The Wine Centric Show

Paul Michael didn't plant his first vines by choice. He was seventeen years old, on a family holiday in California, when his father climbed out of a rented Cadillac in the middle of Knights Valley and announced they were coming back to plant. That was 1982. What followed is one of the great origin stories in American wine. Paul and his wife Emily join Matt Weiss to talk about the multigenerational...

Pepe Raventós is a 21st generation winemaker who walked away from the appellation his grandfather helped build. Cava had become a commodity. The name carried the wrong story. So he left. What followed was a decade-long fight to prove that Penedès — a poor, rural corner of Catalonia with more than 3,000 years of winemaking history — deserves its own appellation and a seat at the table with the grea...

 Bobby Stuckey has spent twenty years telling Americans that the most important wine region in Italy isn't Tuscany. It isn't Piedmont either. It's Friuli. As co-founder of Frasca Food and Wine and one of the most respected Master Sommeliers in the country, Stuckey has watched food journalists question whether fine dining still has a place in American culture. He has a clear answer: they don't know...

When the most powerful man in the world imposed tariffs that threatened to put his business under, Victor Owen Schwartz did what almost no one else was willing to do. He sued. And he won. As lead plaintiff in VOS Selections v. Donald Trump, this 40-year wine importer took the fight from the Court of International Trade all the way to the Supreme Court — winning at every stop. 3-0. 7-2. 6-3. On the...

Bruwer Raats planted his flag in the Polkadraai Hills when nobody else wanted to be there. The soil was granite, the land was cheap, and the two varieties he chose — Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc — were widely considered the least exciting grapes a winemaker could possibly champion. His colleagues called him a mad hatter. That was 2000. Today, Polkadraai Hills is a declared ward on the label of...

Fifty years ago, a 25-year-old with no money, no connections, and a lot of nerve showed up at an office on the 18th floor of the World Trade Center every single day for two and a half weeks until someone finally let him in. That someone was Barbara Kafka. The place was Windows on the World. And what Kevin Zraly built there over the next 25 years became the greatest restaurant wine program this cou...

A UC Davis professor once told Cathy Corison she would never be a winemaker in the Napa Valley. As a woman, it simply wasn't done. She didn't argue. She just went and did it anyway. Nearly five decades later, Cathy is one of Napa's most respected voices — and her daughter Grace Corison Martin has come home to build on what her mother started. Matt talks with both of them about Kronos Vineyard, pla...

Carmel Greenberg didn't come to Clos du Val to make bigger wines. She came to make better ones. As head winemaker at one of Napa's oldest estates — and the first Israeli woman to lead a Napa Valley winery — Carmel has worked alongside some of the valley's most respected names: Cakebread, Dominus, Buccella. What she took from all of it wasn't a formula. It was a point of view. In this episode, we g...

Most world-class wine programs live in big city restaurants. This one lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains — and that changes everything. Tyler Wesslund, sommelier at High Hampton, pulls back the curtain on the art and strategy behind wine list curation, guest-centered service, and the evolving role of the modern sommelier. From Bordeaux vintages and the rise of Spanish wines to decanting techniques,...

Bonus Episode — Breaking News Update  Supreme Court has issued a ruling on U.S. wine tariffs — a meaningful development in a long-running legal battle. But despite the headlines, the industry is not out of the woods yet. Millions of dollars have already been paid in tariffs. Importers have faced severe cash flow strain. Jobs across distribution and retail remain exposed. And future trade actions c...

Sebastián Zuccardi is one of the defining voices behind the modern revolution of Argentine wine. As the third generation leading Zuccardi Valle de Uco, he helped redefine what’s possible in Uco Valley, transforming high-altitude vineyards into some of the most respected sites in the world. In this episode, he breaks down why the vineyard matters more than the winery, how extreme elevation shapes t...

What happens when passion meets purpose in the wine world — and a little Disney magic? George Miliotes, legendary Master Sommelier and the visionary behind Wine Bar George at Disney Springs, shares a journey as rich and layered as a vintage Bordeaux. From crafting wine blends for Olive Garden to building one of the most dynamic wine destinations in the country, George brings hospitality, humor, an...

Cristie Norman brings bold energy, heart, and a wealth of experience to this powerful episode of The Wine Centric Show . As Lead Sommelier at Delilah at the Wynn Las Vegas, Cristie opens up about her evolution from aspiring opera singer to nationally recognized wine educator, and how her path through hospitality has shaped her passion for leadership, mentorship, and impact. Cristie shares the pers...

