Alumni enjoy inaugural California wine country weekend


The FIU Alumni Association’s first Wine Country Weekend brought together alumni from around the country for a spectacular three-day tour of Napa and Sonoma during harvest season. During the October trip, travelers visited alumni-owned vineyards and wineries and enjoyed a lecture by Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management professor Chip Cassidy ’75 and his friend Clark Smith, a California wine expert.

The group of 51 included FIU alumni, board members and faculty from the School of Hospitality who traveled from Miami, as well as alumni from California who joined the festivities. They were treated to a reception at Uncorked at Oxbow, a Napa wine tasting salon owned by FIU alumna Celeste Carducci ’77 and a soiree at B Cellars winery, owned by FIU alumnus Duffy Keys ’75.

The group also toured the famous Benziger Winery and Chateau St. Jean Vineyard. Host hotel for the weekend was the Flamingo Resort & Spa in Santa Rosa, whose marketing is led by FIU alumnus Dan Brown ’77.

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