LAKE BLUFF, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bill Terlato of family-owned Terlato Wines joins a small group of chefs and food personalities who will pick the winner of this season’s Top Chef All-Stars competition on the Primetime Emmy Award-winning Bravo series Top Chef. The Terlato Wines Chief Executive will appear as a guest judge alongside Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, head judge Tom Colicchio, judge Gail Simmons and chefs Hubert Keller and Lidia Bastianich when the episode airs on Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
Terlato and his judging partners will lend their opinions and expertise to determine the winning chef among the last two remaining “chef-‘testants,” based on incredible meals that will include dishes paired with wines from the Terlato portfolio.
Terlato is a natural for the role given his knowledge of food preparation and gastronomy. “It’s an honor to be able to offer viewpoints on the work of talented chefs, and to do it with restaurateurs I have respected and admired for years,” Terlato said. “Having our wines play an integral part in the finale, however, is especially gratifying because the marriage of exceptional wines and fine dining has been one of our family’s passions for decades.”
This is not the first appearance on Top Chef for the Terlato family and Terlato wines. Last summer, Bill and his brother, John, were on the “Restaurant Wars” episode of Top Chef Season 7, and the winner of that night’s competition was awarded an autographed 3-liter bottle of Terlato Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and a trip for two to visit the Terlato family's vineyards in Napa Valley.
In Season 6, large portions of the tense, two-part Top Chef finale were filmed at the Terlato-owned Chimney Rock and Rutherford Hill wineries in Napa. At that time, Bill became the first wine company executive to appear as a guest judge, while his father, Tony Terlato, the Founder and Chairman of Terlato Wines, hosted a wine tasting for four finalists in the historic caves of his Rutherford Hill Winery.
Bravo Media and Terlato Wines have partnered to create the “Quickfire” wine brand named for Top Chef’s exciting Quickfire challenge; the collection includes Quickfire Sauvignon Blanc, Quickfire Pinot Gris, Quickfire Zinfandel, Quickfire Pinot Noir, Quickfire Chardonnay and Quickfire Cabernet Sauvignon.
This year’s All-Stars finale was filmed in the Bahamas.
Terlato Wines International has a global portfolio of more than 50 brands from a host of world class wine producers and presently markets more than one out of eight bottles of wine over $14 sold in America. Terlato, with more 90+ ratings than any wine company in the world, is the flagship company of the Terlato Wine Group, the parent company of several independent businesses specializing in the marketing and production of exceptional wines. Owned and operated by the Terlato family, the Group also includes the family’s winery investments and partnerships in some of the world’s most esteemed wine regions, including: Napa Valley; Sonoma County; Santa Barbara County; Victoria, Australia; the Rhône Valley in France; and Montalcino, Italy.
The Terlato Wines International portfolio of brands includes: Napa Valley: Brandlin, Chimney Rock, Cuvaison Estate Wines, EPISODE, Galaxy, Jack Nicklaus Wines, Luke Donald Collection, Markham Vineyards, Quickfire, Rutherford Hill, Tangley Oaks, Terlato Family Vineyards; Sonoma County: Alderbrook, Giarrusso, Hanna, Hideaway Creek, Rochioli, The Federalist and Terlato Family Vineyards; Santa Barbara County: Sanford and Tangley Oaks; California Appellation: Glass Mountain, Greystone Cellars and Seven Daughters; Oregon: Sokol Blosser; Italy: Ca’ Marcanda (Gaja Toscana), Florio Martinez Marsala, Gaja, Il Poggione, Kettmeir, MAZZONI (Toscana), Santa Margherita, Tiramisú, Torresella and Distillatori Nonino (Grappa); France: Champagne Bollinger, M. Chapoutier, Domaine Chanson, Josmeyer, Langlois-Chateau and Mischief and Mayhem; Australia: Domaine Terlato & Chapoutier, The Lucky Country and Two Hands; Argentina: Tamari; Canada: Peller Estates Icewine; Greece: Boutari; Mediterranean: Elios; New Zealand: Wairau River; South Africa: Anthonij Rupert, Ernie Els Wines, Guardian Peak and Rust En Vrede; Spain: Olvena; Japan: Shimizu-no-mai Sake.