The start of summer in The Woodlands is always sweeter with Wine and Food Week’s renowned events during the first week of June. Constance McDerby, CEO of Food & Vine Time Productions and Founder of Wine & Food Week, continues to elevate the experience and find new ways to give back to the community. This year marks 20 years of Wine and Food Week in The Woodlands, and the bar – or more aptly, glass – is raised higher each year.
Constance McDerby, CEO of Food & Vine Time Productions and Founder of Wine & Food Week in The Woodlands
Constance McDerby, Founder of Wine & Food Week, with The Woodlands Township Chairwoman Ann Snyder
WHAT'S THE STORY BEHIND WINE & FOOD WEEK?
When I moved from Houston to New Orleans in 2000, it blew my mind that there was no multi-day, multi-faceted wine and culinary event in the fourth largest city in America. I launched a Galveston Food and Vine Time Event in 2002, and after two successful years, I approached HEB to see if they’d be interested in sponsoring.
When we talked, they drove me around The Woodlands and showed me the holes in the ground that were going to become The Woodlands Waterway, and the patch of red dirt that was going to turn into Market Street. They didn’t have stores in Galveston and weren’t planning to for years, but they told me they’d be open to sponsoring if I did something similar in The Woodlands, where they were building their new signature style store (now at Market Street). I then went to the two hotels in The Woodlands (The Woodlands Waterway Marriott and The Woodlands Resort) and worked with them to find a good time of year for this event.
Seven months later, we launched our very first Food and Wine Week in The Woodlands. We sold out 22 of our 24 events, and the rest is history. We still have those initial partnerships in place, and Wine and Food Week is now the largest culinary event in the region, from New Orleans to Aspen.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WINE & FOOD WEEK EACH YEAR?
It’s the people. The people behind the scenes blow me away. The relationships that the volunteers have created with each other and what they’re willing to do in support of the community and support of the overall mission is incredible.
Volunteers at "Wine Around the World" during Wine & Food Week
Volunteer pouring wine during Wine & Food Week in The Woodlands, Texas
HOW DO YOU GIVE BACK TO LOCAL CHARITIES?
As a company, we’ve created a platform of raising two million over our 20 years for deserving nonprofits in Montgomery County. We gift them with wine and experiences that they can raffle off, and the donations go directly to them. It gives them a platform and a space unencumbered where they’re able to touch patrons in the area and open up conversations for future appointments, future direct donations, and future volunteer days.
WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT AT THE EVENTS?
An unforgettable experience. We fly chefs in from around the country – From Italy, from France, from Portugal. We had a whole culinary team from Peru come one year, and in the past, we’ve brought in the Chef to the Royal Family, the Chef to the White House, and the first 3-star Michelin chef from England. We aim for that caliber. On the wine side, we’ve welcomed George Tabor and the founders of Robert Mondavi. We’ve even reenacted the judgement of Paris tasting that changed wine and opened up the landscape of wine from around the world.
HOW DO YOU ADD ELEMENTS OF SUPRISE?
Other than the reenactment of the judgment of Paris tasting, we’ve had mix-your-own wine seminars and other sit down seminars. One of my favorite things we did was “The Mysteries of the Glass” when we worked with Waterford Crystal and the Robert Mondavi wine glass line. We did side by side tastings of white wines and red wines in event glasses and in varietal specific glasses. It’s shockingly different when you have it in the two different glasses – that's one of the geeky things I love about wine. Fun experiences like this help us create new benchmarks each year.
HOW DO YOU SELECT CHEFS FOR THE GRAND TASTING?
Sherri Seguri, our Culinary Director, identifies a mix that showcases local talent and chefs from other areas in Texas, as well as national and international chefs. She was a volunteer at Wine & Food Week her first several years, and now she’s part of the staff and has held the Culinary Director role since its inception. Along with a variety of chefs who have been nominated for James Beard Awards, featured on Chopped, or Best Chef, Sherri also brings in exclusive chefs for our guests, like the White House chef.
WHAT IS THE CHEF HALL OF FAME?
When Wine and Food Week was near the ten year mark, we decided that we wanted to create lifetime achievement awards. We call them "Chef Hall of Fame" inductees. We don't do it every year, only when someone hits a milestone - Either a lifetime achievement or a significant mark in the culinary landscape of the Greater Houston Region. These winners are usually local, because part of our commitment has always been to show the culinary treasures of this area.
We've inducted multiple people over the years, starting with Michael Cordua. We inducted him the first year, because he was selected as one of Food & Wine Magazine's Top 10 Chefs of America the first year they selected a Top 10. We've also inducted Chris Sheppard, who's won the James Beard award and travels around the country representing Houston's culinary landscape. Others include Carmelo Morrow (for his decades of service with the Texas Restaurant Association and his culinary programs in Texas Schools), Robert del Grande (Houston's first James Beard Award winner), Patricia Sharpe (the restaurant editor for Texas Monthly), and Cleverly Stone (founder of Houston Restaurant Weeks).
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE DIFFERENT WINE & FOOD WEEK EVENTS?
The Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting and Chef Showcase is an incredibly memorable experience. People will dress up for this event, and there's such amazing talent and energy in the room. The Ladies of the Vine tasting Luncheon and Panel Discussion is a more intimate event, which makes it unique. Guests get to learn the panelists' backstories about their personal walks with wine; how they became a winemaker, a winery owner, or even the founder of a charity.
Wine Around the World Wednesday is also incredible, giving guests a chance to travel to Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, and beyond. Attendees get a “passport” paddle and are paired with a tour guide that leads them to six different rooms, each one a different country, where they’ll get to taste food and wine from that country. Sips and Suds always makes for a great – and affordable – Friday night. Tickets are less than $50 and include craft beer, wine tastings, burgers, tacos, and a live artist performance. It’s hard to go out to dinner for less than $50, much less have craft beer and a cool artist experience.
It really depends on what you’d like to experience. Do you feel casual? Do you feel like you want to dress up and attend a really nice event? Maybe you want to try wines from all over the world. No matter what you’re in the mood for, we have something for you.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER CULINARY EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR?
Yes, we have the Platinum Wine Vault Ultra Collectors Tasting in September for the dedicated wine collectors, and the HEB Wine Walk at Market Street in October, where guests can enjoy wine tasting and light bites from local restaurants.
Come join us! Let us celebrate you and your wine and culinary journey. Our commitment is to raise a glass, share a laugh, meet a new friend, and take it all in. That’s how we build this community.
