Famous honorary Presidents
Dagmar Ehrlich - Honorary president - 2025
After several internships in viticulture in Germany and abroad, as well as training as a consultant sommelier at the Université du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse, I completed my studies in viticulture and oenology at the prestigious University of Geisenheim. In 1981, I founded Ehrlich's Weinkontor, a wine import and sales company with a bistro in Karlsruhe, which quickly became a popular meeting place for gourmets and wine lovers.After selling this business in 1988, I joined the management of Hawesko, Germany's largest mail-order wine retailer. Then, in 1991, I was asked to oversee the monthly wine tastings for Feinschmecker magazine, before taking over the wine section of Wein Gourmet magazine a short while later. My list of the ‘100 best wines available in the world’ caught the attention of gourmets from around the globe.I enjoy organising trips and events for the readers of Feinschmecker as well as for the Jaguar Club Deutschland and Promo Golf Européen.I also write for well-known publications such as Spiegel, Handelsblatt and international trade press, and have published best-selling books with Gräfer und Unzer and Hallwag Verlag.I dish out all my secrets on food and wine combinations in my latest book, Rezepte für mehr Weingenuss (Recipes for better wine enjoyment), published by Becker Joest Volk.Throughout my career, I have never lost sight of my goal which is to enhance the quality of wines in harmony with nature. As such, I am very optimistic about the current trend towards a more holistic view of wine and food. This necessary change is also conducive to new tasting pleasures, which I find very exciting. I put my commitment to ecological viticulture to good use in my role as director of the EcoWinner competition in Germany and in the development of the Büsum gastronomic region. I'm also involved in gastronomic projects in Ærø, a Danish island, as well as a number of other exciting projects in Scandinavia and northern Germany.
Denise Cézanne-Güttich - Honorary president - 2024
Denise Cézanne-Güttich launched an online magazine for epicureans in2012: www.tuttiisensi.de. She has been a member of Slow Food, founded the Slow Food convivium in Düsseldorf in 1987, is an art and wine lover and is passionate about gastronomy and travel. After trips overseas and training to become a foreign language correspondent and economic interpreter, she headed up advertising and marketing in international companies and worked as a media consultant for numerous trade and consumer magazines.
Stefanie Herbst - Honorary president - 2023
1st chairwoman of the Vinissima network
Stefanie Herbst is a wine-maker and oenologist. A native of the Rhineland-Palatinate state, Stefanie participates in national and international tastings as a wine expert and sommelier, and also provides wine-related advice to the restaurant and catering sector.
She has been at the helm of VINISSIMA since 2022. This professional network of wine experts was created in 1991 to encourage exchanges between women working in the wine sector and the ongoing professional training of its members. Another of VINISSIMA’s goals is to provide for the future of women in the wine industry. The network now has 600 members representing all the professions of the wine world: there are women wine-makers, oenologists, scientists, wine merchants, specialists in gastronomy, sommeliers, journalists, wine marketing experts, etc. The Vinissima network puts all its savoir-faire and passion to work in representing the interests of women at all levels in the wine world.
Elena Hart - Honorary president - 2022
Menus at ENTE, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Nassauer Hof hotel in Wiesbaden, are resolutely creative and original. Elena Hart, sommelier there since August 2016, helps you select the best wines from the restaurant’s famous wine cellar.
With more than 600 bottles of wine from which to choose, Elena takes you on a marvellous trip to the heart of ENTE’s finest wines. Take advantage of her know-how, let her guide you in choosing the wines that best suit the menu you have selected.
Elena has been advising diners in their wine choices since 2016 and her expertise is clear. She always knows which wine is best for each palate. Elena Hart has a wealth of experience despite her young age, and she plays an important role in this gourmet restaurant: she tastes and selects each wine with the greatest care, and that is what makes a visit to ENTE in Wiesbaden such a unique tasting experience.
Winnie Mok - Honorary president - 2021
After obtaining her diploma in 2009, Winnie Mok began her career as head sommelier on the MS Deutschland, and then earned her stripes in Frankfurt with 8 years of experience as a sommelier at Zenzakan restaurant (Mook group). From 2017 to 2020, she was the manager and sommelier for the Philipp Soldan gourmet restaurant (1 Michelin star) at the Die Sonne hotel in Frankenberg.Since October 2020, Winnie Mok has been the Restaurant Manager and Sommelier at the Retters Restaurant in the Romantik Schlosshotel Rettershof hotel in Kelkheim, near Frankfurt.“I practically grew up in the world of gastronomy, and over time I became more and more interested in wine. So I decided to make it my career! As honorary president, I am anxious to make the ‘women and wine’ theme better known in a field that is still considered very masculine”, enthuses Winnie Mok.Naturally, the Women’s International Trophy was delighted to confer its first honorary presidency on a woman who has turned her passion for wine into such a successful career!