Wine Women on Radio Misfits: Recent Episodes
Wine Women, Radio Misfits
Recorded weekly at The Panel Wine Lounge in Sonoma, California, WINE WOMEN Radio features members of the nonprofit, professional organization that’s focused on providing the tools, guidance and creativity for its members to attain wine industry prominence.
Continuing our holiday entertaining theme, part two of our show with Erica Timmerman focuses on two appetizers and how well they pair with each of the sparkling wines Erica shares. (For a bit of background, listen to part one of the show where Erica shared an artichoke dip recipe here.)
First up is a delicious salmon “salad” appetizer. Tune in to hear Erica’s comments about how well salmon pairs with various sparkling wines – especially with brut rosés. One of her go-to ingredients for pairing with sparkling wines is salmon, and we couldn’t agree more. The recipe (below) she shared was handed down from the Russian aristocracy and is, in fact, at least one hundred years old. We also noted this dish goes great with still rosés and other high acid white wines. SALMON SALAD/APPETIZER By Anya von Bremzen Serves: 4 or more
WHISK TOGETHER DRESSING 4 Tbsp. olive oil 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 Tbsp. Sherry vinegar 1.5 tsp. Dijon mustard Salt and freshly ground pepper SALAD INGREDIENTS 3-4 medium boiled, cooked, peeled, diced new potatoes 8 oz. cold smoked salmon, diced 1 to 1.5 Tbsp. diced red onion 1 to 1.5 Tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained 1/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives 1.5 Tbsp. minced fresh dill
Gently toss the ingredients together. Add enough dressing to evenly coat the salad being careful not to over mix. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve with lettuce cups (which we didn’t have during the show, so we went without).
Lastly, Erica wanted to compare the relatively young sparklers from the first show, Val de Mer Brut Non-Dose and Domaine Carneros 2017 Brut Rose, with the to-die for Domaine Carneros Le Reve 2009 Blanc de Blanc. Creamy, lemon-y, with loads of bread dough notes integrated fully into the flavor profile, Erica brought out her big guns dip to pair with this decade-plus vintage bottle: a delicate and elegant caviar dip, that hit just the right notes with the wine. CAVIAR DIP By Ina Garten Makes approx. 1 pint
INGREDIENTS 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly minced dill, plus sprigs for garnish
1 scallion, minced (white and green parts)
1 tablespoon milk, half-and-half, or cream
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
100 grams good salmon roe DIRECTIONS In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese until smooth. With the mixer on medium speed, add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, scallion, milk, salt, and pepper. With a rubber spatula, fold in 3/4 of the salmon roe. Spoon the dip into a bowl and garnish with the remaining salmon roe and sprigs of fresh dill.
Serve with chips, toasts, or crackers.
Erica used whipped cream cheese and creme fraiche instead of the sour cream. She also usually leaves out the milk. Chives can be substituted for the green onion. And she added some grated lemon peel.
What a way to finish the year! We can’t thank Erica enough for her extensive food and wine pairing tips and bringing so many wonderful wines and appetizers to sample them with. Listen in to hear everyone’s reactions to which wines paired best with each dish and try them at home for your celebrations. Cheers!
We’re winding up the year and the season with two shows featuring guest Erica Timmerman. This is a bit of a departure for WWRH as Erica doesn’t work in the wine or hospitality industries, but you’d never know it from her deep knowledge of wine and food pairing, along with her myriad tips for entertaining and making guests feel great.
She says she buys a lot of wine because she loves to share it with friends. (We should all have such friends!) When asked what her go-to wines are for celebrating the season and entertaining with friends, she didn’t hesitate: sparkling wine. Thus, she brought not one, but three sparklers to compare, along with some delicious appetizers to pair with them.
Sitting in for M.I.A. cohosts, Misty Roudebush and Lisa Adams Walter, were avid wine drinkers, Kim Martin and Marlys White, both of whom enthusiastically gave everything a try and had plenty of smart questions for our guest.
When asked what her go-to food pairing is with sparkling wine, Erica didn’t hesitate. It was a fast “Dungeness Crab!” reply. Lucky for us in the San Francisco Bay Area that season is just getting underway… Tune in to hear all the crab dishes Erica prepares during the season.
Kicking off the festivities, Erica offered up the Domaine Carneros 2017 Brut Rose, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Flavor notes included fruity, citrus, grapefruit, strawberries, sweetness and a bit of dough. It was delicious all around.
We wondered how Erica learned food and wine pairing, to which she replied it was just innate because she’s Italian. Lol. Works for us! She did cite that she likes to go daring with her food and wine pairings. And often she will taste a wine and immediately begin thinking about what food dishes it would pair with best. (It helps that she’s a chef!)
We got the benefit of her expertise when she shared a Hot Artichoke Dip appetizer with everyone:
Ingredients
8 oz block cream cheese (reg)
1 Cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise (reg)
1 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
4 oz can Mild Diced Green Chiles
12 oz Jar (or 2 - 7.5 oz jars) of Marinated Artichoke Hearts
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain artichoke hearts, leaving a tiny bit of marinade behind. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Pour into baking dish and bake on middle rack for approximately 30 minutes, until bubbling and starting to turn golden brown. Remove and serve with tortilla chips, baguette, crackers, whatever you like…
When tasted with the second wine, Val de Mer Brut Non-Dose, it proved an excellent match. (You’ll have to listen in to hear Erica’s explanation of why the artichoke dip was better paired with the Val de Mer than the Brut Rose.) This Chardonnay-based crémant was bright, refreshing, with a completely different flavor profile, featuring green apples, a touch of caramel and far more dough or brioche notes than the previous wine.
Paired with the artichoke dip, and what Erica referred to as the “secret ingredient,” the Val de Mer showed why it’s a go-to sparkling wine for any season. (Oh, and that “secret ingredient”? Listen carefully to what Erica thought made the dip stand out above the usual, mayo-based hot artichoke dips!
As for the other wines and appetizers? Stay tuned for part 2 of our show with Erica next week, when we’ll taste and pair more sparkling wine and deeee-licious appetizers you can try at home.
The celebration continued into our 101st podcast, with guest Chef Lauren Kershner. In part 1 of our interview with her, we talked extensively about the origins of her new endeavor, Songbird Parlour, in Glen Ellen, California. In the second part, we turned to her holiday hospitality tips and business advice.
Among Chef Lauren’s recommendations during the show were dialing up your holiday parties by offering gourmet cheeses to guests and not just the usual cheese log fare. Co-host Lisa Adams Walter responded that great cheeses were one of her three vices (one of the others is yummy Sauvignon Blanc).
Turning to challenges facing any catering and hospitality business, we asked Chef Lauren about what issues she’d been facing recently. And surprisingly to the hosts, it was the lack of heirloom tomatoes. (Evidently the season had been too short for them to get to market.) Chef Lauren mentioned climate change is affecting the supply of ingredients available to her and her staff. That means she has to be more general in her menu descriptions, which gives her the freedom to substitute when ingredients either aren’t available or bring in special ingredients that wouldn’t otherwise have been available to her.
When she was first getting started, she didn’t have a fixed menu and was regularly reinventing the catering wheel (per se) for each client. She soon learned it was a better business practice for her to set her menus. With them in place, she then could offer clients variations or substitutes as availability and seasonality necessitated.
The cohosts wondered how Chef Lauren, as a young graduate (at 19 y.o.) of Le Cordon Bleu, learned about food and wining pairing. Tune in to hear Lauren’s answer. But suffice it to say that her time in wine country has afforded her the opportunities in the past decade to hone her skills in balancing flavor weight, fats, acids and more.
Under her Goodness Gracious Private Chef & Catering company, Chef Lauren offers a number of different catering packages. Most popular are the private chef experiences, often requested by those visiting the region in AirBnBs. She mentioned that she designed her various offerings based upon how she would like to experience wine country if she was visiting from elsewhere. That includes maintaining healthy eating habits and exercise. One of the other popular experiences she offers is a yoga and champagne brunch experience, where the yoga instructor arrives on site to take guests through a class before sitting down to a stellar brunch with a wine country view.
Next, the cohosts turned to the food and wine pairing, featuring Ferren Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast. Lisa noted their wines were sold entirely by allocation. The bottle she brought was stunning with a classic, cool-climate tasting profile, including notes of fresh cherry. Lauren explained her pairing strategy, as she said pinots are versatile to pair food with.
Her method? Switch up the smooth, fruit flavor profile of the wine with spice. She preferred pork over beef or lamb. She crafted bites made from chorizo sausage base with orange gastrique, topped with microgreens – a combination none of the hosts would have come up with (which is why Chef Lauren is the gourmet professional)! This paired beautifully with the Ferren Pinot Noir. But wait! There’s more…
In contrast to the spicy charcuterie and citrus bites, Chef Lauren also prepared bites of brie topped with brandied cherries and pinot noir-infused sea salt. While very much a flavor opposite to the spicy meat and citrus bites, the fat in the brie, along with the brandied cherry, made for a wholly different, but very dynamic and delicious pairing.
Munching away on these goodies, the hosts wanted to know more about Chef Lauren’s career and observations about success. Having not only survived but thrived and expanded her business during the pandemic, to what did she attribute her success? Unsurprisingly,
We were thrilled when Chef Lauren Kershner agreed to help us celebrate our 100th podcast. Chef Lauren, founder and culinary director of Goodness Gracious Private Chef & Catering in Sonoma, had been searching for the right facilities for some time to serve her team’s expanded catering needs. Additionally, she’d been wanting to offer her own venue for private events and parties.
These dual goals neatly intertwined and became available in one space within Glen Ellen’s Jack London Village. Built in 1839 (with the sawmill General Vallejo constructed at the confluence of the Asbury and Sonoma Creeks to process locally harvested redwoods), the property was converted into a gristmill nearly two decades later, then a winery and distillery. It was replaced in the 1940’s with the current building. Here, Lauren could envision a home for her growing team of chefs and catering managers, as well as building out the space as a private events venue. Songbird Parlour was born!
In their new space (that just opened) guests can experience a glimpse into a bygone era, when the social elite would gather in salons to tell stories and discuss art and culture. Designed to evoke your senses with modern and global food, art and music, and inspiration from around the world, this modern Victorian event parlour and dining experience has been reimagined for the twenty-first century.
But we’re getting ahead of our story! What were some of the hosts’ favorite shows in the past 100 podcasts? Hint: you’ll have to tune in to hear what made the biggest impressions on them. What were common threads they heard from multiple guests over the last three years? Endless curiosity was a recurrent theme, according to co-host Misty Roudebush Cain. And there were several other memories recounted about past guests…
To celebrate the occasion, the hosts popped the cork on a bottle of Perrier Jouet Blason Rosé Champagne, a sparkling wine that came highly recommended by guest and sommelier Simone F.M. Spinner. Chef Lauren, who was trained in classical French technique at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy in Portland, Oregon, prepared two delightful bites that paired perfectly with the bubbly wine. One featured a cheese slice topped with nuts, fruit and a sweet topping. The other was a slightly sweet but oh-so-light dessert olive oil cake.
While tasting away, enjoying the plush, deep velvet chairs and divan in a corner of the parlour, Lauren filled us in on her background. Originally from Mendocino, she became hooked on travel while studying at the culinary academy. She incorporates dishes she’s enjoyed during her travels into her repertoire and is the go-to chef for true, internationally-inspired Wine Country cuisine. She specializes in Mediterranean and French fare and is currently fascinated with Middle Eastern cuisine. Her Persian mezah, kookoo, and dill salmon dinner are a must-try!
Songbird Parlour began as a dream during the pandemic when the restaurant and food industry had been brought to their knees. Yet, Lauren’s catering business acumen helped the company thrive during the downturn in traditional dining.
As we wound up part one of our show with her, she divulged some of her secrets: She felt the need was there for alternative venues. Winemakers and wineries without tasting rooms could rent her space for winemaker dinners and release parties. Visitors to wine country who may be celebrating milestone events, such as birthdays and anniversaries, can hold intimate dinner parties where they can indulge and enjoy life to its fullest. Let food and wine be the center of memories and let conversation guide the night. And tune in to part two next week!
To join the celebration, or learn more about Songbird Parlour, playback the 100th show (with a celebratory glass in hand).
Songbird Parlour | Goodness Gracious Catering | @GoodGraciousEats | @SongbirdParlour
Kari Auringer, winemaker at Cornerstone Cellars, continued to regale us with her wonderful wines and tales in the second part of our conversation with her at their newly opened tasting room in Yountville, California. In the first show, Kari tasted us through Cornerstone’s sauvignon blanc, rosé and pinot noir, three wines from their Taste of Cornerstone experience. In this second half, she tasted us through their merlot, two cabernet sauvignons and a cabernet franc, all of which kept delivering the most delightful flavors and aromas.
It's all “location, location, location” when it comes to sourcing grapes for great wines. In this episode, Kari started us off with the Merlot, Oakville Station. As she explained, Cornerstone has about an acre of Merlot that was once part of the famed To Kalon vineyard. Here, she is able to visit the vineyard throughout the growing season to check on progress of the three wines she makes from blocks all nestled together. Featuring melt-in-your-mouth flavor integration, this was yet another wine that could go with most dishes on any Thanksgiving table.
During the tasting, we once again experimented with Cornerstone’s current “nut and wine” pairing, noting a bit of cheddar flavor in the salted almonds went well with the Merlot. In fact, different nuts went well with the wines in the Cornerstone portfolio, as we began trying them during the first show. (Cornerstone is waiting upon final permit approval to add their menu of wine and food pairings to the tasting experiences offered to the public. Stay tuned!)
Next, Kari poured the Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville Station, a signature grape for Cornerstone and this plot of land on the Napa Valley floor. While the hosts savored the marriage of flavors in the wine, Kari explained her process for visiting vineyards multiple times throughout the growing season to gauge the progress of each location. With her extended visits, she is better able to make adjustments in vineyard management and determine optimal ripeness for harvest.
At this point in the proceedings, we jumped to their deluxe tasting experience, sampling Kari’s Cabernet Franc, also grown “across the aisle” from the Merlot at Oakville Station. Here was a cab franc grown and harvested in optimal conditions–no pyrazine aromas or flavors poking out like getting elbowed in the ribs–just pure fruit flavors! And while this wine would certainly be enjoyable at Thanksgiving, Marcia thought it might make a great pairing with Chicken Molé, with its layered chocolate notes.
While enjoying the array of Cornerstone’s reds, the hosts discussed the challenges Kari faces: One was the general desire of Napa Valley growers to replant to Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa’s most famous grape. It commands the highest dollar per acre. But Kari expressed hope for maintaining diversity in the Napa vineyards she sources from. We also hit upon the unique label design that makes Cornerstone Cellars’ bottles so easy to spot among hundreds of wines on a shelf. Listen in to hear the story of how it developed.
With Kari’s unique background in marketing before she went into the wine business, we thought she was uniquely qualified to tell us about the goals and challenges she faces not only as a winemaker but also for the Cornerstone brand. Few have this unique background to bring perspective to both halves of the equation. This discussion and Q&A section of the conversation led to some keen insights on her success:
Kari stressed the importance of building strong relationships, as well as trusting them enough to feel comfortable asking for what you need. In fact, she cited her continued outreach, asking for specific introductions and connections as the primary reason she was able to work with Celia Welch. When Celia’s name came through on Kari’s caller ID, she thought it was a mistake. But it wasn’t! And this led to more connections (not to mention a fabulous work opportunity).
Bright, airy, and elegant, with Carrera marble tables and wine bar, and a black and white checkered floor, the new tasting room at Cornerstone Cellars in Yountville, California, was a welcoming respite from a busy workday. Kari Auringer, winemaker for well over a decade at Cornerstone, greeted the hosts with beautifully appointed tasting flights, featured as their signature wine tasting experience.
We settled into the luxurious, gray velvet armchairs to hear Kari’s latest news. (The tasting room only recently held its soft opening, with food service still to come with final permitting.) “You’re going to get to taste some of our best,” Kari intoned. You would never know from the room’s modern appointments we were sitting in an historic former train station, complete with beadboard walls and the old, sashed ticket window behind us, overlooking their outdoor seating area.
We couldn’t wait—not with five wine glasses, each with a generous pour ready for us to enjoy, sitting in front of us. Hence, we jumped right into Cornerstone’s offerings for guests. First up was the Sauvignon Blanc from Farina Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. The color of straw with aromas ranging from tropical to citrus and a bit of apple, it was the perfect wine to kick off our conversation. (We last spoke with Kari a few months ago about another wine venture of hers. Playback that show here.)
Tune in to learn how Kari sources from the best vineyards in Napa Valley, Sonoma and beyond, seeking out the best grapes grown for of each varietal wine she makes. We were a bit surprised (because the hosts are NOT winemakers) to learn it’s gotten a lot harder to find fabulous Sauvignon Blanc in Napa Valley.
Next, our conversation took a sideways turn. (No, not the movie, although it did come up later when we tasted Kari’s amazing Merlot, in part two of our show). The sideways turned out to be our impromptu wine and nut pairing. You’ll have to listen in for the longer version of the story, but the short version is that Cornerstone is currently pairing its wines during tasting experiences with a variety of nuts. You’ll be surprised to learn how well each of the wines pairs with specific tree nuts, given their unique flavor profiles.
The Corallina Rosé of Pinot Noir added yet another beautiful color to the palette on the table—pale salmon pink. Its classic, rose petal aromas gave way to the floral and fruity notes of a Provence-styled rosé. Layers upon layers of different flavor notes revealed themselves while we debated which Thanksgiving dishes it may pair best with. (Answer: There are no wrong answers if you like the pairing. But if you want to know how Kari pairs it, tune up the volume.…)
Did we mention Kari’s cooking show? Or, as she puts it, she talks about the wine while her husband, Jeff, does the cooking. Right now, you can catch Kari’s latest episode, Roasted Winter Vegetables for the Holidays, on Cornerstone’s YouTube channel. (Prepared for Cornerstone’s club members, the winery makes episodes available to the public soon after their club debut.)
Pinot Noir is the perennial favorite wine to be paired with Thanksgiving dishes. But as you’ll hear on the show, we all had much to say about their classic, Pinot Noir, sourced from Fiddlestix Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. The color. The aromas. The mouthfeel. And the combination of all of them put together. Kari’s leading comment, “It’s a fickle grape to grow and a fickle wine to make.” (This is why it takes an expert to handle this, um, “fickle” variety for best results.) We’d never know from tasting this wine that it might be a bit challenging at times for Kari…
She mentioned that there are a number of women winemakers and female up ‘n’ comers who work at the custom crush facility Cornerstone uses in Napa Valley. She noted how eager to learn the younger ones are about techniques, their variations (and when to apply them), and methodologies. She truly enjoys the camaraderie of being invit...
The hosts’ Thanksgiving wines show got off to a rousing start with a discussion about climate action. Twenty-two CEOs and senior leaders of the International Wineries for Climate Action just called on all wine trade CEOs to join their rigorous, science-based efforts to de-carbonise the wine sector—and begin working towards net zero emissions by 2050. In fact, they’re hoping to halve carbon emissions by 2030. It’s a tall order.
In parallel news, the hosts discussed Jason Haas’ (Tablas Creek Winery) rebuttal of W. Blake Gray’s article – Regenerative Disorder: Behind Wine's Latest Buzzword. Haas argues that regenerative organic certified agriculture is the farming you’ve been looking for.
Regenerative farming takes the soil health and biodiversity core of biodynamics (without its mystical origins) then adds the prohibition of chemical inputs and government oversight from organics and the focus on resource use, animal welfare, and farmworker equity from the best sustainability certifications. All in all, we’re seeing more news entreating members of the wine community to join in with their efforts to help abate the climate crisis.
The hosts then turned their attention towards Thanksgiving plans and recommendations. They noted that recent Thanksgiving wine pairings have run the gamut, from wine pairings with November horoscope zodiac signs, to pairing with Netflix movies.
What wines pair with Thanksgiving dinner? Of course there were plenty of traditional pairings offered during the show, such as Pinot Noir and Beaujolais Nouveau. (Under French law, Beaujolais Nouveau is released on the third Thursday of every November at 12:01 am, just weeks after September's “vendage”, when grapes are harvested. And its release always coincides with American Thanksgiving celebrations.)
Here’s a quick summary of some of the hosts’ tips for a relaxing and joyful Thanksgiving celebration:
Planning and preparation are key for everyone’s enjoyment. Enlist family members to prep various dishes; and prepare as much in advance as possible (including the grocery shopping). Setup your table settings and decorations at least a day in advance. With so many using their fine china and tablecloths for but one or two major holidays a year, get them out, cleaned and displayed as early as possible so they can be visually enjoyed as long as possible. Lisa Adams Walter recommended involving children on holiday prep: Have them make hand drawings of turkeys and other decorations, such as placecards, written in their “kid” handwriting, so they feel they’ve contributed and family can admire their handiwork.
About the Thanksgiving wine:
Have several beverage choices available throughout the day. Guests and family are often in attendance for many hours during food prep as well as during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, football games, the Kennel Club show and other programs and movies. Include non-alcoholic drinks for teetotalers, including mocktails, soft drinks and other creative beverages. Decant older wines and those needing “air” time before consumption well in advance. Offer sparkling wine to everyone as a way to kick off festivities and bring them together over a shared beverage. Wine can be “leftovers” too. Don’t feel obligated to finish a bottle (or two) at the end of the day. Just as the Thanksgiving dishes often taste better as leftovers, once the flavors have had time to marry, wines can often taste even better on the second day.
As the show wound up, Misty Rodebush Cain offered a couple of great pairings: First, she recommends Mimolette French cheese as an excellent pairing with big red wines. As a hard cheese, its strong flavors pair well as an appetizer for those in need of nibbles ahead of the big meal. Last, Misty offered up a family recipe for dessert that she swears thrills her family year after year: Pecan Pie Recipe from Jane Cain 2 eggs, beaten
¾ c. sugar
2 T. flour
1 tsp vanilla
Valerie Fisch, a woman wearing many hats at the Pillsbury Wine Company in Cottonwood, Arizona, is very expressive. (See the pics!) The hosts loved hearing her stories, laced with fascinating observations. Since the Pillsbury tasting room is in Old Town Cottonwood, we were curious if they’d participated in the recent and nearby Sedona Wine Festival? (See our earlier show on the festival with Paula Woolsey.)
Valerie’s story about it was telling of the current state of the wine hospitality industry: Staffing was challenging. The festival was always so heavily attended they could count on overflow traffic to visit their tasting room to the north. Sure enough, even though they couldn’t participate in the festival directly this year, they had one of their best weekend’s ever, hosting a large number of guests in their own tasting room.
We wanted to know if Valerie grew up in a “wine family” or had been drawn to the industry for many years before landing a wine job. And as it turns out Valerie gave no thought to a wine career growing up in Southern California. But a family camping trip in 2014 changed everything. She and her family fell in love with the Verde Valley nearby. And wine accompanied the new fascination.
They moved to Cottonwood the same year, seeking out jobs in the wine industry. Both she and her husband were pointed in the direction of Pillsbury Wine Company.
No “dough boy,” Sam Pillsbury grew up far away in Auckland, New Zealand, and became a filmmaker and director, running his own documentary production company. Hollywood eventually called, prompting a move to the states. Then a taste from an amazing bottle of a 1997 Arizona Chardonnay blew him away. He had to investigate wine growing (and then wine making) in Arizona.
Following his documentary roots, a vast research project ensued: Enchanted with the Verde Valley and also the Sulphur Springs Valley near Wilcox in southeast Arizona (where he now grows the estate vegan wines for his brand at a 4,350 foot elevation), Sam Pillsbury’s first vintage was 2006. He’s been building his wine business ever since.
Valerie’s husband landed a wine job with Pillsbury before she joined the company. In 2014, Pillsbury’s wine club had 150 members. Valerie was brought on to organize and manage the club. Today it boasts more than 500 members, much of its growth no doubt attributable to Valerie’s infectious, bubbly personality and inquisitive nature. She’s since added on tasting room management duties to her work.
Valerie told the hosts she just fell in love with the people in the wine industry. She loves learning about wine and is endlessly curious and excited about it. (You’ll hear it in her voice telling stories on the show!)
Today, the Pillsbury wines have racked up impressive accolades, garnering 16 honors in the 2021 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, including Best of Class for their 2019 Malvasia; Double Golds for both their 2018 Grenache and Mourvedre; and three Golds for their 2018 Petite Sirah, Syrah, and 2019 Chardonnay.
Inquiring about their signature wine, Valerie immediately cited their very popular Wild Child Red, a co-fermentation of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, and Sangiovese, made in a Côte-Rôtie style. But there are many other Rhône style wines in the Pillsbury portfolio, made from Pinot Gris and Symphony (in white blends) to Shiraz. And, oh, yes, Arizona Chardonnay…
Returning to the subject of what Valerie sees in her crystal ball for the future and what she hopes to accomplish, she simply stated her focus was her customers visiting the Cottonwood tasting room. She wants them to feel like they’re getting an escape from everyday life, and the wine bar is their second home with cozy sofas and nooks. There, they can visit with their wine “family,” sharing their own stories and making memories.
The hosts’ list of wineries to visit in Arizona just keeps getting longer and more fascinating.
Like many, Michelle Rulmont arrived at a career in the wine industry unexpectedly. Having dabbled in teaching, and raising twins with husband Marc, Michelle found herself working as the sponsorship coordinator of the Red & White Ball in Sonoma one year, contacting wineries for donations. (The ball is a fundraiser for Sonoma Valley schools.)
She had never considered working in the wine industry at this point but was enchanted to find most wineries she contacted were very enthusiastic to support her and the ball with donations of wine. Their open-hearted nature and easy-going manner struck Michelle as refreshing.
When the Rulmonts got a Mercedes Sprinter several years ago, one of their twins suggested to Michelle that she get into the winery tour business using the van (like a friend of theirs was doing). And the more Michelle thought about it and discussed it with Marc and their friend, the more the idea appealed to them. La Belle Vie Tours was born!
Today, Marc and Michelle take turns driving up to seven tour guests at a time through the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. As they say, La Belle Vie Tours started over a glass of wine, as they love exploring local wineries while enjoying picnics with a glass of Zinfandel in their hometown.
The company name, of course, came from a sense that they feel so fortunate to live 'the good life' in the Sonoma Valley. They love to share the local secrets and what they love about wine country with their guests.
Michelle smartly realized they needed a unique hook to stand out from the many wine tour businesses in the North Bay. And she found it almost accidentally when queried about vegan wine opportunities. She realized no one was offering vegan wine tours and that many visitors would often turn to the one vegan in a group of visitors to say, “You pick where we go; we can go anywhere to be happy.” Thus, Michelle began querying winemakers about whether or not their offerings were vegan. And she compiled a list of vegan wine providers for her tours. (To learn more about vegan wines and food, visit barnivore.com.)
Realizing that many visitors fatigue of the “rinse and repeat” process of visiting one winery after another, Michelle also introduced another unique offering that has become a huge hit with her clients: a visit to Charlie’s Acres Farm Animal Sanctuary.
With well over one hundred forty rescued farm animals (that would have otherwise landed on someone’s dinner plate), the nonprofit sanctuary dedicated to the care of rescued farm animals offers Michelle’s tour guests an opportunity to get up close and personal with pigs, goats, cows and numerous other four-legged residents.
Now Michelle’s Vegan Wine Tours, with a stop to visit Charlie’s Acres, has been featured in United Airlines’ Hemispheres in-flight magazine. This has provided La Belle Vie Tours greater exposure and brought guests from as far away as Germany.
