The Real Wine Show

California Cab Fatigue, Hybrids vs. Classics, and a Chillable Minervois Red with Roast Chicken on The Real Wine Show (S8E6) In the season eight finale of The Real Wine Show, we thank our sponsor , the Gabriel Group (www.gabrielgrp.com) and introduce panelists Jason Lyons (assistant winemaker at Social Vines), House Alpens’ Midwest sales manager Megan Heinowski, and Red Wagon Rochester Wine Shop wi...

America Still Doesn’t Get Wine:  Three Wine Biz Owners on Culture, Community, and the Magic We're Missing.  Discover why South African wine is poised to win, if America has a problem appreciating wine, and find out which Friulian chardonnay gives sunny, Greek beach vibes! (The Real Wine Show S8E5). Episode five of season eight opens with a shout-out to sponsor Gabriel Group ( www.gabrielgrp.com ) ...

Serious boss ladies get into it with Paper Bottles, Fake Wine Trains, and why stickies rule, plus a grenache-to-lamb pairing on The Real Wine Show (S8E4) Special thanks to our sponsor Gabriel Group (gabrielgrp.com) for helping us make another great episode! The show opens with intros to panelists Elisa Weber-Saintin (Little Guy Wine Company, celebrating 19 years; critic of predictable three-Michel...

Champagne Semantics, Vibe Vocabulary, and Howell Mountain Vineyards Zin Pairing on The Real Wine Show (S8E3) In episode three of season eight of The Real Wine Show, the hosts thank sponsor Gabriel Group ( gabrielgrp.com ) and introduce panelists Arturo (Mexico-born wine enthusiast pursuing WSET Level 3 with the hot take that there’s no bad champagne), Taylor Johnson (wine director/sommelier in Ann...

Stop playing it safe—it's time for Michigan to find its unique identity through small, thoughtful production. The "Grape to Plate" segment is a masterclass on slow-rendering duck breast with lavender, and we learn the tells of "tasting room theatre". In episode two of season eight of The Real Wine Show, hosts Chaad Thomas and Matt Kuhr announce show sponsor Gabriel Group (...

Fifty years after the Judgment of Paris, is the wine world ready for another revolution? The panel dishes on world class Oregon Chardonnay, the chef dishes up buttery roasted oyster with hijiki seaweed, and we get into the growing movement for "Honest Wine" and label transparency, and why, despite the buzz, non-alcoholic wine stills falls short. Season 8, Episode 1 of The Real Wine Show...

The panel debates whether "Luxury Wine" is a real quality tier or just a marketing construct used to justify high prices. Plus, industry insiders Jarred Gild, Nick Arone, and Jarett Coy pull back the curtain on how restaurants determine wine list markups and the reality of selling high-end bottles in a changing market. For the season 7 finale (and our 63rd episode!), we grabbed three of...

Is the term "Fine Wine" losing its meaning in a market flooded with luxury marketing? Why Australian wines are still MIA in the American market, a debate the future of wine classification, and a deep dive into the traditional world of Mezcal and agave spirits. S7 E5 is, as we say in the podcast biz, a meaty one, ranging from '90s pop movie references to a groundbreaking, highly techn...

This episode we ask, is California wine facing a permanent shift in consumer perception, or is it just a temporary slump? Is Veuve Clicquot missing out on Michigan? A debate over the future of domestic wine production, and exploration of the real-world impact of sustainable and regenerative farming on the juice in your glass. The diversity of perspectives on the wine industry is something we love...

Has the "Natural Wine" movement lost its rebellious soul to corporate investment and mass marketing? Join guests Chris Hunter, Kassy Fifer, and Kristie Brablec as they debate the commercialization of low-intervention wine and explore how modern wine tourism is shifting toward authentic, farm-to-table experiences. Chris Hunter is well known not only to regular listeners, but also wine-lov...

Is the "old guard" of Bordeaux finding its way into the glasses of a younger, more adventurous generation? Join our panel as they debate the modernization of classic regions, reveal what’s actually driving the "new school" of American wine imports today, and get a first taste of the new Thomas Acker wines! We're back in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for episode 2 of season 7, gra...

Are 100-point ratings still relevant, or are modern drinkers moving past the critics? Join guests Amy Ruis, Sean Stearns, and Ben Vanderwaal as they debate the legacy of wine scores and explore the explosive growth of high-quality non-alcoholic and dealcoholized beverages in the market. Welcome to the very first TRWS road show! We packed up the mics and headed west to Grand Rapids, MI, to hang out...

