Registration Advisory: Please read through the complete program description before registering. This series includes wine tasting kits as part of its registration price that must be picked up in Washington, DC.
Note: These programs can be purchased separately. Registration for this series will end by 9 a.m. ET on Friday, July 18, 2025.
Spend three fascinating evenings expanding your knowledge of wine as you travel the world with sommelier Erik Segelbaum in a series of delectable wine-tasting adventures. Each immersive program includes a curated personal tasting kit to enhance the experience.
July 18 Spain on the Brain
Spain’s history is deeply complicated and inexorably linked to wine. Its infrastructure was essentially started by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C.E. With them came a large investment in wine with records of some 20 million amphorae consumed each year. As a gastronomic culture, no Spanish table is complete without wine. Today, Spain boasts over 70 demarcated wine regions. Its dramatic and diverse geography, marked by soaring mountains and long rivers make Spain a truly amazing place for wine. From fresh bright coastal wines to intense wines from inland regions to unique fortified wines, Spain truly has something for every palate and every plate.
August 15 Sensational Sicily
Forged from fire, the volcanic island of Sicily is home to world-class wines. Whether robust flavors from the slopes of the still very active Mount Etna or the fresh bright wine from coastal and inland vineyards, Sicily has something for everyone. It is here that indigenous and international grape varieties abound.
Sicily’s reputation as a food and wine paradise has remained intact for more than 3,000 years. Beginning with the Greeks in the 8th century B.C.E. and continuing with the Phoenicians and Romans, the best vines were propagated, viticulture developed, and Sicilian wines were promoted on and off the island. Today, we see, and taste, the fruits of these labors.
Though many things have changed, most of Sicily’s indigenous grape varieties and time-honored winegrowing traditions continue to play an important role. Sicilian wines feature the medley of flavors that the country has been known for since ancient times and that represent some of the best wines of Italy and the world.
September 12 The Ancient World: Israeli Wines Explored
Archeological and genetic evidence proves Israel as the birthplace of wine, with over 11,000 years of viticultural history. With ancient roots, Israel is the only place in the world where wines are still being produced from the same biblical-era grapes used to make those that Moses and Jesus drank. The modern Israeli wine industry owes its revitalization to the Baron Edmond de Rothschild, of the famous first growth Bordeaux-Château Lafite Rothschild, who started a winery in Israel in the late 1800s. While geopolitically the Middle East, climatically Israel is the eastern Mediterranean. It is here where grapevines thrive and wines of every conceivable style reach their apex. In fact, many of the most significant viticultural and agricultural inventions come from here, including drip irrigation. This delicious tasting explores the full range of Israeli wines, including rare indigenous varieties from the biblical era. It’s perfect for any lover of wine and history.
3 sessions
Note: View a list of programs with Erik Segelbaum.
Wine Tasting Kit Information
- The cost includes curated personal tasting kits with enough wine for one person to sample the full lineup of wines.
- Additional participants must register individually to receive their own tasting kits, which is an essential component of the series.
- Each session will have separate kits available during two scheduled pick-up times the day before the program and the day of the program, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., at the Shilling Canning Company (360 Water Street SE, Washington, DC; Metro: Navy Yard-Ballpark station, Green line).
- NOTE: Patrons will receive additional wine tasting kit pick-up information by email prior to the program.
- Due to state and federal laws, Smithsonian Associates cannot ship wine kits. However, SOMLYAY may be able to provide kits to participants outside the Washington, D.C., area (who must cover shipping costs). Please contact erik4wine@gmail.com for more information.
About Erik Segelbaum
Erik Segelbaum is a Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 Tastemaker for 2020 and Food & Wine magazine’s 2019 Sommelier of the Year. He holds the designation of Advanced Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, one of fewer than 600 specialists in the world who hold this level of certification. Segelbaum is the former corporate wine and beverage director for Starr Restaurants, a wine journalist and educator, and chief vinnovation officer of SOMLYAY hospitality and private events consultancy.
General Information
