A Cork in the Road

This episode features a conversation with Chavonne White, a Licensed Cosmetologist, Personal Development Coach, Author, and Wine Enthusiast dedicated to helping people live authentically. She is the creator of I Am ME (My Essence) and the author of publications called "The Unveiling of a Queen" and "Embody & Elevate: Your Guide to Self-Love; The Best Love”. We talk about her foundational prese...

This episode features a conversation with Barbara Gorder, a consultant to the wine business who recently became the Managing Partner for the Direct to Consumer (DTC) Wine Symposium. We met at the 2025 edition of this conference out in Monterey, CA, and I am currently designing a session for the January 2026 edition on the opening day of the conference that has been inspired by our Sommlympics comp...

This episode features a live audience conversation and bottleshare with Ikimi Woodson, the CEO of The Roots Fund, recorded in Smyrna, GA at The Oenophile Institute. The Roots Fund is a non-profit that empowers underrepresented communities within the wine and spirits industry to build successful careers through financial support, education, mentorship, and career development, and because the value...

This episode features a conversation with Taylor Simpson, one half of the second-generation team that now owns and operates two wineries on the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan. The Simpson family first planted their roots on the Leelanau Peninsula in the 1950s when visionary entrepreneur John Simpson grew pears and plums for Gerber’s baby food. In the 1970s, he replaced the trees with cher...

This episode features my conversation with Tom Sherwood, the owner and winemaker of BXT Wines in California. BXT is an exploration of Californian viticulture through the lens of traditionally made sparkling wine. The idea of “Bubbles by Tom“ (BXT) is to take a grower-Champagne mentality and apply it to hand-crafted sparkling wines from grapes grown throughout California, and Tom seeks out interest...

This episode features a conversation recorded live at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with Suzanne Denevan-Brown, the Show Runner / Estate Director for a US importer and exporter of fine wines called Maze Row Wine Merchant. Maze Row represents a curated collection of wines from artisan producers around the world. Suzanne’s first ever wine job was at Tower Beer, Wine, and Spirits in Atlanta, GA, but n...

This episode features my conversation with Chicago-based marketer, award-winning writer, and wine culture expert, Chasity Cooper. She recently attended Riesling Camp in the Finger Lakes region of New York with some good friends from the Atlanta wine industry, and I was excited to learn more about how she has nurtured her voice for communicating about wine. As a wine professional, she says she stri...

This episode features a conversation with Scott Neal, the winemaker and owner at Coeur de Terre Vineyard in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Along with his wife Lisa, they crafted a humble 57 cases in their inaugural 2002 vintage but have grown to making over 6000 cases a year of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Syrah, and Sparkling wines from grapes grown on their estate vineyard in...

This episode features our live audience conversation with members of FORTH Club in Atlanta, GA and Nicola Lenci, the co-owner of Fattoria di Magliano, a winery located in the Maremma region of Tuscany. Nicola has been working at the estate since 2010, first in the vineyards and later in the cellar. He became an AIS Sommelier and started traveling, mainly North America, Germany and the UK, as the N...

This live audience episode features winemaker Blair Guthrie of Stewart Cellars located in Yountville of Napa Valley in California. We gathered at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with 20 Atlanta wine professionals and friends of the wine industry thanks to Aaron Cooper of @trickingoffainteasy who conspired with Blair to create a memorable weekend showcasing the entire portfolio of Stewart wines around...

This episode features a live audience conversation at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with Sam Bilbro, the founder and winemaker for Idlewild WInes in California. Sam grew up hanging out in a winery converted from an old cow barn, walking vineyards, and tasting blends with his dad who founded Marietta Cellars. While ultimary continuing the family legacy, Sam definitely took some detours and explored...

This episode features a conversation with Kevin OSullivan, the Director of Sales at Prime Wine & Spirits. He has almost 20 years of experience working in the Atlanta wine industry, so we take a walk down memory lane to discuss his "wine origin story" and what led to his passion for wine. He has a wealth of knowledge about being a sales consultant, so we talk about his approach to bui...

This "bonus" episode was recorded live at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA the Tuesday evening before the annual High Museum Wine Auction. Our friends from WInery Sixteen 600 were in town, and we threw a "Tie Dye Before the High" bottleshare and vinyl party to celebrate a bunch of people who make the Atlanta wine industry community so special. We sat down with Sam Coturri from Wine...