Besides this unique niche, the hosts asked Michelle about the keys to her success. She cited a number of things that all add up to La Belle Vie’s continued growth and success. First, Michelle says she loves the match-making aspect of her job, i.e. listening to what her clients are looking for in their custom tour. Many visitors are not vegan, but she says that doesn’t deter their interest in visiting Charlie’s nor does it make a difference to non-Vegans that the wine is vegan as long as it tastes fantastic and the experience is memorable.
Second, she’s inspired by her own clients and loves to see how happy they are while on the tour and admiring the beautiful surroundings. She says it drives her to seek out even more wonderful experiences for guests. Lastly, she said her partnerships with about a dozen wineries help her do a better job, and membership with organizations like Wine Country 2.0 provide resources to expand her offerings with other members. (Listen to our show with Alison Kilmer from earlier this year about Wine Country 2.0 here.)
Lauren Maldonado is such a breath of fresh air! Our latest guest is co-owner (with her husband) of The Art of Wine in Sedona, Arizona.
Our conversation with Lauren was so refreshing due to (at least) two proclivities that have served her well in life: First, she has boundless curiosity. It led her to Sedona and to the wine industry. (You’ll have to hear her story in the podcast to learn how infectious her curiosity really is.) Second, Lauren has dogged determination. While she never said (out loud) that she never gives up, you can tell it’s true from listening to her stories.
Lauren’s journey into wine started in 2012 when she settled in Sedona after touring the western states. She hadn’t planned a career in wine, but at each turn learning about wine, she was drawn to understanding more about it and working in the industry. In 2013, Lauren joined the team at Page Springs Cellars, outside of Sedona, serving in the tasting room, on events, and as a tour guide. She joined the vineyard crew and helped farm their vineyards for four years as the only female on the crew.
More recently, along with the other women of Page Springs Cellars, Lauren co-founded of Vin de Filles, which takes a specific wine from its birth in the vineyard through to its harvest, winemaking, and bottling, entirely by women. Not only did they oversee nurturing of the vines through winemaking production and marketing, but also the wine’s net profits will be donated to The Verde Valley Sanctuary, a local nonprofit organization that provides shelter and support for women who have survived domestic violence. (Listen to our podcast on Vin de Filles from earlier this summer.)
If that wasn’t enough, Lauren made a big leap this year from her work at Page Springs Cellars to co-ownership of Uptown Sedona’s premier wine bar and tasting room, The Art of Wine. Located within the Hyatt Pinon Pointe Shops, they offer over 40 Arizona, U.S. and international wines by-the-glass or for sampling. They also offer craft beers, local meads, seltzers, and non-alcoholic beverages. The shop portion of the wine bar includes a 300+ bottle selection as well as a growing selection of wine accessories and wine art.
As Lauren’s experience includes a background in graphic design, she gets to flex her artistic and creative muscles throughout The Art of Wine by curating their art selection and overseeing upgrades to the wine bar’s décor and promotional materials.
With a number of light fare options, wine flights, by-the-glass, and happy hour offerings with discounts, and the ability to ship wine, visitors have ample choices to enjoy great experiences at The Art of Wine. (They can even join the recently launched wine club, which offers more customization than we may have seen anywhere! It’s a great way to enjoy a bit of Sedona at home.)
We wondered what hadn’t Lauren tackled? What did she find challenging? And what would she advise others entering the industry? Her answers didn’t disappoint. (Listen in to get the fully story!) She told us she was particularly looking forward to expanding the wine bar and tasting room’s selection of art and accessories now that they had just leased the adjacent retail space. The expansion added 500 square feet to the facility.
The addition sounded like a necessity given what we were hearing about the visitor traffic to Sedona, which continues to grow at a good pace. Lauren cited the continuing traffic challenges Sedona faces. As more and more visitors arrive to commune with the red rocks, dark skies, award-winning restaurants, and nearby wineries, the more guests she meets from behind the wine bar. Thankfully, she says, they have very knowledgeable staff who are well-versed in the many wines they carry to assist their growing clientele.
As for the challenges she faces, Lauren cited the number one problem was insufficient hours in the day. (We couldn’t agree more!) While she said she finds all aspects of owning and growing her wine bus...
Shana Bull is the owner and digital strategist at her own digital marketing strategy agency in San Francisco’s East Bay. She is a lover of rosé, craft beer, and food adventures with her husband and redheaded (feisty) youngster. Shana works with wine, food, technology, consumer brands, marketing agencies and local businesses in the East Bay, Sonoma, Napa, Marin and San Francisco.
She’s been named one of North Bay Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Professionals in the North Bay area. Shana is also a freelance writer, producing articles on music, social media, marketing, wine, lifestyle, food and drinks for travel websites, SonomaCounty.com, Wine Country Moms Blog, Sonoma Magazine and wine industry publications.
We wanted to talk with Shana in part due to the recent revelations at Facebook. How did she feel about the whistleblower news about Facebook prioritizing profit over safety? How does or doesn’t it affect wineries on social media sites?
Her background includes social media marketing and advertising, strategic planning, content direction, public speaking, influencer marketing, consulting on best practices for social media marketing, community management, public relations, and event planning for everything from small wine events and large seminars, to large tweetups for hundreds. Bottom line: Shana’s got her pulse on the digital marketing world!
During the show, a number of topics came up of vital to importance to the hosts and listeners: The challenges mothers uniquely face when balancing personal and professional work lives. The added layer of perception when it comes to juggling the personal and professional on social media platforms and the audiences watching. (“Keeping up with Ms. Jones,” anyone?)
Shana also offered expert advice on how to balance the content of your social media channels with your audience: How often to ask for the sale? How much education and entertainment to offer? We also delved into management of emergency events on social platforms. (This might also be categorized as Reputation Management in some circumstances.) Shana’s advice in short: Be honest, be transparent. Don’t sweep problems under the rug, hoping they’ll go away.
Post-pandemic (for the most part), Shana now spends much of her efforts towards teaching clients how to be more successful on social media. She no longer creates content for clients’ social media channels.
Recently she added a whole new channel to her own portfolio of work: author. In fact, she is now co-author, with her son Ryeson, of two Randall the Blue Spider books. The first, Randall the Blue Spider Goes Surfing was an Amazon #1 Best Seller. The second, Randall the Blue Spider Plays Pretend, comes out late 2021. Shana’s own memoir will be making its debut in the near future…
Needless to say (but we are), Shana Bull leads a busy life, juggling many balls all at one time. (We even paused the recording mid-show to juggle one of Shana’s many life demands that couldn’t wait…for her dog!)
As a woman who’s been working in the wine industry (and now food, technology, and many other industries) for more than a decade, the hosts took away myriad lessons from Shana in how to walk through life gracefully:
More than once she has pivoted to take her life and entrepreneurial business in a new direction. “Resilience” came up multiple times in conversation about how Shana keeps it all going at top speed. She even had wonderful stories about where she finds inspiration – an important trait for someone who thrives as a great storyteller.
Listen in to hear the whole story. Then, learn more at https://shanabull.com/. Connect with Shana on Instagram and Linkedin. And for more on her children’s book with co-author Ryeson Bull, visit: https://www.randallthebluespider.com/. You may find the perfect holiday gift for a young person in your family!
While harvest is underway across wine country, we check in with the hosts in this episode. Unsurprisingly, everyone reported mighty tight and busy schedules, with Misty Roudebush Cain just in off a night harvest where she was working with a videographer for St. Supery hours earlier.
Lisa Adams Walter announced a new initiative headed by Napa Valley Wine Academy (NVWA), America’s Premier Wine School, and Albertsons Companies, a leading food and drug retailer with more than 2,200 stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia, across the United States. NVWA has developed a proprietary certification program for professional wine stewards within the Albertsons brands. (Listen to our show with NVWA Founder and CEO Christian Oggenfuss here.) Their beverage stewards can take the courses online while on the job, to earn two different levels of certification: Wine 101 and Wine 201.
During the show Lisa also talks about a very special and rare bottle of sherry from 1906 she recently got to sample (and mighty tasty, she reports) at a special event. And she shares her personal recipe for Frosé, a blended cocktail gaining popularity.
We were all excited to hear from Misty about St. Supery’s latest art gallery exhibit since there have been few shows held in person during the pandemic. Their latest show does follow all safety protocols for those visiting the winery’s gallery.
Celebrating unsung everyday heroes who make a difference in communities and neighborhoods across the country, the #InJoy Everyday Hero project, is an event and exhibit that St. Supéry hopes will inspire people to give back and spread joy.
In addition to highlighting the stories of everyday heroes on the winery’s website and social media platforms, St. Supéry will feature local volunteers at the winery in its art gallery with the #InJoy Everyday Hero Art Exhibit, presented and curated by Virgie Giles Foundation founders Topher Delaney and Calvin Chin. You can even nominate heroes you know to be featured.
Marcia reported in on a number of wine industry stories, of which one of the most intriguing came out of China, where officials made the largest counterfeit Bordeaux wine bust ever. A wedding banquet in China’s eastern Shandong province led police to uncover a whopping haul of US$46.5 million worth of counterfeit Bordeaux wines churned out by a Chinese company that went as so far to fabricate a fictitious war with Château Lafite Rothschild for its Bordeaux estate’s back story.
Closer to home, the hosts were delighted to hear Governor Newsom signed legislation that supports sustainable practice in wine, i.e. consumers can refill bottles at tasting rooms. As bottle glass packaging is one of the biggest consumables that is expensive to transport and recycle, this could be a huge win on multiple fronts for the industry to mitigate climate issues.
Following that good news along the same lines, we learned that International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) has accepted 12 new applicant winery members from around the globe who have committed to tackle the severity of the climate crisis by taking immediate action to reduce their carbon emissions. These new applicants bring the total IWCA membership to more than 20 wine companies spanning 7 different countries and 5 continents.
With the industry news recapped, we turned back to hosts’ activities. We had conducted a deep dive into Misty and Lisa’s careers in a show last spring. So they decided to turn to co-host Marcia Macomber for news on her business, Cornucopia Creations, which offers award-winning website and graphic design services among other marketing services.
Marcia discussed her current projects for clients as well as advice she has for anyone in need of website design, marketing or other promotional services, much of which had to do with ensuring you connect all the dots. Without making those connections, business owners are often unaware why campaigns or initiatives may be underperf...
British-born Wendy Narby’s premise ‘Knowledge Increases Pleasure’ not only applies to her extensive wine education but also to her wellness education. The Chef d’Enterprise (love the title!) at Insider Tasting zoomed in directly from Bordeaux to talk with the hosts about returning to France post-pandemic, as well as to discuss The Drinking Woman’s Diet, A Liver-Friendly Lifestyle Guide, her most recent book.
Previously a wine and food consultant in Paris and Bordeaux, Wendy’s wine experience is not just based upon study, but on her time spent working as a marketing consultant, journalist, teacher and guide. She received her Bachelor of Science with Honors in Agricultural Economics from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Fast forward a bit and she moved from Paris to marry a local Château owner and negociant. And now Wendy enjoys sharing her passion for Bordeaux and the famous region’s wines with guests and friends from all over the world. In fact, Wendy frequently leads wine tours throughout Bordeaux and environs (and is looking forward to more Americans returning to visit France as the pandemic recedes).
Wendy is a member of the Association of Wine Educators (AWE), lecturing on behalf of the Bordeaux Wine School (Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux); the author of Bordeaux Bootcamp, The Insider Tasting guide to Bordeaux Basics, and (more recently), The Drinking Woman’s Diet, which we talked about on the show extensively.
On the WWRH show, we often get to talk with winemakers, marketers, and others promoting the industry or their brand. But we rarely have the opportunity to talk about wine’s health effects (or lack thereof). Every wine bottle already carries significant health warnings. And for women in the wine industry, wine consumption can come with additional risks from over-imbibing to inappropriate behavior.
Long envious of the supposed French woman’s diet (which appears to maintain everything in balance from wine consumption to food intake, exercise, and still projecting a chic and stylish elan), we wanted to learn from Wendy how they do it. What is the “Drinking Woman’s Diet”? Is it a secret?
Throughout the conversation, Wendy dispelled myths and offered well-researched health tips. Her fast-paced, easy-reading book is chock-full of valuable lessons that can easily be put into use immediately for a sensible, but still fun, lifestyle including alcoholic drinking.
First, Wendy dispelled our notions of equality between men and women when drinking – there’s none! More alcohol reaches women’s bloodstreams faster than in men, disadvantage #1. She also taught us signs to watch for about too much alcohol consumption with the CAGE Questionnaire.
We learned how the body processes alcohol, a toxin. And then we were on to her many tips to maintain wellness within a diet that includes alcohol. It included her magical “2-2-2” method (which you’ll have to listen to the show or buy the book to learn), and being able to enjoy foods and beverages that send us signals when we’ve had enough.
All of her advice provides an excellent framework for maintaining a healthy lifestyle while enjoying food, friends, fun and wine. Oh, and how do you maintain that healthy lifestyle while out on a wine tasting? Tune in to find out!
To be transported to Bordeaux from your armchair (or phone in hand), subscribe to Wendy’s Insider Tasting newsletter. Or find her on Instagram at @insidertasting and @drinkingwomansdiet and @wendynarby. And The Drinking Woman’s Diet is available for purchase online.
“I had a lot of moxie at 22!” replied Scout Driscoll, Founder and CEO of DesignScout and VINT Studio, when asked about her entrepreneurial inclinations at such a young age. The co-hosts (none of whom had dreamed of owning their own businesses at such a young age) were eager to interview Scout to learn about her success. In particular, we knew before speaking with Scout she had plenty of moxie since her firm was woman-owned and she touted it as an all-woman studio, with no ladders, no promotions, and no senior staff. In short, balls-y. Or, in Scout’s case: moxie! —a word often used to describe Barbara Stanwyck back in the day.
Scout Driscoll is the founder and CEO of VINT, Wine Branding & Design. VINT is a subsidiary of DesignScout (est. 2003), her design studio born of a strong desire NOT to sell products, services and programs that she didn’t really LOVE. Although she did some of the usual job-seeking rounds after college graduation at Chicago’s well-known advertising agencies, her heart just wasn’t in it. You’ll have to listen in to hear of her tales about applying for positions with some of the leading firms…
It seemed Scout was destined for a far more unique journey. (Aren’t all “scouts”?) Kanye West (another Chicagoan, and her first customer) tapped her to design his “Get Well Soon” album package. Soon she was producing branding and graphics for others in the entertainment industry.
On a parallel track, Scout’s many years working in the restaurant and hospitality industry led to more gigs providing the branding and design work for numerous restaurants and related businesses. And all of those led to: Wine!
VINT has designed more than 90 wine labels for Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, helping them build the nation’s largest wine club (with 400,000+ members) with a wine program that includes VINT designed collaborations with Jean Charles Boisset’s Raymond and DeLoach Vineyards, Dr. Loosen, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, and John Legend’s LVE Wines.
You can imagine our interest in speaking to Scout when we learned of her firm’s design work for Cooper’s Hawk. What’s it like designing for the world’s largest wine club membership? How do you keep it fresh? Where does the inspiration for each wine’s packaging come from? Co-host Misty Rodebush Cain wanted to know what Scout’s process was when looking at a rebranding project and what tips could she provide to listeners when beginning a design project. So we dug in on a few examples from VINT’s portfolio:
First up was discussion of the design for Cooper’s Hawk “Below the Belt” brand. Scout explained that the wine was a blend of grapes from below the Equator in South American. Design inspiration came from a painting as well as using a die cut to “draw” the equator line on the bottle. Simple typography coupled with a nifty flip of “BELOW” completed the branding visuals, married with various elements, such as gold foil to cement the brand message for consumers.
Next up was a new redesign project that will be hitting store shelves this fall: Soleil’s “Mimosa” packaging redesign. The current design looked too much like a blended orange juice cocktail through a transparent bottle. This is always a tricky visual delivery since the fresh fruit pulp can be seen in the bottle. Here the design team had a number of design and logistic challenges to address: Distributors had difficulty getting it placed on shelves next to sparkling wine. Retailers wanted to position it with pre-mixed cocktails on the shelf and other locations they didn’t want to be. VINT’s solution involved a full bottle wrap. Voila! Now they have a bottle design worthy of competing for eyeballs with the sparkling wines on the shelf.
Last up in discussing some VINT case studies was the evolution of Cooper’s Hawk “A4” wines from Eastern France. Co-host Marcia Macomber noted the intricate dieline design along the roof and skyline of the label,
Kevin Holt has been making wine professionally in northern California for more than twenty years. A native of the southern end of the Golden State, he’s been indulging his passion for fine wine most of his adult life, as a consumer, retailer, wholesaler, student, and now, producer. Kevin loves to hear, "You know, I hate [fill in varietal name here], but yours is really good!" Or, better still, "I love [fill in varietal name here], and this is the best one I've ever had!" Hearing both sentiments, about the same wines, on a regular basis lets him know that he’s doing something right!
I sat down with him for part 2 of our shows on Bartholomew Estate Vineyards & Winery in Sonoma, California (find part 1 here), which is part of the Frank H. Bartholomew Foundation. Surrounded by the exquisite paintings by members of the Sonoma Plein Air Foundation in the historic tasting room’s art gallery, Kevin poured two of his wines from Bartholomew Estate, the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, and the 2018 Garden Block Zinfandel. (He told a particularly interesting story of working with two different Zinfandel clones on the property during the show.)
Prior to becoming a winemaker, Kevin sold wine, both retail and wholesale, so he knows the wine business both inside and out. He brings all his production, tasting, and sales experience to the wines he makes and is never satisfied with "good enough." As Anna Pope, Trustee of the foundation, mentioned in part 1 of our Bartholomew Estate show: she liked Kevin’s winemaking style from her enjoyment of his wines at Beltane Ranch, where is also winemaker.
At the top of the show, Kevin mentioned to me that the first thing he wanted to find out when Anna asked him his interest in making wine at Bartholomew was whether or not the organically-farmed and certified vineyards on the 375-acre private park (open to the public) could produce terrific wines. He made it very clear that without great source vines, there’s only so much magic he can perform in the winemaking process.
He was pleasantly surprised to find the 22-acres of vines planted within the park were producing great grapes. The rest would be in his hands to ramp up production. The next challenge he faced was the absence of wine-making equipment on the property. Previous wineries hadn’t made the wine on the property, so he began the laborious process of acquiring equipment and crafting a production facility in the 100-year-old building.
Tune in as we taste through Kevin’s Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. We had planned to taste on the tasting room patio within sight of the vineyards or out on the Oak Knoll, which provides visitors with plenty of shade while enjoying the wine. But there were so many visitors enjoying their glasses and bottles of wine, we retreated to the art gallery.
Bartholomew Estate is open daily to the public for tasting experiences and sales. But to fully enjoy the park (which is privately owned but open to the public), visitors have a number of outdoor experiences to choose from, including horseback riding, picnicking and trail hiking in the back country. Within the winery, visitors can enjoy tasting at the wine bar or sipping in the art gallery while viewing the works on display.
Here the first commercial vineyard in California was planted in 1832, before Mariano Vallejo’s arrival in Sonoma, and decades before Count Agoston Haraszthy first sampled the wines made from the grapes grown on this land which he would later purchase. It’s quite a legacy—and one most worthy of sampling from one of the many seating and picnic areas overlooking the vineyards.
You can even bring your dogs (on leash) to hike the trails or relax next to you while you sip your wine overlooking the vineyards on the Oak Knoll. Fido can choose from treats and toys available for sale for visiting pooches in the tasting room.
Best of all, visitors to the park can enjoy Kevin’s wine while viewing the land on which the first commercial vineyard was ...
Paula Woolsey, CSW, aka “The Wine Witch,” is the owner of Cellar Door Unhinged, helping Arizona wineries in the fields of sales, marketing and business operations. She consults in all areas of the wine industry, restaurant wine programs, tasting rooms and Liquor Compliance.
Although she was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she has long called Arizona home and played a major role in shepherding the state’s wine industry to newfound growth over the past couple of decades.
Paula’s also been a member of the Society of Wine Educators since 1998. She became a Certified Specialist of Wine in 2000, Italian Wine Specialist certified in 2004 and Gallo Wine Academy certified in 2007. She has also been Cellar Master Certified by the Master Court of Sommeliers since 2001.
Paula has sat on the Board of the Verde Valley Wine Consortium since its inception in 2008. This month in September 2021, she’s looking forward to hearing Arizona’s Verde Valley named a new American Viticultural Area (AVA) after years of hard work to gain approval for this wine-growing region.
After extensive research and collaboration with colleges and universities in California and Washington, Paula helped to create the first viticulture program degree program in Arizona at Yavapai College where she’s served as an instructor for the past eleven years. Now wineries from across the country come to her when looking for advice or to fill a position on their staff. She says that watching the growth of the Southwest Wine Center has been a true privilege.
As we delved into our conversation on the show, Paula gave us a master class in Arizona wine: Will Arizona wine regions become the new Napa? What’s the biggest lobbying impediment to the success (and distribution) of Arizona wines? How is teaching viticulture now different than it was a decade ago when she began? How do Arizona wines stand up to California wines? (The latter we can answer easily – Arizona wines come out on top in competitions and reviews!)
Tune in to get the answers to all of these questions and much more. As co-host Lisa Adams Walter said in conversation with Paula: “It’s never too late to learn!” (In all fairness, that was in reference to learning that one of Paula’s current viticulture students at Yavapai is 79 years young!)
In fact, Paula said one of her favorite things about teaching now is what she learns from her students, who average 35-48 years of age. Many of them already have advanced degrees in other fields and are practicing or retired attorneys, doctors and other professionals. Yet they’re just as excited about earning their Associate’s Degree in Viticulture!
In addition to all of her credentials in the wine industry, Paula’s also served as a national wine sales director, expanding the reach of Arizona wine in 40 states and a few countries. And she’s also a Licensed Event Planner, serving to head up the upcoming Sedona Wine Fest, September 25-26, among several other wine-related events she oversees.
Now in its 12th year, Sedona’s expecting thousands to descend upon the high desert town in a few weeks to enjoy wine tasting from 28 Arizona wineries, music, food trucks, a Plein Air Painting demonstration, the Sugar Thieves band, and a variety of artisan vendors. What an epic event! Tickets are still available if you’re venturing to the southwest. All CDC guidelines regarding COVID will be adhered to for the safety of all attendees and exhibitors.
When asked to reflect on current challenges and advice, Paula grew wistful as Arizona had just lost one of their beloved winemakers to COVID. And to those just entering the wine industry workforce (in and out of the wine industry)? She offered great advice: “Ask for help when you need it,” and, “Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know the answer.”
We know where we want to go to get our answers on the Arizona wine industry! This was quite a treat for the WineWomen team.
Paul Franson has been writing about Napa Valley for so long, it took two shows for us to cover all the topics on our list! (Part one of our show with Paul can be found here.) We wanted to learn his perspective on the many events and changes that have occurred across the past quarter century in Napa.
Paul’s writing has not only been seen in almost every North Bay publication over the decades, but he also self-publishes a weekly subscription newsletter, NapaLife. His work has extended to his most recent book, “The NapaLife Insider’s Guide to Napa Valley.”
In the second half of our conversation with Paul, he looked back on some of the biggest changes that had taken place in the valley:
When he moved to Napa, wine was the big deal 25 years ago. But there were few stellar restaurants. Today, food is a BIG thing in Napa Valley. Same with music events. The town previously had a small symphony orchestra and no rock ‘n’ roll events of note. Today, because of the efforts of Margrit Mondavi (in large part), there is the summer music festival (which now bears her name), bringing a variety of acts from jazz to major billboard artists who came to play at the Mondavi Winery each year. Napa’s also welcomed classical music festivals and the big one that’s brought the masses, BottleRock.
While sports entertainment has not seen substantial growth in Napa Valley, Paul has seen the performing and visual arts gain significant footholds. The Blue Note holds forth with a huge array of concerts currently being held at Charles Krug. Napa is also home to various theatre groups such as Lucky Penny Productions, which have thrived in providing (mostly) musicals along with a few straight plays. A number of wineries also offer art galleries, including HALL Winery, St. Supery, Hess, Mumm and others.
Climate change has had its hand in wine’s evolution in Napa Valley. A big change Paul Franson observed has been rising alcohol levels. He said when he first came to Napa and was making home wine himself, alcohol levels were more in the 12% range. Today they’re more often around 14%, a result, from his point of view, of not only changing tastes in flavor profiles but also a result of rising temperatures in the valley, making for riper fruit at harvest.
Another agricultural development to Napa Valley has been the change in laws regarding the growing of cannabis. Residents, tourists, growers and regulators are all still grappling with how they feel about this inevitable change in our world. The jury is still out, but it looks to be a permanent development to Napa.
Last, but certainly not least, has been the rejuvenation of the rail lines. When Paul moved to Napa Valley twenty-five years ago, the rail lines were fairly dormant except for occasional freight movement. He, along with many others (including co-host Lisa Adams Walter), wondered why the powers-that-be didn’t make use of the rail line to move people up and down valley since the main roads were often congested at peak times. Afterall, rail transportation had been central to the valley for more than one hundred years.
Rail travel first arrived in Napa Valley in 1864 when San Francisco's first millionaire, Samuel Brannan, began to transport visitors to his spa resort in Calistoga. Passenger service didn’t begin to wane until the 1930s with the advent of auto travel. As the decades passed, freight travel also began to disappear along the line until Southern Pacific attempted to sell the land.
In the 1980s, concerned citizens worked to resurrect the train’s operation. And in 1987, Vincent DeDomenico bought the train and right-of-ways to bring it back to life in its current incarnation. The hosts and Paul agreed that it’s been nice to hear the train’s daily runs up and down valley again since the pandemic began to recede. The train had been shut down for more than a year as the world grappled with COVID-19.
During the show, we enjoyed the Priest Ranch Winery 2019 Grenache Blanc and...
Paul Franson has been writing and self-publishing his weekly subscription newsletter, NapaLife, for more than sixteen years. With his pulse on Napa Valley’s wine, food and arts scene, we couldn’t think of anyone better to reflect on the trajectory of, well, life in Napa Valley for lo these many years.
As he mentions several times throughout part one of our interview with Paul in Yountville, California, he’s seen several trends, developments and big changes come and go throughout Napa Valley. Having been lured to Napa due to its wine focus, Paul made his home in St. Helena about a quarter century ago and has been writing about Napa Valley ever since.
His most recent book is, “The NapaLife Insider’s Guide to Napa Valley.” But he’s also co-written a guide to PR best practices for the wine industry with Harvey Posert, cleverly titled, “Spinning the Bottle Again.” A ardent traveler, Paul has also penned, “Escapes to Paradise: Adventures and Misadventures in the Beautiful Caribbean Sea,” and, with a nod to Silicon Valley nearby, he’s written, “High Tech, High Hope: Turning Your Vision of Technology Into Business Success.”
If his weekly newsletter and books aren’t enough, Paul’s also written for virtually every newspaper and magazine in the Napa Valley. If Paul’s CV as a long-time journalist weren’t intimidating enough, then his deep knowledge of Napa Valley’s history would be. For every speculative query the hosts put forth during the show, Paul had a ready answer and an elephant’s memory.
Tune in for a lively hour of fun conversation as we touch on the Delicato acquisition Francis Ford Coppola Winery and the Virginia Dare Winery; packaging developments (including box wine and cans); the “Sideways” effect; the benefits of canned wines; Napa’s explosion of music festivals, entertainment and much more.
During the show, we enjoyed the Priest Ranch Winery 2019 Grenache Blanc and 2019 Priest Ranch Rosé, perfect accompaniment for stimulating conversation among friends on a late-summer afternoon in Napa Valley! Both were icy cold, refreshing and ideal for a hot day.
