Wine, Labor, and Trade:

French Wine Industry Labor Conditions and US Trade Status

Monday, Oct. 19, 6:00 to 8:00 pm

In-person
La Maison Française at the Embassy of France
4101 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007

Join the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (DC LERA) and the Embassy of France for a co-sponsored evening of Wine, Labor, and Trade. Hosted at the embassy, the event features a curated tasting of iconic French wines guided by Annette Schiller, a wine educator with more than 3o years of experience. We will also engage in an insightful discussion on French vineyard labor conditions and transatlantic trade dynamics. The panel features Giuliano de Franchis, Social Affairs Adviser at the Embassy of France and former adviser to the French Minister of Labor specializing in economic analysis and social protection, alongside Ashlyn Holeyfield, Principal of Parapet Advisors and former U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Director for Trade Agreements Negotiations and Compliance.

The event will be held in the ballroom of La Maison Française, the cultural center of the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. Completed in 1985 on Reservoir Road NW, La Maison Française has built a reputation for exquisite hospitality and a diverse program of events since its creation. It regularly serves as a venue for cultural, diplomatic, and public events that bring together French and American audiences.

France is one of the world’s largest wine-producing countries. Its wines are the benchmark for many styles and quality. Winemakers everywhere measure their wines against French standards. Production is organized around “terroir”, the idea that soil, climate, and local tradition shape a wine’s character. French wines are usually named by place rather than grape.

During this tasting, we will discover wines from the six major French wine regions:

• Bordeaux: Known for structured red blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, plus sweet Sauternes. It is home to famous châteaux and a classification system dating to 1855.
• Burgundy: Focuses on single-grape wines: Pinot Noir for reds and Chardonnay for whites. Its tiny vineyard plots produce some of the world’s most prized and expensive wines.
• Champagne: The home of the world’s most famous sparkling wine, made by the traditional method with secondary fermentation in the bottle.
• Rhône Valley: Produces powerful single-variety Syrah-based reds in the northern Rhône and so-called GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) blends in the south.
• Loire Valley: Makes crisp, fresh wines such as Sauvignon Blanc (Sancerre), Chenin Blanc (Vouvray), and Cabernet Franc (Chinon).
• Alsace: Produces aromatic whites like Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris.
Others: Provence is famous for rosé, and Languedoc-Roussillon is the country’s largest source of value wines.

Please RSVP below if you can join us!

Speakers

Annette Schiller has been involved in wine for more than 30 years. A macroeconomist and event manager by training, she also took viticulture classes at the University of Mainz, Germany; the Community College in Wiesbaden; and the Geisenheim Enological School in Germany. For many years, she lived and worked in Germany and France, and her focus shifted to the wines of those countries.

Annette owns Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours. She is dedicated to wine education and organizes and moderates many wine tastings and wine-pairing dinners in the Washington, DC, area and other parts of the US. To deepen understanding of wine, she organizes and personally leads wine tours to French wine regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône, Alsace, and the Loire Valley; all thirteen wine regions in Germany; and the wine regions in Austria and Northern Italy.

You can learn more about Annette’s wine tours in her blog: Annette Schiller

Giuliano de Franchis is the Social Affairs Adviser (Conseiller pour les Affaires Sociales) at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. A Statisticien Économiste by training, he has spent his career in the French civil service, working across the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Social Affairs ministries in Paris, with a focus on economic analysis, labor policy, and social protection. He most recently served as social affairs adviser to the French Minister of Labor before joining the Embassy, where his portfolio now covers health diplomacy, U.S. labor market trends, family and solidarity policies.

Ashlyn Holeyfield

Ashlyn Holeyfield is Principal and Co-Founder of Parapet Advisors, a strategic trade policy advisory firm that combines technical expertise with practical guidance to help businesses understand how trade policies, regulatory requirements, and government processes affect their ability to compete in U.S. and international markets.

Previously, she served as Deputy Director for Trade Agreements Negotiations and Compliance (TANC) at the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration. In this role, Holeyfield advocated for U.S. business priorities in bilateral, multilateral, and plurilateral trade agreement negotiations. Additionally, she led a team of experts to address trade barriers and ensure compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Trade Facilitation, Customs Valuation, Import Licensing, Rules of Origin, and Government Procurement. She also facilitated the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Customs and Trade Facilitation (ITAC 13), a formal private sector policy feedback mechanism jointly managed by Commerce and the United States Trade Representative.

Holeyfield holds a Master of Public Policy Degree from American University in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations from Hendrix College in Conway, AR.

Registration and Cost

Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for non-members, and $10 for students. To register, please submit your booking below.

Your ticket covers the cost of the 6 wines we will taste, and the hors d’oeuvres catered by the embassy.

**Must be at least 21 years old to attend**

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Bookings

Bookings are closed for this event.