Wine Talks with Paul K.

Latest Episodes:

From Bulgaria with love (and wine). Meet Nadia Pavlevska. Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

Nadia Pavlevska drank vodka and coke in Bulgaira. Hardly a precursor to becoming a wine educator and influencer. Now the go to Sommelier for resorts like The Terranea in Palos Verdes, Nadia had taught wine with a logical and pratical outlook.

Her reposnses to wine, politcal and life-style question might suprise you...no, will suprise you. She headed west making stops in Salzburg, Austria, Sacramento, California and now in the beach cities of Southern California. Her thirst (pun intended) had brought her numerous accolades and certificates of wine knowledge.

And lets not forget that she has a degree from my Alma Mater, the University of Southern California.

She will inspire you. She will educate you. She will entertain you.

D1 Basketball, Pageant winner, Harvard Grad. Meet Brooke Bibeault Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Her life story takes on many adjectives. Inspring is one. Painful is another. Worldly could say it. But driven would be the word I would use. When you face headwinds, you must put your headdown; Brooke has and continues to do that. A model, a pageant winner, a Catholic, a Muslim, a mother and a wife has prepared her for a career that is completely unique; she motivates the motivators. Working with some of the great self-help motivators like Anthony Robbins, Brooke brings to the table a worldy view of how to move the needle.

I think you will find this a "fascinating" conversation and inspiring too.

Force of nature in wine? For sure. Meet Katie Hamilton Schaffer. Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

Sometimes it is just obvious why someone is successful. Certainly, your personal definition of success comes into play but if you define "success" as getting what you want out of life and never letting moss grow under your feet...you and Katies Hamilton Schaffer are from the some cloth.

Katie's energy is infectious which turns to inspiring the more you peel her back. Soccer, wine, charity, and film define this girl...for now.

It seems to me that when biting off a new project, one might want to dip their toe in the water to see how it feels, not Katie, she is completely emersed before her on-lookers can blink,

I know one thing for sure, during our next trip up to the Napa Valley, I am stopping in...if not just to fuel up on energy.

"Noted Celebrity Sommelier," you heard that right. Meet Marc Kauffman Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

His LinkedIn profile calls Marc out as "Noted Celebrity Sommelier" and I couldn't agree more. When you have been around the industry in the various capacities as Marc, you can call yourself whatever you want...but it does help that it is an accurate description...and his is accurate.

We go deep into consumerism, bulk wine manufacturing, and general wine insider discussion. He agrees that wine is a complicated subject but we all land on learning what we feel compelled to learn and drink the wines that makes us feel something as indivisuals.

This podcast needs to be a 2-parter in that we didn't even scratch the surface on all the subjects we needed to approach.

Have a listen.

So you want to own a Chateau in Bordeaux. Hear from Romik Arconian Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

Romik Arconian bit at the dream. He was in the wine trade working in Paris. He loved what he was doing. As with most of us in this industry, the idea of owning a Chateau swirled around in his head. Seeming like an unattainable dream, he left it on the back burner.

As fate would have it, Chateau Canon Chaingneau become available and a the idea of owning a Chateau in the Lalande de Pommerol appelation became a reality. The other reality was Covid. The pandemic hit and soon this dream of owning a Chateau became a nightmare (maybe "nightmare" is a bit too strong).

Romik and his family have jumped in with two feet and are navigating the headwinds to getting a wine to the world wide market; things are starting to free-up.

Landing distributors throughout the world and focusing a bit on direct-to-consumer sales, Chateau Canon Chaigneau is getting traction. The price point is perfect, the wines are exemplary and the energy is high.

Have a listen.

You must consider Opus One when you consider Napa. Meet the winemaker Michael Silacci. n Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

Opus One is not only iconic in the world of Napa Valley wine, it is iconic throughout the world in the world of wine.

As a joint develpment between the French and the Americans, it represents so much more than just fine wine. Consider the preeminant French Bordeaux family, the Mouton Rothschilds and the preeminant Napa Valley family, the Mondavis, joining forces to create a winery of iconic quality but of iconin architecure as well.

Sitting with Mike Silacci is sitting with Napa royalty. You would never know of his stature among winemakers in the world, you would never know of his vast knowledge, and you would never know of his unwavering passion until you ask; his humility is exemplary.

Austin Hope has a story. Success in wine doesn't just happen. Meet the man. Jun 04, 2023

Show notes

WIne is a tough racquet. You have heard this before. Sometimes we all learn through trial and error, our failures and sometimes our successes. But as Calvin Coolidge says "perserverence is omnipotent."

Nothing could be more true for Austin Hope. The Hope family farms have been a staple in Paso Robles for 50 years and they are still adapting to the not only the changes in climate, but the wine industry as well.

When you sit with an Austin Hope and hear about the headwinds and the decision making that ensued, you get a better glimpse into the efforts it takes to make good wine, to make wine people will want to buy and to make wine that as brand awareness.

This is in the top ten of Wine Talks conversations.

Gary Fisch does wine retail right. Duh, he offered me a job. Meet Gary Fisch of Garys Wine Marketplace May 26, 2023

Show notes

There is no standard path to get into the wine busines. Ask 100 people and you will get 100 answers on landing on the passioln it takes to make, market or sell wine. Garys story is one for the books.

When you have seen as many changes in the wine business as Gary has, you learn a 6th sense about people, wine, business and life. Gary might have a 7th sense.

Wisdom doesnt come cheap and innovation in any sector of business can be risky. The key is recognizing the opporutinty, crafring a quick response and exectuing that response efficiently.

When most of us during COVID enjoyed a nice 30-40% bump in sales, learn how Gary doubled sales volume in his New Jersey stores through customer centric marketing and delivery.

We could have spoken for another hour and still not covered all the subjects ahead of us.

Have a listen to the owner of Garys Wine Marketplace in Saint Helena.

We NEED Jay Nunez making wine. Meet No Love Lost winemaker Jay Nunez. May 23, 2023

Show notes

It takes inspiration to make wine. It takes a dream. It takes ambition. It takes hard work. Jay Nunez has all these traits and more.

But the most important trait it takes to make honest wine is philosophy. Wine is part science but mostly art. We might find AI in the winemaking game one day (don't ask me how) it might make solid wine every time...but it won't make passionate wine. It won't make the kinds of wines that Jay philosophizes about, the type of wine Jay dreams of as he is picking the grapes.

We went to the heart of the subject of what our roles are as stewards of the land and of the industry. We are just passing through, we have to leave it in better shape than when we arrived. This is the type of approach that AI would never be able to understand. It takes soulful reflection and knowledge to do what Jay does.

Jay takes a risk each day he comes to work; most winemakers do. For Jay, each day is a chance to do better the the previous day, to learn from a mistake and move on. Have a listen to who seems to be to me an "old soul" in the wine trade.

Learn Armenian wine here. Meet three wine families in this discussion May 15, 2023

Show notes

GiniFest is a Los Angeles bred wine festival that features the wine making skills of both indigenous Armenian winemakers but Armenian winemakers in the diaspora as well. A very professionally done show and an opportunity to showcase incredible wines of great distinction.

Wine Talks played host to (3) of the wine families who attended this years GiniFest and Stepan Bagdassarian of Wines of Armenia dot com.

Really quite inspiring to hear the plights and objectives of a group seeking world recognition of their wines.

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