currently serves as president of the Institute of Masters of Wine- North America. Her accomplishments have been featured in numerous publications, including Food & Wine magazine, The New York Times, The Wine Spectator, Newsday, and Gourmet, and she has made dozens of television appearances. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Mary began her wine career at the Italian Trade Commission, where she was the founding director of the Italian Wine Center, responsible for educating consumers across the United States about Italy's wines. After eight years with the Italian government, she moved to the private sector, serving as public relations director of Pepsico Wines & Spirits, among other positions, before dedicating her career to wine education. Daniel Johnnes "Johnnes combines great American spirit with a profound knowledge and love of French wine," explains Boulud. "Our love for what we do and the way it is fused into every aspect of our lives has created a bond of camaraderie and mutual respect between us." Recognized as one of the country’s most respected wine personalities, Daniel Johnnes served as wine director at Montrachet for almost two decades. His achievements there garnered the highly coveted Wine Spectator "Grand Award" every year since 1994. The same publication called Montrachet New York’s finest wine restaurant, with the “best Burgundy list in America.” Johnnes has been nominated by the James Beard Foundation (2002, 2003 and 2004) as Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year, an honor reserved for industry legends. He was also named Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year by Santé Magazine in 2000, and he won the James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Wine Service in 1995. Wine Advocate publisher Robert Parker describes Daniel as “our nation’s finest (and nicest) sommelier.” Daniel founded Jeroboam Wines, an import company which embodies his commitment to hand-crafted, naturally made wines. The company imports from some of France’s most serious and innovative producers. In 2004 he introduced to favorable reviews in the New York Times a line of great value wines under the “Petit Chapeau” label. Fine wine dinners and tastings are Johnnes's specialty. His “La
Paulée” Burgundy celebrations in New York (2000, 2003
and 2005) and San Francisco (2001) drew rave reviews from the press
and public alike. In addition to enjoying outstanding wine and superb
food, the celebrants pledged over $600,000 for charity. His next
Paulée event to be held in January 2006 in Aspen has been
dubbed the "Paulée des Neiges" and will kick off
with a dinner at DANIEL in New York on January 17th. Johnnes is
also bringing a series of wine dinners to Café Boulud in
Palm Beach. The winter season will begin with a January 13th Pinot
celebration highlighting examples of this delicious grape variety
from Burgundy, California, Oregon and New Zealand. Dtour is one of Johnnes's greatest innovations so far. It is a super-premium bag-in-box wine brand that is a collaboration between Daniel Boulud, Daniel Johnnes, and Dominique Lafon – the Chef, the Sommelier, and the Vigneron. While most wine consumers still associate wine packaged in a box with inferior quality, the bag-in-box format offers significant advantages to the consumer. Wine packaged in a bag keeps wine fresher longer after opening. The bag collapses as wine is dispensed preventing oxidation that spoils wine. After a bag-in-box is opened, wine will stay fresh for over a month. The trio of entrepreneurs, with their reputation for outstanding quality and their willingness to put their names behind dtour, may become the catalyst motivating American wine consumers to get past the stigma associated with bag-in-box wine. The next project that Johnnes plans to spearhead with the Dinex Group is the creation of an informal wine bar in Manhattan. The idea is a long time dream that Johnnes is slowly but surely bringing to life, and it will be a fine venue to exhibit his expert knowledge, creativity and energy. Johnnes’s spirit was perhaps best captured by Frank Prial in The New York Times Sunday Magazine when he noted: “To describe Daniel Johnnes as the sommelier … would be like describing Stephen Sondheim as a piano player. There's a bit more to it.” Kevin Zraly
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Mary
Ewing-Mulligan, Master of Wine, is a leading wine educator, columnist,
and author. She is the first woman in America to become a Master
of Wine, a title that represents the highest level of knowledge
and proficiency in the wine trade; she is one of only 22 Masters
of Wine in North America. 
Daniel
Johnnes joined Chef Daniel Boulud's Dinex Group as Wine Director
in September 2005. In his new role, he oversees the wine programs
at all of Boulud's restaurants including DANIEL, CAFE BOULUD New
York and Palm Beach, DB Bistro Moderne and DANIEL BOULUD BRASSERIE
Las Vegas. He guides each restaurant's team of sommeliers in creating
their wine lists, training staff, supervising their cellars, creating
unique wine tasting events, and of course offering excellent wine
service.
Kevin
Zraly worked at Windows on the World Restaurant from its opening
in 1976 until September 11, 2001. He is the founder and teacher
of the immensely popular Windows on the World Wine School that has
graduated over 16,000 students since its inception. The classes
are now held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. His
book, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is the largest selling
wine book with over 2,500,000 copies sold. He has been teaching
about wine for over 30 years, beginning at the age of 20, and has
studied winemaking techniques in all the major wine regions of the
world. The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the
European Wine Council, the James Beard Award as the Wine and Spirits
Professional of the Year, and the Food and Beverage Association’s
Man of the Year Award, Kevin is a member of the Board of Trustees
of the Culinary Institute of America, and has been the subject of
personal features in The New York Times, People
magazine, The Wall Street Journal, GQ magazine,
Newsweek, and USA Today, among others. Kevin is
also the Vice President of Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group.
His charisma, engagingly breezy style, and love of wine captivate
everyone he teaches.