Patrick Alexander
LOVER of WINE & WORDS

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Born in England, Patrick Alexander studied philosophy at Sussex University before joining Price Waterhouse & Co. as a chartered accountant in the City of London. He moved to France where he married and raised his children. After a decade as an international tax consultant based in Europe, Patrick and his family moved to America where he worked as international business director for two different software corporations and finally was hired as Director of Professional Advancement at the University of Miami.

WINE:  Patrick moved to S.W. France in his early 20s and raised his family in the Bordeaux wine country of SW France, the Piedmont wine country on the Swiss/ Italian border, and the wine country of northern California, before moving to South Florida - where there are no vineyards. As Director at the University of Miami he developed a popular wine appreciation program which was offered exclusively in the Faculty Lounge. For more than a dozen years, Patrick has offered the very popular six-week wine class at Books & Books and the Coral Gables Museum. Following the 2020 pandemic, Patrick switched his in-person classes to Zoom – some of which can be seen on YouTube. Wine In a Time of Cholera.

WORDS: 'Marcel Proust's Search For Lost Time' was published by Vintage Books in 2008 and was based on a year long course that Patrick had taught at the University of Miami.  Another book which was based on a program he first developed at UM was 'The Booklover's Guide to Wine'.  His latest book, ‘A Dance to Lost Time’ is a study comparing the novels of Marcel Proust with the novels of Anthony Powell and is due for release later in 2022, the centenary of Proust’s death. Other current projects include a History of South Florida, also due for release later this year.

Patrick’s fictional works include 'The Nigerian Letter' and also the Greenhaven Trilogy – three novels set in South Florida - "Death by Water", "Death on the Eighth”, and "Dead Naked".

Press Reviews:  Click here to see a selection of Press Reviews

 Coral Gables Museum: In addition to his six-week wine classes, Patrick also offers occasional one-night introductory wine classes to reflect exhibits in the Museum. For example, an exhibit of rare historic Spanish maps of the exploration of Florida anchored a class on Spanish sherry. Other classes have focused on Coral Gable's Sister Cities, examining their history, culture and of course the local food and wines. Past classes include:

 "Granada and the Wines of Spain"

"Aix-en-Provence and the wines of the Rhone Valley"

"Cartagena and the Spirits of Colombia"

"Pisa and the Wines of Tuscany" 

"Quebec and the ice-wines of Canada"

"Curitiba and the wines of Brazil"

 Ruth's Chris: Patrick hosts the occasional wine-pairing dinner at the Coral Gables Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, also on Aragon Avenue. A recent dinner featured a Grand Tour of Europe, sampling the local wines and food of France's Loire Valley, Spain's Rioja region, Italy's Tuscany province and concluding with desert in the Mosel Valley of Germany.

 Historic Tours: Patrick offers historic tours of Coral Gables for the Coral Gables Museum and also tours of the historic Biltmore Hotel for Dade Heritage Trust.

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