The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is Sake? - How Sake Is Made - The Major Sake Styles - How Sake Compares to Wine and Beer - Serving Sake - Sake and Food Pairing - Tasting Sake for the First Time - Hosting a Sake Tasting for Groups - Further Reading Sake is one of the most underrated drinks on any menu. I say this having spent years introducing groups to wine and spirits — and sake is the one that surprises people most consistently. They expect something foreign and strange. What they get is a drink that's deeply food-friendly, surprisingly approachable once you understand the basics, and genuinely different from anything else in the glass. If you've only encountered sake warm at a sushi counter, you've seen maybe 10% of what it can be. Let me give you the other 90%. What Is Sake? Sake is a fermented beverage made from rice, water, koji mold, and yeast. It's often called "rice wine," but the comparison to wine is only partially accurate. Like wine, sake is fermented ra...

Table of Contents - What Is Sake? - How Sake Is Made - The Major Sake Styles - How Sake Compares to Wine and Beer - Serving Sake - Sake and Food Pairing - Tasting Sake for the First Time - Hosting a Sake Tasting for Groups - Further Reading Sake is one of the most underrated drinks on any menu. I say this having spent years introducing groups to wine and spirits — and sake is the one that surprises people most consistently. They expect something foreign and strange. What they get is a drink that's deeply food-friendly, surprisingly approachable once you understand the basics, and genuinely different from anything else in the glass. If you've only encountered sake warm at a sushi counter, you've seen maybe 10% of what it can be. Let me give you the other 90%. What Is Sake? Sake is a fermented beverage made from rice, water, koji mold, and yeast. It's often called "rice wine," but the comparison to wine is only partially accurate. Like wine, sake is fermented ra...

Table of Contents - Why a Corporate Wine Tasting Event Works - Formats for a Corporate Wine Tasting Event - Choosing the Right Format for Your Group - Planning a Corporate Wine Tasting Event Step by Step - What The Wine Voyage Offers - Common Mistakes to Avoid - Further Reading The first corporate wine tasting event I ever facilitated was for a financial services firm in downtown San Diego. Forty-five people, a mix of ages and backgrounds, most of them skeptical that a wine tasting was really going to be their thing. By the time we got to the reveal on the third blind flight, the CFO had confidently misidentified a Pinot Noir as a Burgundy (it was), and two analysts were passionately defending their palate assessments to a VP who outranked both of them. That moment — wine cutting across hierarchy and unlocking real conversation — is why I believe a corporate wine tasting event is one of the most underutilized tools in the corporate event planner's arsenal. Here's everything you...

Table of Contents - Why a Corporate Wine Tasting Event Works - Formats for a Corporate Wine Tasting Event - Choosing the Right Format for Your Group - Planning a Corporate Wine Tasting Event Step by Step - What The Wine Voyage Offers - Common Mistakes to Avoid - Further Reading The first corporate wine tasting event I ever facilitated was for a financial services firm in downtown San Diego. Forty-five people, a mix of ages and backgrounds, most of them skeptical that a wine tasting was really going to be their thing. By the time we got to the reveal on the third blind flight, the CFO had confidently misidentified a Pinot Noir as a Burgundy (it was), and two analysts were passionately defending their palate assessments to a VP who outranked both of them. That moment — wine cutting across hierarchy and unlocking real conversation — is why I believe a corporate wine tasting event is one of the most underutilized tools in the corporate event planner's arsenal. Here's everything you...

Table of Contents - Why Holiday Party Ideas Actually Matter - The Best Holiday Party Ideas for Work Groups - Holiday Party Ideas by Group Size - Planning Timeline for Holiday Parties - What Separates a Good Holiday Party from a Forgettable One - When to Bring in a Professional Experience Provider - Common Holiday Party Mistakes to Avoid - Further Reading Every year around October, I start getting the same calls. "Myrna, we need holiday party ideas — and please, not another open bar and a DJ." I hear you. After 15 years producing corporate events, I've seen every version of the forgettable holiday party, and I've also seen what it looks like when a company gets it right. The difference isn't budget. I've watched $500-per-head galas leave teams cold and $40-per-person wine tastings create moments people talked about for years. The difference is whether people actually do something together — whether the night gives them a shared experience they can reference lat...

Table of Contents - Why Holiday Party Ideas Actually Matter - The Best Holiday Party Ideas for Work Groups - Holiday Party Ideas by Group Size - Planning Timeline for Holiday Parties - What Separates a Good Holiday Party from a Forgettable One - When to Bring in a Professional Experience Provider - Common Holiday Party Mistakes to Avoid - Further Reading Every year around October, I start getting the same calls. "Myrna, we need holiday party ideas — and please, not another open bar and a DJ." I hear you. After 15 years producing corporate events, I've seen every version of the forgettable holiday party, and I've also seen what it looks like when a company gets it right. The difference isn't budget. I've watched $500-per-head galas leave teams cold and $40-per-person wine tastings create moments people talked about for years. The difference is whether people actually do something together — whether the night gives them a shared experience they can reference lat...