An Evening on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll - Going back to Virginia after the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA

The American Wine Society 2023 National Conference was held November 9-11, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency at The Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.  

4 Tastings

Annette Schiller, President of ombiasy WineTours and member of the American Wine Society, led 3 wine tastings at the 2023 National Conference of the American Wine Society: 

Kékfrankos - Blaufränkisch - Lemberger: A Grape’s Immigration Story From Central Europe To The US West Coast

Dive Deep Into Burgundy With Louis Jadot (jointly with Thibaut Marquis, North America Export Manager, Louis Jadot)

A Journey Through The Loire Valley 

In addition, Annette and I had a table with German wines at the "Showcase of Wine" evening.

Also, during the whole conference, Annette and I had an ombiasy WineTours booth promoting Annette's wine tours to Germany, France and Austria.

American Wine Society 2023 National Conference

More than 400 members from all over the USA came to this 3-day event, filled with tastings, seminars and presentations.

Thursday was the day of wine judging. There were full-day courses for those who want to become a certified AWS Wine Judge. This is a 3-year program. Also, the Amateur and Commercial Wine Competitions continued on Thursday, starting earlier in the week.

Friday and Saturday was filled with about 50 wine seminars, led by winery owners, wine educators, and renowned winemakers. The breakfasts, lunches, dinners and after-dinner gatherings provided ample opportunities to network with other AWS members.

All of the pictures in this posting are mine.   

Postings on schiller-wine

This is the third in a series of postings related to the American Wine Society National Conference 2023 St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA:

The 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens

Kékfrankos - Blaufränkisch - Lemberger: A Grape’s Immigration Story From Central Europe To The US West Coast - Seminar at the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA led by Annette Schiller

Dive Deep Into Burgundy With Louis Jadot - Seminar at the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA led by Thibaut Marquis, North America Export Manager, Louis Jadot, with Annette Schiller

A Journey Through The Loire Valley - Seminar at the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA led by Annette Schiller

German Wines at the American Wine Society: Tasting Premium German Wines from the Veritable/ USA Portfolio at the Showcase of Wines of the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA with Annette and Christian Schiller

Private Tasting of Premium Wines (mainly Bordeaux and California) at the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA with President Bill Stefan 

American Wine Society Merit Award for Joel Peterson, the Godfather of Zinfandel and Founder of Ravenswood Winery - 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA

McLean (Virginia) - Springfield (Ohio) - St. Louis (Missouri) - Memphis (Tennessee) - Nashville (Tennessee) - McLean (Virginia): On the Road to and from the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference

An Evening on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll - Going back to Virginia after the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA

An Evening in the Honky-Tonks of Nashville, Tennessee - Going back to Virginia after the 2023 American Wine Society National Conference in St. Louis/ Missouri/ USA

The American Wine Society

The American Wine Society was founded in 1967 as a non-profit, educational, consumer-oriented organization for those interested in learning more about all aspects of wine. On October 7, 1967, around 200 grape growers, home winemakers, and wine lovers gathered at Dr. Konstantin Frank’s vineyard on Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, NY for the AWS’ initial meeting.

In December of the same year, the thirteen charter members, led by Founder Dr. Konstantin Frank, met to determine the organization structure of AWS and elect officers. Now in its 49th year, the American Wine Society is the largest consumer based wine education organization in North America. Membership is open to anyone interested in wine and over 21 years of age.

In the early days, AWS members were located primarily in the eastern part of the country. As the society grew , we established chapters throughout the eastern U.S., then into the south and Midwest, and finally into western states. Today, the American Wine Society has over 5,000 members in 45 states and 120 chapters across the U.S.

Each November the Society hosts a three-day national conference with two full days of nearly 50 educational seminars to choose from. Winery owners, wine educators, and renowned wine makers are selected to present sessions during this national event. In addition, a program educating members to become AWS certified wine judges is conducted on the day preceding the seminars.

Going Back Home via Memphis, Tennessee

Following the conference, we spent 3 days on the road, with stops in Memphis, Tennessee and Nashville, Tennessee.

Memphis, Tennessee

visittheUSA.com: Memphis, located in the southwestern corner of Tennessee, sits atop a bluff just across the Mississippi River from Arkansas and a few kilometers away from the Mississippi state line. Like most places in the Mississippi Delta, it's brimming with authentic Southern charm and hospitality, but with a bold Memphis edge.

Memphis is where blues music grew up, where rock ‘n’ roll was born and where important strides were made in the struggle for civil rights, set to the beat of the city's soul music explosion. This living history hits visitors right away during a stroll through Graceland, Elvis Presley’s final home, or on a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum, located at the site where Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life.

Drinks at the Peabody Memphis Hotel

The Peabody Memphis: Known as the “South’s Grand Hotel,” The Peabody Memphis is legendary for its charm, elegance, gracious hospitality, and rich history. This Memphis icon, opened in 1869, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is world-famous for its five resident Mallard ducks, who march daily through the lobby at 11am and 5pm. 

visittheUSA.com: The World-Famous Peabody Ducks: I suddenly recalled my guidebook research and remembered that the world-famous Peabody ducks would be doing their afternoon parade at 5 p.m. Upon my arrival, the grand lobby of The Peabody Memphis was packed with people waiting for the chime of 5. 

As the story goes, the hotel’s general manager in the 1930s, Frank Schutt, and his friend returned from a hunting weekend with some live decoy ducks. They thought it would fun to place the ducks into the marble lobby fountain overnight. The ducks made themselves right at home and were still in the fountain the next morning.

