Special Guest: Bartholomew Broadbent

Decanter magazine named Bartholomew one of the “fifty most influential in the wine world…the faces to watch in the new millennium” [June 1997]. Wine&Spirits magazine, after polling leaders throughout the industry, named him one of ten in the world to be “driving the most revolutionary changes in wine” [2008] when he was 50% partner in Dragon's Hollow, a pioneering winery in China. Today, he has "expanded from his pivotal role in the breathtaking growth of Port and Madeira to exert a profound influence on the US wine market” says Decanter.

Bartholomew is one of America’s leading wine importers. His company, Broadbent Selections, Inc. est. 1996 [www.broadbent.com], represents such famous brands as Chateau Musar, Tyrrell’s, Georges Vernay and Spy Valley and is generally recognized to import many of the greatest South African wines. It was twice nominated by Wine Enthusiast magazine for Importer of the Year [2005, 2020] at the Wine Stars Awards. His lecture circuit has found him the guest on most major cruise lines and he is currently the host of the Wine Wednesdays series on Viking TV. 

He lived in San Francisco for 21 years, where he set up Premium Port Wines and he was the Wine Guy for KFOG radio. He is a regular Speaker at all the major wine festivals, and was the Reserve Tasting Director at the Food&Wine’s Classic in Aspen for 25 years. He is a regular wine Judge at many wine competitions in the UK and USA. He owns Broadbent, one of 2020’s Top 100 Wineries [Wine & Spirits], which produces Port, Madeira, Vinho Verde and other wines in Portugal, as well as a Gruner Veltliner in Austria. He has also just launched Auctioneer, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.

Bartholomew is the son of the late Michael Broadbent MW, world renowned wine author and auctioneer. He has a wicked dry sense of humor and enjoys telling entertaining stories about growing up with wine.

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Ira Noroff has been working in the wine industry since 1976.  He is a Certified Wine Educator and holds many other wine & spirits credentials.  He was a Director of Education with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits for 15 years until his retirement in 2020.

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