During the show, Paul pointed out that cans chill faster than glass bottles and are 100% recyclable. And cohost Lisa Adams Walter reminded us that canned wines make for ideal picnic fare, as they’re far more lightweight, compact containers than glass bottles. Their wine can be poured into attractive stemware so you can still see the wine’s color while enjoying it.
Lisa also shared delicious cheese and charcuterie from the Napa Valley Olive Oil Company, a family-owned and operated purveyor in the valley since 1931. Their techniques and processes in olive oil making have never been altered in any way, and their oil is available for purchase by the jug. They foodstuffs were a perfect accompaniment to the wine and sunny afternoon.
For those interested in a subscription or more information about NapaLife, it runs 12 to 40 pages each week, including a list of almost everything happening in Napa Valley in the next week. It is e-mailed each Monday and an online version is also available. For a sample copy, call or email Paul at (707) 326-0797 or paul@napalife.com.
What if every decision you made for your winery had to be planned around ensuring that the estate property was thriving 100 years from now? Anna Pope has that mandate. As Trustee of the Frank H. Bartholomew Foundation, which owns and operates Bartholomew Estate Vineyards & Winery in Sonoma, California, Pope is charged with ensuring the 375-acre private park (open to the public) with winery remains financially sound and the land prospers.
We sat down on the tasting room patio with Anna for the podcast to learn about the park’s amazing history and evolution as a winery and to learn how she plans for its future.
Most Sonomans think of the town’s history as beginning with the construction of the Spanish Mission Solano de Sonoma in 1823 and, in 1833, with Mariano Vallejo’s arrival. The Bartholomew Estate vineyards occupy the most historic and fabled site in California viticulture.
In 1832, a Native American homesteader, baptized Viviano, planted the first privately owned vineyard in the Sonoma Valley on the banks of Arroyo Seco, two years before the founding of Pueblo Sonoma by Mariano Vallejo. This six-acre vineyard now forms the heart of Bartholomew Park, and the original vineyard site is now their prized Viviano Syrah Block.
Fast forward a few decades and a few owners of the land: In 1853, Julius Rose, a prominent attorney and land speculator, purchased the property. Rose made the first major expansion of the rancho’s vineyards, planting another 18 acres, for wine and table grape production. And Rose’s expanded vineyard won gold for best vineyard at the first California State Fair in 1854.
In 1855, Agoston Haraszthy sampled Rose’s wine. Its quality convinced him this was finally the spot to fulfill his decade long quest to produce European quality wines in America. Haraszthy purchased Rose’s vineyard and surrounding acreage and constructed the first wine caves in California (1857-58). He introduced dry-farmed vineyards, constructed the stone winery (1858), his signature villa (1859), and assembled his 6000-acre Rancho Buena Vista, planting over 200 acres to vineyards by 1860.
Eventually he was undone by a tiny vineyard pest: phylloxera began to slowly devastate the vineyards in 1874. During the ensuing years, new owners continued farming the vineyard until it became non-producing. It became a country estate, with owners Robert and Kate Johnson completing their 40-room Victorian “Castle” in 1883, converting the creekside vineyard into their formal lawn and gardens. It was the end of an era.
The estate passed through many private hands until it was purchased in 1919 by the state for the State Industrial Farm for Delinquent Women. The castle burned to the ground a few years later, and the property was abandoned for a number of years until it was purchased in 1943 by Frank H. Bartholomew as a gift for his wife, Antonia.
They had no idea that buried below weeds were the remains of a zinfandel vineyard. Upon learning of the property’s illustrious viticultural history and that they had acquired the storied Buena Vista Winery, they set out to restore both it and Count Haraszthy to their rightful places in California viticulture history.
The original Buena Vista Winery building was restored in 1946, and the more damaged Press House several years later. Frank and Antonia ran the resurrected Buena Vista Winery for several decades before selling it and 12 acres while retaining 375 acres including the historic vineyards, the hospital building, and forest land as their country residence.
But wait, there’s more!
Frank Bartholomew missed the winery business and founded Hacienda Wine Cellars in 1973, producing small lots of award-winning wines. He eventually sold his majority share to another investor, who in turn, sold the brand to Bronco Wine Company.
Realizing the value of the land as a vineyard (22 acres) and the bulk as forested wilderness (350+ acres), the Bartholomews created a foundation in 1980 to ...
VIN DE FILLES: An Arizona Women’s Wine Project
Not only does Arizona have a thriving wine industry, but there’s a vast breadth of talented women working there in the industry to bring women-made, women-supported and women-affiliated wines to market.
Gayle Glomski and her husband Eric, owners of Page Springs Cellars, near Sedona, traveled to Champagne in France, a few years ago, during which Gayle was inspired by a serendipitous meeting with the owner of the Duval-Leroy winery. Madame Duval-Leroy and her husband had collaborated to reconstruct the winery for her to take over after his anticipated death. Upon his passing, she hired a female vineyard manager, a female winemaker and created a wine called Femme de Champagne in honor of women.
A light bulb went off for Gayle. And she took the idea back to Page Springs’ cellar mistress, Bree Nation (also co-owner of The Oddity Wine Collective). Together, they ran the idea by Lauren Maldonado, multi-faceted manager at Page Springs (and co-owner of Art of Wine—also in Sedona, Arizona). They collaborated on a mission statement for their project: A wine produced by women to highlight the vitality and feminine strength within the world of wine.
Bree had the idea to extend the project beyond helping women in the wine community to include helping women in the Verde Valley, which lead them to work with The Verde Valley Sanctuary, a local non-profit organization that provides shelter and support for women who have survived domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. A new wine label was born: Vin De Filles (French for “Girls’ Wine”).
With everyone’s blessing, Gayle, Bree and Lauren went to work. In fact, the seeds of the project went further back to Gayle’s days supervising a harvest. She managed a grape pick in 2019. And while on the back of a truck dumping grapes from buckets into their fermentation bin, she noticed that the picking crew was mostly women embracing grueling physical labor. It was this 'ah ha' moment when Gayle thought, “We need to recognize and support the women behind the production of winemaking as Madame Duval-Leroy has done!”
In the past two years, the Vin de Filles’ group of women helping on the project has grown to include women between the ages of 11 and 68. They’ve nurtured Malvasia and Syrah grape varieties since the beginning of the 2020 winegrowing season. Their female team started a co-fermentation with the two different grapes using wild yeast and pressed the finished fermentation with successful results! Now heading towards their release event, the project’s net profits will be donated to The Verde Valley Sanctuary for their housing expansion project, which will increase their capacity and provide the women of the shelter private accommodations for their families and pets.
The release party for this 100% women-produced wine will be hosted outdoors at Page Springs Cellars on Sunday, October 17th, and Monday, October 18th. The event will include a 5-course dinner with each food course prepared by a highly recognized Arizona female chef. And each food course will be paired with a female-supported wine.
An auction will be hosted and will include artwork created by local women, encouraging additional donations for The Verde Valley Sanctuary’s expansion project. (To donate an auction item for the release party, please contact gayle@pagespringscellars.com.) And of course, the new Vin de Filles wine will be enjoyed by one and all.
Tune in to hear more about this all-female endeavor in Arizona’s great wine country, to buy tickets, and to learn about the women making it all possible. We’re raising a glass to Vin de Filles!
Little did Shelby Green know at the time, but her grandfather’s affinity decades ago for V. Sattui wines would play a major role in her life. The assistant winemaker at Castello di Amorosa and V. Sattui Winery began her career in wine at Ferrari Carano in Sonoma County. But she was attracted to the breadth and depth of the V. Sattui and Castello portfolio of wines and joined the winemaking team back in 2017 in enology.
Shelby received her Bachelor of Science degree in food science with a minor in culinary food science at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. She also recently completed her two-year Winemaking Certificate Program at the UC Davis. She hadn’t anticipated going into the wine business, but she was intrigued when her sister joined the wine business. She’d actually begun her career as a baker, with a strong interest in a food technology career.
Those forays north from Central California with her grandfather and family to visit and enjoy V. Sattui wines had stuck firmly in her memory banks. And she loved the wines, particularly Pinot Noir and Merlot.
Serving as the first woman winemaker on the Castello di Amorosa winemaking team, Shelby undoubtedly had picked up some unique insights which the hosts wanted to uncover. We had the good fortune to enjoy the ambiance of the Royal Apartment in the Castello while recording the show. Surrounded by hand-carved and hand-painted trestle roofing timbers, ancient brickwork and heavy, medieval décor, the hosts sat down with Shelby Green to taste through several Castello Italian red wines.
First up was the 2019 Terra De Promisio Pinot Noir: With a beautiful, deep ruby color and perfumed nose of black cherry and plums, this wine showed an elegant, balanced, classic Pinot Noir flavor profile. Wonderfully drinkable now, with its zippy acidity and structure, it can clearly age several more years and evolve enchantingly. Misty noted its origins from “The Land of Promise” family-owned vineyard near the city of Petaluma, an area widely-regarded for its premium pinots. The wind and fog blasting through the Petaluma Gap seem like a magical enhancement to pinots.
Then we moved on to the well-rounded 2016 Napa Valley Merlot. Sourced from select Napa Valley vineyards, including their own estate vineyard that surrounds the Castello in the foothills of the Diamond Mountain District, this Merlot opened with classic aromas of blue and black fruit: Shelby noted blackberry and blueberry along with notes of chocolate and cedar and baking spices. None of this was a surprise given its somewhat opaque, dark ruby color in the glass. One of Shelby’s favorite features of the wine was its ability to show off the beauty of Napa Merlot fruit.
For those unfamiliar with the Castello and V. Sattui Winery, both are the brain-child of owner Dario Sattui. He resurrected the family winery, V. Sattui, in 1975 after its shuttering at the beginning of Prohibition. After its successful growth, he spent years studying the architecture, building techniques and décor of medieval Italian castles, monasteries and buildings. In 1993, construction began on the Castello using old-world techniques.
This is no Disney theme-park castle, with fake stonework and facades. Builders and artisans, steeped in ancient techniques, were brought over from Europe to build the authentic 13th century Tuscan castle and winery. What was anticipated to be a six-year and 8,500 square foot construction project became a fifteen-year build, spanning four stories above and below ground extending to 136,000 square feet, including a moat, drawbridge, dungeon, consecrated chapel and spectacular vaulted barrel room.
Tune in to hear Shelby’s stories about enjoying the features of the Castello’s working winery, which include gravity flow production and modern pipes run right through the ancient stonework. She took us through the final tasting of the 2017 Quattro Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cathy Corison arrived in Napa Valley a mere 48 hours after graduation from Pomona College. She’d taken a wine appreciation course at Pomona on a complete whim two years earlier and fell in love with wine for all the usual reasons. As a Biology major, her attention was drawn to the fact that wine is the result of a fascinating collaboration among a series of living systems.
More than 40 years later, the hosts felt honored to spend the recording session sitting in Cathy’s tank room (that sounds funny, doesn’t it?), admiring all she and husband William Martin (designer of the Corison Winery “barn” on the estate), had accomplished since the initial spark of interest decades earlier. While the tanks were empty, awaiting fall’s harvest when the winemaking cycle begins again, sitting at the table with Cathy hearing her stories provided a glimpse of both the past and the future.
Cathy Corison’s cabernet sauvignon has received more accolades and recognition over the decades than we could begin to touch on, including Cathy being named Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2011. So what spurred Cathy’s quest for cabernet power and elegance in Napa Valley?
A master’s degree in Enology at U.C. Davis was essential from Cathy’s point of view, and then a harvest internship at Freemark Abbey in 1978. There was no holding her back, despite the fact that she tried to get hired as a winemaker at several wineries. (Owners would say she was too short and they believed she could not work in the wine cellar. She almost started working at Christian Brothers in the enology lab.) She showed them a thing or two!
Eventually, her winemaking positions included Yverdon in 1979-1980 and then Chappellet Vineyard for the 1980’s. In 1987, toward the end of her tenure at Chappellet, there was a wine inside her that needed to get out and she began to buy grapes and barrels (instead of cars and houses). Using other wineries’ excess capacity while continuing to moonlight at Staglin, York Creek and Long Meadow Ranch, Corison Winery was born.
Cathy is headed into her 35th harvest at Corison Winery (with several more behind her at the wineries she worked at prior to founding her own). And the hosts were curious about current vineyard protocols given the drought and that Cathy has been farming her own estate vineyards for decades. (Tune in to learn what they’re doing to prep for this year’s harvest.)
Surrounding the winery “barn” on the valley floor is Kronos Vineyard, named for one of the Titans. The Titans were the deities in Greek mythology that preceded the Olympians. They were the children of the primordial deities Uranus (heaven) and Gaea (earth). That is right where wine sits for Cathy, between earth and sky. Located by William Martin and purchased in 1995, the vineyard is one of the last old Cabernet vineyards in the Napa Valley. Planted in 1971 on St. George rootstock, which is completely resistant to Phylloxera, the gnarly, wise old ladies are almost 50 years old!
Yields are pitifully low at 1.25 tons/acre, but the singular wine it produces proves it to be one of the great Cabernet vineyards of the world. Cathy considers it a gift to have the opportunity to work with these old vines because they yield concentrated, complex, inky, structured, aromatic wines at very moderate alcohols. Farmed sustainably from the beginning, these deep-rooted veterans sail through any weather.
Their second vineyard, Sunbasket, is a more recent acquisition but has long been producing grapes for Cathy’s wine for over 25 years. Corison shared it with Shafer Vineyards for many years until it became an exclusively estate winery over 10 years ago. Since then, Corison has taken all the fruit. Cathy has long valued Sunbasket for its bright red and blue fruit and pretty aromatics. Serendipity, and William Martin’s hard work, allowed them to buy it in 2015, adding it to their estate. Both vineyards are now sustainably farmed,
Martha Barra was not destined for the wine business from an early age. (Our show guests come to the wine business from all walks of life.) Martha’s journey into wine started with a walk down the aisle. She married Charlie Barra, a pioneer of organic grape growing in Mendocino County, in 1980. Charlie, on the other hand, was born into a family with deep roots in the wine industry going back to the early 1800s in Italy. Working side by side with Charlie for almost 40 years (who passed a couple of years ago), Martha played a pivotal role in helping build the family wine business into what it is today, with more than 350 acres of certified organic vineyards, two wine brands, and a 2.8 million gallon custom crush facility. Early work experience in the field of law and real estate helped Martha develop a strong business acumen that was critical to the development of the Barra family's footprint in Mendocino County. A driving force behind the creation of all of the Barra Family wine brands (BARRA of Mendocino, CORO Mendocino and Girasole Vineyards) Martha’s hard work, dedication and keen business sense have helped build global notoriety of their family-owned and farmed wines. But we’re getting ahead of our story, or rather, the BARRA of Mendocino story. Charlie Barra purchased Redwood Valley Vineyards back in 1955. Back then a ton of grapes went for as little as $40. And they went into “vin ordinaire” – the highly generic style wine produced in California at the time. Varietal and vineyard designate wines had yet to exist 60+ years ago. Over time, Charlie added another six varietals to the soils of Redwood Valley Vineyards including Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Merlot, Pinot Blanc, Muscat Canelli and Zinfandel (all of which is grown organically). And he never missed a harvest. As the vineyards are situated in the benchlands of the headwaters of the Russian River in Northern California, providing them with hot summer days (averaging 90 degrees in the summer) and cool nights (sometimes dipping 30 degrees lower), the grapes enjoy a generous “hang time.” Martha currently spends most of her time overseeing the vineyard operations, doing local tastings and events, working with the winemakers to set flavor profiles, and managing all of the organic certification processes. Her special interests include cooking and entertaining with emphasis on food and wine pairings, traveling, studying architecture and remodeling houses. She also participates in her community by raising funds for local schools, museums, colleges and other foundations in need of additional resources. She generously shared three beautiful examples from their estate vineyards that the hosts tasted with Martha. First up was the Girasole Vineyards Pinot Blanc. As Martha explained to us, the hallmark of the Girasole brand is the winemaking technique: No new oak. Wines under this label are produced without an oak program in the recipe. Aromas and flavors reflect the components of their terroir with no added elements. This Pinot Blanc was very aromatic, refreshing, with notes of lemon curd and fresh cut melon. It’s perfect for cooling down on a warm, summer evening and pairs well with light salads, goat’s cheese, lighter grilled fish and a number of other culinary options. Having a richer flavor profile than most Pinot Blancs in the hosts’ memories, it was no surprise to learn it had been awarded 90 points and a “Best Buy” designation from Wine Enthusiast’s August 2020 issue and a Gold Medal (91 points) in the 2020 Sunset International Wine Competition, as well as a Best of Class award in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Next we turned to the Girasole Vineyards’ Charlie's Blend, the first vintage of this blend, in honor of Martha’s late husband. It has alluring aromas of ripe boysenberry, light caramel and roasted pine nuts. On the palate, flavors of raspberry, toasted marshmallow and hints of vanilla tempt the taste buds. A blend of Merlot,
Have you ever had a sip of wine and been transported to a memory of a painting (or vice versa)? Did a sip of a To Kalon Cabernet remind you of a Rembrandt? How about a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris reminding you of a Gauguin Tahitian beach scene? Perhaps it was a famous Turner or Monet landscape that reminded you of a favorite Rhône red blend or Rosé?
Simone F.M. Spinner, author of “Denver Food: A Culinary Evolution,” and Certified Wine Sommelier, has tackled this very topic with aplomb! On the show, Simone graciously walked the hosts through three wine and art pairings to learn how these art forms align in the senses.
First, a bit of background: Simone was viewing a painting called Rosaline by Michael Dowling and a bottle of Perrier Jouët Belle Époque Fleur de Champagne rosé vintage 2002 came to mind immediately. This Champagne represents the height of old world opulence of a sophisticated, bygone era.
She explained that when she saw Rosaline for the first time, she actually recalled the luscious taste and texture of the Perrier Jouët rose champagne in a strange synesthetic experience. Every quality about that painting matched the tasting note of the wine: pale, shimmering, peau de soie pink with a delicate mousse transcending the rich (foundation). Each is elegant and ethereal with a mysterious air that is at once beautiful and graceful. The woman in Dowling’s painting gazes out of her world inviting the viewer to take her in just a little bit.
How to match the components of the wine to the art? This is where Simone turned to the criteria used to evaluate wine’s aesthetics (aroma, appearance and flavors) to match with those of a painting. In similar analysis, you can match a painting’s colors, light, texture, and visual components to those of a wine’s. And she tested this via a blind questionnaire at a gallery and found the respondents agreed.
Now it was the hosts’ turn to try this out with the three wines. First up was the Perrier-Jouët Blason Rosé paired with the painting, Rosaline. On the nose, we got aromas of apple, almond, and jasmine flowers. Visually, the light pink Champagne evokes just-ripe and tangy raspberries, which you also pick up with a sip, along with strawberries, white peaches, and green asian pear. Simone’s trained palate also picked up Amaretti and Madeline cookies, candied ginger, candied rose petals, and a hint of lime zest. Try it yourself! And view all the paintings we discussed here.
Next up was the St. Supery Napa Valley Estate Moscato. While many think “sweet” when it comes to Moscato, this wine is elegant, with a sweetness that isn’t at all sugary. The sweetness comes from a panoply of tropical fruits and flowers: guava, white peach, apricot, apple blossom, and white freesia. Simone also identified hints of marmalade, honeysuckle, mandarin, Meyer lemon, vanilla bean and orange blossom water. For the hosts, all those aromas and flavors brought yellows and oranges to mind. It was no surprise to hear Simone had paired this wine with three, predominantly yellow paintings: Robert Lewis Reid’s The Yellow Flowers, 1908, American; Diane Leonard’s Yellow Umbrella Summer Rain (also called Solitude), contemporary, American; and Alphonse Mucha’s Lily, 1898, Lithograph, Czeck.
Last, we moved to the Mathis Sonoma Valley Grenache. Here Simone and the hosts picked up a big nose with spicy and woodsy aromas that included cinnamon, turmeric, white pepper, cedar, red plum, mulberry, ripe strawberry, blueberry, strawberry-rhubarb sauce or preserves, cherry pipe tobacco, baking chocolate, and eucalyptus. On the palate, ripe, red fruits and restrained tannins (that are a bit unstructured) accompanied moderate acidity. With this impression, Simone was off to match the Grenache with three paintings: Danielle Hatherley’s Autumn in the Adirondacks; her Uluru Ascension (which we called Sunset or Sunrise before we learned the real title); and (what we later discovered was) Lanie Loreth’s (...
Stu and Charlie Smith have seen big changes in their 50 years at Smith-Madrone Vineyards in the Spring Mountain District of Napa Valley. In part two of our conversation with Stu to celebrate the winery’s golden anniversary, while tasting the wines the topics ranged from current and past droughts, to dry farming, the world-wide championship award for their first vintage of Riesling that put them on the map, and how long it really takes to reach maximum production of a wine for sales from date of planting. Did we mention that Stu has a lot to say about what he’s learned after fifty years on the mountain? We thoroughly enjoyed every word, particularly because Stu is an estimable raconteur! First and foremost, Stu drilled into us that, “Wine is made in the vineyards!” He and his brother, Charlie, planted the first 21 acres at Smith-Madrone in 1972. Stu hand-watered it all, dragging garden hoses to fill individual basins around each vine. (Remember, drip irrigation didn’t yet exist!) Back in 1971, Stu paid $350 per acre. Nowadays, that cost has risen exponentially, surpassing several hundred thousand dollars per acre in parts of Napa Valley. That doesn’t begin to address the costs f planting, farming and developing production facilities. As Stu describes on the show, each of those components got cobbled together one at a time over several years. In fact, in their first year he couldn’t even afford to buy stakes for the vines! The current drought brings back memories of past ones. According to Stu Smith, our current drought is as bad as the worst ones in the late 19th century when St. Helena’s low rainfall was a mere 11” to 12” of the normal 33” annual rainfall. And in 2021? Stu says St. Helena received only a few drops over 11” this past winter. Cause for significant concern, particularly with the high fire danger. But what of the wines??? The Smith-Madrone Estate Riesling, as we mentioned in part 1 of the show, won Best Riesling in the Wine Olympics for its 1977 vintage, an international tasting organized by the food and wine magazine Gault Millau in Paris. The Smith-Madrone Estate Chardonnay is a stunner! We were shocked to learn the Smith’s barrel aging for this wine included 85% new French oak. We would never have guessed the wine had seen that much new oak given how well integrated all the flavors were. Here is another reason to listen to Stu’s stories, as he explains how their barrel program has evolved, including experiments with American oak and French oak from various regions – with highly divergent tasting results. The Smith-Madrone Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is another pleasant surprise… No big, over-jammy, only-pairs-with-T-bone fruit and tannins bomb. This is an elegant cab, suitable to pair with a much wider range of foods than we would ordinarily associate with a cabernet. Classic blackberry, tobacco and leather notes deliver beautifully without the tannins and acid overwhelming. All elements are restrained and balanced together. Read a great review of their 2015 Cabernet here by Jamie Goode. But why Riesling, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, we asked of Stu? In fact, the Cabernet now integrates a small amount of estate Cabernet Franc and Merlot, only recently planted in 1998. But back in the early 1970s, Stu reported that cabernet, chardonnay, pinot and riesling all were fetching the same price at market. Cabernet was many years away from being associated iconically as THE Napa Valley variety. So they seemed to be a good choice for his mission to make the best possible wines in Napa. They weren’t the only varieties grown at Smith-Madrone, however. Stu was more than willing to talk about the efforts that didn’t pan out to their satisfaction. During the show Stu talked about their attempts to make the best Pinot Noir. Ultimately, they decided the variety just couldn’t express itself well enough on their mountain side to meet their own standards of excellence. Thus,
Gobsmacked by the insanely beautiful view, the co-hosts couldn’t believe their good fortune at being invited to celebrate Smith-Madrone Winery’s 50th anniversary, with the founder himself: Stu Smith. Having set up a lovely table and chairs on the terrace overlooking their vineyard, as well as the Napa Valley floor beyond, Stu and the co-hosts sat down to record his reminiscences and ruminations about fifty years on Spring Mountain, high above St. Helena.
Although Stu Smith got a degree in economics from U.C. Berkeley, he was drawn to the outdoors and happened upon some viticulture classes at U.C. Davis. He was hooked! He pursued his master’s degree in viticulture at U.C. Davis and even became the first teaching assistant under industry pioneers Maynard Amerine and Vernon Singleton there.
Plunging into vineyard development head first, Stu purchased 200 acres high above the valley floor in May 1971. To make the best possible wine, Stu had his heart set on making wine from mountain vineyards. In the 1970s, there were few, if any, vineyards or wineries in the Mayacamas Mountains above Napa Valley. But he learned the range had once hosted a number of vineyards in the late 1880s, all of which succumbed to phylloxera or were abandoned. All that remained were redwood grape stakes poking through the forest’s undergrowth, a few of which can still be found in the forest.
Back when the Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes, and John Denver were topping the charts in the early 1971, Stu was viewing his newly purchased vineyard, perched from 1300 to 1800 feet in elevation, and saw nothing but 200-foot-tall Douglas Firs and Coastal Redwoods. (The winery has since granted a substantial, permanent conservation easement to Save-the-Redwoods League for these trees which they estimate to be more than 1,000 years old.)
Clearing 20+ acres of their 200-acre property would be one of the first steps in launching their winery. (Brother Charles F. Smith III joined Stu shortly after founding.) This proved challenging with the steepness of some of the slopes clocking in at up to 35%! Next up was planting: they further differentiated themselves from the vineyards growing on the valley floor by planting varieties on their own roots (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir). That wasn’t how the rest of the valley was planting fifty years ago….
“Smith Vineyards” sounded a bit too bland to Stu for a name. After much discussion, “Madrone” was added to the name in tribute to a predominant tree on the property. It’s evergreen and features flower clusters in the spring and berries in the fall. Thus, “Smith-Madrone” was born.
Stu reminded the hosts that in the early 1970s wine was not America’s beverage of choice at the dinner table. California wines were fairly generic and sold primarily in jugs with names like “Hearty Burgundy,” and most utilized European names. Americans were more likely to have a cocktail before dinner followed by coffee with dinner. We’ve come a long way in the past fifty years!
In the early years, Stu slept in a mobile home on the property (which was promptly burned down in the 1975 fire). These were the pre-irrigation years, which meant he watered by hand, running hoses from one vine to the next. In fact, Stu Smith is a huge proponent of dry farming. (Read all about it on their blog.) This continues to be one of the biggest challenges to all vineyard growers.
In the 1970s Napa Valley was still a fairly sleepy town, focused on ranching, orchards, prunes, walnuts, chickens and other agricultural products. Wine industry growth after Repeal in 1933 remained fairly slow for the wine industry decades later.
That meant everyone helped one another out. (“Need a de-stemmer? Perhaps I’ve got one I’m not using back here…”) That also meant that after the 1975 fire which left Stu without a home temporarily, his neighbor brought over a case of wine to share in its aftermath. (Pretty neighborly, eh?!)
“Your wines are grown where?” may be a question frequently heard by winery tasting room staff from their visitors. This is where our guest comes into the picture: Rachel LeRoy, founder and chief map designer at HipMapsTM, helps winery customers understand what makes each ones’ wine unique by providing visual maps of where the grapes are grown.
Guests may not understand weather patterns that are unique to a winery’s Pinot Noir vineyard near the Sonoma Coast. Other wineries may wish to highlight the age of their vines or elevation on a mountain top as an important characteristic of their wine. All of the details may become vastly simpler for winery guests to understand with the visual aid of a map depicting these features.
These visual tools may be one of several aides sales staff employ to help close the sale or persuade guests to join their wine club. Beautiful, custom maps can be yet one more tool in the marketing toolbox to reinforce a brand’s identity. They help customers better understand a winery’s offering and price points, as well as conveying key details, such as a winery’s sense of history and tradition versus streamlined, modernistic design notes.
