Episodes

Sometimes data can be overwhelming. Being able to transform that data into actionable information can deliver high ROI. Jesse Lange, Managing Director of Lange Estate Winery, and Mark Evans, President of Triumph Advisors, discuss how Enolytics helps them make strategic decisions through actionable information in every part of their businesses, from DTC and wholesale into operational planning. Thanks to Enolytics for sponsoring this episode. Detailed Show Notes: Jesse’s background: 2nd ...

It appears on some wine labels, winemakers speak lovingly about them, and there are organizations focused on them. “Old Vines” is a loosely defined term that is often associated with quality in the wine industry. Seghesio, a historic Californian winery, has a strong focus on old vines with its focus on Zinfandel and Italian varietals. Andy Robinson, Seghesio’s winemaker, lays out the economics of growing and selling old vine wines. Detailed Show Notes: Andy’s background: grew up in t...

When Shekar Sathyanarayana, founder of Nalla, began visiting wineries in Santa Barbara and talked about Indian food, winemakers loved the food, but had never paired it with wine. Now, Nalla has brought Indian food and wine pairing to over 100 events hosted at wineries and other venues and Shekar shares what he has learned about match Indian food and wine. Detailed Show Notes: Shekar’s background: 1st generation South Indian, grew up in Kansas, was a talent agent and lawyer Nall...

After retiring twice, Chris Baker, President of Brassfield Estate, was lured back in by a unique opportunity to build one of the world’s largest monopoles in the High Valley AVA of Lake County, California. Its unique volcanic terroir is now being scaled nationally with a 10 year contract and national alignment with Southern Glazers. Chris describes the best practices in working with distributors and partnering together to create a successful brand, built on trusted relationships. Detailed ...

As one of the winners of the infamous 1976 Judgement of Paris, Chateau Montelena has a rich history to be proud of. To optimize that legacy, Montelena’s President and Winemaker Matt Crafton has been embarking on more of a luxury strategy for the brand, reducing grocery and chain presence and working towards pricing growth over volume. With the 50th anniversary of the Judgement in Paris and the wine market in extreme flux, Montelena is doubling down on the values that made it victorious. De...

Nearly two decades after filming Somm, Jason Wise, Chief Creative Officer of Somm TV and Director of the Somm movies, has a deep view of wine in the media. Jason shares his perspective on what types of media moves the needle, how to get involved as a brand, the ever changing landscape of media itself. Detailed Show Notes: Update from the last 4 years: filming tons of food & wine content around the world, a couple theatrical releases Somm TV: video streaming services, partners w/ w...

As the wine world stumbles through difficult times (in early 2026), Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible and co-founder of Come Over October, believes part of the disconnect stems from time. The fastness of the modern, social media fueled world and the slowness of wine. Her solution is to focus the narrative of wine with well-being and wine’s long-standing role as a beverage that brings people together. Detailed Show Notes: Karen’s background: author of The Wine Bible, writer, spe...

The on-premise side of wine analytics has traditionally been a black hole, not covered by other data services. Somm.ai changed that when they launched in 2021, now covering ~100k on-premise accounts in the US alone. The richness of data allows Somm.ai to help their clients benchmark, prospect for new accounts, and so much more. Jeremy Hart, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Somm.ai, explains how it is more manpower vs a platform to accelerate on-premise sales. Detailed Show Notes: ...

It was long assumed that a love of wine runs in the family. Not so, according to new research conducted by ARENI Global on how young consumers get into fine wine. Pauline Vicard, Executive Director of ARENI, gets into the findings of their new study titled “The New Fine Wine Consumer - How People Under 40 Embrace Fine Wine.” From the shrinking middle class to the motivations of wine collectors to what drives women to embrace fine wine, the research and this conversation are chalk full of insight...

