Washington Wine Academy founded by Jim Barker to specifically deliver exceptional wine tastings, events, festivals and corporate functions is going into our 8th year providing service to the Washington, DC market. Private corporate events have been a majority of our business since our beginnings and we understand the importance of delivering quality events for our clients. Our goal is to create not only the perfect wine event to meet your needs but back it up with dependability, reliability and confidence you made the right decision in going with WWA.

Unlike many wine event management companies in existence today, we are not centered around a single wine speaker. In that we are not a wine individual who decided to open a company in order to deliver wine events. We were founded by an event management expert (Jim Barker) who decided to focus on wine events. In partnership with top wine talent such as wine columnists from the Washington Post, Washington Times, Washingtonian Magazine as well as numerous additional wine writers, authors and educators allows to have a an unparalleled wine talent pool from which to utilize for upcoming private and public events.

In terms of private corporate functions, the Washington Wine Academy hosts more than all of our competitors combined due to this extensive offerings. At Washington Wine Academy, we do not have minimums and have even done private wine consulting/tastings for groups as small as four attendees. Our flexibility has earned us the reputation as the premier organization providing educational wine events in the Washington, DC Metro area. We are the obvious vendor choice for any organization insisting on the very best. We are proud to deliver excellence and one look at our client list makes it clear. Here's your chance to organize a private corporate wine tasting of your very own in the Washington area or anywhere in the country.

Whether in your home, your office or any one of great venues available in the DC area - we can create it for you. We will assist you in finding a location for your event, food options, wine speakers and themes. We will also obtain the necessary licenses from local and state governments.

The Washington Wine Academy has extensive experience creating custom private events to meet any need. Our events are fun, educational and we always go that extra step to ensure our events have a touch of class. Please feel free to e-mail (Mendy@WashingtonWineAcademy.org) or call us for options. We are available to create the perfect wine tasting experience just for you! See our Client List for a sample of events we have hosted in the past.

Here are some items to consider to get you started while formulating your event:

1) What jurisdiction will the event take place?

Such as Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC or other. There are very strict licensing guidelines if you plan on holding your event in Virginia, DC or Maryland. The Washington Wine Academy will acquire all of the necessary permits to ensure compliance with local jurisdictions in which you are holding your event. The fees for the acquisition of necessary permits vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

2) How many people are going to attend?

The more people the better! We can help you create an event for groups of 10...to thousands, all within your budget. We pride ourselves on our event flexibility and options available.

3) What is your budget?

The cost of hosting a wine tasting can vary quite a bit. The Washington Wine Academy has successfully hosted 1,000's of events in our seven plus years in business. We have learned clients can have varying expectations, needs and most importantly – budgets. We have found the number of attendees and per person costs will vary greatly depending on a wide-range of elements.

Typically, our event costs can be anywhere from $20-$100 (per-person), largely driven by a number of factors.

4) Do you have an exact date in mind?

The Washington Wine Academy is ready to assist with your event on any day of the week. Please allow us adequate time to make all the necessary arrangements and we will certainly do our best to accommodate your schedule.

5) What about venue options?

We can turn your home or office into the perfect tasting room! Or, if you have a specific location in mind – such as club rooms, private restaurant space, private clubs or even art galleries or other public spaces such as wineries, Universities and more. Many times a person or group has relationships with fun, eclectic spaces that we may not know about. Let your creativity run free and let us know your thoughts (ask your friends and colleagues or even use Craigslist for ideas). Sometimes your personal relationship with these venues can allow you free or reduced costs for use of them.

6) What about food?

Certainly, we can help you here! The Washington Wine Academy can provide food for events as needed. From simple palette cleansers like cheese displays, bread, grapes and crackers to more elaborate additions of our shrimp platter, dips, dessert items and more.  Food will be attractively displayed on silver platters or glass to achieve the ambiance you desire. Many corporate clients have great relationships with in-house or corporate caterers with whom we would be glad to coordinate details. We also understand the addition of a professional caterer can add thousands of dollars to an event. Please feel free to discuss your thoughts on this aspect of your event.

7) Searching for unique ideas or themes?

Some of our favorites are listed below for your consideration. We pride ourselves on flexibility, creativity and more importantly variety! We are available to create the perfect customized wine event to meet your specific requirements.

"'Fall' in Love With Cooler Weather Wines"

Description of event: Celebrate the arrival of autumn with wines designed to enjoy during cooler weather. During this women-only wine tasting, you’ll taste wines ranging from Côtes du Rhône to Cabernet Sauvignon; from Viognier to Syrah; a Port to sip in front of the fire; and more! WWA featured speaker will be your guide as you learn about the wines of autumn, including food-pairing suggestions, in a relaxed and approachable environment, where questions are not only allowed, but also encouraged! Tell a friend, and register today!