How did Rachel end up in wine country, having grown up on a Vermont dairy farm? As she told the hosts, she’s always been intrigued by maps and globes from early childhood. Her Bachelor of Arts’ Environmental Science degree studies offered her course work in geography and (of course) mapmaking, using some early GPS-based software.
Upon graduating from the University of Virginia with her degree, Rachel eventually found herself designing and mapping vineyards in Napa Valley. Creating these technical maps showed how growers would mitigate erosion control, demonstrate sustainability measures, and simply accompany permit applications for new development with her maps.
After creating these maps for local wineries for a couple of decades, Rachel saw how valuable they could be to sales staff, providing orientation for non-local visitors to understand where vineyards were located in proximity to the tasting room. Wineries began asking her to highlight unique features on maps they felt conveyed their best qualities to customers.
Now Rachel customizes each map for clients with their logos, font, color and styling guides, and of course, the unique features of their wines, making them very HipMapsTM! (Just had to go there, sorry!) Some of her clients have even made her maps into puzzles as gifts for club members.
With the leaps in sophistication that digital maps have made in the past decade, and their simplicity of use, her maps could not be more apropos to today’s wineries and their customers. Not relegated to old-fashioned printed paper maps, Rachel’s offering now includes the HipMapsTM app, which overlays her custom maps on GPS-generated online maps, allowing the user to orient his/her position (with a pinpoint) with correlating points on the custom map. They can connect directly to map software on smartphones to provide navigation instructions.
To learn more, listen in and visit: HipMapsTM
Kari Auringer, winemaker at Silver Trident Winery, reminded us why we loooooooove recording our shows in-person. It was just so much fun to visit with Kari at the Silver Trident Tasting Home in Yountville, California. It would not have been the same recorded long-distance. Getting to see reactions to the wine, share ideas, and kibbitz in the same room made all the difference!
Not only is the home decorated beautifully by Trevor R. Howells, exclusively in Ralph Lauren Home décor, but you can buy all the goods in the home as well, from the drapes on the windows to the plush, leather seats you sink into while enjoying the wine.
The atmosphere made it so enjoyable to relax and talk with Kari about her journey into a career in wine. A Madison, Wisconsin, native, Kari never anticipated a career in wine. She was going to be an artist! (And she did follow that career path for a while.) But then came wine…
The wine bug bit during one very memorable wine and food pairing experience and Kari was hooked. (And we are the luckier for it, as her wines at Silver Trident are special.) We began by tasting her 2018 Silver Trident Apollo’s Folly, Rosé of Pinot Noir, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Coast. Fruit-forward but light as can be, the rosé reflected a beautiful pink salmon color and floral aromas on the nose. Refreshing and crisp, the hosts were immediately enamored as Kari walked us through the accompanying Perfect Pairing and (wait for it…) Potato Chip Extravaganza!
That’s right: This was our first ever wine and potato chip pairing experience. In fact, we don’t know of another winery offering this type of pairing (although many are familiar with pairing potato chips with all manner of sparkling wines). And these aren’t just any grocery store chips! These are curated, artisanal potato chips. Try it!
Silver Trident’s name is a tribute to the owners’ long-standing affiliation with cruise ships. Bob Binder is the founder of Silver Trident Winery and the co-founder of Oceania Cruises, a luxury cruise line which has partnered on projects with the Wine Spectator, Lalique and Bon Appetit Magazine. The winery’s co-founder is Swiss-born Walter Jost, an accomplished advertising and media executive.
The afternoon wore on with much laughter, story telling, and (of course) several more Silver Trident wines tasted. The 2018 Symphony No. 9, Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, was lovely with aromas of pineapple and tropical fruit. It had an interesting, lovely mix of crisp acidity integrated with a certain creamy roundness. This paired beautifully with the Labneh Goat Cheese with Preserved Lemon and Herbnc canape.
Then we moved into the reds: All were delicious, well-balanced, and had finishes that drifted on and on. These included the Benevolent Dictator Pinot Noir from the Russian River appellation (one of Kari’s favorite projects to work on); Playing with Fire, Napa Valley Red Blend (which appeared destined to go with a huge variety of foods), a refreshing blend of Malbec and Cabs (Sauvignon and Franc); and the Twenty-Seven Fathoms, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. You’ll have to tune in to hear the story behind the “Twenty-Seven Fathoms” naming of this rich Cabernet…
When asked about what she sees as the biggest challenges going forward, Kari’s immediate response was “climate.” She isn’t the first winemaker to identify the quickly evolving climate patterns as a significant factor in the inevitable changes coming to Napa Valley and beyond. We touched on this point more than once as Kari emphasized her careful review of source vineyards throughout the state before choosing specific ones for the fruit profiles she was seeking out for different wines in the Silver Trident portfolio.
Silver Trident has a vibrant wine club (The Flagship Club), which Kari told us holds THE BEST events throughout the year. And if the heavy traffic visiting the Tasting Home while we were there is any indicator, she wasn’t fibbing!
Alexi Cashen has had her work cut out for her these past couple of years. Between the stuck container ship in the Suez Canal, the pandemic, and the effects of the tariffs on European luxury goods (including wine), it’s all wreaked havoc on the freight forwarding and global shipping industries.
As co-founder of Elenteny Imports, launched in 2010 and headquartered out of New York, Alexi hasn’t backed away from a wide array of business challenges. In fact, she greets them with gusto! We were delighted to speak with Alexi to learn about her essential role in moving wine and spirits from one side of the planet to another in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.
Alexi received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Education (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Colorado at Boulder. And with her strong entrepreneurial drive and business development interests, she landed in wine sales in New York, eventually serving in several positions as sales manager. But it was logistics that drew her to the lesser-known back end of the alcoholic beverages industry.
She thrived on helping clients navigate the complex world of importing, freight forwarding, compliance and managing the logistics of getting wine from here to there. Thus, Elenteny Imports was born, with her co-founder, freeing up her clients to do what they do best: source, introduce and sell those wines to new markets across the globe.
Tune in to the show to learn about this complex side of the wine business along with hosts what makes Elenteny different from most freight consolidators and other distribution service providers. We talked at length about what skills are needed to be successful in freight forwarding and logistics.
She also told us about what types of alcohol businesses can benefit from their services at Elenteny. Alexi had success stories about clients who have grown their business while working with Elenteny. But as a highly driven entrepreneur, it was no surprise to learn Alexi has a new business nearing launch, St. Hilde’s Botonica, featuring Spiked Tincture Tonics. (Watch for its launch this summer!) And she has her own podcast, filled with fascinating guests in and out of the wine business.
Learn more on this episode of the Wine Women Radio Hour!
Alexi Cashen Podcast: https://alexicashen.com/podcast-list
Lisa Strid is nearing her 5th year anniversary as the winemaker at Aridus Winery in Willcox, Arizona. Although she is a Wyoming native (with no vineyards anywhere near her home), she fell in love with wine while working alongside her uncle on his small vineyard and winery in western Washington. Play the show to learn about Aridus’ estate wines, grown above 5,000 feet in elevation in southeast Arizona.
We were fascinated to learn about the similarities and differences in growing conditions, harvesting and wine making in Arizona. (They get monsoon rains during harvest season!) To plant their vineyard, they had to use a jackhammer and auger, not exactly standard vineyard planting equipment here in Northern California!
Lisa Strid previously worked on the Specialty Winemaking team at E&J Gallo. After nearly two years she transitioned to the role of Research Winemaker, where she focused on innovative equipment use, new technology validation trials and the exploration of process-driven changes to target different wine styles.
Having an eye on desert wine growing while working at Gallo, she visited the area to find out how the quality of wines were developing in Arizona. When she saw the listing for the winemaking position at Aridus, she leaped at the opportunity.
At Aridus, Lisa directs not only the production of their wines but also is responsible for the winery’s custom crush operation, where growers bring their grapes from throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and California.
The renovated former apple warehouse, just outside the town of Willcox, is where she diversifies her winemaking expertise according to the variables of the desert terroir of the Southwest and beyond. Aridus produces more than a dozen wines, both white and reds.
While many of their wines’ grapes have been sourced from vineyards in the area and via relationships Lisa has personally established, she is also closely involved with the winery’s 40-acre estate vineyard in Pearce, Arizona. It lies along Turkey Creek, perched at 5,200 foot elevation, which is currently planted both to white and red wine varietals.
Aridus, which derives its name from the Latin word meaning dry or arid, pronounced air-i-dus, was founded by Scott and Joan Dahmer in 2012 and today the winery has two tasting rooms, one near the winery in Willcox, Arizona, and the other in old town Scottsdale, Arizona.
During the show we sampled Aridus’ inaugural vintage of their white blend: 2017 Aridus Field Blend, made from Sauvignon Blanc, Malvasia Bianca and Viognier, clocking in at an astonishingly low 11% ABV (very impressive). This refreshing white blend makes an easy quaffer. It’s elegant, with crisp acidity that will maintain the wine’s structure for some time. Lots of citrus notes but also tropical aromas.
Each of the hosts also received various Aridus red wines to sample, including the 2018 Graciano, which had lots of dark fruit flavors, from dark cherry, to blackberry, plum and more. Its strong acidity will ensure lengthy aging. This is a BIG wine. Misty was enjoying the Aridus 2018 Syrah, and Lisa tasted the Aridus 2018 Mourvedre. Both loved their richness and unique characteristics. These are well-structured wines, with loads of flavor to pair with a wide variety of food dishes.
Listen to the show to learn about this up and coming wine region, Aridus’ elegant desert wines and Lisa Strid’s journey to leading the winemaking efforts in this newer U.S. wine region.
https://www.ariduswineco.com/
Scottsdale Tasting Room | 7173 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, AZ 85251 | 520 954-2676
Willcox Tasting Room | 145 N. Railview Ave. | Willcox, AZ 85643 | 520 766-9463
Tawnya Falkner’s wine career went from zero to 200 m.p.h. in relative short order. Educated at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and previously having co-founded two, still successfully operating firms, Strategic Development Solutions and Domus Development, Tawnya found initial success in real estate development and architecture. But her passion for food, wine and travel sent her on a journey to France after seeing a gap in the sparkling wine category related to price, palate and packaging. There she launched her dream in the wine business, Le Grand Courtâge.
In just a few short years, it's now distributed in 44 states. Le Grand Courtâge’s portfolio consists of a French Blanc de Blanc and a Brut Rosé, which have been poured on Virgin America Airlines. The wines are currently featured by Holland America Cruise Lines, MGM Resorts and T-Mobile Stadium in Las Vegas, and California Pizza Kitchen, World Market and Kimpton Hotels nationally. (Not a bad start in the wine business!)
Le Grand Courtâge wines have appeared on The Today Show, Access Hollywood, Check Please! Bay Area and Fox News, as well as in Martha Stewart, People, Vogue, The Knot, Domino, Architectural Digest, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post and AOL.com.
During our show while tasting these wines, we asked Tawnya about her keys to success in the wine industry. Her take? It requires a combination of art, science, strategy and relationships. Tawnya saw clear parallels between her previous career as a real estate developer with becoming a vintner: Find a niche that no one else has filled. Have a clear and decisive vision. Know your numbers! Secure key accounts before going after smaller accounts. The impressive list went on and on…
Tawnya unflinchingly divulged some of her essential strategies: She learned she couldn’t get her foot in the door in some markets without a still wine in her portfolio. Hence, her Très Chic Rosé was born of necessity (and it’s delicious)! Other strategies she learned by understanding supply and demand. The world of sparkling wine can hinge upon a balance of inventory between Splits and 750ml bottles that the still wine industry doesn’t face as a demand issue. And from an audience-appeal point of view, Splits are terrific for picnics and other solo drinking events for success.
Tawnya sees food and wine as the common denominator that brings people together for great conversation and laughter, epitomizing the human connection. Her vision was to create an affordable luxury which embodied the French spirit of joie de vivre (joy of life) and elevated life’s everyday moments.
While life as a vintner may seem a far cry from her previous experience as a policy strategist and consultant for government agencies, corporations and nonprofit groups, it was those experiences that made navigating complex regulatory requirements, balancing financial realities, and implementing a vision that addressed market opportunity so successful in a short amount of time.
Tune in to hear all about Tawnya’s Great Big Adventure in Sparkling Wine and to hear the hosts reflections on tasting these wines. We expect to see Tawnya’s wine continue to grow considerably in market share, bringing her dream of LIVE JOYOUSLY to more and more wine drinkers.
Le Grand Courtâge is proudly operated by an all-female team. The brand often partners with women-owned brands and non-profit organizations that benefit women.
Website Le Grand Courtage | Instagram @LeGrandCourtage and @TresChicRose
“New” was the buzz word for our show with Kivelstadt Cellars’ proprietor and “Wayward Son,” Jordan Kivelstadt. Getting back to in-person shows felt new to the hosts (as it had been more than a year since the last in-person show). Getting to enjoy Kivelstadt’s new California wines and first-ever winegarten in Sonoma was a treat. And, of course, Jordan thrives on entrepreneurial innovation of anything new for the wine business and enhancing consumer engagement.
Jordan was trained as an engineer at Tufts University before moving on to management consulting for more than two years. Then, after a stint as production manager for The Donum Estate, he made wine in four countries and eventually founded his own bottle brand, Kivelstadt Cellars. As if the pace wasn’t fast enough, Jordan managed his family’s organic 10-acre Sonoma County, California vineyard; co-founded Free Flow Wines, the pioneer of premium wine on tap; and continued to serve on numerous boards of local government and non-profit organizations. We were sure he never slept!
Back to the beginning: In the last 10+ years, we watched Kivelstadt grow from a mere few hundred cases to around 8,000 today. Wine Women even held an event several years ago in their old tasting room in Glen Ellen. But knowing expansion was a must, Jordan made the leap to a much larger hospitality facility last year…just in time for the pandemic to hit and shut everything down. (Ugh!)
Kivelstadt Cellars, however, has a huge advantage over many, much smaller producers: their enormous garden shaded by ancient trees. It provided the needed COVID-19 social distancing space for guests. With well over a dozen wines to taste and buy, visitors and club members all can try something new with each visit. (In fact, guests can even select some non-Kivelstadt wines during special tasting experiences.) Even guests’ dogs can try something new with a wee dog menu available side-by-side with the human brunch and lunch menus. (Co-host Lisa Adams Walter was admiring the Brulee Grapefruit on the menu!) Oh, and the kids? Steer them to the wee playground in the garden to entertain themselves. There’s something for everyone here, including beer on tap and a few cocktails.
Tune in to hear about the wines tasted during the show. They range from experiments, under his KC Labs label, to more “prime time” endeavors that have proven solid winners in the Kivelstadt lineup for several years. Kivelstadt’s wines are all organic; sustainability is a core tenet for all of Jordan’s endeavors.
When asked what type of consumers would best like Kivelstadt wines, Jordan told a wonderful story to the hosts about a hard-to-please guest that will resonate with many a hospitality professional: It took time and gentle probing to discover the customer’s preferred flavor profile. But he did succeed and impressed him, proving the appeal of the Kivelstadt portfolio to many different wine drinkers.
Ever the innovator, we had to ask the direction of Free Flow Wines, the company he co-founded more than a decade ago to bring wine into kegs. Jordan’s now stepped back to a board role with the firm, but between the rebound beginning as the pandemic recedes and the acceleration by which canned wine consumption are growing, he sees nothing but great growth ahead for this innovative company. After all, if you can dramatically reduce consumption of packaging materials (more than two cases of wine can be stored in a keg, eliminating bottle glass, capsules, labels, and cardboard casing…), and by recycling the original container (as is done with kegs) you’re moving towards net zero waste in a big way. This is a huge win for the wine industry and the planet.
Where is it all headed? You’ll have to listen in to hear this entrepreneur’s predictions for the future of Kivelstadt Cellars, Free Flow Wines and the wine industry at large. Right now we’re betting on Jordan Kivelstadt taking it all in the right direction. Listen in to find out.
Food and wine pairings are a staple of wine country experiences and the home table. What if you felt left out of those choices? Wine Country 2.0 is all about bridging that gap. Most wineries would prefer not to turn away potential buyers and club members.
As the world turns to greater sustainability and greater care of the planet, more and more people are looking for wine products and experiences that reflect that sensibility. While the majority of consumers may say there are no substitutes for animal-based cheese and charcuterie pairings with wine, they would be mistaken!
Alison Kilmer, champion of Wine Country 2.0, founder and CEO of Uppercase Tea, and long-time vegan, gave the hosts an eye-opening experience of the vegan kind during the show. Not only were we thrilled to taste the delicious pairings she provided, but they were all plant-based. Vegan cheese and charcuterie have come a long, long way from basic Tofu and baloney!
Alison recounted her own experience of touring wineries when she first moved to wine country a decade ago and was disappointed to find she couldn’t partake of most of the offered tasting experiences, as none had vegan options. It became her mission to help wineries discover the benefits of adding vegan experiences to their offerings.
Besides the obvious benefit of reducing animal-based food dependence, vegan offerings are healthier for humans and the planet overall. They increase sustainability, reduce our carbon footprint, are more compassionate towards animal life, and are far more easily digested by the human microbiome than animal-based foods.
Alison began by taking us through a food and wine tasting paired with Miyoko’s Creamery plant-based cheeses. We couldn’t stop raving about the flavors, aromatics and seamless wine pairings. Miyoko Shinner invented the category of artisan vegan cheese. Now she's on a mission to revolutionize the entire dairy industry. Her product line includes Vegan Butter, Cultured Vegan Farmhouse Cheddar & Pepper Jack, Organic Cashew Milk Artisan Cheese Wheels (available in 8 flavors, made from cashew milk), Vegan Cream Cheese, Vegan Mozzarella, and Vegan Roadhouse Spread. Adding to their elegance is practicality: You can cook and bake with them, and they even freeze well!
Some of the pairings Alison recommended are Three Sticks’ Chardonnay with Miyoko’s Herbes de Provence Cheese Wheel, Miyoko’s Aged English Smokehouse Cheese with any of the Petaluma Gap-based Pinot Noirs, and Gordenker Rose of Pinot Noir with Miyoko’s Double Cream Classic Chive Cheese. In fact, Alison lives on Moon Mountain in Sonoma and highly recommends Miyoko’s Aged Black Ash Cheese Wheel with Moon Mountain wines, including Repris’ and Gordenker’s Cabernets. The hosts tested several of these cheeses and found them incredibly aromatic and flavorful. Alison’s comment to our reactions was that plant-based cheeses often pair better than cow’s milk-based cheeses because the animal-based cheese often coats the mouth, inhibiting all wine flavors from being detected by taste buds.
On the charcuterie side, we were once again blown away by the rich flavors in Renegade Foods’ portfolio of plant-based salamis: The Sweet Toscana offers notes of sweet Italian herbs and roasted red pepper. The Spicy Chorizo has lots of spices, paprika, garlic and more. (It would be fantastic on pizza!) Their Smoky Soppressata, offering Calabrian-style flavors, truly came across like it was fresh from the smoke house!
As our conversation evolved, we found ourselves stacking up wedges of Miyoko’s cheeses on top of the charcuterie for even more complex flavors. Clearly the charcuterie could pair with a number of wines, from sauvingnon blancs to petite verdots.
But what of vegan wines? Wine is made from grapes, so surely it is vegan! Alas, no. Not necessarily. There may be animal-based ingredients in fertilizers used during farming, and in making the wine, isinglass (from fish bladder,) gelatin, egg whites,
It’s a rare show when the hosts only have one another to talk to. (It was planned!) Often our curiosity is piqued by questions or conversation posed by the hosts to guests. But most of the time we never get to probe further to find out why a specific issue was important to that host.
In this episode, the hosts finally dig a little deeper…
How did Misty Roudebush Cain make the jump from working at AT&T to marketing wine? Tune in to find out! Misty told us her career path, filled with fascinating tidbits about working in a heavily male-dominated industry (telecommunications). Misty’s advice: Take a leap of faith! Get out of your comfort zone; you may find yourself in a whole, new, exciting world you didn’t know about.
Lisa Adams Walter was told in high school she’d end up in Public Relations, but she paid the no attention to the fortune telling. Hear her recount time spent working at Inglenook…during the Heublein years. Like many, Lisa cited the value and importance of finding a great mentor to help her along her career path.
Their stories were fascinating. (You’ll have to hear them…) Tune in to learn more about our two hosts and how they advanced their careers in the wine industry!
Amy Troutmiller, founder and CEO of Common Fuel Consulting, is a career beverage professional with experience spanning 25 years and multiple facets of the wine industry. She began her career in hotels and restaurants, working up to operations management and senior director roles with chef Eric Ripert, Kimpton Hotels and The Ritz Carlton. She then transitioned to import and distribution, founding a mid-Atlantic regional wholesale company and acting as sole-executive for a National importer and distributor.
Nowadays she works full time in her consultancy, specializes in business development for the wine trade; helping wineries, distributors and brands with everything from early-phase guidance to market expansion and revenue growth.
What made this show particularly intriguing to the hosts was that Amy resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband, young son, a small fluffy dog and her wine collection. And we rarely get to have someone from the East Coast wine industry on the show. We talked with Amy about the differences between the East Coast and West Coast wine scenes.
What are the attitudes towards supporting local wine businesses on each coast? How does the availability of various wines differ on each coast? How do state-by-state regulation affect what she can offer her own clients across the country? She also had a lot of insights about vintage sensitivity and how it is shifting, due in part to the pandemic and tariffs having an impact on availability, supply and demand.
Early in her career, Amy was a founding member of LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails), a classic cocktail society dedicated to breeding, raising and releasing cocktails that are endangered or even believed to be extinct into the wild. It was fun to hear about how her time as a mixologist dovetailed with her experiences working with wine, beer and spirits.
During the show, Amy shared one of her favorite wineries with us, Acorn Winery, in the Russian River Valley, while we sipped one of their wines. Their production remains small, at about 2,000 cases each year. Their wines are made from grapes they grow themselves at Alegría Vineyard in Healdsburg. Every wine is a field blend, following the ancient tradition represented in the mixed planting that is their original 129-year old vineyard.
Their wines are made by co-fermenting multiple varieties. We tasted their proprietary 2016 Medley® blend during the show, made up of Syrah, Muscats, Cinsault, Zinfandel, Dolcetto, Cabernet France, Sangiovese and dozens more varieties. At fewer than 300 cases made, this was a real treat to sample, with its lush aromas and mouthfeel, offering notes of dark cherry, pomegranate, raspberry, baking spices, chocolate, plum and many other flavors, all smoothly integrated and balanced. We’ll have to visit ACORN as the pandemic recedes…
Rounding out the show, we asked Amy about her ambitions and goals for Common Fuel Consulting in the future. And we loved hearing how much enjoyment she gets out of helping other businesses grow and succeed. Tune in to learn more about Amy and her many talents in the beverage and hospitality industries.
Find Amy at:
Common Fuel Consulting
@vino on Instagram
Find Acorn Winery at:
Acorn Winery
@ACORNwinery on Instagram
Cyndee Nelson had a lengthy career in radio production, which made us feel so lucky when she consented to be our wine news reporter on WWRH when we first began as a local radio show. She put together the most polished wine news reports, all the while serving as Gracianna Winery’s Wine Club & Hospitality Manager at their “Miracle Mile” Westside Road location in Healdsburg on the Russian River.
Eventually, the challenge of reporting wine news on live radio while simultaneously serving guests at Gracianna’s tasting room became a bit too much of a stretch, even for someone as talented as Cyndee.
While we sorely miss her weekly contribution to the show, we’ve had it in the back of our minds to visit Gracianna ever since this show began. At long last, we found an opportunity, as the pandemic began to recede in Northern California.
Gracianna Winery has been producing award-winning Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Chardonnay and other varieties since 2009. Being an expert storyteller, Cyndee filled us in during show about the winery’s fascinating family history, beginning with the Amador Family’s maternal grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga, for whom the winery is named, as the story began decades earlier.
Born on the French side of the Basque Pyrenees, Gracianna emigrated to the United States as a young woman after World War II. The hardworking and beautiful Gracianna and her beloved husband John raised thousands of sheep in Santa Barbara County then settling in Santa Maria, California. She was a fervent believer in expressing gratitude for everything, thus providing a theme for the Amador family’s life work along the Russian River.
Fast forward several decades when a small plot of land became available along Westside Road’s “Miracle Mile.” Gracianna Winery is set in the midst of natural beauty. Its family-designed estate buildings and gardens, its storied history, and its reputation for classic award-winning Russian River wines reflect their craftsman approach.
Open by appointment for tastings, and having a robust and enviable wine club membership, nearly all their wine is sold directly to consumers.
During the show, Cyndee provided a mini-virtual tasting event as Misty and Marcia sampled the Gracianna 2019 Suzanne’s Blend Chardonnay and their 2019 Resilience Gracianna Pinot Noir, both offering a high level of complexity. As they do not fine or filter their wines, the hosts found layers upon layers of aromatic and flavor notes to discover. And it was a bit of a race to think of the many food dishes that would accompany these wines.
As their production is highly limited (often under 300 cases of each wine), we found ourselves being ever more grateful for the opportunity to taste them. They are racking up awards at high speed, having just picked up several major awards in 2020, including Sunset International Wine Competition’s Best in Show.
Living up to their slogan, these are wines “for those with something to be grateful for.”
Gracianna Winery | (707) 486-3771 | 6914 Westside Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448-8354
“The most fun I’ve had on this podcast,” stated co-host Lisa Adams Walter. At least I think that’s what I caught as we wound up our session with Simone F.M. Spinner, author of “Denver Food: A Culinary Evolution,” and Certified Wine Sommelier, who has two more books on the way. The energy was running fast and high as we finished off a delightful virtual tasting and sensory event with Simone.
She is not one to do anything halfway. She’s passionate about writing, wine, food and travel. Her book on the Denver food scene doesn’t begin with the (white) migrant travelers who initially put Denver on the map, but with the Native Americans who originally inhabited the area long before them. It’s all evidence Simone does nothing half way.
She caught our attention with her Denver-locals courses, The Only Thing You Need to Know About Wine is What You Like Master Class Series at U.C. Denver and the Get into the Glass educational wine series to the public through her company, Wine Rocks & Chasing Grapes, LLC. Spinner skillfully demystifies wine, making it fun through an interactive approach.
Although she doesn’t offer ongoing public classes, she often appears as a guest lecturer at corporate events, conferences, team-building seminars, dinner parties, book clubs, or other gatherings. For more serious wine lovers she conducts private acquisitions and cellar appraisals. Spinner is developing a unique adventure and wine tourism program called Chasing Grapes, LLC., exploring the world of wine and taking curious oenophiles along with her, which will launch with tours exploring Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany.
On the show, Spinner walked the hosts through a virtual, sensory tasting class, featuring St. Supery’s 2019 Napa Valley Estate Sauvignon Blanc and its 2016 Rutherford Estate Vineyard Merlot. Each host had an array of fresh fruits, spices and mineral elements in hand to compare as a sensory experience with the wines.
Simone introduced this process as part of her “brain attic” training process, explaining our experiences and observations about smelling and tasting various compounds in the wine all need to be catalogued in the appropriate memory bank (an idea she “borrowed” from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series). Without that clear memory of the wine, we’re unlikely to be able to remember what it is if we want to buy another bottle, or case.
Sure enough, with each whiff of tangerine, lime zest, or currant, a new memory (about the wine tasted with it) was cemented in our “brain attic.” By the time the hosts finished this discovery process with Ms. Spinner, we were thrilled at how well it helped us remember the details of each of the wines.
