Fred Dame is an American wine professional.
Dame was born in California and attended Washington and Lee University, earning a degree in journalism and communications.[2]
Dame in 1984 became a Master Sommelier, passing the exam in London before the United States had a court.[3] He was the first person to pass all three parts of the Master Sommelier examination on the first attempt, which is called "winning the Krug Cup".[4][2][5]
In 1986 he was co-founder of the Court of Master Sommeliers in the United States and was its first president.[3][1][6][7] He has been called "the godfather of the American sommelier community".[6][8] He appeared in the 2012 documentary about American sommelier candidates, SOMM.[9][10] In that documentary other Master Sommeliers described him as intimidating.[3]
In 2020, during the Me Too movement, Dame was accused by multiple female Master Sommeliers or former Master Sommelier candidates of sexual harassment and eventually expelled from the organization.[1][11][8][9]
References
- ^ a b c Moskin, Julia (2020-10-29). "The Wine World's Most Elite Circle Has a Sexual Harassment Problem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ a b Master Sommelier Frederick L. Dame Archived 2018-02-18 at the Wayback Machine San Diego Wine Classic
- ^ a b c "Somm". 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ Master Sommelier Fred Dame: Best Job In The World Archived 2022-05-25 at the Wayback Machine PAUL HODGINS, MARCH 23, 2016
- ^ The roast of master sommelier Fred Dame Archived 2018-02-18 at the Wayback Machine Jordan Winery, May 2014
- ^ a b Parente, Michelle (2020-01-02). "'Godfather of American sommeliers' Fred Dame pouring Daou wines at San Diego pairing dinner". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ "The Reign of Fred Dame | SevenFifty Daily". Beverly Hills Wine Club. 2019-10-28. Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ a b Southern, Keiran (2023-06-26). "Fred Dame, godfather of US wine, may be cast out 'for slapping women'". The Times of London. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ a b Mobley, Esther (2021-11-17). "Wine's most prestigious group moves to expel six master sommeliers after sexual misconduct investigation". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ Chang, Justin (2013-06-21). "Film Review: 'Somm'". Variety. Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ Lawati, Ning Sang (2021-11-19). "Court of Master Sommeliers expels six members over sexual harassment". Vino Joy News. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
This page was last edited on 7 September 2023, at 22:24