CLEVELAND WINE SHOW
PARTNERS WITH FORTESSA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Sterling, VA – The first-annual Cleveland International Wine Show has partnered with Fortessa to add the sparkle and glamour of Schott Zwiesel crystal glassware to an exhibition of the pleasures and styles of fine wines, May 2-3, 2008, at the I-X Center, Cleveland, OH. 

Co-sponsored by the American Wine School, the two-day event will feature two four-hour tasting sessions, educational wine theatres, food pairings by leading chefs, and themed food and gift pavilions.  A unifying element throughout the show’s events will be Schott Zwiesel’s Forté wine stem, from the Tritan collection.  Brilliant and break resistant, the 9.4-oz glass will be a gift to each visitor, for sampling some 500 wines from 24 countries.

“If you’re going to enjoy an interesting wine, you should have an interesting glass,” noted Marianne Frantz, CWE, DWS, Advanced Sommelier, owner of the American Wine School, and co-producer of the International Wine Show, who selected wine stems for the public tastings and theatre sessions.  The producers expect to turn over 5000 glasses during the event.

Ms. Frantz and fellow wine educators will headline three theatre seminars, lecturing on wine genres; i.e., “Tastings in Port,”  “…in Sparkling Wines.”  The sessions will be staged with chairs set up in classroom style, each with four glasses for tasting and testing different varieties.  Other presenters will be Charles Curtis, Master of  Wine; Mathew Ciriglia, MS, Columbus, OH; and Larry O’Brien, MS, Las Vegas, NV.

A special need for the theatre lectures, Ms. Frantz said, was “to serve guests, then quickly put the glasses through the dishwasher, for the next session – and we still wanted to have fine crystal.”  Forté Tritan stems satisfied these requirements.  Schott Zwiesel stemware is available exclusively through Fortessa, based in Sterling, VA  (www.fortessa.com).

In addition, a series of pavilions will feature food-wine pairing demonstrations and tastings.  Glass pairings also can influence the wine experience, Ms. Franz noted. “Shape as well as quality can be a key point,” she said, noting that some glasses hold the wine aromas better than others.  “To my mind, the cut of the top of the glass is equally important:  A fine, thin rim will direct the wine to the exact, proper place on the palate.”

The Cleveland show’s inaugural exploration of today’s wine culture is expected to draw visitors from throughout Ohio and neighboring states, Ms. Frantz said. 

Fortessa is the diversified developer, designer and marketer of quality-crafted dinnerware, glassware, metalware and accessories for the commercial foodservice industry and the retail market.

###########