Christine Ansbacher - "The Wine Diva"

Wine Tasting Expert for Corporate and Non-Profit Events

Christine Ansbacher, known as The Wine Diva, conducts fast-paced, interactive and lively wine tastings for corporate receptions and dinners, new business events, meetings and conferences, executive retreats and team building. You’ll breathe a sigh of relief to discover she avoids the usual “vino babble” about soil, climate and how a wine tastes like blueberries with a whiff of smoky bacon fat and tar.

At wine tastings Christine shares practical tips that solve real-life wine dilemmas such as:

* Six strategies to spot great values and smart splurges on the wine list and at the wine store
* When it's OK to refuse a bottle of wine at a restaurant, and when it's not
* Three tricks to make a $10 bottle of Cabernet taste like a $30 bottle
* How to avoid red wine headaches
* Beer is so refreshing with spicy, salty and smoky foods. What wines go best

Christine conducts wine tastings throughout the US and internationally.

Credentials
The Diploma (DWS) from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, London, attained by only 8% of the US wine professionals tested.
Certified Wine Educator (CWE) awarded by the Society of Wine Educators

Background
Everyone remembers a great teacher who not only knew his or her subject but was so charismatic that it was a joy to be in class. That in a nutshell is "The Wine Diva,"SM a.k.a. Christine Ansbacher. For the past five years she has wowed corporate and private clients in fast-paced, interactive, fun wine tastings that are educational and entertaining.

In addition to her top notch educational credentials, Christine has traveled to every major wine region in the world walking the vineyards with the vigneron and tasting wines with the winemaker. She has recommended wines for restaurants and private cellars, including the 15,000 bottle collection of New York philanthropist and social figure, Carter Burden, who entrusted Christine to maintain the quality of the selections in it.

Wherever Christine has traveled she has always been asked the same questions about wine. How do I pick the right wine? How do I serve it? What wine goes with this food? These questions and answers form the basis of all of her entertaining programs as well as her new book. As Christine says (with credit to Benjamin Franklin), "Wine should be a laugh, not a lecture."

The Bottom Line
The Wine Diva"SM can make your event a more special one. Corporate retreats, breakout sessions at a conference, client dinners and spousal programs are all great occasions for a wine tasting event.

Remember, by the end of a fun-filled wine tasting it's not about tasting wine….it's about crowd control!

Programs

Receptions & Cocktail Parties
Christine gets her audience revved up during a reception by sabering off the top of a Champagne bottle using a military saber the same way Napoleon's cavalry officers celebrated victory on the battlefield. Her signature move leaves guests open-mouthed with amazement. She then invites one of the top clients to do the same and gives the person a brief lesson in sabering. Guests clap wildly as one of their own successfully brandishes the saber.

No celebration is complete with toasting. Christine describes how the custom of toasting began and why we use the phrase "to make a toast" today. She then invites the top client to make their own toast to celebrate the occasion.

Christine can be a featured speaker and conduct a 20 to 30 minute wine tasting laced with practical tips to use at home, the restaurant and the wine store. Or she can be positioned at a side bar throughout the reception where she conducts mini wine tastings for guests who come over.

Wine Dinners
Christine conducts a fun-filled, fast-paced wine tasting dinner which last no longer than a regular three-course meal because she speaks during normal breaks between the courses. She also circulates during dessert and mingles with your guests answering their questions one-on-one.

Choose from the following fascinating topics:
" New World" versus "Old World" Wine Styles
Chardonnay Boot Camp
How to Find Value on a Restaurant Wine List
Aussie Wine Walkabout
Taste Your Way to An Affordable Wine Cellar
Gorgeous Redheads from Around the World

Corporate & Team Building Events
Team challenges are designed to encourage leadership skills, trust, decision-making, time management, communications skills and confidence- building in a humorous and entertaining environment.

Each team has a maximum of 8 members and all teams taste the same pairs of wines on a blind basis. After each pair of wines is tasted, the team leader listens to the commentary of the other members, forms a consensus and presents the team's point of view to the entire group.
California "New World" vs French "Old World" style wines. Side-by-side comparison. Which is which? Which style do you prefer? Same comparison of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand vs. France.

* Young vs. 10 year-old wine Do you like young, fruity wines and/or the less fruity and earthy aromas of wine with bottle age?

* Vintage vs. non-vintage Champagne Which is which? If you can't tell the difference why pay the price.

* Chardonnay Boot Camp: Four styles from around the world. Can you tell the difference? Which do you prefer?

Corporate Wine Seminars for Conventions & Conferences

Wake up those glassy-eyed conference goers! The Wine Diva's seminars are not dry lectures. They are highly entertaining inter-active events that will be a welcome change from the topics at the convention or meeting. They are also a great way to provide a memorable hour or so for spouses attending the conference. Time with "The Wine Diva"SM will refresh your spirits and get you ready for the next business session.

Choose from the following topics, or Christine can customize a seminar topic for you.