Scholar, philosopher, educator, professional Italian wine authority... Dr. Salvatore Napolitano is one of the most erudite and insightful people in the business. We sat down with Salvatore at his hotel in downtown Detroit before he set out for a day of evangelizing for Sardegna and renowned winery, Sella & Mosca. Of Italian origin, his passion for classical studies brought him to the USA, and...

A rising star in the Rioja wine scene for his elevated and elegant winemaking, exemplified by Con.tacto, a skin-contact, amber viura, Álvaro Loza is also a deeply thoughtful person committed to respecting the land, the vines, and legacy of both family and region. While working in the Michigan market (with distributor Eagle Eye Brands and importer Vino Vi & Co.), he sat down with us for a quick...

We're wrapping up Season 6 with a real banger, an episode of exceptional depth, humor, insight, and listenability. All credit is due to our terrific panelists, Alex McNeely of Poetson Wines, Kat McCormack of Decanter & Coupe distribution, and Jimmy Bates of T. Edwards importing, each of whom came ready to play and have fun! You'll enjoy hearing their thoughts on whether we need more business-t...

It's the episode of the vintage! Well, that's up for you, the listeners, to decide, but we think it's great! Austin Beeman (Travel Bloggers Exchange), Emily Yahkind-Dabish (Sol Summit), and Lena Wellington (Santé Wine Bar) join us for this one, and they have their say about the state of the US domestic wine business, opine that Bordeaux is the most important wine region in the world, a...

For Season 6 Episode 3 the show panelists are Mike Fifer of Imperial Beverage, Lori Moss of Little Guy Wine, and Diego Aliste of Stadtgarden Detroit. They're three distinct personalities, each with their own pathway into wine, but they vibe great and fun conversation flows easily, making this a perfect episode when you really need to have your focus elsewhere and don't want to feel like you can't...

Chaad and Matt had a great time talking with Tatiana Portillo of Detroit’s Prime & Proper, Brenda Puska of Simply Wine Northville, and .wine distributor Kristen Pennington of Carpe Vinum.

Fun time for S6 E2 comes courtesy of three, dynamic industry insiders with diverse approaches to the business, but a shared sense of humor and passion for people and wine. Mary Davis is the beverage program director at Detroit’s acclaimed Takoi restaurant. Adam Mahler, a returning panelist familiar to regular listeners, is the founder and owner of Ampelography, a Toledo-based wine brokerage house....

We open Season 6 with topics such as robotic hospitality, parsing "crushed stone impingement" in a tasting note, and how a wine can remind you of that drummer you brought home from the club one night! Our terrific panelists for this show are Shelley Bynum of Detroit Athletic Club, Kimberly Hartnett of Vintage Wine Company, and Elisa Weber of Little Guy Wine. If you like charming, smart,...

Outward Wines is one of the most thrilling, "new wave" wineries to emerge from California's Central Coast, with a style that's focused on energetic, fun-to-drink wines, while still delivering the unique expressions of site specificity. The simultaneous ease and seriousness that define Ryan and Natalie are also reflected in their wines. Maybe it's more like a sense of confiden...

Here's one for the heads! We gathered three brilliant wine professionals-- retail, wholesale, authors, YouTubers, wine judges...their combined CV is impressive!-- and they brought their A-game, engaging the show challenges with gusto and humor, and delivering thoughtful, incisive commentary on a wide range of wine topics, from the pitfalls of blind tasting, the revolutionary importance of putt...

Although this episode of 10 Minutes, 10 Questions went a few minutes over time, it actually feels shorter than normal, because Constantin Richter has much of interest to say! Wonderfully opinionated but also superbly rational, it's perhaps no wonder that he seems untroubled being the 10th generation of his family's winemaking legacy at Max Ferdinand Richter winery in Mülheim, in the very h...

Welcome to a rather unconventional episode of TRWS, but one that will delight nonetheless, as our panelists are all foodies, chefs, entrepreneurs and philosophers! We cut a couple of regular show segments, and indulged instead discussion about the the trouble with "fusion cuisine," how S. Korea has 6x the seasonality we have here in Michigan, and the Arab origins of Mexican tacos! Chef C...

With the astuteness of Adm. Akbar, this crew sussed our traps and even declared that the goal of TRWS was to deceive! The audacity...am I right?! Everyone knows the purpose of the podcast is to create community in the most entertaining way we can. To that end, we think you'll enjoy this episode bringing together two wine importers (Kristen and Jon) and one savvy consumer (Steve), and which fea...