Winemeisters Weekend—Carol Seibert

For the previous week-plus, we’ve been enjoying the San Francisco International Wine Competition, www.sfwinecomp.com which took place last weekend. It’s the largest in North America, and among the most prestigious (if not *the* most), with over 4,000 wines from various corners of the world and an international array of judges to evaluate them.

Anthony Dias (“Andy”) Blue is the executive director of this annual tasting marathon. For the day-to-day operations, though (which actually fill the entire year), managing director Carol Seibert (see pic, with Master Sommelier Kevin Vogt of the “Purple Tongue Gang”) has been basically running the show since 1990. Warm, congenial, and unflappable, Carol oversees both the big-picture planning and the myriad details that enable this wine competition to flow seamlessly, despite unforeseen hitches and glitches, every year.

Carol acts as information hub for the SF International, coordinating up-to-the-second goings-on among the various facets of the organization. At any given moment, she might be working with wineries, volunteers, application forms, hotel details, medal notifications, judges—even to the minutiae of out-of-towners’ airport-transportation needs—or all of the above.

Carol also modifies the competition to reflect changes in the wine world. She’ll add new categories of wine, for example, as they hit the marketplace, and she’ll seek out new judges (with more and more wine entries each year, we always need more judges!) who share her “finger-on-the-pulse” view of wine. Under Carol’s guidance, by the way, the percentage of female judges has steadily increased year by year. (We gals do, after all, make up at least half the population, and an even greater percentage of the wine-buying public.)

Carol Seibert has a lot of clout. But she wields it gently, with compassion and kindness. (Her most recent email was addressed “To my wonderful judges.”) Thanks in great measure to Carol’s methodical, hands-on approach and constant fine-tuning, the SF International gets better and better every year.

Whether behind the scenes or in the thick of things; whether solving a logistics problem or introducing new judges to the seasoned regulars on their panels, Carol is not only instrumental in making the San Francisco International Wine Competition happen, she helps make it just plain fun!

Thanks, Carol, for all you do. And thanks for helping to make the SF International one of the major highlights of my summer!

Cheers,
Rosina
gilded fork, wine, wine writing, Welcome to Wine Country, Rosina Tinari Wilson