* " New World" versus "Old World" Wine Styles
* Chardonnay Boot Camp
* How to Find Value on a Restaurant Wine List
* Aussie Wine Walkabout
* Taste Your Way to An Affordable Wine Cellar
* Gorgeous Redheads from Around the World
* Wine Smarts for Client Entertaining at a Restaurant

Clients

Corporate Clients
American Express
Barclays Capital
KPMG
Marsh USA
Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley
Ogilvy & Mather Advertising
Pfizer
Pizza Hut
Wachovia

Private Clubs
Century Association
Cosmopolitan Club
Hyannisport Golf Club
Knickerbocker Club
Lotos Club
Union Club
Metropolitan Opera Club
Mar-a-Lago Club
Old Oaks Country Club
Pittsburgh Golf Club

What people Are Saying

"You made my leadership award dinner even more special and everyone enjoyed your practical tips and entertaining wine stories."
- Top Corporate Officer, Wachovia

" You were a hit. Our directors and international franchisee board members thoroughly enjoyed the evening."
- Top Corporate Office, Pizza Hut

" Thank you for doing such a lovely job at our (new business) event…the atmosphere you helped create that evening truly broke the ice. Everyone had a great time, and this is not always the case at these types of events."
- Senior Partner, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising

" The evening was GREAT fun! We are all competitive and the wine quiz for prizes was a nice touch. I wish I had won the Cork Pop!"
- VP Marketing, Pfizer

“ Everyone loved your fabulous presentation! Your enthusiasm for and knowledge of wine clearly made the difference at our event. Thank you again.”
- Partners, KPMG

" You were outstanding and my group had a great time."
- EVP, Marsh USA

"Your knowledge of Champagne and wines, combined with your creativity, resulted in an entertaining addition to our Private Equity Welcome Reception. Your use of the saber was fantastic and unique. My colleagues have all been informed of the success of your tasting and you popularity. You were a hit!"
- Director of Special Events, Merrill Lynch

" You really understood and connected with the audience and everyone had fun! You integrated your program into the flow of the evening which is most critical to us as we look at an event in total. Our Pfizer clients really enjoyed the entertainment aspect while being privy to all of your great tips, tricks and tidbits of useful information you shared so enthusiastically. We'd love to use you immediately at an event for key opinion leaders in neurology that we have coming to New York this weekend."
- Event Manager, CC Ford Healthcare

" Our executives really enjoyed going to Boot Camp and many told me they want to re-enlist!"
- Event Manager, Emerson Electric

" Our international clients raved about your suggestions on how to find good values on a restaurant wine list."
- Event Planner, Societe General

" Thanks for doing another wonderful event."
- Special Events Manager, Merrill Lynch

" I want to thank you for your generous support and flexibility with all the last minute changes the client requested. Your creativity and professional style consistently reassured me that my Merrill Lynch client would be well pleased with the evening."
- Meeting Manager, Wilson West

" Thanks for putting on such a fast-paced and lively event for our young executives."
- Event Manager, Barclays Capital

" Thank you for entertaining my colleagues with your theatrics and knowledge of wine! The consensus is that you were a hit!"
- Event Specialist, Marsh USA

" The feedback from the ISES event you did has been incredibly positive. Thanks for a tremendous presentation."
- Program Director for ISES and Director, Special Events, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

" The luncheon was a huge hit. You made wine education fun."
- Program Director for MPI and Director, Arts Council of Indianapolis
WINE INDUSTRY LEADERS

"I heard great things about your MPI Presentation (at the annual Jay Magazine Wine Dinner.)"
- Kevin Zraly, Wine Educator & Author par excellence

"I don't know where to begin to thank you for all that you did to make the Spring Benefit such a stunning success."
- Director of Special Events, New York Philharmonic

" You made my husband’s birthday dinner at Restaurant Daniel so special. I've received lots of phone calls and letters and every single one mentions how wonderful you were. I have already given your phone number to someone who is planning a party."
- Private individual, Scarsdale, NY

" On behalf of The Lotos Club I am writing to express our great pleasure with the Thomas Jefferson Dinner…the ambiance was so genuine one could not avoid feeling transported back to the turn of the 18th century in Paris."
- President, The Lotos Club

" I wish to thank you very, very, much for your excellent dinner presentation on 'The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson.' It was absolutely marvelous! Everyone had a superb time and I hope that you will agree to do another evening during the next Opera season."
- Chairman, Program Committee, Metropolitan Opera Club

" Thank you very much for coming back to do another wine dinner. Everyone enjoyed 'Wine and War.' It was a magical evening."
- Chairman, Program Committee, Metropolitan Opera Club

" Your wine knowledge and your performance were outstanding. The Wine Diva was the topic here at the club for many weeks….nothing but praise for your Spanish food and wine event."
- General Manager, The Pittsburgh Golf Club

" I thought ‘Wine and War’ was a great success and I would welcome her back next year for a new topic."
- Chairman, Wine Committee, The Union Club

"… I would like to thank you for a scintillating presentation. Many members have told me how much they enjoyed the wines you selected and how much they benefited from the education you provided."
- Chairman, Wine Committee, The Century Association

"… It was a grand evening and you should be dubbed the Grand Dame of the Historic Dinner! We would like to give you something to commemorate this extraordinary evening. Please accept this original handwritten letter of Maria Cosway to Lady Syndey Morgan, the great Irish woman of letters. Again, Sandra and I congratulate you on your wonderful Jefferson dinner."
- Bruce Gimelson, Garrison, N.Y., Dealer/Collector of Historic Documents and Paintings

" Thank you for your wonderful suggestion. I told all my guests who suffer from red wine headaches (myself included) to take an antihistamine an hour before coming to my wine tasting to prevent headaches. I received more thank you calls the following day for a great party and the surprising lack of a headache."
- Diane C, Madfes, MD Dermatologist