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The Wine Tutor -- John Thoreen
After a multifaceted academic career that involved fields are disparate
as chemistry, philosophy, and Renaissance literature, John Thoreen
left a one-course teaching job at the San Francisco Art Institute
to live in the vineyards and work with wine. Over a period of 30
years he has worn the hats of wine educator, wine writer and winemaker.
For almost 20 years, he was Director of the Wine Center at
Meadowood Resort, site of the annual Auction Napa Valley. There
he planned a myriad of educational programs, more than 100 per year,
for Meadowood's guests while tending to the wine list.
Having moved to the Napa Valley in 1973, he
hung out his shingle as "The Wine Tutor" in 1976 and has been
"tooting" ever since, taking time out to make a pinot
noir called "Soleterra" from grapes grown at Three Palms
Vineyard and for writing a column in WINE and SPIRITS magazine. In 1977 John was one of the founders of the Society of Wine Educators.
He also traveled the country teaching wine courses to distributors
and retailers and lectured in Spain for the Spanish wine trade.
In 1990, he wrote the text for a successful photo book of the Napa
Valley done by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC photographer Charles O'Rear.
Over the years, John and Meadowood's
Wine Center enjoyed coverage in GOURMET, ELLE, FOOD and WINE,
the FINANCIAL TIMES's glossy weekender, "How to Spend It".
John has several times appeared on television: some years ago with
Spencer Christian on the Food Channel, on "What We Eat"
with Burt Wolf, on Culinary Travels with Dave Eckert, in a two-hour
documentary "A Brief History of Wine" shown on the History
Channel, on Fine Living with Andrea Immer, and on
Great Hotels with Samantha Brown.
John and his wife Bonnie live
in St. Helena where they raised two bright sons, Bo and Peder John,
who had the good sense to become attorneys (which was where Robert
Parker, The Wine Advocate, started!).
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Biography