How is wine culture  changing, and what still holds true? Eric Asimov, the long-standing chief wine critic for The New York Times , joins us for a candid conversation to answer these questions. With his signature clarity and cultural insight, Eric brings a rare, unpretentious perspective to the complexities of wine criticism, the industry’s growing pains, and the surprising role of wellness and ce...

Champagne maker Jérôme Dehours brings a rare blend of tradition and rebellion, redefining what Champagne can be through a lens of integrity, terroir, and deep-rooted family legacy. After the early loss of his father and the forced sale of the Dehours estate, Jérôme and his sisters reclaimed their family’s land in 1996. From that moment, he began reshaping the estate’s identity, challenging Champag...

How does Chateau Musar create a wine so instantly recognizable—vibrant, soulful, unmistakably Musar ? In this episode, Marc Hochar takes us inside the family’s collaborative blending process, revealing how each member’s unique palate shapes the final wine. From generational taste differences to the guiding hand of Gaston, the Musar blend is crafted through shared vision, spirited debate, and a rev...

LA Dodgers’ Manager, Dave Roberts, a three-time World Series champion and co-owner of Red Stitch Wine, shares how the intensity of a playoff run mirrors the precision of winemaking. From his first unforgettable glass of Jordan Cabernet to launching a boutique label with fellow athletes, Dave opens up about the journey from the dugout to the vineyard. This candid conversation explores the parallels...

Portugal’s Douro Valley isn’t just beautiful, it’s alive with history, resilience, and over 300 grape varieties that define the essence of Portuguese wine. At the heart of this landscape, Sandra Tavares da Silva and Jorge Serôdio Borges, the visionaries behind Wine & Soul, are preserving and celebrating vineyards that date back generations. Their story is one of devotion, to the land, to grape...

Champagne isn’t just a beverage, it’s a cultural symbol, a product of place, and increasingly, a lens into the shifting climate of our time. Peter Liem, one of the world’s most respected voices on Champagne, brings rare insight into the region’s transformation over the past two decades. A James Beard Award–winning author and founder of ChampagneGuide.net , Liem has dedicated his career to chronicl...

What does it take to earn the Master Sommelier pin? Max Kast pulls back the curtain on the intense journey, from the pressures of blind tasting to the emotional highs and lows of fine wine service. He reflects on the 2018 Court of Master Sommeliers scandal, how it reshaped the industry, and why integrity remains his guiding principle. In this episode of Wine Centric , Max shares the path that led...

Travel to Germany’s legendary Mosel Valley with Johannes Selbach — the heart and mind behind Selbach-Oster and J. & H. Selbach wines. With roots tracing back to the 1600s, Johannes opens up about what it means to carry a family legacy while staying true to nature and terroir. From the dramatic steep vineyards blanketed in slate to spontaneous fermentations and aging in traditional Fuder barrel...

Matthew Weiss hosts a once-in-a-generation conversation with two of American wine’s most influential voices: Tim Mondavi, owner of Continuum Estate, architect of Napa Valley’s modern era, and his son Carlo Mondavi, co-owner of RAEN Winery, a visionary championing sustainable farming and fine wine’s future. This unfiltered interview spans four generations of winemaking. Tim recounts his pivotal rol...

What makes Chile one of the most captivating, and underestimated, places to make wine? Andrea Leon, Technical Director at Lapostolle and Clos Apalta, brings 20+ years of winemaking experience to the mic to answer that question and more. In this episode, Andrea shares her remarkable journey from studying oenology and economics in Santiago to leading two of South America's most iconic wineries. She...

Step into Alsace with Mélanie Pfister — an eighth-generation winemaker redefining what it means to honor tradition while forging a modern path. From the cellar to the vineyard, Mélanie shares how she blends precision, sustainability, and vision at her family domaine. We explore everything from dry Riesling and Alsace Pinot Noir to sustainability, climate adaptation, and the rising influence of wom...

What does it take to lead one of Napa Valley’s most iconic wineries into the future? In this episode of The Wine Centric Show , Maya Dalla Valle — second-generation winemaker at Dalla Valle Vineyards — shares her journey from growing up among Napa legends to shaping the next chapter of her family’s legacy. We cover it all: the impact of climate change on vineyard practices, the role of Cabernet Fr...