More than 80 years later, ducks march to and from the fountain at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. When they’re not in the lobby, they’re living the life of luxury in the Royal Duck Palace on the hotel’s rooftop.

Beale Street - Home of the Blues and Birthplace of Rock N Roll

visittheUSA.com: And then there’s the neon-lit Beale Street, where greats like W.C. Handy and B.B. King performed and helped perpetuate the music style known as Memphis Blues. In 1977, the U.S. Congress officially recognized Beale Street as “Home of the Blues.” For a quintessential dose of Beale Street, head to Rum Boogie or B.B. King’s Blues Club. Like most attractions that draw folks to Memphis, the Blues reflect the soulfulness and grit that's so deeply rooted in the city’s history. Music buffs will also want to visit the Memphis Rock n’ Soul Museum (curated by The Smithsonian Institution), Sun Studio, where Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash got their start and Stax Museum of American Soul Music, which sits on the site of the original Stax recording studio where greats like Booker T and the MGs and Otis Redding recorded their music.

Dinner at Blues City Cafe: Memphis-style Rack of Ribs and Seafood Gumbo

Memphis-style barbecue is one of the four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the USA, the other three being Carolina, Kansas City and Texas. Memphis-style barbecue is slow cooked in a pit and ribs can be prepared either "dry" or "wet". "Dry" ribs are covered with a dry rub consisting of salt and various spices before cooking and are normally eaten without sauce. "Wet" ribs are brushed with sauce before, during, and after cooking.

Big Band Jazz at Alfred's on Beale

Alfred's:  Great food & live music in the heart of famous Beale Street. Southern food with daily meat-and-three blue plate specials, a large selection of home-cooked vegetables, along with a full dinner menu of steaks, seafood, pasta, BBQ and more. Alfred's is famous for great music of every style, including the Memphis Jazz Orchestra, featured every Sunday night, and the largest collection of gold records on display anywhere.

BB King Blues Club and Jerry Lee Lewis Club

Breakfast at Arcade Restaurant, Elvis' Favorite Hang-out

wideopencountry.com: This is one of the oldest restaurants in Memphis, ( opened in 1919 ) and was a favorite of Elvis. You can request sitting in his booth, ( towards the back ), but it is likely going to be occupied. 

In the 1950s, Speros Zepatos son, Harry Zepatos, took over the business and turned it into a hip fifties diner that you still see today. The retro signage and original storefront still stand while the boomerang table designs are worn from the thousands of diners putting their arms on the tabletops while eating their favorite "meat-and-three".

Around that same time, Elvis, who was a teen, was just starting to hit the music scene. His first records were recorded at Sun Records, located only a few short minutes away. Elvis would come to the Arcade restaurant to eat, sitting in the same booth on every visit. According to Harry Zepatos Jr., grandson of the Arcade's founder, Elvis would keep an eye on the mirrored wall for fans. If it seemed like they were starting to gather, he would quickly escape out the side door.

Downtown Memphis was thriving through the mid 1960’s. The intersection was among Memphis’ busiest. Train passengers, soldiers, and Memphians crowded these wide sidewalks twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The intersection was so busy that policeman directed traffic twenty-four hours a day.

Then, in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, with the decline of the railroad, the exodus of downtown businesses, along with the assasination of Martin Luther King, Jr., this area became a ghost town. Buildings were boarded up and abandoned. The people headed to the suburbs.

Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was Shot Dead

civilrightsmuseum.org: The Lorraine Motel was forever etched in America’s collective memory with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, but even before that fateful day, the property at 450 Mulberry Street had a fascinating history in its own right. Before it was the Lorraine, it was the Marquette Hotel that catered to black clientele in segregated Memphis. Then, in 1945 black businessman Walter Bailey purchased the hotel, which he re-christened the Lorraine after his wife Loree and the popular jazz song, “Sweet Lorraine.” The motel became a destination for blacks and appeared in the Negro Motorists Green Book or “Green Guide,” which identified establishments that welcomed black travelers when Jim Crow restrictions offered limited options for services and lodging.

The Lorraine was the preferred stop for many blacks who came to Memphis. Its guestbook was a veritable who’s who of black celebrities in the forties, fifties, and sixties. Entertainers like Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding were all guests at the motel, and two famous songs, Wilson Pickett’s “The Midnight Hour” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” were both composed at the Lorraine. 

Negro League baseball greats like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson stayed at the Lorraine when they were in Memphis. It was also preferred by important figures in the black business and political communities. Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed there on his trips to Memphis.

The Lorraine Motel reflected the monumental changes experienced by blacks in postwar America well before that moment in 1968 outside room 306 cemented the building’s place in American history.

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The American Wine Society National Conference 2022 in Bellevue/ Seattle, Washington State - Seen through Christian Schiller`s Camera Lens

The End of the "Grosslage" in Germany - Seminar about the new German Wine Law of 2022 at the 2022 American Wine Society National Conference in Bellevue/ Seattle, Washington State, led by Annette Schiller

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Good Value Bordeaux Wines: Discover the Petits Châteaux - Presentation by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, at the  2021 American Wine Society National Conference in Atlantic City 

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A Journey through the Rhône Valley - Seminar at the 2018 American Wine Society National Conference in Buffalo, New York State,USA, led by Annette Schiller

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The 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens

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German Wines in the 21st Century - A Tasting Seminar at the 2017 American Wine Society National Conference in in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, led by Annette Schiller (ombiasyPR & WineTours)

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The Insider’s View of Charles Krug Winery - Peter Mondavi Jr., Co-Proprietor, Charles Krug Winery

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