2023 Naples Winter Wine Festival Releases Featured Sommeliers

2023 Naples Winter Wine Festival Releases Esteemed Lineup of Featured Sommeliers Participating in 23rd Annual Event on February 3-5, 2023

Erik Elliott, MS

The Naples Winter Wine Festival (NWWF) has unveiled its lineup of Featured Sommeliers headlining the 2023 Festival. With the theme “In Perfect Harmony,” the NWWF returns to The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples on February 3-5, 2023, showcasing the finest wines, exquisite cuisine and amazing auction lots benefitting local children.

These Featured Sommeliers will share their intimate knowledge of wine vintage, terroir and styles with Festival Patrons, enhancing appreciation for the unique and rare wines that will be tasted at Thursday’s special pre-Festival Vintage Cellar event, Friday night’s intimate Vintner Dinners in elegant, private homes and settings throughout Naples, and at Saturday’s signature Live Auction.

Jennifer Huether, MS

The NWWF, the annual fundraiser of the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF), marks  its 23^rd anniversary, impacting over 50 of the most effective nonprofit organizations in the local community. Since the Festival’s inception, over 300,000 at-risk and underprivileged children in Collier County have been impacted with the essential services and resources they need to excel.

“Each year, the Naples Winter Wine Festival features several of the world’s most acclaimed vintners, celebrity chefs and gifted sommeliers, setting the stage for a weekend of extraordinary wines and unique, one-of-a-kind wine, travel and culinary experiences, and 2023 is no different,” said NCEF Honorary Trustee and 2023 Sommelier Liaison Bruce Nichols. “We are especially excited to welcome so many new names to the list of those who will be pouring the world’s top wines throughout the weekend.”

Here is the complete list of the 2023 NWWF Featured Sommeliers, in alphabetical order:

Thatcher Baker-Briggs of Thatcher’s Wine in Hayward, California

Gillian Ballance, MS of Treasury Wine Estates in Napa, California

Fernando Beteta, MS of High Road Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois

Pablo Braida, MS of Monarch Restaurant in Dallas, Texas

Andy Chabot of Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee

Julie Dalton of The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston in Houston, Texas

Erik Elliott, MS of Heitz Cellar in St. Helena, California

Audrey Frick of jebdunnuck.com in New York, New York

Dana Gaiser, MS of Domaine & Estates in Brooklyn, New York

Morgan Harris, MS of OMvino in San Francisco, California

Jennifer Huether, MS of Fresh City Farms in Toronto, Canada

Élyse Lambert, MS a sommelier consultant in Montréal, Canada

George Miliotes, MS of Wine Bar George in Orlando, Florida

Chris Miller, MS of SeaboldCellars in Marina, California

Andrew “Rusty” Rastello of SingleThread in Healdsburg, California

Pier-Alexis Soulière, MS of Pasouliere.comin Québec, Canada

Sarah Thomas of Kalamata’s Kitchen in Dover, New Hampshire

Scott Turnbull, MS of Winebow in Benicia, California

George Miliotes, MS

It should be noted that for 2023, the Naples Winter Wine Festival moves to the first weekend of February, which is one week later than usual. Ticket packages for the 2023 NWWF start at $15,000 per couple for a Double Magnum package and $35,000 for two couples to experience a Jeroboam Package. For additional information, visit: napleswinefestival.com/about-the-festival.

About Naples Winter Wine Festival
One of the world’s most prestigious charity wine auctions, the Naples Winter Wine Festival offers a weekend of unforgettable memories. Guests enjoy world-class food and wine during intimate private dinners and are invited to bid on once-in-a-lifetime travel and wine experiences in an electrifying live auction. Since its inception in 2001, the Festival has raised nearly $244 million, making a profound difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Collier County.

About Naples Children & Education Foundation
The founding organization of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF) is improving the educational, emotional and health outcomes of underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County. Through its annual grants and strategic initiatives, NCEF has impacted more than 50 of the most effective nonprofits in the community, providing over 300,000 children with the services and resources they need to excel. NCEF’s unique approach, which emphasizes collaboration between organizations and bridges public and private resources, has become a blueprint for how to transform a community, one issue at a time.

For additional information on the Naples Children & Education Foundation or the Naples Winter Wine Festival, contact Lisa Juliano at lisa@napleswinefestival.com or 239-514-2239.