In fact, we were even more surprised to learn that Ms. Spinner had undergone a traumatic event a decade ago that had completely suppressed all her olfactory sensory input. (Not a good thing for a wine professional!) Simone then proceeded to retrain her sense of smell to pick up even the most basic food scents, from produce to flora and fauna. In time, it became easier to identify them without thinking.
For those suffering COVID-19 related scent loss, Simone recommended that they be “intentional about retraining your sense of smell.” Like an athlete preparing for an event, she said the recognition of specific scents can be taught and learned (and relearned) with practice. While undergoing her own olfactory retraining, Simone said she often visited open air markets and produce stores (pre-COVID) to practice her scent-identification skills, stating that it can be discouraging with the most unattractive scents (such as diesel fumes) returning early after scent loss. But delicate scents, such as flowers and minerals, are often the last to be restored.
To learn more, of course, listen to this fascinating podcast. And visit Simone’s website:
WineRocksLLC or her LinkedIn profile
Jill Leone loves sharing her knowledge of wine country with visitors---local and long distance. As owner of Leone Wine Tours, she revels in sharing her vast knowledge of wine country’s hidden gems with her clients. For many years now, Jill has provided personalized wine tours to clients in Napa Valley, Sonoma, Russian River Valley and even Mendocino. But she didn’t get her start in hospitality…
Jill spent her early career in maintenance with United Airlines, a world of nearly all males (making for an easier transition to the nearly-all-world-of-males in the wine industry). One day, Jill attended a seminar about tourism and working as a tour guide. She was hooked and jumped into course work with ITMI getting her certification in a tour guide skills and in tour director certification.
While she had originally planned to travel the world with this career, plans changed when she married and began a family in the North Bay. Her tenacity, however, was unwavering. She realized she was living in “Tourist Destination Central” in Sonoma County. She could conduct tours throughout the Bay Area instead of across the globe. This allowed her to balance family and career…most of the time.
Jill leaned into learning everything about the wine industry, from grape growing and winemaking down to great hospitality services, even working as a tasting room associate. She went to work in both Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley as a bicycle wine tour guide. She then moved on to private driver services with limousine companies and eventually her own wine touring company.
The hosts had a lot of questions for Jill. After all, tourism has evolved dramatically this past year. How was she keeping her clients safe during the pandemic while providing private driving services to winery tasting appointments? What are the biggest issues and changes facing visitors in 2021 now that folks are being vaccinated? You’ll have to tune in to hear Jill’s sage advice on these topics.
One thing is certain: Jill Leone has her finger on the pulse of the wine industry and the hospitality services that drive it. With more than seventy-five 5-star reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, we were all delighted and amazed to hear how invaluable her services can be to local or long-distance visitors who are looking for a memorable wine country experience. Listen in for some not-to-be-missed tips if you’re planning to visit this year.
We also learned of a new initiative to recognize the contributions of women in the wine industry. Co-host Lisa Adams Walter explained the introduction of the inaugural #NationalWomeninWineDay , to be celebrated every March 25th. Anyone can nominate a woman in the industry to be recognize over the coming year at
https://www.womeninwineday.com/
LeoneWineTours.com
Jill@LeoneWineTours.com
707-331-8991
Like many in the wine industry, Talley Henry came to the business from a completely different career as an attorney with Nixon Peabody in San Francisco and with the U.S. Navy. And while she didn’t grow up in the wine business, her husband did.
Mike Henry had the good fortune to be introduced to the innerworkings of the wine business at an early age. Through his father, Warner Henry, a true wine industry pioneer, advocate for small family-owned wineries, and connoisseur of fine wines, Mike learned about the finest wine regions in France as well as the burgeoning regions of California, including the Napa Valley.
One of Mike’s first jobs in the mid-1980’s was in the warehouse of his father’s new wine distribution business, Vintage House, which later became The Henry Wine Group. Warner. Post grad school, Mike worked his way up the corporate ladder as an IT Executive at Time Inc. and as a producer of documentary films.
Mike and Talley had a shared epiphany while savoring a glass of wine in a remote vineyard in Bordeaux that ultimately set them on a path to pursue their passion for the vine. Shortly thereafter, Mike joined his father at The Henry Wine Group where he had the opportunity to hone his skills in wine sales and brand management and to work with numerous small family-owned wineries around the world, including Acre.
Years later, with the sale of The Henry Wine Group and some serendipitous timing, Mike and Talley were thrilled to take the helm at Acre and to bring their breadth of knowledge and passion for wine to the Acre mission, with a keen eye on the future and a nod to the winery’s roots. Together, the Henrys oversee the combined Acre and One Acre portfolio with Mike focusing on production, operations, and domestic distribution and Talley focusing on the direct-to-consumer experience, winery legal matters, and international export relationships.
During the show, we learned a lot from Talley about her path to being a winery owner, her advice to other women considering a career in wine, her favorite food and wine pairings, and growing the Acre brand and production. They’ve racked up a number of accolades, included being name one of nine outstanding Cabernet values in Napa Valley recently, all of which made us want to hear about their wine club and virtual tasting options.
Talley is a great storyteller, making the hosts’ job so easy! We so enjoyed her enthusiasm and lively conversation. Tune in to hear more…
Acre and One Acre Wines
Lisa Saunders is not only a stellar wine salesperson, but she also has loads of insights to the current (and future) wine market. (Tune in to hear them.) Our guest on today’s show not only shares her name with co-host Lisa Adams Walter*, but she also worked a stint with co-host Misty Rodebush Cain at Foley Family Wines several years ago.
Lisa is a long-time wine sales executive, having served in various sales capacities at Hahn Family Wines, Signorello Estate, Mt. Beautiful Wines, and Charles Krug. She recently began a new position at Boich Family Cellar and had a fascinating story to tell us about her interviewing process. (Teaser!) We heard a lot about what this past year has been like for wine sales professionals, as so many sales tools were forced to change during the pandemic.
Business travel vanished for Lisa, as it did for so many, forcing her to adapt to new sales paradigms. What’s known as “ride alongs” or “work withs” became virtual appointments with potential sales accounts.
Unlike many in sales, Lisa has a major advantage, in that she combines her passion for wine with her passion for acting. (She is the only guest on our show who’s shared the stage with Rita Moreno, Jill Eikenberry and Victoria Tennant in the Vagina Monologues!) Successful sales results, in large part, come from the salesperson’s ability to present the wine in the best light. Acting training can provide immeasurable confidence in making those presentations.
Listen in to hear Lisa’s story of demonstrating her direct-to-trade (DTT) sales skills, incorporating her acting skills and training, as part of her interview process at Boich. Those skills were combined with a key element she emphasized during the show: her network of friends and colleagues. Once tasked with putting together a faux trade tasting for her would-be new employer, Lisa experienced the classic actor’s nightmare: what wines should she present in this tasting? (Note: the actor’s nightmare is forgetting lines. That translates to “blanking out” on wines to present for a wine salesperson.) She turned to her friends and advisors for ideas on the wines to present.
And what were Lisa and the hosts enjoying in their glasses during the show? Lisa Saunders shared that she was drinking her “house white,” made by friend and Napa winemaker Anna Monticelli, the Cavallo Di Battaglia - Abruzzo. Lisa Adams Walter was in the mood for bubbles! She picked up the Piper-Heidsieck, Sauvage Rose Champagne, from BeBubbly Napa ahead of the show to enjoy. Misty switched it up to enjoy the St. Supery 2017 Rutherford Estate Cabernet Franc, which she cited for its peppery-ness and integrated tannins. And Marcia Macomber was sipping the Mathis Rosé de Grenache, a favorite for its refreshing, crisp, strawberry, raspberry and cherry fruitiness.
Tune in to hear more of this lively conversation.
- Both Lisas were born “Lisa Adams.”
Chelsea Bellows was not going to have a career as a soccer player--by her own choice. It’s not that she wasn’t a great player. (She was.) But she followed the voice within that said it wasn’t her path and she changed directions to the world of hospitality in restaurants. That newfound area quickly led to an exploration of wine. And the rest, as they say, is history.
That leaves a lot of holes, so we should fill them in! As she was getting her business degree in college, she had this inkling that wine was in her career forecast. But where? How? Turns out that Alpha Omega Winery (AO) was just getting underway when Chelsea joined the team. The world of wine was pretty new to her, so she soaked it up like a sponge.
During her ten years with AO, the winery’s sales grew in double digits for the entire time. (This was just as the recession hit hard.) She served as National Sales Manager as well as VP Operations. She even got her MBA while working at AO. During this time the company grew from two to more than 100 employees. But having served in nearly every role in the company, she felt the urge to move on to a new adventure.
Tune in to hear Chelsea discuss the challenges of selling wine during the pandemic. Is it the perfect time to pivot, reaching out to consumers instead of waiting for them to show up in your tasting room? What about social media, is there finally a measurable ROI (return on investment) to utilizing this marketing medium? You’ll have to listen in to find out…
Chelsea Bellows established Bellows Wine Consulting to assist start up and ongoing wine brands to find, and fine tune, their vision. Her core services include assisting wine producers to create a plan of their proper placement in the market and develop the accompanying strategy and operational systems to take them there.
There was lots of deep discussion during the show about current wine news, as well as what wine bottles the hosts currently had open. (Lisa was enjoying Pope Valley Winery’s Rose of Sangiovese as well as Hill Family Estate’s Rose of Pinot Noir. Misty, of course, said she was sticking to her St. Supery seasonal Cabernet Sauvignons since it’s still winter. And Marcia was enjoying the always-fabulous Mathis Rosé de Grenache.)
The other great lesson of the show? None of us have enough bandwidth…literally! The pandemic means there are many more family members consuming the internet highway making it tough to catch everything during the show. Oh, my!
Listen in to hear how Chelsea Bellows grew her wine-based businesses over the past decade and what she sees ahead…
Friends make the best company when enjoying a nice bottle of wine. Trouble is these days sharing that bottle often has to be done on Zoom! Nevertheless, the hosts and their guests had a fun time on this show getting to know one another, what motivates them to buy a wine, and how or if the pandemic has affected their wine choices.
After we checked in with our co-hosts, Misty Roudebush Cain (busy with planning St. Supery’s spring marketing programs), Lisa Adams Walter (writing numerous articles for local publications as well as myriad winery clients), and Marcia Macomber (designing websites for five new clients simultaneously), we turned to our wonderful guests.
Jasmine Pomeroy has been an emergency dispatcher in San Francisco for fifteen years and recently moved to an acre of property in the North Bay. She vowed during the show to change her previously black thumb into a green thumb in order to generate some of her own produce beginning this spring. While she doesn’t work in the wine industry, she shared her thoughts on what attracts her to a new wine. (You’ll have to listen to find out!)
Lynda Paulson is practically a guest host, with numerous turns at the mic on several past shows. As Chief Trainer and Coach at Success Strategies, Lynda has been coaching winery owners, winemakers, chefs and tasting room staff for decades on improving their communication and sales skills. Her tips for what makes a great speaker? They’re energetic, i.e. passionate about their subject matter, and they make the audience want to invest more time with them. Easier said than done, you might say? Lynda’s approach is honed from decades of training CEOs, politicians and executives on how to deliver their message clearly.
The co-hosts discussed current wine news, including the speculation about Tennessee legislators potentially turning direct-to-consumer shipping on its head again: the upcoming WineFuture 2021 conference; the Women's Beverage Alcohol Symposium on Feb. 24th; and the new wine, food and travel series (along with the wine tasting series’ new season) releasing on SommTV.com.
What were we drinking? Of course, we remained socially distant, all drinking different wines in our own homes. Lisa raved about the Priest Ranch rose in a can (!) she was loving for its elegance and a package design to match. (See links below.) Jasmine followed suit with West+Wilder’s Sparkling White Wine in a can. When asked what she looks for, Jasmine said something “unique” that might have some personal association to her. Conveniently, she noted that her sparkling white indicated “jasmine” in its tasting notes, and she’s not about to pass that up!
Lynda was savoring the Three Rivers Svelte Bordeaux, made by Holly Turner as part of her “head turner” wine series for Three Rivers Winery in the Columbia Valley. Lynda liked it for the elegant and beautiful bottle design initially. But she described the wine to us as “intriguing” and having a long finish. This led to a long discussion about the vocabulary of wine tasting, a specialty of Lynda’s, who prefers the romance language of wine.
Misty said the dead of winter drives her to enjoy the many flavor and aroma notes of excellent cabernet sauvignons, particularly with warm, savory dishes. The St. Supery Rutherford Estate Cabernet definitely fills that bill! Lastly, Marcia was enjoying a no-longer-available Bedrock Chuy Chardonnay. For fans of Bedrock wines, many are aware that they are sourced from heritage vineyards, often planted in small plots decades ago to vines that will only last another year or two due to their low yield production before being replanted to younger vines.
As frequently happens when friends gather around a bottle of wine, the topics of discussion varied widely, from the use of Biochar in the soil to wine label design and copy writing. More importantly, what are the elements that move you to look more closely at a front label, then back label and (maybe) reading the back la...
We’re kicking off a new year (Hello, 2021!) with an unusual show: First, due to the pandemic we know the restaurant and hospitality industries have been hit particularly hard. We’re dedicating the beginning of this podcast to them with a love letter to the wine and spirits community. More specifically, our first guest just appeared on St. Supery’s live virtual tasting as part of the #InJoy at Home Warm Winter Nights weekly series.
Poet Silvi Alcivar’s work has been featured in the Huffington Post, 7x7 San Francisco, Daily Candy, the San Francisco Chronicle, and TEDx. Her poem is shared below, and you can learn more at ThePoetryStore. She creates her tomes on her loyal red Royal typewriter, on demand. Looking for a beautiful piece to reflect your thoughts and feelings for a loved one? Be sure to peruse her poetry...
On the show, hear Silvi recite the poem or watch her read it in this video:
a love letter to the hardest hit for the restaurant and hospitality industry
someday we’ll return to dining in doors, not giving second thought to being seated at community tables, the bustle of brunch a sunday ritual, small talk with strangers the amuse bouche we’ve been hungering for, so too the cacaphony of wine glasses clinking, old friends laughing, meals marking important life occasions or just another evening, another afternoon, the sommelier recognizing lovebirds returning for an anniversary, the children escaping to the lawn, the chef calling out ready plates, the wait staff unmasked and smiling, months of being flexible in pandemic changes paying off, the passion for work never named, just pivoted, and continuing to serve up ingenuity and adaptation while we give deep gratitude for keeping this community nourished and fed with integrity, grit, and plates full of hardworking love.
silvi 2.14.21
Silvi just launched a new art installation called “Break Open” in San Francisco’s Secession Art & Design. For this show, Silvi created 100 small pieces, each with a poem carefully placed inside a tiny glass bottle. Each poem begins with “in case of” and ends with “break open” to reveal the second part of the work. (The element that is typed on the scroll in the bottle is also revealed on the back of the piece so you don’t have to open the bottle unless you want to.) You can schedule a visit the gallery or view all of the pieces online.
Second, our next guest is Adrienne Stillman, a one-time co-host of this show a couple of years back. She is the co-founder, editor-in-chief, and event director of Dipsology, a curated guide and community for cocktail enthusiasts. She also oversees strategy and marketing for wine, spirits, and hospitality clients, and is a certified sommelier. She is the author of “Where Bartenders Drink” (Phaidon). A native New Yorker, she lives in Napa Valley, California.
Adrienne chose 2 cocktails from her new book, “Spirited: Cocktails from Around the World (610 Recipes, 6 Continents, 60 Countries, 500 Years),” for us to make during the show in celebration of Valentine’s Day. The new cocktail guide has already received praise, with The New York Times calling it, "A lavish, gift-worthy stunner." And Epicurious stating, "This book might suffice as the only cocktail book a drinker needs." Nicole Trilivas’ review of the book in Forbes provides many details on what you’ll find inside the covers.
Listen to the show to hear Adrienne’s stories behind these cocktails. We were utterly fascinated to learn their backstories. (And they were so delicious and easy-to-make for us newbies! Recipes below.)
Equipment:
Pint glass, one part of a shaking tin or mason jar for stirring your cocktail Strainer (a cocktail strainer that fits on your shaker, or something like a small tea strainer, to strain out the ice; a big spoon can also work) Bar spoon or chopstick for mixing Jigger or measuring spoons Vegetable peeler and paring knife, for cutting garnish
Would men have the same courage women have shown (coming forward and speaking about sexual harassment) if they believed their jobs and careers might be ended by going public?
That is one of the lingering questions the hosts and guests discuss in part 2 of our conversation with Rachel Van Til and Laura Pauli. For decades, women have “kept mum” about bad behavior on the part of male colleagues, boss and business owners. In Hollywood, it took the outing of Harvey Weinstein’s behavior to gain momentum for the #MeToo movement. Is the wine industry ready for the same?
Will women have to continue for umpteenth more years with hostile work environments, such as those that led to the New York Times’ explosive expose, “The Wine World’s Most Elite Circle Has a Sexual Harassment Problem,” by Julia Moskin, published on October 29th. In her detailed story, not one, not two, but 21 women reported to the Times being sexually harassed, manipulated or assaulted by male master sommeliers.
In this show, hear from Laura Pauli, Chef and Sommelier here in San Francisco with Cucina Testa Rosa, and Rachel Van Til, Wine Club Manager and Lead Sommelier at The Clubs at Houston Oaks in Houston, Texas, on their recommendations for a safe and productive work environment and what they’d like to see change in the industry. [EP60]
“Do they even know their behavior is wholly unacceptable, unprofessional, and often threatening?”
This topic became the underlying theme to our lengthy discussion with sommeliers Laura Pauli and Rachel Van Til on this week’s show, a two-parter that will conclude next week. It’s a reference to the hostile work environment (for women) that led to the New York Times’ explosive expose, “The Wine World’s Most Elite Circle Has a Sexual Harassment Problem,” by Julia Moskin, published on October 29th.
In her detailed story, not one, not two, but 21 women reported to the Times being sexually harassed, manipulated or assaulted by male master sommeliers. As the hosts read the story several weeks ago, we were struck by its similarity to the equally explosive allegations leveled at Hollywood’s Harvey Weinstein just two years earlier by some of Hollywood’s most high profile actresses.
In this episode, we depart from our usually fun and upbeat topics to tackle this serious, ongoing problem. Why do some men in the wine industry demand sexual favors from women in the industry in exchange for advancement in some form? Why have women put up with it for so long? Our guests, each of whom have dealt with inappropriate behavior from male colleagues (as have all the hosts), recount these experiences as well as offer insights on what measures could be taken to reduce the bad behavior and ensure more minorities, women and persons of color, have equal opportunities to their white, male counterparts.’
In this show, hear how Laura Pauli, Chef and Sommelier here in San Francisco with Cucina Testa Rosa, considered a business trip with a male colleague that would have provided valuable networking introductions and connection, only to learn later the colleague’s offer wasn’t on the up ‘n’ up. This was one of several experiences Chef Pauli felt she had been manipulated by male colleagues to do things that were not necessarily “work related.”
Rachel Van Til is the Wine Club Manager and Lead Sommelier at The Clubs at Houston Oaks in Houston, Texas. She is one of the 21 women sommeliers whose story was told in the Times’ story as well as in other publications that began following up on the allegations.
Tune in to learn about higher education opportunities in the wine industry; the steps being taken by the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS-A) to prevent future sexual misconduct allegations; and whether or not these women believe it’s even possible for the CMS-A to recover from these abuses. After all, if men and other persons in powerful positions aren’t even aware their behavior is unacceptable within the industry, how will they even know they much change? [EP59].fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-2{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-2 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 0px;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-2{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-2 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-2{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-2 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}.fusion-fullwidth.fusion-builder-row-3 { overflow:visible; }.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-3{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}
Nicole Marchesi began studying towards a major in biology as an undergraduate at the University of California, Davis. But after being assigned to write an article about the Department of Viticulture and Enology for the school newspaper, The Aggie, her interest was sparked to pursue a career in wine. She quickly changed majors and went on to complete her bachelor’s degree in Viticulture & Enology at UC Davis in 2003. [EP58]
After graduation, she honed her winemaking skills in Sonoma and New Zealand before joining Far Niente in 2005 as its enologist. She was promoted soon thereafter to assistant winemaker, and in 2009, she became only the fourth winemaker in the over 30-year history of the winery. During her tenure, Nicole has gained a deep understanding of Far Niente’s estate vineyards, working with the sites and individual blocks to bring forth the discrete character of each. Ultimately, she strives to create wines of elegance and depth that capture both place and vintage, while staying true to the Far Niente house style.
We loved hearing Nicole’s stories during the show about how she got into wine and about Far Niente’s fascinating history. While sipping the stunning Far Niente 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, we learned Far Niente was founded in Oakville, California, in 1885 by John Benson, a forty-niner of the California gold rush and uncle of the famous American impressionist painter, Winslow Homer. It prospered until the onset of Prohibition in 1919. The gates closed, but the magic never truly disappeared from the property.
Sixty years later, Gil Nickel bought and restored the winery and neighboring vineyard. This three-year-long labor of love put the label back on the map — and on the National Register of Historic Places. He preserved the Far Niente name — an Italian phrase which romantically translated means ‘without a care.’ Nickel hoped to recapture a bygone era when life was indeed without a care.
The historic wine caves also go back to the late 1800s. A stone archway was constructed in the winery cellar in 1885, with plans to create extensive wine caves. With the onset of Prohibition, these wine caves never came to fruition. The cold rock sat neglected for 60 years until 1980, after the completion of the winery building restoration. Many believed that wine caves existed beyond the rock wall since European winemakers aged their wines in those types of naturally cool environments. So, Gil Nickel hired an engineer to find out. After a daring dynamite blast, they learned that no caves existed. But undaunted and true to his vision that “the best bottle of wine has yet to be made,” Gil pursued the first cave for Far Niente.
The Far Niente Napa Valley wine caves would become the first to be constructed in North America since the turn of the century, spawning a new industry in California wine country.
Over the next 20 years, the winery conducted four more expansions of the caves, bringing the total area to 40,000 square feet. The stunning beauty of the caves, which hold the winery’s treasure trove of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay vintages gently aging in 100% French oak, is a testament to the excellence and never-ending attention to detail that Far Niente brings to its magnificent wines and winery.
Tune in to learn more about Nicole Marchesi, Far Niente and her favorite food and wine pairing dish..fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-4{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-4 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 0px;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-4{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-4 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-4{width:100% !
Gianna Kelly grew up in Sonoma County, where she was introduced to wine at an early age—sitting on her father’s knee as he made wine list selections for their family restaurant. We had much fun talking with Gianna and learning about her winemaking for Galerie Wines, Portraits of Place, in Napa Valley.
She graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Chemistry, then initially pursued a career in research that started at the IBM Almaden Research Center. She quickly found that polymers weren’t as alluring as vineyards, and she redirected her chemistry skills to the wine industry as a chemist for Enologix in her hometown of Sonoma. A post as enologist for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars followed, where she fell in love with Bordeaux varieties and honed her winemaking skills by working with Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. More recently, Gianna served as assistant winemaker for St. Francis Winery, working with a wide variety of vineyard sources.
In 2018, Gianna joined the team at Cardinale as an assistant winemaker, and in 2019 she became head winemaker for Galerie wines, known for distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc wines from Napa Valley and Knights Valley.
“Making Galerie wines gives me the chance to unite my passion for Bordeaux varieties with my curiosity for the way different vineyard sites express their own unique personalities,” says Gianna. “I enjoy the challenge of developing each small vineyard lot in the cellar and then choosing from a satisfying number of options when it comes time to blend. This helps me create balanced wines that showcase the delightful distinctions between two exceptional wine regions.”
Gianna is no stranger to balance; in addition to nurturing Galerie wines, she’s also raising three small children at home in Sonoma. She loves cooking and entertaining, and her favorite wines combine high quality with an approachability that’s easy to share with others.
During the show we tasted Galerie’s beautiful 2018 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc Naissance. This flagship wine layers the citrus and mineral notes of the Loire Valley with the peach and tropical fruit characteristics of Napa Valley. The hosts and Gianna were thinking of savory apple dishes to pair with this lovely wine during the show. Yum!
It was also fascinating to learn about the brand’s label development, which is animated on their website. Each label in the Galerie collection exhibits a different section of a luminous grapevine watercolor by Malia Pettit, highlighting the individuality of each wine as well as their shared parentage. Using her breath to render the vine’s branches, the artist blew the paint to move it across the page. She punctuated the delicate vine shoots with individual droplets of paint that spattered naturally with their own momentum. This elegant incorporation of physical and human intention captures the essence of Galerie—each label a distinctive expression of nature and the artist’s technique.
Learn more at https://www.galeriewines.com/
How many executive chefs do you know who studied with an emphasis in criminal justice? Nope! It’s not part of any culinary curriculum. But before Executive Chef Rachel Haggstrom became, well, a chef, she considered a career in criminal justice. Lucky for all of us she chose a career working in the hospitality industry!
The WWRH crew was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with the Executive Chef of JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, in Paso Robles, to hear how Chef Rachel found her career path and found the perfect environment to spread her culinary wings at JUSTIN.
Located in Paso Robles, California, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery was founded in 1981 and is known for crafting world-class wines using Bordeaux grape varieties, including the iconic ISOSCELES blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.
The vineyard estate, located at 11680 Chimney Rock Road, features a Tasting Room, luxury five-star accommodations at the JUST Inn, and a restaurant—making it one of the only wineries on the Central Coast to offer all three options.
In September 2018, a new second location, the JUSTIN Downtown Tasting Room, opened, introducing an expansive wine-tasting bar, lounge, and a full dining room that's situated prominently on the square along Downtown City Park in the heart of Paso Robles. In addition to its stellar hospitality, JUSTIN consistently receives top honors around the world, establishing itself as a leader in new-world Bordeaux-style winemaking.
JUSTIN wines are available through fine-wine retailers and restaurants throughout the United States, or directly from the winery via JUSTIN's Tasting Rooms, online store, or to members of the exclusive JUSTIN Wine Society wine club. To discover more about JUSTIN, visit https://www.justinwine.com/
Tune in to learn more about Chef Rachel’s fascinating career path, which took her from a focus on criminal justice to earning her Master of Science, focused in Management of Hospitality and Tourism from the University of Gothenburg. We had a lot of fun learning from the “other side of the aisle” what it’s like to develop the ideal pairing with new wines.
Learn more at: Instagram (@JUSTINwine) and Facebook (@JUSTINwinery).
Sierra Zeiter immediately impressed us with her passion and strong instincts. We were a little surprised to hear that she told her parents she wanted to be a winemaker long before she was of drinking age! (She does not come from a wine business family!) But she knew it was the career path that she wanted to pursue. As the conversation evolved, we learned Sierra’s always had strong intuition and direction which have served her exceptionally well.
Tune in to learn about Sierra’s award-winning wines and background. She was born and raised in Stockton, California. She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, majoring in Wine and Viticulture with a concentration in Enology. Of course, she made the usual winemaker stops along her career path to intern and work as an assistant winemaker.
Best of all, she had the smarts to jump on board with Oak Farm Vineyards in Lodi, California, and learn from a generous mentor who eventually turned over all winemaking duties to her – all while in her early 20’s!
Oak Farm Vineyards is a family owned and operated estate winery that was originally home to William DeVries and his wife Cornelia Crowe, which William purchased in 1860. At the time, the Lodi area was called "Elkhorn Township." DeVries was a wheat farmer, raised cattle, and even became a Justice of the Peace.
The beautiful colonial style home (shown on the website) was built by William in 1876. The property has been largely renovated with great attention to its heritage. The ranch was known throughout the San Joaquin Valley as one of the most magnificent and beautiful pieces of property within the state. DeVries was an enthusiastic lover of trees, particularly of oaks, and on the home ranch, he never allowed a tree to be cut unless it was a menace. Today, many of the property’s enormous oaks still stand, along with the DeVries family burial plot.