Even though it has been making wine for nearly 5 millenia, Israel is a wine region still finding its way in modern times. Josh Greenstein, Director of the Israeli Wine Producers Association (“IWPA”), is on a mission to promote “Brand Israel,” which is all about new discoveries. From winemaker stories to creating new grape varieties to mimic the descriptions in The Bible, Israel is making its mark on the global wine scene. Detailed Show Notes: Josh’s background: 5th generation in the ...

Driven by passion, Erni Loosen, Managing Director of Loosen Bros, has spun up countless joint ventures in his career. All with no business plan or goal of making money, but a greater purpose of driving a Renaissance for Riesling and out of passion for Riesling and Pinot Noir. Erni goes into the qualities that make for good partnerships and some pitfalls to avoid. Detailed Show Notes: Erni’s background: Managing Director Loosen Bros, Dr Loosen Estate in Mosel; took over in 1987 Loo...

If as many Asians drank wine as the average American, we’d have ~100,000 more wine drinkers. And if Asian restaurants had wine lists at the average rate, we’d have ~5,000 more restaurants with wine lists. This is one of the foundations of the Asian Wine Association of America (“AWAA”), whose mission includes bringing wine to Asian cultures, of which food is central. Part of bridging this divide is exploring Asian food and wine pairing. One of AWAA’s board members, Sunny Liao, Co-founder and CEO,...

With ~1M registered users, CellarTracker (“CT”) is one of the core consumer apps for wine lovers. When Eric LeVine, Founder & CEO of CT, was last on XChateau in late 2021, they had just taken on investment to expand the business. Eric gives us a rundown of what has happened since, like launching a new mobile app and adding AI features, as well as what is coming down the pipe. Detailed Show Notes: CT now at 1M registered users, with monthly active users +40-50% since 2021 Team has...

After 40 years, Roederer Estate, the Californian arm of Champagne Louis Roederer has really started to hit its stride. Arnaud Weyrich, SVP and Winemaker of Roederer Estate and Xavier Barlier, CMO of MMD USA, discuss its history, trajectory, and how Roederer Estate continues to create more reasons to believe in the brand and the wines. This belief is grounded in a vision to make wines that look and taste like Champagne, but with Californian roots. Detailed Show Notes: Arnaud’s backgro...

Guest hosts and a host as the guest in this episode. Byron Hoffman and Tyson Caly, co-CEOs of Offset, a leading e-commerce platform for allocated offerings, interview host Peter Yeung about his new course, Allocated Wine Offerings: Best Practices. They get into the content of the course and also a wide range of topics related to allocated offerings. Detailed Show Notes: Co-hosts: Byron Hoffman, Tyson Caly, Co-CEOs of Offset, a wine e-commerce platform and brand studio Peter’s back...

Diving into selling strategies

The methods to running a US wholesale sales team

Building the white wine category in the Douro

The Frescobaldis have a long-term view which has enabled Ornellaia to become a global icon.

David Pearson has developed a distinct point of view on how to build a globally iconic brand.

Pairing their need for a complex substitute for wine, for both pregnancy and professional network, Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and friend Constance Jablonski enlisted Maggie’s husband, Champagne and Cognac winemaker Rodolphe to found French Bloom. With four years of R&D prior to launch and constant refinement since, French Bloom aims to redefine the alcohol free premium sparkling wine space. Maggie & Rodolphe delve into the creation of French Bloom, exploring its core markets, target customers, ...

Selling the very rare, collectible wines of the world, Adam Bilbey, SVP, Global Head of Wine & Spirits for Christie’s, has a unique view into the state of the wine collector. Adam maps the thought processes and changes in attitude of buyers and sellers of rare wine globally, and he is seeing “green shoots” in the market by mid-2025. Detailed Show Notes: Adam’s background - started w/ Berry Bros out of high school (2000) at Heathrow Airport shop, moved to Hong Kong in 2010 w/ Berry Bros, So...

The economics of Sparkling Wine

Elaine Chukan Brown describes the history, current situation with new regulations and deportation, and the tension put on vineyard workers’ wages in California and their impacts on the labor market and vineyard workers.