The Wine Guide: 009 - Denise Silverman of AWFF

On Sunday, we had the pleasure of attending Toast of Texas at Assembly Hall. Brought together by The Austin Wine & Food Foundation, 20+ of Texas’ best wineries poured samples of their latest releases. Between the joy of discovering the work of art Mike Nelson and team are making at Ab Astris to suddenly calling ourselves Grape Cowboys thanks to the folks out at Reddy Wines, it was one hell of a day.

It begs the question. Who’s bringing these awesome winemakers together and directing these events across town all year long?

Enter Denise Silverman, Executive Director of the Austin Wine & Food Foundation. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Denise to learn more about their efforts to bring good people and great wine together here in town.

Brought to you in full. Pour yourself a glass and enjoy.

Denise, from selling your event planning company, CLINK, to leading AWFF through a pandemic pivot. Most people would have played it safe during 2020, you doubled down on this community instead. What made you bet on Austin's hospitality scene when everyone else was running for the hills?

I've been in the events industry for so long – the thought of not being in hospitality never really entered my mind. That said, obviously it was a scary time and no one knew how long the pandemic would last. The Austin Wine & Food Foundation is an established organization (officially started in 1997), and its Board of Directors was dedicated to both its long-term success as well as an appropriate pivot to navigate the pandemic. So when the opportunity came my way in the middle of the pandemic, the conversations were more about the long-term goals and plans for the organization than anything else.

Of course, we eventually had to address the elephant in the room and the fact that this events-driven non-profit organization was in a fairly precarious position at that time. Having had some experience with virtual events, I felt confident I could get the organization through the pandemic. We quickly launched virtual tastings that were free to members with a weekly cadence to keep people engaged. We even did a virtual Auction & Gala to keep our top donors engaged and we reworked our philanthropic strategy to try and provide the most support possible to the industry. Knowing that our fundraising would be down that year with no in-person events, we still donated $80,000 to the hospitality industry. In a year where many organizations were unable to maintain their philanthropic support, I am proud that we were able to give back to the industry that has been so supportive to us. Together, the staff, the Board, and our community managed to do some pretty incredible work during that time.

Austin is adding 150+ people per day. The city is changing, whether people like it or not. How does AWFF stay relevant to a population that's increasingly young, diverse, and maybe not traditionally 'wine people'?

Great question! We have a unique demographic comprised of experienced, higher-wealth wine collectors as well as younger Austinites newly interested in wine, so it's important that our programming accommodates all of them. In fact, one of our core values is to have a welcoming environment that celebrates the full participation of all people, recognizing that everyone should have the opportunity to engage with and appreciate wine and food. A great deal of our time is spent curating programming and content that appeals to our community. We host 50 events annually, so there is something for everyone! Some of our programming appeals more heavily to the more knowledgeable wine connoisseur while some appeals more to those Wine should not be intimidating. We aim to help Austinites recognize that wine is fun, delicious, and meant to be shared and enjoyed with friends and great food.

Texas wine is exploding in popularity, but the quality spectrum is wide. How do you balance supporting the entire Hill Country wine community while maintaining AWFF's reputation for quality experiences?

It's been so much fun watching the Texas Wine landscape, as well as the perception of Texas wine, evolve over the past 20+ years. You are right that there is a wine spectrum of quality, just like any wine region, but there is no denying that great progress has been made, and it's because there are incredibly talented Texas winemakers out there making really high-quality wine. The Austin Wine & Food Foundation aims to bring top-notch wine programming to our community and our Texas wine programming is no different. Toast of Texas is our annual Texas wine event, and our goal is to bring the best winemakers from the Texas Hill Country to Austin for the day, where people can try everything and see just how much great stuff is out there. Many Texas wines are not widely distributed, so people who can't make it out to wineries to experience them get a chance to try them here in town. We carefully curate our Texas wine selection to ensure that our attendees leave the event with the clear picture that there is really is great Texas wine out there being made by people who really care about what they are doing.