Fast forward a few decades: The Panella family arrived in the region in 1936 and began an agricultural journey that ultimately culminated with the purchase of Oak Farm in 2004. As a third generation California Farmer, Dan Panella reveled in undertaking the task of replanting the property’s 60 acres of vineyards in 2012 to fulfill the vast potential of Lodi. Dan leads a talented team of agricultural specialists to build a diverse portfolio of wines made from estate fruit and selectively sourced grapes.
As we heard this historic story, Sierra tasted us through her Oak Farm Vineyards 2019 Rosé, Silvaspoons Vineyards, a project she shepherded through from inception to winning Best in Class at the 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Not a bad start (wink, wink) for her first solo line extension project!
The Oak Farm Vineyards 2018 Zinfandel, Mohr-Fry Ranches – Block 417 Vineyard, made from vines planted back in 1945, was another stunner in Sierra’s portfolio. With only 467 cases made, it’s sure to go fast!
Listen in to learn about Sierra’s journey and her success as Winemaker at Oak Farm Vineyards in Lodi.
Joanie Hahn, Senior Executive Director and Founding Ambassador of the Boisset Collection, has long been on our radar to guest on the show. So it was thrilling to have her, and General Manager of the Direct Selling Division of Boisset, Melissa Lynch, on the show.
For decades and decades, the wine industry’s sales have been structured through the three-tier system: producers (such as Boisset) sell to wholesalers, who in turn, sell to retailers. Finally, the retailers, wine shops and grocery stores, sell to wine consumers. What a convoluted path to get products into the hands of consumers!
It’s an elaborate, and (some think), archaic sales system that keeps the producer at more than arm’s length from the end consumer.
With the Granholm v. Heald verdict in 2005 from the Supreme Court, deciding in favor of wineries having the right to sell directly to consumers, wineries began to pursue direct sales to their biggest fans. Boisset Collection was no different. But they took advantage of the ability to connect with consumers a step (or two or three) beyond that of most wineries.
As we hunkered down with Joanie and direct sales GM Melissa Lynch to discuss the Ambassador program, we learned a lot about what makes their program unique and attractive to consumers who wish to jump into the business of wine.
Joanie was unabashed in proclaiming that her allegiance to helping people connect and have an enjoyable time. The Boisset Ambassador program seemed a natural fit to her skills and passion. After a decade or so in the program, she remains dedicated to building more and more relationships between wine fans and their favorite varieties and blends.
In essence, the Boisset Ambassador program allows anyone to enter the wine business without investing their life savings and having to obtain an intimidating array of licenses and permits. All of the latter red tape is managed by the Boisset organization to ensure all participants meet legal requirements.
Joanie is convinced (and none of us would disagree) that wine brings people together. It helps build relationships, make friends, and conveniently for all – builds many happy memories around a glass of wine.
Tune in to learn how Melissa (as GM of the program) and Joanie (as a founding Ambassador) developed this program nearly a decade ago for enthusiasts and passionate wine lovers to jump into the wine biz.
We learned all about the many levels at which aspiring wine professionals could jump into the business, with well over 100 wines to offer their friends and colleagues, to enjoy the wine country lifestyle in their own homes.
Regardless of whether or not you’re interested in just testing the waters (or wine) or jumping in to become a sommelier, Boisset may have a program for you. But most importantly, Melissa and Joanie would just love to connect with you to hear about what you love about wine!
We can’t argue with that! We’d love to raise a glass with them anytime.
Contact Joanie at:
joanievhahn@gmail.com
(408) 406-6791
my.boissetcollection.com/joanie
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Sylvie Tannhauser’s enthusiasm for champagne is infectious (a very good thing)! With a Champagne Master Designation from the French Wine Society (among many wine certifications), Sylvie introduced us to her first “adult” champagne she ever tasted, the Pommery Royal Brut NV. We thought it most fitting that she chose to feature a champagne house headed by a woman in the 1800s (Louise Pommery), a rarity in that era. And also that it was Madame Pommery who created the first brut champagne to meet with commercial success in 1874, thereby breaking with the tradition of very sweet wine. Women have always been great innovators!
While we were enjoying the delightfully creamy Pommery, Sylvie regaled us with tales of her travels from the Caribbean to Paris and beyond, finally landing in Napa Valley. She is a bilingual wine and hospitality professional hailing from the French Caribbean with more than ten years’ experience creating memorable wine experiences around the world. She began her career at the French Tourist Office which led her to an adventurous career path organizing high-end wine tastings, designing wine tours and providing sommelier services to wine enthusiasts and collectors in Europe, the Caribbean and the United States.
Sylvie held several positions in the luxury, hospitality and wine industries before relocating to Napa Valley, CA where she had the opportunity to work for prestigious wineries such as Dalla Valle Vineyards, Charles Krug Winery, Vintners Collective, John Anthony, Peju Province Winery and Domaine Carneros. She currently works at Cakebread Cellars as their Assistant Guest Experience Manager.
She was awarded the prestigious title of “Wine & Culinary Travel Insider” by American Express Travel for her expertise in luxury wine and culinary travel, holds several wine and business credentials, and is currently pursuing her Certified Wine Educator (CWE) designation through the Society of Wine Educators.
Sylvie graduated from l’École Supérieure de Commerce (ESICAD) in France with a degree in Global Communication Strategy and is on the Board of Directors of the Wine Women organization, serving as Membership Director.
In her free time, Sylvie enjoys working on her champagne guide, hosting wine tastings, playing the violin, cooking, and taking short spontaneous trips.
Tune in to learn more about Sylvie’s remarkable career in wine. And learn more at:
SylvieTannhauser.com | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Wine Women Bio
Kirk Venge has lived in Napa’s wine country his entire life. He’s seen his share of wildfires threaten valley wineries, businesses and homes. But when the Glass Fire broke out the last weekend of September, it was far too close. Tune in to hear Kirk tell of racing from his home to Venge Vineyards with embers flying all around him. He considers himself very lucky to have the fire bypass his winery in Calistoga. Some of his neighbors were not as lucky. He himself spent a fair amount of time putting out spot fires at his winery.
We were lucky enough to get an hour with Kirk to talk about his life in wine and taste through a few of his current releases. Born and raised in Rutherford, Napa Valley, surrounded by fabled vineyards and wineries, Kirk Venge was instilled with his father’s vision of excellence. He learned the rhythm of winemaking as a young man, helping in the family vineyard throughout the growing season, experiencing the labor of harvest and the love of crush, and working alongside his father, Nils Venge, in the winery. Some of his earliest memories are of riding on the tractor with his father cultivating the Oakville Estate vineyard and dragging hoses across the cellar floor.
Kirk earned his degree in Viticulture and Enology at the prestigious University of California, Davis, graduating in 1998. He worked diligently during summer internships as the experimental winemaker for Mumm, Napa Valley, where he focused on producing still Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. A post-graduation harvest in New Zealand and travels in the great wine regions of Europe would provide him with the skills to lead production on the Venge Family Reserve wines in 2003.
When Kirk acquired ownership and the title of Winemaker from his father in 2008, he immediately purchased a 12.5 acre vineyard in the foothills of the Palisades Mountains in Calistoga, determined to found a new estate winery from which to further his own Napa Valley legacy.
“My focus has always been the vineyard first. So when the Bone Ash Vineyard site became available in Calistoga, I knew the potential for growing and producing reputable Cabernet Sauvignon was already established in the neighborhood by Bart Araujo, Dr. Kenefick, and Fred Fisher. I believe this site will produce wines that are every bit as compelling as our Oakville Estate designations.”
It is his experience that is the driving force behind the quality of Venge’s wines.
In addition to his own vineyard and winery, Kirk consults with several Napa Valley wineries, striving to craft the best wines the valley’s vineyards have to offer for his clients.
We began with tasting the Eleven Eleven Wines’ 2018 Destin Vineyard Estate Riesling, mouthwatering, vibrant, zesty! Next we jumped into the Venge Vineyards’ 2018 Scout’s Honor Proprietary Blend, Napa Valley, which delivered amazing red and black fruit flavors in its unique blend, headed by Zinfandel, Charbono and Petite Sirah. Named in honor of his beloved Labrador Retriever, we found this wine so rich in its flavor profile it could go with just about anything on a menu.
The 2017 Blend 27 from B Cellars we tasted unites Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Merlot to create an elegant yet bold Bordeaux-style red blend. This wine is a crowd-pleaser; the perfect choice to seduce any palate. What an elegant wine!
Tune in to hear about Kirk Venge’s wines and experiences in our ever-evolving wine industry. For more information, visit:
ElevenElevenWines.com
VengeVineyards.com
BCellars.com
Tanya Holland is known for her inventive take on modern soul food, as well as comfort classics. She’s the executive chef/owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, California, and is also the author of the Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook and New Soul Cooking. She was the host and soul food expert on the television series Melting Pot and competed on the fifteenth season of Top Chef. Holland holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, and a Grande Diplôme from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine.
We were excited to hear Tanya has a new podcast series out - TANYA’S TABLE – a multi-dimensional, integrated journey for your soul. She believes the nurturing aspect that food provides everyone is a great conduit for talking with people who want to dig into understanding people of all experiences and culture. The podcast focuses on learning and gaining perspective, which feeds our souls in a way that a great meal satiates us. Her first season guests include QuestLove, Alice Waters, Danny Meyer, Aisha Tyler, Gina Torres, Bassem Youssef, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and many more…
As a chef, Holland has traveled extensively in pursuit of more experience and knowledge. In France, she trained with Michel Sarran at Le Mas Du Langoustier on the Island of Porquerolles and with Jean-Michel Bouvier at Restaurant L’Essential in Chambery. She spent two summers cooking on Martha’s Vineyard Island at The Oyster Bar and L’Etoile, interrupted by a winter at Hamersley’s Bistro in Boston. She received rave reviews as the Executive Chef of The Delux Café in Boston and The Victory Kitchen in Brooklyn. Intrigued by the burgeoning West Coast food movement, Holland decided to move to warmer weather where she returned to the front of the house and garnered stellar reviews in her starring role as Creative Director at Le Théâtre in Berkeley, California. This lead to the opening of the now famed soul food eatery, Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, California.
Holland began her restaurant career in New York City as an assistant manager at Cornelia Street Café, Café Rakel and Nosmo King Restaurants. Later, she expanded her knowledge of the restaurant business by working as a Catering Office Manager, as well as a wine importer’s Tasting Assistant and a server at Mesa Grill. Her passion for cuisine led her to take on more responsibility as a Food Styling Assistant to Roscoe Betsill, of Metropolitan Home, Vegetarian Times and Food & Wine magazines. Deciding to turn her attention to the kitchen full time, Holland returned to Mesa Grill in 1994, where she worked as a line cook under celebrity chef Bobby Flay.
She has contributed to The Huffington Post, Food & Wine, Signature Bride, and Wine Enthusiast magazines, and has been featured in articles in O Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Savoy, Travel & Leisure, Sunset, and numerous local publications. In 1998, she taught at the Cambridge Culinary Institute in Massachusetts and continues to share her knowledge at recreational cooking schools across the country such as Cooking by the Book, Ramekins, Draegers, Central Market, Whole Foods, and Andronico’s Market, and at Rancho La Puerta Resort & Spa in Tecate, Mexico.
Holland served on The Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels of San Francisco and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Women’s Initiative. She is a member of the Chef’s Council for The Center for Culinary Development in San Francisco. In 2010, Holland was inducted as a member of the prestigious Les Dames d’Escoffier. Holland continues to the share her love of modern Southern fare by bringing home her passion for soul food and the amazing experiences shared through the act of enjoying a meal with family and friends.
It was her focus on Southern fare and Soul Food that we were interested to learn more about, particularly soul food and wine pairings. During the show, Tanya tasted with us three wines from St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery in Napa Valley and two from Mathis Wine in Sonoma...
Silver Oak Cellars would never have existed without Bonny Meyer. Never would’ve happened! But wait, you’re thinking, “Justin Meyer was the winemaker behind this iconic winery.” Whaddya mean? Technically true, but had Justin not met Bonny at UC Davis in the late 1960s, he would have remained the winemaker at Christian Brothers and would’ve remained a monk.
Instead, he left Christian Brothers to become a consulting winemaker and viticulturist. With Bonny, he had the opportunity to co-found Silver Oak. Justin and Bonny were not only a Perfect Pairing romantically, but together they were a perfect pairing to launch Silver Oak with co-founder Ray Duncan. Their first harvest took place the same week they were married!
We sat down with Bonny, virtually, to learn about her incredible journey. Perfect Pairing, The Love Affair Behind Silver Oak Cellars, is out in bookstores now. Telling her amazing journey from UC Davis undergrad through her successes at Silver Oak (and Franciscan) with husband Justin Meyer, we learned so much about their ever-present guiding compass: integrity, courage and love. These elements informed every decision made in their personal lives as well as decisions made about vineyard management and winemaking.
Justin Meyer pioneered so many now-common winemaking practices, from single-varietal production to delaying release to improve flavor through aging. As a result, Silver Oak rapidly became beloved by fans and critics, winning numerous awards and stellar ratings.
During the show, Bonny told numerous stories about Silver Oak’s development, from its 1972 founding until she and Justin sold their ownership stake back to the Duncans. We learned what it’s like to run a winery while simultaneously raising a family (with a child in her lap and conducting winery business in the other hand). Bonny Meyer epitomizes the ultimate juggler!
Ultimately, we learned a lot about love, loss and grief, a subject often hushed up as so many feel uncomfortable talking about it. Bonny fearlessly describes her feelings at Justin’s sudden death as well as her grief at his loss in her book. Tune in to hear how she encourages all of us not to quash these feelings – any feelings – and listen to our inner guides.
Learn more at:
https://www.bonnymeyer.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BonnyMeyerPerfectlyPaired/
Erin Riley may be Chief Bubblehead now, but before Be Bubbly was born, she had another “child” to attend to. Erin cites her daughter’s imminent departure for college as the impetus for creation of Be Bubbly, Napa’s newest and only sparkling wine bar and shop. As her daughter contemplated the big move to university, Erin wondered, “What next?”
The answer came surprisingly quickly: She loved Champagne and sparkling wines. As the former buyer for Napa Valley Wine Train, Erin was well familiar with what wines were available (or not) in America’s best-known wine town. With her wine industry friends lamenting the dearth of bubbly wine in Napa, Erin knew she’d found her next adventure: bringing bubbles to Napa Valley.
With partner Alison Barstad joining Erin for the podcast, we sat down virtually (with Erin and Alison in the Be Bubbly Wine Bar, and everyone on Zoom) to learn about their just-launched tasting room, wine club and offerings.
First, Alison and Erin tasted us through their Michel Gonet Brut Reserve Champagne NV, part of their always-evolving Champagne & Sparkling Wine menu. Fresh, with notes of almond, this was a great Champagne to kick off our wee celebration. (Given the strenuous nature of 2020 – hello, COVID-19 – we all agreed a bit of bubbly improved the day enormously.)
Next, Erin shared what may have been their final bottle (at least in that shipment) of Caraccioli Cellars’ 2014 Brut Rosé. This complex, méthode champenoise, sparkling wine hails from (wait for it) Santa Lucia Highlands! Made by Michel Salgues, formerly head winemaker with Roederer Estate, this wine kept revealing itself long after we completed recording.
As we enjoyed their wines, we learned a lot about opening a wine bar in the midst of a pandemic. Perpetually looking on the bright side, Erin told us the initial closing of restaurants and bars gave them the opportunity to tweak their business model. Alison seconded her partner’s assertion. She has a long history of launching and running hospitality venues with extensive wine, beer and cocktail lists. (They even offer a variety of sparkling wine cocktail recipes on their website.) And Alison made it clear that the additional time provided by the pandemic to tweak everything was sorely appreciated.
They revealed that many distributors were so excited by a Champagne/Sparkling Wine-centered establishment opening in Napa, they had much to offer them for their menu that many restaurants and wine bars wouldn’t consider without the bubbles focus. Can there be too much of a good thing? Evidently not when it comes to bubbly wine.
Tune in to learn about this just-opened wine bar and its extensive offerings (including beer and still wine), pairings, events and their Bubblehead Wine Club. (And be sure to stop in for a socially-distanced glass after work!)
Learn more at https://bebubblynapa.com/
Laura Schermeister is the consummate storyteller, a good skill to have when you have so many stories of great drama: Girl picks up stakes to move cross-country to wine country. Boy pursues live-long dream to open his own winery. Girl and Boy meet. Boom! Love at first (or second) sight.
There’s much more to this story, filled with drama (California wildfires!) and quickly adapting to rapidly evolving circumstances (again, wildfires!). You’ll need to listen to Laura tell the story on our show this week to hear all about it.
Not only did we get to hear her own journey and that of her husband, Robert, who’d made cult wines for Mark Aubert and Jayson Pahlmeyer, but we also got to taste a few of these premium, small-batch wines.
In 2012, Robert Schermeister took the plunge and made 125 cases of Napa Valley Pinot Noir under his own label, Schermeister Winery, using the native fermentation techniques he mastered under his mentors. He acquired licenses, bonds, and a website domain. This was the beginning of fulfilling a dream bigger than he ever imagined.
Fast forward as the two meet to discuss Laura building his website…and the meeting lasted six hours. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now with a beautiful tasting room and patio overlooking a creek, a loyal club – the Magnus Vinum Society, and a portfolio of stunning, small-batch wines, the Schermeisters are making waves in the wine world.
During the show, Laura took us through tasting three of their wines: the 2017 Chardonnay from Antica Vineyard on Atlas Peak in Napa Valley, the 2018 Viognier from the Salomon Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, and the 2017 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from the Terra de Promissio Vineyard. All use wild fermentation to express the true nature of the vineyard and its unique terroir.
Listen in or download the podcast and learn more at: https://schermeister.com/
With temperatures spiking, many imbibers (including all of us!) are simply looking for a refreshing, cooling glass of wine. Mia Morelli and Lynda Paulson joined the hosts to discuss their favorite summer wine sippers and careers in the wine industry. Hosts Marcia Macomber, Misty Rodebush Cain and Lisa Adams Walter chose some of their favorites to enjoy the summer weather.
Misty’s summer go-to sipper is St. Supery’s Dollarhide Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, a bright, crisp and thoroughly refreshing wine to improve long, summer days and night. Marcia enjoys the Seghesio Vermentino, from the Russian River Valley, a wine she’s drawn to due to its tropical fruit aromas and flavors. Lisa reached out further afield to the dry, but refreshing Sorelle Bronca Prosecco, from Italy. Listen in to hear more about their comments on the wines.
As to our guests, Mia and Lynda, they both hail from years in the wine industry. Mia Morelli is a Freelance Marketer. She previously served as Senior Director of Marketing at Foley Family Wines, Brand Manager at Jackson Family Wines and recently returned to wine country from the East Coast after finishing up her Master’s Degree in Business.
It was great fun to hear Mia’s insights surrounding the shifts in wine marketing and the effect of COVID-19 on the industry and consumer habits. Mia’s traveled the world, working in the wine and marketing business in New Zealand and other international locales.
Lynda Paulson has been training and coaching tasting room staff, CEOs and public speakers in the art of communication and sales for more than 30 years. Currently focused on helping professionals give better presentations in the virtual arena, Lynda shared a number of tips to make the difference between engaging your audience and losing them to distractions. For those looking to make online meetings more successful, you may find useful tips from the lively discussion.
Having just virtually attended the recent Wine Packaging Conference, Misty led a discussion on the innovative designs entered in the competition. Open to traditional 750ml bottle molds as well as new packaging and cans, the various categories were judged on their visual appeal, design functionality, appropriateness for the price segment and creative utilization. View the entries and winners.
Listen or download to hear more. And to learn more or inquire about the guests or hosts:
Mia Morelli – 707-292-5136
Lynda Paulson – Lynda@SuccessStrategiesInc.com or 775-530-6119
Lisa Adams Walter – Lisa@AdamsWalter.com or 707-696-5006
Misty Rodebush Cain – Misty@StSupery.com
Marcia Macomber – Marcia@CornucopiaCreations.com
We’d been trying to find a date to meet (virtually) with Victoria Coleman for several weeks. (It’s always a good sign when a winemaker is wildly busy with the year-round tasks to ensure the wines are as darn near perfect as they can be.) At last a window opened on the schedule, and we had the most delightful conversation about the wines; Victoria’s adventures in China (in winemaking); and the evolution of Lobo Wines in her thirteen years with them.
Victoria Coleman is a graduate of the UC Davis enology program and began her winemaking journey at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars as production assistant. She returned to the Napa Valley after a stint at Jade Valley Winery near Xian, China, and consultedg with new wineries there as well. Victoria also was exposed to classic, Old World winemaking in 2008 when she worked alongside Erick Tourbier at Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux, France. Her stories of jumping into the wine industry feet first and finding a career path to consulting as a winemaker are fascinating!
Having been at Lobo for more than a decade now gives her a unique perspective on how their estate vines and viticulture practices have evolved. With a portfolio encompassing both the Napa Valley and Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Proprietary Blend of Cabernet and Syrah, "Howl," Victoria’s ability to predict the directions her wines for Lobo will take, from crush pad through fermentation and aging, translates into highly-rated estate wines.
Lobo’s bottlings are all small lot, made from single vineyard fruit that is 100% estate grown and sustainably farmed. The owners began with a piece of land in the Napa Valley, where they planted their first Chardonnay vineyard in the Oak Knoll district, north of Napa.
Taking the next step a few years later, they acquired a much larger vineyard about a mile from the first one. After substantial improvements to drainage and vine care, they were rewarded with excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir.
In 2007, the owners found their dream property on Atlas Peak, 42 acres on the eastern ridge of the Napa Valley. In addition to indescribable views, the 1350 foot elevation along with rocky, volcanic soil and southwestern sun exposure, make ideal conditions for superlative Cabernet Sauvignon.
And the hypnotic eyes on the labels? Listen in to hear all about the evolution of the “Lobo” (“wolf”) labels, named for owners, whose last name is Wulff. For more on Lobo Wines, visit: https://www.lobowines.com/
Who knew it was primarily a team of women that were the driving force behind creation of Sonoma County’s newest American Viticultural Area (AVA) sub-appellation?! Could this be another first in the wine industry for women? We searched them out to learn why they felt the Petaluma Gap, a vast plain area coming off the Pacific Ocean, perpendicularly to the coastal range, deserved its own AVA designation. [EP45]
Eager to tell the story of this unique geographic area and the wine it produces, we enlisted the women behind the Petaluma Gap AVA’s inception, application and formation, as well as those who’ve worked the land and made the wine from grapes grown in this windy area. Meet our guests, members of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance:
Bruliam Wines’ Kerith Overstreet, Keller Estate’s Ana Keller, Trombetta Family Wines’ Rickey Trombetta and Dr. Liz Thach, MW, Distinguished Professor of Wine & Management at Sonoma State, joined us to discuss the terroir, climate, wind and wine of the Petaluma Gap.
First, Ana Keller took us through a typical summer day in the Gap: Mornings are cool, crisp and accompanied by a layer of fog. The sun’s heat disperses and chases away the fog blanket. The grapes and vines soak up the warm air and bright sun’s rays. By mid-afternoon, this weather pattern reverses: the temps cool and the fog seeps back through the gap across the Petaluma Plain down toward Richardson Bay and the Carneros. In fact the temperature change and shift is so speedy that the wind regularly rushes at top speed through the Gap in mid-afternoon.
The wind influence reduces crop yields, keeps sugar levels lower and slows the speed of ripening. All of these conditions contribute to ideal levels of acidity, intense flavors, and unique, highly desirable properties in their wines.
Next, we dug in (or rather sipped in) on “verifying” their touted, exemplary results and weren’t disappointed. Rickey Trombetta’s Gap’s Crown Vineyard Chardonnay was crisp, refreshing and carried notes of green apple. Kerith Overstreet’s Bruliam Sangiacomo Roberts Road Pinot Noir showed smooth integration of cherry, cranberry and hints of black fruit in this delicate red wine.
Megan Cline (who couldn’t join us at the last moment) shared the Cline Cellars’ Estate Pinot Noir, demonstrating how the terroir closer to the Carneros District reveals nuances in the flavor profile distinctly different from vineyards further north and west from Cline’s. While the bulk of the Gap’s vineyards produce Pinot Noir, a grape that growers originally thought unsuitable for the land a century ago, we finished off our virtual Gap tasting with Keller Estate’s Rotie, a Syrah-based proprietary blend, developed in homage to the wines of the Rhone in France. Ana Keller’s story about how her family planted Syrah and found it did surprisingly well in the specific vineyard sites of the estate is worth listening to…
All in all since the AVA was formally recognized, and producers began adding “Petaluma Gap” proudly to their labels in early 2018, they’ve garnered 93 wines with 90+ ratings. This, after ushering the region from informal “hidden gem” status to a highly respected, formal viticultural area, with distinctive and desirable properties. In fact, it is the only AVA with boundaries defined by the wind!
Tune in to learn the details. For more on the Petaluma Gap, the wines and guests, visit:
Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance
Petaluma Gap AVA Facts
Bruliam Wines
Cline Family Cellars
Keller Estate
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This dynamic mother-daughter duo was exciting to talk with on this week’s show. First, they have a very unique winery model: Lorenza Wine focuses solely upon producing amazing rosé. No whites. No reds. Just rosé.
Second, they recently branched out into canned Spritz Rosé, which we got to taste. Packaged in an elegant 4-pack with a shimmering finish, their wine is likely the most elegant thing we’ve ever drank from a can! But we’re getting ahead of the story….
We wanted to hear all about their decision to go into business together. Melinda (Mindy) Kearney is a long-time veteran of the wine industry. And her daughter, Michele Lorenza Ouillet, is an international fashion model, with lengthy experience on the catwalks of Europe’s fashion houses.
Lorenza Rosé was founded in 2008. Sharing a love of the beautiful Provençal Rosé, they set out to create in California a wine of intention that was vineyard driven, delicate, dry, low alcohol and full of light. In 2008 they hit the road, destination Lodi with a phone number of someone they hadn’t yet met. Old vines they believed would lend the wine complexity and authenticity and would feed their desire to create a wine of substance–something real. Strangers became friends and doors generously opened to the outstanding vineyards that have been the source of Lorenza True Rosé.
Tune as the co-hosts hear about the sandy soil of the California Delta, home to the old vineyards that provide the grapes from which Lorenza is made. The Bechthold Vineyard Cinsault was planted in 1847. Spenker Ranch, the original source of Carignan in their blend, was planted in 1906. Head trained, own rooted vines, weathered and with stories to tell, these vines are central to the blend which was inspired by the Bandol icon, Domaine Tempier. Hand picked, direct to press with fermentation in separate stainless steel tanks allows the individual lots to develop and express their beauty fully before the final blending.
Their first vintages caught the attention of sommeliers who were looking for an American-made, Provence-style Rosé. The wine continues to deliver a consistent flavor profile with a sun-kissed mineral driven palate, 11% alcohol and pale hue.
Listen in as this energetic team discusses their excitement over launching their new wine club and first canned wine (which was delicious)! We found their ebullience so refreshing (just like their wine!) and infectious. You’ll be smiling and cheering on their latest endeavors.
Learn more at: Lorenza Wine | Instagram @LorenzaRose
It’s been a year or more since we caught up with Alicia Maria Kidd, founder and CEO of The Wine Noire LLC, an import, export and wholesale distribution company based in Berkeley, CA. Launched in 2017, The Wine Noire specializes in helping winemakers who are women and people of color get their wines into the marketplace, as well as directly into the hands of consumers.
