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Peter Marks, Master of Wine, on Fantastic AmaWaterways Wine River Cruise from Paris to Normandy: There are only 41 Masters of Wine in North America and Peter Marks, based in Napa Valley, is one of them. He hosted an AmaWaterways Wine River Cruise from Paris to Normandy on the Seine River and had an absolutely fabulous time. His wine, who has traveled extensively, told him it was her third favorite vacation, the honeymoon and a trip to San Francisco Giants spring training being the other two. Marks found it so nice that one just gets off the ship and steps into the middle of town, with nice restaurants, open markets and more just waiting to be patronized. Marks always enjoys educating people about wine and the passengers on board were eager to learn about wine, food and travel. AmaWaterways provides luxurious accommodations on the ship, five star cuisine with the chefs more than willing to create special dishes for the wine seminars, multiple level shore excursions, arranged tours of local vineyards on wine river cruses, nightly entertainment, free flowing champagne at breakfast, beer and wine at lunch at dinner and buffet style or sit down meals. a personal dining area that every guest can access during their cruise and much more. Wine experts like Peter Marks, who is an exceptional one, have two things they say all the time to those learning about wine; 1) Local wines should be consumed with local foods, especially in areas like Europe, because they have been evolving together for hundreds if not thousands of years; 2) Drink wines that suite your tastes and not wines that some expert, or supposed expert, tells you is the wine to drink. Personal preference is vital to enjoying wines. About Peter Marks, Master of Wine: Peter Marks is one of only 24 Masters of Wine residing in the U.S. In 1995, he passed the rigorous MW exam and became the first American to garner the Madame Bollinger Foundation Award which is bestowed to the MW candidate with the highest tasting score. Peter graduated from UC Davis in 1976 with a BS degree with highest honors in Food Service Management and became interested in wine while attending a number of viticulture and enology classes. Since entering the wine trade in 1981, he has held the positions of Director of Wine at the upscale Draeger’s Supermarkets in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chief Wine Merchant at the on-line wine retailer Wine.com, and Senior Vice President of Wine at COPIA, the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts. Peter is also a member of the Society of Wine Educators; Education Coordinator for the Institute of Masters of Wine tasting exam in the US; is on the Board of Directors of the Napa Valley Wine Library and judges many international wine competitions. For more about AmaWaterways go to www.AmaWaterways.com