Marnie Old is a “breath of fresh air in the wine world”, according to Michael Mondavi, and Kevin Zraly has described her as “one of the most efficient and entertaining wine educators in the US”.  An engaging performer, she is known for her upbeat approach to wine and the real-world relevance of her message. Marnie’s first book, He Said Beer, She Said Wine made a splash in 2008, when she teamed up with craft beer guru Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery for a tongue-in-cheek battle of the sexes. In 2013, her first electronic book, Wine Simplified, was honored by Digital Book World with a Publishing Innovation Award for Best Non-Fiction App. However, Marnie is most proud of her most recent book, the award-winning Wine: A Tasting Course, published by DK in 2014, which Anthony Dias Blue called “perhaps the BEST wine basics book I’ve seen to date” for its ingenious visual explanations, jargon-free language and intuitive flavor-mapping of wine.

Since leaving the sommelier ranks to start her own business in 2001, Marnie has done it all. She served as the director of wine studies for Manhattan’s esteemed French Culinary Institute, and as the founding education chair of the American Sommelier Association. She has designed beverage programs for high-profile restaurants like Morimoto in Manhattan, designed training programs for some of the country’s largest wine companies, and even advised the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, one of the largest retailers of wine and spirits on earth. Nowadays, Marnie is sought-after for corporate entertaining on the national circuit and for innovative content marketing projects for the wine and beer trades. She has a cheeky monthly column for consumers called “Cheap Buzz” in the Philadelphia Daily News and writes features for professionals in Beverage Dynamics. Most recently, however, she wrote, produced and starred in a series of animated wine videos commissioned by the government of Spain, allowing her to finally achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a cartoon character.

Marnie Old
Old Wines LLC
www.MarnieOld.com