Alicia caught us up on her diverse activities, and we were delighted to hear how much her business has grown since we last talked on the show. It was also valuable to hear how the current focus on #BlackLivesMatter and her work with the Association of African American Vintners has helped raise awareness of black vintners and winemakers have contributed to the wine industry.
Born and raised in Oakland, Alicia earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in public administration from California State University, East Bay. Her journey into the wine industry began with trips to Napa with friends, followed by an opportunity in 2016 to become a Boisset Ambassador for the St. Helena-based luxury wine company, Boisset Collection.
She founded The Wine Noire a year later after taking notice that there was a lack of diversity and inclusion in the wine industry, with very little to no representation of women and people of color producers.
Alicia’s mission is to remove barriers and open doors for these producers to be seen and enjoyed by local and global marketplaces so that they can focus on making incredible wines. Her current portfolio includes wines from California and South Africa.
In addition, to working with producers, Alicia works with tech companies and corporate event planners of high-end events to curate wine experiences as well consults with restaurants looking to start or expand their wine lists. Through The Wine Noire, she also offers trainings to help hospitality teams become familiar with how to serve as well as sell wines offered in their establishments.
We were excited to hear about the "Diversity Wine Route" 8th Annual Wine Festival, featuring brands by people of color, an upcoming online wine festival, Sunday, July 26th from 1pm -3pm PST, which The Wine Noire will be participating in. Featuring 12 wine brands, each winemaker will showcase one varietal and host a 5 minute virtual tasting with the attendees. They’ll kick off the festival with a 10 minute wine lesson from Tuanni Price then have twelve 5 minute wine tasting with each wine brand. The last hour attendees can join their favorite winemakers in his/her private breakout rooms for more in depth chats about their products and services. Attendees can also purchase a case of the wines feature at the festival to enjoy in the comfort of their home while participating with the featured vintners and distributors online.
Tune in to hear about The Wine Noire’s line of California and South African wines, her planned wine club and more.
Connect with Alicia on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube
Laura Barrett had a vision of herself stuck in a window-less basement laboratory for many years to come when she was studying chemistry in college. That unappealing forecast drove her to seek out other alternatives to a life in science, in a basement. When someone mentioned enology, she dove into research and was delighted to find the science of fermentation, coupled with spending time outdoors in the vineyard, made for a perfect combination. Her new career path would ensure she wouldn’t be stuck in any windowless labs!
Laura Barrett brings her passion for wine, a life-long love of science and attention to detail to winemaking at Clif Family. Inspired by her first harvest in New Zealand, Laura received a Master’s Degree in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California, Davis and trained under some of Napa Valley’s most celebrated winemakers. With a vineyard-driven approach and a focus on organic farming, Laura is enthusiastic about working to create balanced and elegant wines.
Clif Family has 10 acres of certified organic Estate Vineyards on Howell Mountain, Napa Valley’s famed Cabernet Sauvignon growing region. In 2019, they planted a 40-acre organic vineyard with 8 varietals in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, just north of the town of Napa on Highway 29. Their estate vineyards are farmed by Erik Dodd of Wight Vineyard Management. Clif Family also works with grower partners in the Napa Valley and Mendocino County to complete their wine portfolio.
In fact, we got to taste through wines from multiple vineyards and counties from Laura’s Clif Family Winery portfolio, starting with the refreshing 2019 Rose of Grenache, Mendocino, a direct press wine, farmed specifically to make Rose. Next, we sampled the 2017 Grenache, North Coast from Sonoma County that was bursting with red fruit aromas and flavors from dark cherry to plum and raspberry – a perfect summer red, for its refreshing but rich red fruit profit. Last up was 2017 Kit’s Killer Cab from their Howell Mountain estate vineyard.
The Clif Family Winery story began on a bike, where long days of cycling adventures would lead to leisurely evenings of good wine, food and hospitality. When Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford first started Clif Bar & Company, the focus was on making great tasting energy bars for any adventure. Clif Family was built on that same passion for creating delicious, small batch foods while caring for people, planet and communities.
It was exciting to hear the evolution of the winery, particularly the acquisition and planting of their own organic vineyards this past year. Adding to their estate vineyard production will provide yet more choices for Laura in her winemaking while building a legacy for the estate.
Visit their Napa Valley Tasting Room, enjoy lunch from their Bruschetteria Food Truck, join them on a cycling adventure or enjoy their wine and artisan food products from afar.
Learn more at: https://www.cliffamily.com/
Margaret Valenzuela spent part of her formative years growing up in Mexico, where she was affectionately referred to, from time to time, as “Rubia.” She is, indeed, blonde -- someone who stands out in a crowd in Mexico. She is also co-proprietor and vintner of Rubia Wine Cellars in Napa Valley.
The winery name? Her husband’s idea – not hers. A term of endearment. But in speaking with Margaret during this show, it was clear she relishes her figurative (see the label design with her likeness) and demonstrative role in overseeing all aspects of Rubia Wine Cellars.
Tune in to learn how they have joined unique terroir, choice grapes and global winemaking style to create distinctive wines. Rubia leaves a mark in your memory and heart.
We started with a short discussion on the state of the wine industry and wineries’ re-opening efforts in Napa Valley and Sonoma. Co-host Misty Roudebush Cain shared some fascinating data analysis she’d gleaned from her research as St. Supéry’s Marketing Director: There’s been a 60% increase in searches for “easy___” in 2020 over 2019, and a 65% increase in watch time for videos with “step by step” or “for beginners” in how-to videos.
How does that data knowledge inform marketers and winery owners on strategy? Easy! (Pun intended!) Make wine knowledge and food and wine pairing knowledge much easier to understand and learn. But we digress…
With Margaret, Misty, Lisa Adams Walter and Marcia Macomber all in different places, we had the lovely opportunity to share a tasting of several of Rubia’s lovely wines together. Listen in as the ladies taste and discuss Rubia winemaker Julien Fayard’s 2019 Rubia Truchard Chardonnay (unoaked), 2017 Russian River Chardonnay (oaked), and 2017 Napa Valley Red Blend.
We learned how Joe and Margaret dove into learning the wine business. (Joe even did a stint as a harvest intern!) Margaret has delved into all aspects of marketing, hospitality and winemaking (including studies at U.C. Davis’ famed winemaking program).
Rubia offers visitors tasting by appointment at Julien Fayard’s production facility, giving guests a unique opportunity to view the day’s activities, which may include racking or bottling. He may even step into a tasting led by Joe or Margaret!
The Rubia declaration on their wine label couldn’t be more prescient: “To stand out and make a mark in the world, embrace your differences and believe in who you are.” Amen! We couldn’t imagine a more fitting motto.
Learn more at: https://www.rubiawinecellars.com/
Mallory McEligot guests on the show this week, fresh back from a brief vacation and, like many, juggling duties of work and parenting simultaneously while Zooming! As co-host Lisa Adams Walter put it: “Mallory McEligot is a real go-getter!” Not only is our guest Director of Membership & Events at Silver Trident Winery, but she’s also a busy influencer on Facebook and Instagram, social media consultant and founder and executive director of BANG Napa Valley.
BANG Napa Valley (By Appointment Networking Group) has a mission is to work in partnership with like-minded, highly-selective by-appointment wineries and other comparable businesses (including concierge, chauffeurs, and caterers), allowing them to provide elevated services to their clientele.
It was founded in April 2014 by Mallory, with the objective to create a network of individuals who solely work at by-appointment wineries. Over time, membership has expanded to include local drivers, concierge, and caterers who have expressed interest in participating in our specific and targeted networking events.
The By-Appointment Networking Group hosts private events at wineries, hotels, and restaurants. They invite a selection of businesses to showcase their offerings to a focused group of industry professionals. This model has proved successful in fostering inter-winery relationships, as well as lasting connections with trade partners. Their vast network works together to generate new business and revenue for all participating members by referring qualified clientele.
On the show, Mallory discussed how wineries are shifting their hospitality to virtual wine tastings, whether that be with Facebook or Instagram Lives, private Zoom tastings or other virtual meeting methods. As a result, members of BANG have been learning what is and isn’t working with visitors: On the show we discuss the ideal length of time for an online tasting appointment; when or if to send wine samples to attendees; and the magic of including order forms, winery logo’d pens and corkscrews with virtual tastings.
Most importantly, Mallory and her members have learned how invaluable developing deep connections with other wineries’ staff members is to providing top-notch service to winery guests – virtually or in-person.
Tune in to learn how this Sonoma State University graduate (with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies, PR, Marketing & Branding) found her career path in hospitality and wine, and her advice for women working in the wine industry.
BANG Napa Valley
BANG Napa Valley on Instagram
Lucia Albino Gilbert, PhD, and John C. Gilbert, PhD, Professors Emeriti, Santa Clara University and The University of Texas at Austin, are joined by Zelma Long, Lane Tanner and Shelly Rafanelli-Fehlman as guests on the show, discussing the experiences of women winemakers. Tune in to hear about the Gilberts’ new book, Women Winemakers: Personal Odysseys, for which they traveled the globe, interviewing women winemakers from France to New Zealand. Zelma, Lane and Shelly are just three of the many winemakers featured in the book.
Hear about the Trailblazers (those who began their winemaking careers before 1980) and those who followed them. Of course, for the show we stepped further back in time to learn about how the Gilberts’ interest in women winemakers came about. Their research (which began a decade ago) culminated in findings being reported on their website: womenwinemakers.com. You can also catch updates and news on their Facebook page: Women Winemakers of California and Beyond.
Their new book captures the passion, courage, and talent of the women who are successfully making their way in what has long been a male-dominated field. In this groundbreaking volume, Lucia and John Gilbert, professors and lovers of wine, set out to make women winemakers and their contributions to the wine industry more visible. They engaged in one-on-one conversations with dozens of trailblazing women winemakers from throughout California and important wine regions of France, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain.
During the show we learned which winemaker began her career in air and water pollution, which one’s great-grandmother came to the U.S. because she knew she wouldn’t be included in the family wine business in the “old country,” and which one just received her doctoral degree. Psst! Congrats, to Dr. Zelma Long.
Dr. Long is considered to be one of the female pioneers in California wine, and was the first woman to assume senior management of a Californian winery, Simi Winery, of which she was president from 1989 to 1996. She founded and was the first president of the American Vineyard Foundation to help finance research in enology and viticulture and also founded the American Viticulture and Enology Research Network (AVERN).
When her in-laws planted vines in Napa Valley, she signed up in 1968 for a master’s degree in Enology and Viticulture at the University of California, Davis. She was the second woman to enroll in enology at UC Davis and the only woman in her class. Interrupting her studies, she began her winemaking career at Robert Mondavi Winery for the 1970 harvest, rapidly working her way up to the position of Chief Enologist. In mid-1979, Zelma was recruited as winemaker for Simi Winery, in Healdsburg, in Sonoma County. Two years later, Simi was acquired by Moet Hennessey, with whom she worked for the next 18 years as both winemaker and CEO. From 1976 to 2005 she also oversaw the wines of her family winery, Long Vineyards, in the Napa Valley.
Currently, Zelma is the Winemaking Partner for Vilafonté Estate Vineyards & Winery. Established in 1997, Vilafonté was the first winery in South Africa to focus exclusively on luxury wines of international status, growing and making two Bordeaux blends. She oversees the winemaking and style development of the Vilafonté wines and is on site in South Africa during harvest, through pressing and barreling, and then again at blending and bottling. Zelma also applies her talents as Winemaker for Rosati Family Winery in Hopland, CA. In addition, she has established Zelma Long Wines Consulting Practice and works with clients in California, Washington, Israel, Provence, and Bordeaux.
Lane Tanner received a B.S. in Chemistry from San Jose State University in 1976. It wasn’t until after she left a job that had stationed in Glendive, Montana, for the winter one year that her career veered towards wine. Andre Tchelistcheff recommended Lane for the enology job at Firestone Winery in S...
We’re baa-aack! The WWRH team has been on a Corona-hiatus. Like most of the world, the pandemic forced our team to pivot to new directions, take on new duties, and handle new projects. At long last, we’ve wrestled our recording schedule back under control.
In today’s show, tune in to learn what the hosts have been up to during #ShelterInPlace. We’ve switched to Zoom recordings out of necessity to maintain social distancing. Each of the hosts is in a different town in the North Bay, from Petaluma to Yountville, and Healdsburg, during the show.
Our guest, Renae Perry, is CEO and co-owner of the 22-year-old Papapietro Perry Winery on Dry Creek Road (part of the historic Timber Crest Farms Collective) in Healdsburg. Renae’s husband, Bruce Perry, and winemaker Ben Papapietro, worked together years ago in San Francisco. Both were oenophiles and lovers of Pinot Noir. Soon they became garagistes, making small batches of wine in their homes.
Today Ben and Yolanda Papapietro and Bruce and Renae Perry are founders and co-owners of this award-winning winery. Listen in as Renae describes their journey from home winemaking to, “We should have our own winery!” They began with a mere 70-case production their first year and have grown to 8,000 cases every year.
Papapietro Perry is a boutique, family-owned and operated winery, located in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley, specializing in Russian River Pinot Noir. In fact, it’s the house specialty! They make ten single-vineyard designate Pinots as well as a highly popular free-run Rosé, Zinfandel and Chardonnay.
Tune in to hear Renae lead the hosts through a guided tasting of their 2019 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley; 2016 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir; and super-smooth 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. While miles apart, we were able to taste the same wines at the same time.
Renae also gave us a peek at their Zinfandel vineyard off the porch of their tasting room as well as the back story on the development of their label and logo design. We’re hoping by the time you hear this, their tasting room will have reopened after Sonoma County authorities grant approval for visitors to return to wineries.
Learn more at: https://papapietro-perry.com/
Just before California’s governor ordered a shelter-in-place regulation statewide, we visited Fortunati Vineyards’ new tasting room in the Oak Knoll district of Napa Valley, with owners Ellen Reich Luchtel and Gary Luchtel. [EP37]
Derived from the Italian pronunciation of "Lucky" and the owner's last name "Luchtel", [say "For-too-not-ee"], we were fortunate enough (pun intended) to taste through a few of Fortunati’s ten, award-winning wines with Ellen and Gary during the show, as well as learn the history of their micro-winery.
You’ll have to tune in to hear the whole story, but neither Ellen nor Gary grew up in wine industry families. In fact, they never expected to become winery and vineyard owners. But we’re getting ahead of the story, which begins when they met in college. Gary used to bring Ellen wines wrapped in brown paper bags for blind tastings. Talk about pressure! But it looks like it all worked out some 30-plus years later…
When Ellen and Gary first moved to their Oak Knoll property to plant a vineyard more than fifteen years ago, they had no plans to build a winery. Like many, they’d grown grapes for other producers for many years while Gary made wine for their own personal consumption. But with Ellen’s marketing expertise, it wasn’t too long before their brand launched with minimal case production and has since grown exponentially with word-of-mouth about these stunning, elegant wines and personable hospitality.
Fortunati focuses on natural farming and winemaking techniques to deliver the best expression of their wines. Dry farming, natural-yeast fermentations, and other natural and sustainable practices produce wine that showcases the unique land and climate of the Napa Valley. They produce traditional Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends that made Napa Valley famous, but they also believe that variety is the spice of life: They’ve enriched their portfolio with a wide diversity of varieties, including Syrah, Pinot Noir, Viognier, Malbec and more in their lineup of hand-crafted, small batch wines.
Listen in to hear about their new, stunning on-site tasting room, with views of Mount St. Helena and vineyards in all directions (including their estate vineyard). Gary also discloses a wealth of insider information on the nitty-gritty of winemaking techniques, including his “recipe” for barrel selection.
In this peek behind the curtain, two of WINE WOMEN’s co-founders (Ellen Reich Luchtel and Marcia Macomber) get to hone in on their love of great wine and share stories of the evolution of Fortunati (and the organization) while enjoying the unusually warm (and beautiful) weather mid-March in Napa Valley.
It’s clear that husband-and-wife team of Gary and Ellen Luchtel pour their hearts and souls into producing award-winning, premium wines so that their guests, club members and fans can enjoy the fruits of their labors.
Their tasting room is open by appointment (and will reopen after the COVID-19 health crisis) Fortunati Vineyards.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-8{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-8 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 0px;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-8{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-8 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-8{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-8 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}.fusion-fullwidth.fusion-builder-row-9 { overflow:visible; }.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-9{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}
We sat down with Founder and Executive Director Colby Smith of CANVAS (Concierge Alliance of Napa Valley and Sonoma) at Fortunati Vineyards’ new tasting room in the Oak Knoll district of Napa Valley.
Having served the hospitality industry now for more than a decade, the Concierge Alliance of Napa Valley and Sonoma, CANVAS, is a dynamic organization comprised of outstanding leaders in the hospitality community. CANVAS Members continually provide guests to Napa and Sonoma with the best possible experiences. Colby is proud to have such dedicated and loyal individuals participating in the programs facilitated by CANVAS that benefit the local Community.
We learned of the natural tie in to the Napa/Sonoma wine community as these Professional Recommenders are also the voice of CANVAS – The Experience Magazine (Canvassing Wine Country). The magazine presents a fresh and unprecedented approach to discovering and telling stories about personalities, innovators, creators, wineries, destinations and businesses that woven together create the fabric of wine country. With this innovative and inquisitive editorial mission the voice, style and access of the magazine is unlike any prior wine country publication. (And conveniently and unsurprisingly, it is overseen by our very own Lisa Adams Walter, as editor of the magazine.)
Colby herself has been quite the fixture in Napa Valley for more than a decade. She moved to Napa Valley in 2005, where she immediately embraced the hospitality community by becoming a Concierge at Villagio Inn & Spa. (Now Hotel Villagio.) It was the perfect environment for her to share her enthusiasm for Wine Country with visitors. After almost four years at the desk, wanting to do more, she and Monica Stevens (who was with the organization for the first year) spawned the idea of creating a support organization for the hospitality community, and the Concierge Alliance of Napa Valley was formed.
After a year and a half, Colby reached out to incorporate Sonoma, promoting a broader region and pride in the uniqueness of each county. With that the name evolved to CANVAS, Concierge Alliance of Napa Valley and Sonoma. She has grown the organization to over 900 members and developed a great number of programs that align, connect and educate the important people who serve our visiting guests.
In the past year, Colby extended outward to consumers from the voice and expertise of the region’s hospitality insiders who influence Wine Country experiential decisions. Now reaching Wine Country enthusiasts, this original approach, as a magazine, provides visual messaging and content to consumers through the voice of a concierge. Learn more at: https://conciergealliance.com/magazine/
Tune in to hear more about Colby’s plans for the future of CANVAS and her appreciation for the efforts of so many to contribute to the CANVAS community.
We first spoke with Joel Peterson, aka the “Godfather of Zinfandel,” during our podcast of the Historical Vineyard Society’s tasting event last fall. (Replay the show here.) That was our first introduction to his wealth of knowledge about California’s historic vineyards—but also about the versatility of zinfandel.
Whom better to learn from at ZAP! than Joel Peterson himself about the current State of America’s Grape?
Following our discussions with several zinfandel viticulturists, Peterson sat down with us to discuss how he got into the wine industry and what he’s learned over four decades in the industry. He got his start in late 1972, meeting Joe Swan. That led to a chance to learn the art of winemaking. We could say the rest is history, but that wouldn’t do service to his story.
You’ll need to tune in to hear about his childhood, growing up in a household of two chemists. His father was wine obsessed, eventually writing one of the first wine newsletters in the San Francisco Bay Area called The San Francisco Wine Sampling Society. As we are women-centric at the podcast, we want to give a shout-out to Peterson’s mother, Frances, who trained as a nuclear chemist worked on the Manhattan project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Woot! Woot!
Now where does zinfandel fit in?
Conveniently for all of us, although Joe Swan wanted to specialize in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, he practiced his early winemaking with zinfandel. It was those first Joe Swan wines that made Joel fall in love with Zinfandel and, in particular, with older vines.
When he started Ravenswood in 1976, he wanted to focus on zinfandel. Though he was able to make single vineyard wines that helped redefine the qualitative ceiling of California’s old vines, Ravenswood also started to make a wine called “Vintners Blend” that proved immensely popular. Over several decades its annual production kicked up to nearly one million cases, at one point becoming the bestselling red zinfandel brand in the world.
Along the way, Joel has been a Sole Proprietor, a General Partner in a Limited Partnership, the President of both a C Corporation and a publicly traded corporation and a Senior Vice President at Constellation Wines. He’s also served as the President of Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers. He helped found ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) and has had the opportunity to be its President two times. He also sits on the Board of the Sonoma County Vintners and has been inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame. He supports and consults with the Historic Vineyard Society. And, oh, yes! He’s now the proud proprietor of Once and Future Wine, from which we got to taste his 2018 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel from the Teldeschi Vineyard. (It was stupendous!)
Once and Future Wine Company is a return to the original vision he had for Ravenswood so many years ago. A project that specializes in wines from special vineyards made with a sensitivity to place and in a style that he personally loves and believes in.
Listen in to hear all about it! Once and Future Wine | Zinfandel Advocates and Producers
If you’re hankering for a wine tasting experience that represents genuine family-hospitality and history, look no further. We sat down with Kyle Lerner to talk about his family’s 100+ year-old winery, Harney Lane, founded 1907 by his father-in-law’s great-grandfather in Lodi, California. All of their wines are 100% estate grown and Certified Green. (More on that later.)
Lerner had not expected a life in farming. He received is Bachelor of Science from California State, Fresno in Finance and anticipated a career in business. But he married into a winegrowing family and his life took a new direction. With more than a quarter century of tutelage from his father-in-law on farming the land and running the winery business, Kyle now leads the family’s endeavors.
The vineyards are now Kyle’s primary office. Wife Jorja, who grew up on the land, initially thought she wouldn’t be involved in the family business either. But together with Jorja’s mother, Kathy Mettler, they run the tasting room and all winery operations.
As you can imagine, pride in the family’s estate wines is off the charts. They’ve devoted their lives to producing the finest wines possible and it shows in the bottle. Harney Lane produces several varieties and blends, including Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Albarino, Chardonnay and others.
Their fruit is entirely handpicked, hand sorted, fermented in small lots and then barrel aged in programs unique to each of the wines in their portfolio.
In total, Lerner farms about 550 acres, which they either own, lease or manage. Approximately 10% of that goes into their Harney Lane Winery production. Kyle, of course, serves as vineyard manager, overseeing all aspects of farming, using sustainable practices for his Green Certified vineyards. In fact, all the growers of the 110,000 acre Lodi appellation are so gung-ho on sustainability of the land, they developed their own “Green” growing standards and practices: Lodi Rules.
Lodi Rules grew out of a desire to farm in a way that meets the today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to create their own livelihoods. Its Sustainable Winegrowing Program is the culmination of decades of viticulture research and input from farmers, scientists, and environmentalists – and it continues to evolve and improve, making Lodi’s wines some of the best in the country. Lodi’s warm days and cool delta breezes create ideal growing conditions leading to rich flavors.
Kyle shared the Harney Lane Scottsdale Vineyard Zinfandel with us. It’s a BIG zinfandel, benefiting from aeration. It opens up beautifully over time. The historic Scottsdale Vineyard was one they’d farmed for many years before being able to acquire it in 2014. It’s also known as the “Blueberry Vineyard,” a moniker we could taste in the wine’s flavor profile. The wine would pair perfectly with many rich, winter meals: steaks, burgers, lasagna, cassoulet, brisket, roasts, barbecue…
Tune in to hear more about the growing conditions in Lodi and the 100-plus year-old Harney Lane, led by Kyle and Jorja Lerner. Harney Lane | ZAP!
While enjoying a bottle of 1986 Ravenswood Old Hill Zinfandel that Joel Peterson left on our table at ZAP! while recording, our first guest, David Gates, Vice President of Vineyard Operations at Ridge Vineyards, told us he’d been farming the legendary Monte Bello Vineyard for Ridge since 1989—just three years after the wine was made. Wow!
What was probably the most delightful about our discussion with David was that he seemed as enthusiastic and delighted about working at Monte Bello, and with Ridge Vineyards, as he was when he first began there.
Ridge produced its first commercial wine, a Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon, in 1962. But the land itself had a long and storied history beginning in the late 1890s. However, Monte Bello wasn’t rejuvenated as a producing vineyard until the 1960s. They produced their first Zinfandel in 1964. Beginning in 1966, the winery began sourcing some grapes for its Geyserville Zinfandel and other wines from vineyards in Sonoma County. So we had a lot to learn about in a short time!
Tune in to learn about Ridge’s Croatian “Pribidrag,” part of Zinfandel’s long history. We also got to hear David’s take on climate change, developments in sustainable, and organic farming, and what he’s learned from his younger colleagues. David’s enthusiasm for learning from recent UC Davis graduates under his supervision was reflected in the stories we heard from his many past and present viticulture colleagues whom we got to meet and interview at ZAP!—including our next guest: Jake Neustadt, Viticulturalist and Vineyard Manager at Bedrock Wine Co.
Jake didn’t attend UC Davis originally for its stellar winemaking and agriculture programs. But once he learned how bleak the career paths were in journalism and international relations, he changed his mind! The career paths in wine and viticulture looked a lot more attractive, and he was hooked.
Jake’s wine industry career has orbited around old vines (Rock Wall Wine Company, Ridge) with a sidestep into West Sonoma County Pinot Noir (Freeman) and a harvest learning the agony of bird nets in Central Otago, New Zealand (Misha’s Vineyard). It was at Ridge, under the tutelage of David Gates and Will Thomas, that Jake learned the idiosyncrasies of farming old vines with sustainable practices like biological control and site-specific cover cropping along with using modern viticultural instrumentation and data analysis in order to improve old-school organic and dry farming practices.
Jake’s career at Bedrock began in production in 2016 and evolved into vineyard management where he oversees numerous vineyards across California. Listen in to hear what it’s been like to learn Bedrock’s many vineyards, from the well-tended to those that were neglected for many years. Bedrock Wine Co. | Ridge Vineyards | ZAP!
Wine Women Radio goes to ZAP! We had the pleasure of sitting down with some of the best viticulturists and vineyard managers who oversee the farming and care of 1000s of acres of zinfandel vines throughout California. On this show we meet Brenae Royal, vineyard manager of the famed and historic Monte Rosso, above Sonoma Valley in the Moon Mountain District, and Brennan Stover, vineyard manager at Turley Wine Cellars in Paso Robles, overseeing ancient vines in challenging growing conditions.
Wise beyond her years (hint: she’s only been at Monte Rosso for a few years since graduating from Cal. State-Chico), Brenae Royal sat down with us to discuss her journey, from wondering if she wanted to take on management of Monte Rosso, to becoming one of its ardent champions and its leader of viticulture development. With the hosts, Brenae discusses the challenges of learning her way around this 130+ year old, 250+ acre estate and understanding its unique characteristics, including its 64 blocks and 105 sub-blocks (none with any signage). As vineyard manager, Brenae landed in the position with owner E. & J. Gallo while some of her staff have worked there for decades. Learn how she faced and succeeded in this management challenge.
Zinfandel makes up about 85 acres of Monte Rosso, where ten varieties are planted and managed by Brenae, some of which are more than 125 year-old vines. Couple the challenges of growing very old vines with an elevation range of 690 to 1300 feet and you can begin to get a sense of what she contends with day in and day out. As Brenae puts it: “You’re literally drinking history,” when you enjoy a wine made from Monte Rosso grapes.
