Aug/Sept. 2006 Cover Story: The Wine South Festival

(cover photo courtesy
of Ali Oli Restaurant)

The South’s premier wine, food, music and art festival is getting a fresh start…

But it wasn’t always so easy. “It almost killed me,” Dan Thompson, festival founder says of the first Wine South festival.
“I lost 14 pounds in three days. I got two hours of sleep a night for a week because I was setting up for the festival, and
then my clean-up crew quit on me. But we had to get cleaned up by early the next morning because the venue had a lunch
going.” Just call it the Wine South diet.

After coming up with the idea for Wine South in 1993 while attending an event called Wine Song in Mendocino, Calif.,
Thompson used thousands of his own dollars to stage his first Atlanta festival in June of 2000. Although another Atlanta
wine festival had died in 1993, Thompson still figured the city was ready for a major league wine event. And although
he was right—3,000 people showed up that first year—it was tough going, and the festival lost nearly $15,000.

The following year, Thompson moved the event to September, but two weeks before the second annual festival was to
kick off, terrorists attacked New York and Washington D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001. “No one was thinking about the festival
then,” the former wine consultant at Pearson’s Wine of Atlanta says. “We were all glued to our TVs, wondering what was
going to happen. But slowly the phones started to ring.”

As it turned out, Atlanta wine lovers were ready to get together and feel good about something, and Wine South 2001 was
it. "Certainly, 9/11 could have put the nail in the festival’s coffin. But it didn’t,” Thompson says. Festival attendance
numbers bear him out: 4,100 people showed up, an increase of 1,100 over the previous year, and Wine South outgrew its first
venue, moving to Gwinnett Convention Center in year three.

A New Director, A New Direction

If there is a single person who exemplifies Wine South’s evolution, it is the festival’s new director, Karen Siegel.“ I volunteered for the festival in 2003,” says Siegel, “and it was a blast! I had so much fun and learned so much about wine that I told Dan this is where I want to work!”

Siegel had already chucked her old job as director of global accounts for AT&T/Avaya and started working for this magazine, The Wine Report®, also founded by Thompson. Siegel moved to her current position as festival director in late 2005.

“I was very excited knowing I was going to take over the festival,” Siegel continues. “I did a lot of research, talking to vendors and attendees about what worked and what didn’t work.” Siegel says it has been an incredible experience to be a part of the festival’s maturation. “Even the attendees are evolving,” she says. “They’re understanding more about wine and asking better questions.”

Ultimately, Siegel came up with the idea of bringing the festival back inside the Perimeter. “It was time,” Siegel said. “We wanted to have a reserve tasting for some of our attendees who enjoyed exploring finer wines in a smaller, more elegant setting.” Siegel learned about the space at the InterContinental Hotel Buckhead and felt it was a great opportunity. “Buckhead is such a perfect setting for something like this in part because there’s easy access from MARTA,” Siegel said, adding that it was convenient for would-be attendees for whom Gwinnett was out of the way.

Whether the wine is being tasted in Buckhead or Gwinnet, one thing remains constant. “If there’s something I want people to know,” says Thompson, “it’s how expensive this thing is to put on. We had expenses of $254,000 last year. We needed to bring in more than a quarter of a million dollars just to break even!”

Over the years, Thompson’s and Siegel’s festival has seen its share of trouble: 9/11, Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, the Atlanta heat, even computer hackers sabotaging ticket sales. Still, as wine continues to weave its way into the American consciousness and marketplace, Wine South will play a significant role in the evolution of the Southern palate.


The 7th Annual Wine South Festival Features:

Kicking off the Wine South weekend will be an exclusive Reserve Tasting at the InterContinental Hotel Buckhead Friday, Sept. 15. This tasting will feature some of the world’s most renowned wines, from Silver Oak to Bordeaux’s finest châteaux.

The Grand Festival Tasting is from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 at the Gwinnett Convention Center. It will feature more than 600 wines, food from Atlanta’s best restaurants, live demonstrations from professional chefs, live music and more. Also, wine artist Thomas Arvid will be painting live and chatting with attendees and admirers.

Guest speakers this year will include Christine Ansbacher and Natalie MacLean. Christine Ansbacher, known as The Wine Diva, will put on her fast-paced, interactive wine tastings that are both educational and entertaining. Ms. Ansbacher is a certified wine educator and has a diploma from the world-renowned Wine & Spirit Education Trust in London. Natalie MacLean is an award-winning and accomplished wine writer, speaker and judge. An accredited sommelier, she is a member of the National Capital Sommelier Guild and was named the World’s Best Drink Writer at the 2003 World Food Media Awards. Ms. MacLean has also won four James Beard Foundation journalism awards for her writing.

Lastly, on Sunday, Sept. 17, members of the wine and restaurant industry are invited to an exclusive Trade Tasting to sample new portfolios of the top boutique distributors found in the state of Georgia.

Nonprofit organizations that will benefit from Wine South are:

• Angel Flight of Georgia which provides free air transportation to and from treatment facilities for those with medical needs who are financially distressed or unable to travel on public transportation.

• The Susan G. Komen Foundation which is a global leader in the fight against breast cancer.

• The American Institute of Wine and Food (AIWF) "Days of Taste" program. AIWF is an educational nonprofit organization devoted to improving the understanding, appreciation, and accessibility of food and wine.

• Safe-Ride America serves the needs of impaired drivers by providing proactive transportation solutions
to help eliminate impaired driving problems.

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