You've said your favorite wine is 'one that comes with a great story, enjoyed with great friends.' What does that look like for you right now - any specific producers, regions, or styles you keep reaching for?

Haha – yes, that line is in my bio and the funny thing about it is – I've changed that line in my bio several times since I started this job. When I started, that line said, "Denise loves a big, bold Zinfandel," then I changed it to Chianti Classico, then I think it was Chenin Blanc . . . until I finally realized – it's not the varietal that makes a wine great. It's the experience – the varietal, producer, region, style, food pairing, and the people with whom you are sharing it. Nothing makes me happier than hosting friends, pulling out a great bottle, and talking about why we love it or how it pairs so well with the flavor profile of the dish, etc.

To answer your question – I really am not reaching for anything specific at any given time – aside from trying to pair my dishes with something that will complement it. I'm a sucker for a great retail experience where you can browse to your heart's content and work with an educated sales rep who will guide you to new and exciting choices within whatever budget necessary. I highly recommend using the experienced staffs that are available to you. Austin has so many great wine retailers who really want to help people find what they need – H-E-B, Twin Liquors, The Wine Cellar, Neighborhood Vintner, The Austin Wine Merchant are all great places to shop for wine!

You're at a dinner party with 10 people who've never heard of AWFF. You have one minute to explain why they should become members. What's your pitch?

I could give you my elevator pitch, but my favorite pitch is one that I couldn't have written myself. It's a conversation I had with a loyal and supportive member that I love to share with people who ask why they should become involved with the Foundation.

I was chatting with a member at one of our events and thanking him for his support and engagement over the years, and his response was: Denise, I get to come to fabulous events, indulge in my favorite passions – wine and food, be a part of a great community with other like-minded wine enthusiasts and foodies – all while inherently giving back to the great causes AWFF supports. You can thank me all you want but I'm the one who should be thanking you!

It doesn't get much better than that testimonial!

Austin Wine Guide readers range from industry insiders to enthusiastic amateurs who just want to learn without feeling judged. If you could get new faces to experience one authentic AWFF event, which would it be?

We produce 50 events/year and I'm guilty of saying "this is my favorite event" for several of our events, so this is a tough one for me! I'm going to break the rules a little bit and choose two events to answer your question:

Big Reds & Bubbles is an event that would appeal to anyone from newbies to wine collectors. It's a big event (about 300 people) held on a Friday night in March and is a "sip & stroll" style event featuring (as you might imagine) red and sparkling wine. We bring in about 15-20 of Austin's top restaurants who prepare bite-sized samples of food from their menus. It's a celebration of wine and food without the pretense. It's just a fun party for people who enjoy wine and food. We've also incorporated themes the last couple years, which have been a huge hit! Two years ago was the 20th anniversary of Big Reds & Bubbles so we did a Great Gatsby 1920s theme and almost everyone dressed the part! Last year, we held the event at LZR (the former La Zona Rosa music venue) and did a Rock Star/Concert theme and everyone came dressed in their best concert vibes! It's a great date night or friends night out . . . no wine experience or knowledge required! And it's a great introduction to the Austin Wine & Food Foundation.

The other event I would like to mention is our Cellar Salons, which we lovingly refer to as "wine show and tell." These quarterly events (usually about 60 people) are Members-Only events for our Epicurean level members (our highest level of membership) and are meant for experienced and knowledgeable wine enthusiasts. Cellar Salons are free to attend and are a perk of being an Epicurean-level member. Everyone brings with them a bottle of wine that they are excited to share with other wine enthusiasts – something that is rare or highly rated or high value. So everyone there gets to taste so many different and exciting wines – often wines they've never tried before. And one of the best things about these events are the conversations! It's fascinating to listen to the stories people share about why their bottle is special to them and why they love it so much. These events are a great representation of the Austin Wine & Food Foundation Membership Community – the display of camaraderie and the passion for wine and food are wonderful to see. And then our favorite thing to do is take a photo of the entire wine lineup at the end of the evening – it's always a social media-worthy photo to share!

Want to learn more about AWFF events? Head to their site here.

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