Brennan Stover been an intrinsic part of Turley Wine Cellars in Paso Robles since 2001. Brennan also has been the only employee of a Kansas winery, which was so small he did everything himself: winemaking, vineyard management, lab work, even sales. Eventually tiring of working only with hybrids in the harsh continental climate, he sent his resume out to California with sunshine and Vitis Vinifera in his sights. Turley snatched him up nearly 20 years ago and he hasn’t looked back.
One of Brennan’s main caretaking properties is the Ueberroth vineyard in the Willow Creek sub AVA of Paso Robles. It’s a look back in time 130 years. Bushy Zinfandel vines dot the stark white limestone slopes, where he insists on hand-hoeing the deceivingly steep hillsides. Tune in to hear Brennan’s insights into organic farming along the central coast and how his vines behave given the climate conditions.
As a bonus, Brennan shared his personal project with us behind his Turley duties: Quench and Temper. Brennan planted his Bas Vineyard in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles during the drought in 2013. Dry farmed and with 45 degree slopes (!), his labor of love is a wine to behold. No fining. No filtering and only native yeasts. (Seek. This. Wine. Out!)
Listen in to hear this series of podcasts (3 more) from the Palace Hotel in San Francisco where the hosts caught up with these Zinfandel Experience discussion panelists to learn how Zinfandel farming has evolved and where they think it’s headed in the future. (Tip: Its preferred growing conditions are perfect for our evolving climate conditions!)
In part 2 of our interview with Jo Diaz, we get to meet and taste the wines of two members of the organization Diaz founded and runs, P.S. I Love You, an advocacy organization for Petite Sirah. Meet Theodora Lee, aka Theo-patra, Queen of the Vineyards, at Theopolis Vineyards in the Yorkville Highlands of Anderson Valley in Mendocino. Theodora is a partner and trial lawyer at Littler Mendelson by day and vintner by night! We also meet Mandy Donovan, vintner and winemaker of Merisi Wines, another member of PS, I Love You and Petite Sirah advocate.
If you’re curious about the mystique of Petite Sirah, or a raving fan of this rich and juicy wine, tune in to learn what growing conditions this variety favors. Learn about how PS I Love You promotes the grape through its events. And enjoy how this variety expresses itself in the bottle as we taste through Theodora’s and Mandy’s very different expressions of Petite Sirah in this episode with Jo Diaz. [EP31]
Jo Diaz moved to California in 1992 after 11 years in broadcasting, involving PR, producing, and photography. Detecting a natural segue way being surrounded by wine country, she moved into the wine industry in 1993. Did we mention she’s been employed by Hambrecht Wine Group (Belvedere and Grove Street wineries), Robert Mondavi, Barefoot Cellars, Ironstone Vineyards, and Kendall-Jackson, while simultaneously working on a wine sales and marketing degree? And we haven’t even told you about José Diaz’s journey into wine. (Tune in for that story!) [EP30]
In 2001, Jo Diaz launched Diaz Communications, in 2002 founded PS I Love You (a Petite Sirah advocacy group) and continues to be PSILY’s executive director. In 2002, she also founded the Association of African American Vintners. In 2011, she founded the Oregon Pinot Gris marketing group. Jo Diaz has produced annual events: Oregon Pinot Gris and Petite Sirah symposiums, as well as Petite Sirah’s Dark & Delicious wine and food event. Jo also writes an award-winning blog, Juicy Tales, at Wine-Blog.org.
José Diaz joined the family firm a couple of years after Jo launched it, having spent more than 25 years in radio. Demonstrating (and describing) a ying and yang relationship (or as José says, “Left brain and right brain”), they’ve forged ahead together for nearly two decades now with Jo handling the creative and José managing those left brain projects, such as building websites, managing direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns and helping clients work with the media.
Tune in to hear about Jo’s creative wine marketing campaigns, featuring a luxury train. Learn about her 3 tips for success in promoting wine with special events. And hear about the pitfalls to avoid in wine PR. We covered the gamut! Learn more at Wine-Blog.org | Diaz-Communications.com.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-10{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-10 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 0px;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-10{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-10 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-10{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-10 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}.fusion-fullwidth.fusion-builder-row-11 { overflow:visible; }.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-11{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}
Uncharted territory is where guest Jason Holman found himself when he chose a career in wine over one in the law. He just couldn’t see himself building a life around the Juris Doctorate degree he’d just earned. After a stint at Napa’s Kongsgaard dragging hoses, cleaning tanks and performing punchovers, aka “cellar rat” duties, he knew he’d found his calling. Thus began his adventures traveling the globe to learn about winemaking.
In part 2 of the podcast interview with Jason Holman, the co-hosts received a master class in natural winemaking. Tasting through Jason’s flagship brand, Uncharted Wines, the group sampled a few of his red wines. In keeping with his use of unusual varietals, secluded vineyards, and unconventional production techniques, Jason shared tales and tastes of his Carignan and Tempranillo, varieties seen far less frequently in winery portfolios than typical reds such as Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Another departure from typical winery models is Jason’s shared tasting room, Rebel Vintners, in downtown Napa, where you can frequently find him or his winemaker partners behind the bar. Rebel Vintners offers something for everyone…including your kids! (Jason’s own kids participate in learning about the business, but they’re also young kids. So the three Rebel Vintner partners provide space for kids in their tasting room just like their own.) Find toys, games, puzzles and more to keep the youngsters entertained while you sip and sample the many wines available to taste or purchase. For the adults, there’s the wine bar, a reading and conversation nook with deep, plush armchairs. Finishing out the tastefully appointed space are the requisite big screens if you’re dying to stay on top of the latest big game. Most unusually, you’ll find the winemakers behind the bar! What better way to learn about these natural wines than from the winemaker himself?!
Download and listen to learn about Jason unique path and his dozen or so wines. Visitors to the Rebel Vintners tasting room may also sample Cadle Family Wines as well as Vine & Leaf brands from his partners. Rebel Vintners | Holman Cellars (Uncharted Wines)
What do you do with a Juris Doctorate degree? Why, become a winemaker, of course! Jason Holman knew by the time he graduated that he wouldn’t be stepping into any courtrooms. The world of wine beckoned during a stint at Kongsgaard, followed by several stints at other Napa Valley and South African wineries. Fast forward to our podcast recording in Jason’s downtown tasting room (which is shared with two other winemaker vintners), and you’ll get a master class not only in natural winemaking but also in Jason’s vision for taking the wine industry in a new direction.
Jason’s flagship brand, Uncharted Wines, uses unusual varietals, secluded vineyards, and unconventional production techniques, to provide wine lovers with an unforgettable experience in their glasses. All of these wines are made in very small lots (1-4 barrels) to ensure they retain the finest qualities. Listen in to learn why one vineyard produced an amazing harvest even after being submerged after a flood for months on end. Download and play to learn why Jason wanted to call his Pinot Gris a rosé (but the TTB wouldn’t let him)! Jason is forging his own, unique path in, well, uncharted territory.
Rebel Vintners offers something for everyone…including your kids! Jason’s own kids participate in learning about the business, but they’re also young kids. So the three Rebel Vintner partners provide space for kids in their tasting room just like their own. Find toys, games, puzzles and more to keep the youngsters entertained while you sip and sample the many wines available to taste or purchase. For the adults, there’s the wine bar, a reading and conversation nook with deep, plush armchairs. Finishing out the tastefully appointed space are the requisite big screens if you’re dying to stay on top of the latest big game.
During the show we were able to sample Jason’s Pet Nat sparking wine (method ancien), skin-fermented Pinot Gris, Carignan and Tempranillo – only four of nearly a dozen or more wines he makes under his Uncharted brand. Visitors to the Rebel Vintners tasting room may also sample Cadle Family Wines as well as Vine & Leaf brands from his partners. Rebel Vintners | Holman Cellars (Uncharted Wines)
What on earth is “wine compliance”? And why is it important? These are questions best answered by our guest, Ann Reynolds, chief compliance officer and founder of Wine Compliance Alliance in Napa, California. Ann’s been working in wine compliance for more than 20 years and founded her business 10 years. Ann’s services include everything from ensuring a winery’s wine labels meets current TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) regulations to compliance training. She runs a busy YouTube channel providing this service and to keep clients abreast of the ever-changing regulations.
Ann has worked in many roles in the wine industry, from tasting room associate to lab technician, as well as adjunct faculty at Napa Valley College. She’s saved wineries thousands of dollars over the decades using her preventive measures (i.e. good compliance records) to ensure recordkeeping and reporting meets standards and regulations. On the show, Ann discusses the evolution of recordkeeping in the industry, from handwritten notes and forms through the modern use of digital recording.
Listen in to learn why you can’t put “Carneros” on your label if someone forgets to record “Carneros” on the crush pad weigh tags (example only). Also learn why these regulations exist in the first place. Ann explains the regulations about what percentage of grapes must originate from Napa Valley vineyards in order to put “Napa Valley” on the label. (Hint: It’s not 100%) Further, Ann goes into why it’s important to maintain and enforce reasonable regulations for the industry. | Wine Compliance Alliance
Christian Oggenfuss is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Napa Valley Wine Academy. He holds the dipWSET, the highest certification from the London based Wine & Spirit Education Trust and is an Associate Member of the Institute of Wine & Spirits. Christian also holds the French Wine Scholar (FWS), the Italian Wine Professional (IWP), and the American Wine Expert (AWE), certification. He is also one of only 64 Bourgogne Wine Ambassadors in the world. [EP26]
He brings 20+ years of wine experience to the wine education arena as a marketer and brand builder for wine brands including Stags’ Leap Winery, Etude, Beringer Vineyards, Benziger Family Winery, PlumpJack Estate Winery, Odette Estate, CADE Estate Winery, St. Clement, and V. Sattui Winery.
Christian is a born entrepreneur and has successfully launched wine-related businesses in Switzerland and traveled extensively to all major wine regions in Europe and North America. He is fluent in Schwiizerdütsch (Swiss-German) and English. Additionally, he is a Certified Champagne Wine Location Specialist (Champagne Bureau) and a Certified Port Wine Location Specialist (Port Wine Institute).
Christian tells the story of launching his wine academy as a side-business, seeing the need for training those in the wine industry to higher skill levels. In the past 10 years, Christian has grown the business to include 8 Masters of Wine on faculty as well as serving more than 8 locations in the U.S. | Napa Valley Wine Academy
With their roots in Germany and now as 30-year stewards of the land at their Carneros Estate, Claudia Schug, daughter of famed Founder and winemaking pioneer Walter Schug, guests on the show. Along with siblings Axel and Andrea, Claudia leads the family winery’s promotional and marketing endeavors. By honoring their decades-old, handshake commitments with local farmers throughout Sonoma County, coupled with techniques handed down through the generations, the winery makes wines known the world over for their grace and balance. Learn about Claudia’s long tenure building and developing a wine import business while living in Germany for more than 20 years. She discusses the journey home to her Sonoma roots and efforts to showcase the family’s amazing wines, from the 2016 Carneros Rouge de Noirs sparkling wine tasted on the show to the 2016 Carneros “Heritage Reserve” Pinot Noir. Listen in as she talks about new events and programs offered to the local community and their customers. [EP25] Schug Carneros Estate Winery
Since 2009, LaRue Wines has focused on making high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, exclusively from vineyards on the Sonoma Coast. The wines are elegant, restrained, and forever inspired by the resilience and strength of one Veona LaRue. Who is Veona LaRue? Tune in to find out as the hosts talk with Katy Wilson, vintner/winemaker, and granddaughter of Veona. Learn what Veona had to say when Katy told her she was naming her winery after her. [EP24]
Alongside LaRue Wines, Katy works with several other projects. Currently, she makes wine for Anaba Wines, Claypool Cellars, Reeve Wines, and Smith Story Wine Cellars. Learn more about Katy and her wines at LaRueWines.com
Sonoma’s Best’s Wine Director, Todd Jolly, welcomed the members and winemakers of the Historical Vineyard Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of California’s historic vineyards, to a walkaround tasting, sampling wines from these vineyards. Meanwhile, the hosts hunkered down in a corner of Sonoma’s Best to taste the wines and meet with the winemakers. Listen in as they talk about these legendary California vineyards with Joel Peterson of Once and Future Wine, and Mike Officer, Carlisle Winery, and many more. See the show segment times and list of guests below if you’d like to fast forward to a specific guest discussion. [EP23]
Learn more at > Historic Vineyard Society | Sonomas-Best.com
7:30 - Lynn Wheeler, Winemaker, Edith & Ida 17:00 - Emily Rasmussen, Historical Vineyard Society 26:00 - Joel Peterson, Once & Future Wine 39:00 - Andrew Nalle, Vintner/Winemaker, Nalle WInery 50:00 - Christopher Sawyer, Sommelier 1:06 - Mike Officer, Vintner/Winemaker, Carlisle Winery 1:15 - Todd Jolly, Wine Director, Sonoma's Best
Flambeaux are the dancing torchbearers of New Orleans’ Carnival, representing tradition, light, dance and joy. Flambeaux was named after these torchbearers as they are an historic symbol of the hometown of the Murray family, their native New Orleans. Founded by the Murray Family, Flambeaux Wine makes hand-crafted, limited-production wines that capture the essence of the Flambeaux Dry Creek Valley Estate Vineyard, as well as other world-class Sonoma County vineyards. Art Murray joined the hosts for a fun tasting of the elegant Flambeaux wines, along with discussion about how the recent Kincade Fire impacted the North Bay community. Their wines have both the complexity an ardent oenophile expects and the approachability that someone new to wine demands, while reflecting the tradition, celebration and joie de vivre of Mardi Gras. FlambeauxWine.com
Brooke Shenk, winemaker at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery (stsupery.com), guests on the show and hosts the podcast in St. Supéry’s historic Atkinson House, which was built in the 1880s. Brooke has been with St. Supéry for more than a decade, supervising vineyard and production crews as well as the interns who learn various methods and techniques at the winery. During the show, Brooke walked the hosts through a tasting flight of St. Supéry’s wines and talked about what she’s learned about St. Supéry’s vineyard and wine development during her tenure. Tune in to learn about this iconic winery. [EP21]
Emma Swain, CSW and CEO of St. Supéry Estate Vineyards and Winery (stsupery.com), guests on the show and hosts the podcast in St. Supéry’s historic Atkinson House, which was built in the 1880s. Emma joined St. Supéry and became CEO in 2009. Prior to her tenure she served for 13 years as Chief Operating Officer at Sebastiani Vineyards. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis. She currently serves as the Board Chair for the Wine Market Council and is a board member of the Napa Valley Vintners as well as serving on multiple subcommittees and works with numerous nonprofits. During the show, Emma walked the hosts through a tasting flight of St. Supéry’s Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and (her favorite) Merlot. Tune in to learn more about this Napa Green certified winery. [EP20]
EP19: Melissa Smith, aka "The Sommelier to the Silicon Valley Stars" and owner of Enotrias, returns as a guest on the show, discussing her unique services with the show’s hosts. Also, continuing to serve as a guest co-host on today’s show is Patti Neumann, a brand manager and digital strategist for several boutique wineries in the Bay Area.
In this show, the hosts and Melissa discuss food and wine pairing while enjoying Mathis Wine’s Rose de Grenache, Grenache and Uberblend. Learn tips ‘n’ tricks on pairing wine with cheese, Melissa’s favorite go-to pairings with Asian foods and why she hates pairing red wine with chocolate.
While providing in home and corporate wine tasting seminars, and private cellar services to the top collectors in the region, Melissa Smith became the first person certified by the California State Bar Association for her seminar on the Valuation of Wine Collections. Her reputation for providing high profile clients with cellar services has evolved to leading a series of MCLE seminars, where she works directly with Family Law and Trust attorneys as a valued resource for legal cases, and USPAP compliant appraisals.
EP18: Melissa Smith, aka "The Sommelier to the Silicon Valley Stars," guest on the show, discussing her unique services, beyond the typical sommelier’s, with the show’s hosts. Also, serving as a guest co-host on today’s show is Patti Neumann, marketing and social media director for several boutique wineries in the Bay Area.
While providing in home and corporate wine tasting seminars, and private cellar services to the top collectors in the region through her firm Enotrias, Melissa Smith became the first person certified by the California State Bar Association for her seminar on the Valuation of Wine Collections. Her reputation for providing high profile clients with cellar services has evolved to leading a series of MCLE seminars, where she works directly with Family Law and Trust attorneys as a valued resource for legal cases, and USPAP compliant appraisals.
Melissa is certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers, The Culinary Institute of America, The California State Bar Association, The Sake Education Counsel, and the Appraisers Association for USPAP. Melissa's work has been published in print and online, and she is often used as a trusted source for industry news.
Tune in to learn how she evaluates fine wine collections as well as how she guides clients through wine discovery and exploration in a series of fun tasting events.
EP17: Philippe Langner decided to start his own wine brand in the true West despite his peripatetic life in Central America, South Asia, South America, Africa, and Europe. In homage to the Garden of the Hesperides, Hesperian’s vineyard, at 1,400-foot elevation overlooking the valley from atop Napa’s Atlas Peak, Langner’s Hesperian -- “One of the West” – was founded in 2004. A true vigneron, Philippe holds two masters degrees from U.C. Davis and oversees all aspects of farming his mountain vineyard. He joins host Marcia Macomber on the show at Napa’s Kitchen Collective, where monthly salons are held with fans of HesperianWines.com. Tune in as they taste through Philippe’s Cabernet Sauvignons and discuss his career and life trajectory to Napa Valley, as well as his life-long love of all things that grow. He insists, “I work harder in the vineyard so that my winemaking can be as simple as possible.”
EP16: Kim Cotter, Controller at Don Sebastiani & Sons, joins the hosts to discuss the behind-the-scenes end of wine company management. Kim never set out to work in the wine industry. Yet it was through her lengthy travels that she fell in love with wine and eventually landed in Northern California. She received her Bachelor of Business Science and Accounting & Finance degrees from the University of Capetown, South Africa. In the U.S., Kim worked her way up through the ranks at Foley Family Wines and Ledson before landing at Don Sebastiani. Listen in as Kim describes her career challenges as they taste through B SIDE Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
EP15: Honorary Sonoma County Wine Auction Co-Chair Gina Gallo, Vice President of Estate Winemaking for E. & J. Gallo Winery, guests on the podcast to discuss this year’s auction activities and lots. Talking with hosts Lisa Adams Walter, Marcia Macomber and Misty Roudebush Cain, Gina, and auction Managing Director Dana Macaulay, discuss how the auction brings together the community to support non-profits across Sonoma County. It has raised more than $30 million for Sonoma non-profits and community programs, bringing together wine superstars, local celebrity chefs and honored guests, first at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma, for the auction kick-off party on September 19th. Then the auction moves to La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard in Windsor for the final auction.
Details: https://sonomacountywineauction.com/
EP14: As Head of Wine at WineAccess.com, Vanessa Conlin, has witnessed major shifts in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine marketplace. Guesting on the podcast, Vanessa talks with the hosts about WineAccess’ unique offering to wine consumers: Her team tastes over 20,000 of the world's best wines every year in search of those that overdeliver on price. About 1 out of 18 make the cut to offer their customers. Their personal connections unlock access to the most out-of-reach wines from First Growth Bordeaux estates to Napa cult icons and rare finds, such as the Helen Keplinger Lithic tasted on the show. Tune in to hear how Vanessa’s background as head of sales and marketing for several of Napa’s most prestigious estates including Arietta Wines, Dana Estates, and Realm Cellars, have guided her career.
EP13: The Pope Valley Winery was founded in 1897 by Ed Haus as Burgundy Winery & Olive Oil Factory. A century later in 1997, the Eakle family purchased the historic winery and gave it a new life as Pope Valley Winery. In 2009 the next generation of Eakles stepped in to continue building and furthering the family's vision for Pope Valley Winery as a fine winemaking establishment. Currently siblings David Eakle, winemaker, and Diana Eakle Hawkins, general manager, are making great strides in bringing Pope Valley Winery to the next level. Tune in to learn about Diana’s dedication to the family business, starting at a very young age as a third generation grower who worked and played in the vineyards as a young girl. Her passion and drive is contagious (understatement). She can now share that same experience with her own children and listeners.
The show hosts, Lisa Adams Walter, Marcia Macomber and Misty Roudebush Cain, catch up on wine industry news, including developments in the vineyard: veraison is the onset of ripening when grapes begin to turn purple. Lisa is the founder of boutique PR agency Adams Walter Communications. She is also the editor-in-chief and co-founder of CANVAS – The Magazine – “Canvassing Wine Country.” Marcia, as Creator-in-Chief for Cornucopia Creations and co-founder of WINE WOMEN, discusses upcoming digital marketing projects. Misty Roudebush Cain, Director of Marketing & Member Services at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery, discusses the busy wine tourism traffic at St. Supéry.
EP11: Jen Walsh, Winemaker at LA CRÈMA (lacrema.com), guests on the podcast to celebrate the winery’s 40 years of winemaking excellence in the Russian River Valley. The family-owned and operated winery has focused exclusively on cool-climate coastal appellations. Tune in to learn about La Crema’s long history in the appellation.
The winery helped to establish prominence for the enviable winegrowing appellation of Russian River Valley during its early days. More notably, La Crema played a fundamental role in propelling single-vineyard designated wine from cool-climate appellations, and was an integral part of the Sonoma Coast’s rise to winemaking fame as one of the first to craft Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this previously unfamiliar appellation.
In 2016, the winery opened its tasting room at the historic Saralee’s Vineyard and continues to operate a satellite tasting room in Healdsburg. Jen explains how La Crema has continued to explore and craft wines from other cool-climate regions, like Monterey, Anderson Valley, and Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Better yet, the hosts taste through several of La Crema’s signature wines with Jen on the show.
EP10: Alison Smith-Story joins the hosts to share her story of founding Smith Story Wine Cellars (smithstorywinecellars.com), with her husband Eric, after eloping to Hawaii. Their wines are made with respect for the land, kindness for the grower, and love from the winemaker. "Wine is our life, we are honored to now jump into the creative process of producing wines after decades of learning and selling wine for others. It is our hope that you invest in our story, fall in love with the wines and help us spread the joy of Smith Story Wine Cellars, we are humbled by this opportunity to follow our passion," according to Eric and Alison. Their philosophy: “Drink what you love, love what you drink.” Tune in to learn how they honored and incorporated their beloved dogs into their label (without creating “critter” label designs) and taste their offerings vicariously.
EP9: Alexandra Romanini, consulting winemaker at Canihan Family Cellars (https://www.canihanwines.com/), joins co-hosts Ruby Fontana, Events Director for Wine Women, and Marcia Macomber, co-founder and Marketing Director of Wine Women, to discuss her globe-trotting wine career and taste the award-winning Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Rose from Canihan’s certified organic estate vineyards in the heart of the Sonoma Valley. Romanini is a native Sonoman who traveled the world to learn her winemaking craft and returned to her hometown to make highly allocated wines (less than 1000 cases) for Canihan and forge a career farming organic grapes in the Sonoma Valley. Tune in to learn about Alexandra’s trade secrets (some not so secret!) and hear about these stunning wines.
EP8: Emily Byrne, co-chair of the Carneros Wine Alliance (Carneros.org), joins co-hosts Lisa Adams Walter and Marcia Macomber to discuss the Los Carneros AVA’s upcoming event, the 3rd Annual Carneros Cornhole Tournament and Wine Tasting, coming up on August 10th, from 4 - 6 PM PDT at Etude Wines, in Napa. The walk-around tasting will offer wines from Artesa, Calmére, Ca' Momi, Cuvaison, Etude, Poseidon Vineyard, Schug, Saintsbury, Sangiacomo, Truchard, Viansa, and ZD Wines. And all proceeds benefit the Carneros Volunteer and Schell-Vista Fire Departments. Tune in to learn more about this special American Viticulture Area and hear about the nibbles being offered by Boxcar Fried Chicken & Biscuits, The Carneros Resort and Spa, Hint Water, and California Olive Ranch. The event is a unique opportunity to pitch alongside local winemakers and vineyard staff.
EP7: M.J. Wickham joined the hosts to discuss her lengthy career as a professional photographer to the wine industry. Since 1982, M.J. has been photographing wine brands in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake Counties, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area. Listen in as she explains her no-fail strategy for shooting compelling bottleshots, food and location visuals. M.J. divulges her “secret sauce” in preferred camera equipment. Most of all, she’s into making it all fun for clients and intriguing for fans of her work. View and follow her artistic talents at mjwickham.com, M. J. Wickham Photography on Facebook, and @mjwickham on Twitter and Instagram.
EP6: Lauren Wong is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Aperture Cellars (aperture-cellars.com), the world-class winery launched by father/son duo Andy and Jesse Katz. Lauren has been working with Jesse since 2015 and is now leading the development of a brand new winery and hospitality center for Aperture in Healdsburg, California. Lauren joins the co-hosts, Marcia Macomber and Olga Mosina, to talk about this exciting new project, set to open in early Spring 2020.
E5: Elizabeth Tangney is the Director of Viticulture and Winemaking for Cornell Vineyards, which is a Cabernet-focused, certified organic winery in Sonoma off of Spring Mountain Road. Elizabeth, and guest co-host Olga Mosina (Wine Women’s Education Director), join in a lively discussion about the challenges of mountain grapevine farming. This task is even more challenging since owners Henry and Vanessa Cornell opted to follow an organic farming regimen for their Bordeaux varieties. Listen in as the Wine Women team share their impressions of the stellar 2015 Cornell Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County, Estate Grown, as the mountain fruit reveals itself throughout the show.
EP4: Dar Rhodes was looking to buy a coffee bar when she stumbled across a listing for a wine club for sale. Intrigued, she began her due diligence… The Wine Women Radio hosts talk with Dar, co-owner along with her husband Charlie and daughter Zoe of The Panel, a public wine lounge, tap room and wine shop in Sonoma, California, about their first year in business. Not only did Dar, Zoe and Charlie have to get up to speed quickly on the wine business and wine club management (as none had worked in the industry previously), but they also took on a major remodel of their European-style lounge before their relaunch. Learn more at panelwines.com
EP3: Continuing our tasting of J. Moss Wines’ Cabernet Sauvignon single vineyard designates and Napa Valley rosé, Julie Hagler Lumgair, J. Moss Wines’ consulting winemaker, talks with Wine Women about her career. As a highly awarded consulting and hands-on luxury tier winemaker and winegrower, Julie's wines have achieved numerous 90+ scores from critics including Robert Parker / The Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits and industry press. But did you know she began her career as a Fortune 500 brand management senior executive? Tune in to hear how she’s combined her management experience with her passion for wine-making and farming. Connect with Julie on Facebook and Instagram.
EP2: Julie Hagler Lumgair, Consulting Winemaker, J. Moss Wines is a highly awarded consulting and hands-on luxury tier winemaker and winegrower with eleven vintages of fine wines made in eight of Napa Valley's world-class AVA's, Italy, and Sonoma's famed Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill AVA's. Julie joined the J. Moss team in 2010. On this show, Julie takes host Marcia Macomber and guest co-host Alexandra Romanini through vertical and horizontal tasting flights of her top scoring J. Moss Napa vineyard designates along with the J. Moss Rosé. Connect with Julie on Facebook and Instagram.
EP1: Peter Mathis, Mathis Wine, Sonoma Valley Grenache. How does a furniture maker become a winemaker? What happens when your artist roommate asks you to simplify your message, and you’re so tired from trying to nail your marketing message you say, “Look, I just grow it, and I make it”? Answer: it ends up on your wine label! Meet Peter Mathis, long-time winemaker and general manager at Ravenswood, as he discusses his journey to craft a wholly unique Grenache from land he cleared, into a vineyard he planted and farms to this day. He’s truly produced every drop of juice in his estate Grenache-based wines from the first rootstock he planted in the late 1990s to today.