"Your Total Wine Solution for the Holidays"

Description of event: Come explore wines for the holidays! Whether you are looking for a spicy Zinfandel for your Thanksgiving turkey, a crisp Riesling for your Christmas ham, or a kosher wine for your Hanukkah meal, Total Wine has the bottle for you. Join WWA featured speaker, as you taste and discover wines for the upcoming holidays, including food and wine pairing tips, in a relaxed and approachable environment. And, all of the wines will be available for purchase at area Total Wine stores, making your holiday shopping that much easier.

"Break Out the Bubbly!"

Description of event: No wine is more festive than a glass of bubbly! Whether you need ideas for your New Year’s Eve party or celebration, or just enjoy sparkling wine, this women-only wine tasting is for you. You’ll taste Champagne, as well as other sparkling wines such as Spanish Cava, Italian Prosecco, California sparkling wine, and an interesting red bubbly from Down Under. WWA featured speaker will guide you through the tasting, in a relaxed and approachable environment. You may also be surprised to find out how food-friendly sparkling wines can be.

"Autumn Tour of Virginia Wine Country"

Description of event: Enjoy the splendor of fall foliage and refreshing autumn air combined with some of Virginia’s most acclaimed wines. Your luxury transportation will pick you up in style and sweep you off to wine country making this an Autumn escape to be remembered! You may also wish to include a formal gourmet wine luncheon or a deluxe catered box lunch to enjoy at your leisure as you take in the sights and sounds of the fall wine harvest. We will work with you to create a spectacular weekend or weekday escape!

Options also include guided behind-the-scene tour of the winery, an opportunity to speak directly with winemaker and and a seated private wine seminar.

"Fantastic Fall Cruises"

Description of event: Step aboard a luxury cruising vessel and enjoy the breathtaking autumn views of our Nation’s greatest monuments while you enjoy memorable dinner and private educational wine tasting.  This is one of the most magnificent ways to experience the beauty of fall in our Nations Capital and is the perfect way to entertain clients or out of town guests this season. Once again we take care of all the details!

"Wine Tasting Reception"

Description of event: Our most popular offering is the wine tasting reception. This event works well for most groups and is well received as a networking event for your attendees. Our typical reception event starts with a sparkling wine, followed by a fun and educational presentation by one of our wine speakers for 15 – 20 minutes, and then we open up a table of 4-6 various wines.  Attendees will learn the basics of wine tasting, wine storage and will be able exercise their skills while tasting and examining the featured wines.  We typically provide cheese trays, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, shrimp platter, dips, bread/crackers, dessert items.  Food will be attractively displayed on silver platters or glass to achieve the ambiance you desire.

We also specialize in creating receptions which focus on a particular region, grape variety (Rieslings and Pinot Noirs for example) or even a comparison of value wines and high end wines of the same variety.  While this event is still considered reception-style, it allows the event to focus on the wine, or other item as an added element.  Another very fun idea is to explore food and wine pairing. This sit-down, interactive and educational presentation typically utilizes simple meat preparations for use throughout the guided program to demonstrate which food goes well with which wine.

"Women Only Wine Tasting"

Description of event: In recognition of the fact that according to the 2005 Gallup Poll women make up 52% of the U.S. adult population and purchase 55% of the wine consumed in the household, Washington Wine Academy offers women only wine tasting events.  We utilize female wine educators in order to create an atmosphere where women can come together in a social setting that encourages participants to ask questions, share their knowledge and obtain “wine savvy” building blocks to make more educated wine choices in their daily lives.  This event provides great networking opportunities and a venue to connect with other women.

"Wine Tasting Dinners"

Description of event: We can coordinate a wine tasting dinner with the restaurant of your choice and arrange for your guests to sit down to a meal consisting of several courses, each paired with a different wine.  Our wine expert will review the characteristics of each wine and discuss why it was paired with the particular food.

"ABC's of Wine"

Description of event: A more formal wine lecture that could cover the ABC's of Wine (as an example) that will be done classroom (lecture) style, educating the participants on the basics of wine serving, buying, storage, food matching...etc.   This event (though more formal than a reception) is still a fun and informative event.

"Blending Seminar"

Description of event: This event style is similar to a reception but differs a bit in that we provide an opportunity for the group to split into teams, sample three varietal wines (such as Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) and then each come up with their own blended mix (to include percentages of each wine) then, judges sample the wines from each group to find a preference.  A very fun, very interactive and sometimes competitive (team-building) atmosphere is created.

If you're interested in creating a wine tasting of your very own, the Washington Wine Academy is willing and able to meet your needs. Contact Mendy Figueroa to customize your event.

The Washington Wine Academy prides itself on our flexibility in event planning for your friends or family and we look forward to working with you.

Important note about e-mail to the Washington Wine Academy: Due to increased (and a bit out of control) amount of SPAM e-mail the Academy has been receiving. Please START all email subject lines with:

WWA - [Insert your subject here].

If you do not hear back from us within a reasonable amount of time, please re-send your e-mail and follow-up with a phone call or voicemail to us. Thank you for you assistance with this as we value your correspondence and want to strive to work with you in a timely manner