This episode features a live audience conversation recorded at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with Christian Wylie, the Managing Director for Bodega Garzón in Uruguay. Christian is responsible for the entire winery and all aspects of its operations – production, winemaking, viticulture, marketing, sales management, hospitality, and tourism activities. He brings nearly 25 years of wine industry exper...

This episode features a conversation focusing on community connections and craft beer with Jen Price, a beer educator, a Cicerone Certified Beer Server, and the author of The Chick’s Guide to Beer: 7 Simple Rules for the Beer Novice. Jen grew up in Decatur, GA, and her work is dedicated to fostering inclusivity, education, and meaningful connections through beer. As the co-founder of Craft Women C...

This episode features a conversation with Desiree Harrison-Brown, a wine educator, content creator, and entrepreneur based in Maryland dedicated to making wine approachable, engaging, and fun. She has built a dynamic career that blends education, storytelling, and community-building—proving that there’s no single path to becoming a wine professional. As the founder of WINO NOIRE, Desiree has creat...

This episode features a conversation with Kimber Warren, a wine educator and brand consultant based in Atlanta, GA who is also the founder of a forthcoming glassware company. She is originally from Savannah, GA but spent the past 15 years in New York City before returning to her family in Georgia and calling Atlanta home. She is a global marketer and works with creators, brands, and products to sp...

This episode features a live audience conversation at The Oenophile Institute in Smyrna, GA with Laurent Noblet, the Director of Sales for USA & Canada for Henri Bourgeois Estates. He is based in Atlanta, GA but manages sales for three French wineries and one estate in New Zealand. In this current role, he researches and assigns distributors in new markets across the U.S. and is responsible fo...

This episode features a conversation with George Staikos, the Founder and Educator of The Educated Grape, as well as a guest appearance from the 2024 Sommlympics "Star du Spectacle" award recipient, Marvella Castaneda. George serves as the Head of Education for the US Bureau for the Comité Champagne (CIVC), and they recently sponsored one of the Grand Prizes for the 2024 Sommlympics competition in...

This episode features a live audience conversation at The Vine Club in Atlanta with Thibaut Marquis, the North America Export Manager for Maison Louis Jadot. Thibaut is originally from the Loire Valley in France, but he has lived in several countries, including South Africa, Argentina, and Canada, before living in the United States for the past 15 years. He has been working in various Sales Manage...

This episode features an in-person conversation with Xavier Amirault, Owner and Winemaker of Domaine Amirault located in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil in the Loire Valley. Domaine Amirault's Clos des Quarterons is a 92-acre vineyard and it has been in the Amirault family for six generations. The estate is 100% certified organic by Ecocert and certified biodynamic by Demeter. Xavier was visiting Atlan...

This episode features a live audience conversation at The Vine Club in Atlanta with Luke Marquis, the Global Sales Manager for Mollydooker Wines. Luke is the son of Sarah Marquis, the Owner and Chief Winemaker, and he is responsible for the US market as part of the winery’s sales team. He is also the real-life "Blue Eyed Boy", which is one of Mollydooker’s successful Shiraz labels. His work involv...

This episode features Sarah Hughes Bray, a wine educator, writer, and brand consultant who is the 6th generation of an Atlanta-based family and was recently named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 2024 Future 40 innovators in wine. After a diverse career journey in publishing and the auction world, including stints at SAVEUR magazine and Sotheby’s, she found her calling in the wine industry. Sarah is a co-...

This episode features Dr. Miray Seward, a researcher and consultant who developed her love for wine while living in Charlottesville, Virginia. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology: Applied Developmental Science from the University of Virginia with more than ten years of experience conducting mixed-methods research and evaluation. Currently, she works as a Research Scientist at an applied rese...

This episode features a follow-up conversation with Kieran Robinson of R Five Wines, a winemaker who now splits his time between his tasting room in the suburbs of Philadelphia and the vineyards of Sonoma County. We first spoke with Kieran and his wife, Kristie, back in November of 2020 for episode 8 of season 3 as they were dreaming up their new tasting room in Downingtown, PA. Kieran's story sta...