XChateau Wine Podcast

With droughts, floods, hail, wildfires, and more challenging how wine is made, Familia Torres and Jackson Family Wines are leading the way to tackle climate change in the wine industry by founding the International Wineries for Climate Action.  Founded in 2019, the group already has 22 members and continues to expand its reach and impact.  Listen in as Josep Maria Ribas Portella, Climate Change Di...

Instituted in a different time, post Prohibition, the 3-Tier system of alcohol distribution and sales in the US creates inefficiencies in matching inventory with demand.  Tom Wark, Executive Director of the National Association of Wine Retailers (“NAWR”), founder of Wark Communications , and writer of Fermentation -  the Daily Wine Blog educates us on the history, key issues, and challenges of nav...

Accidentally filling the big shoes of Michael Broadbent and Steven Spurrier, Jane Anson, wine critic, author of Inside Bordeaux , founder of janeanson.com , and former Bordeaux correspondent for Decanter for nearly 20 years, is one of the world’s foremost experts on the wines, history, and region of Bordeaux.  Having lived in Bordeaux since 2003, Jane shares her deep insights into how Bordeaux bec...

Library Release: Originally aired as Episode 5 in June of 2020.   In one of our original episodes, Robert and Peter discuss how competitive the wine market is, how wine scores used to differentiate wines from each other, but do that less today, and the use of wine scores has evolved over time.  This episode provides another data point for the conversation around the evolution of the wine critic, a...

As the wine reviewer for Burgundy for The Wine Advocate and a small producer of Burgundy himself, William Kelley has a deep and insightful perspective on Burgundy.  We discuss how Burgundy became “without substitute” and why “all roads lead to Burgundy,” the rapid escalation of both vineyard and wine prices, and how what was once very contracting landholdings are now consolidating again.  History,...

Breaking into the US market for alcohol has always been hard.  Archaic rules such as the 3-tier system and differing regulations by state make it a complex web of rules and regulations to be in compliance.  The increasing consolidation of the distributor channel has made it even harder for smaller players to enter.  MHW's goal is to make that simpler, giving producers the ability to enter the mark...

Jeff Andrews was such a crypto fan that he built 4 crypto mining rigs in his family’s winery lab.  A mini-meltdown of one of the rigs didn’t diminish his enthusiasm, making it a no-brainer for Trothe, the new winery based on the best blocks of the 1,300 acres of the Andrews Family Vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills in Washington State, to accept crypto right out of the gate. Jeff and winemaker Ra...

Growing up in a small town of ~700 people made Valentina Abbona, 6th generation vintner and Export and Marketing Manager for her family’s winery, Marchesi di Barolo , want to explore the world.  Stints in the US, India, and China ultimately led her back to the family business and managing wine exports.  Valentina talks about the history of Barolo exports, including becoming “The King of wine, wine...

Becoming a wine critic sounds like a dream for many.  However, even though the cost and effort of setting up a website and putting out information have declined dramatically, doing the work of becoming a professional is no easy task - the time and effort it takes to taste and review thousands of wines a year is daunting.  Jeb’s journey from aerospace engineer to reviewer of The Wine Advocate to be...

Esther Mobley, Wine Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle , thought writing would be more of a passion than a career.  Yet, she’s one of two full-time wine writers for newspapers in the US.  Esther discusses how being at a newspaper differs from a wine magazine, the changing wine critic landscape, the impact of wine scoring, and even gives some tips for budding wine bloggers and influencers.  She...

The retirement of Robert Parker marked a major change in the role of the wine critic that had been building over time.  William Kelley, Reviewer of Burgundy, Champagne, English Sparkling, and Madeira for The Wine Advocate (“TWA”), gives us his thoughts on how the wine critic landscape is changing and why, the impact wine critics have on the market, and the role of TWA.  Dig deep into the mind of a...

Growing up around wine has not dimmed the passion Jacki Strum brings to her work as President of Wine Enthusiast Media.  In the first of a series on the evolution of the wine critic, Jacki tells us about how Wine Enthusiast has expanded its platform from print into web, social media, podcasts, and even Tik Tok.  As well as how they assess wines (blindly) as a wine critic and how those ratings are...

Natalie MacLean, a podcaster and writer based in Ottawa, Canada, has been bringing people into her wine world for over 20 years. With two books, a newsletter with over 300,000 subscribers, a mobile app, and the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, Natalie’s main focus is on perfecting her food and wine pairing courses - The Wine Smart Course and an upcoming course on wine and cheese. Natalie tells us abo...

Getting at the heart of what consumers want is essential for any business, but a vastly understudied area in the world of fine wine.  Pauline Vicard, Executive Director of ARENI Global , follows up her interview on Episode 28 and shares with us their latest research on the fine wine consumer - “The Future of Fine Wine Consumers 2021.”  We explore the role of fine wine merchants, how and why consum...

Part two of our interview with Damien Wilson, Hamel Family Chair of Wine Business at Sonoma State University , focuses on what wineries can do to align their brand, marketing messages, and how they sell wine to Millennials.  From hospitality to various marketing channels, with social media, Damien provides examples of what works and tips on what to do.  This episode also includes a “lightning roun...

With values and attitudes formed around the turn of the 21st century, Millennials want fulfilling careers, are more into environmental and social causes, and grew up in the social media era.  Damien Wilson, Hamel Family Chair of Wine Business at Sonoma State University , explains who Millennials are, what drives their buying habits, and the brand loyalty of the group.  This is the first part of a...

One of the world’s leading grape geneticists, Carole Meredith, Professor Emerita of UC Davis and owner of Lagier Meredith winery, has spent decades identifying and profiling grape varieties.  It was so interesting that the interview has been split into two episodes. Episode 55 covers the background of Ampelography and DNA profiling as well as the definitions of key terms such as variety, clone, an...

One of the world’s leading grape geneticists, Carole Meredith, Professor Emerita of UC Davis , and owner of Lagier Meredith winery, has spent decades identifying and profiling grape varieties.  It was so interesting that the interview has been split into two episodes, this one about the background of Ampelography and DNA profiling as well as the definitions of key terms such as variety, clone, and...

Laura Catena, Managing Director of Catena Zapata , Founder of the Catena Institute , and Owner of Luca Winery , used to frequently get asked, “What’s next for Argentina after Malbec.”  While Argentina has diversity in wine, its core calling card, quality, and diversity can also reside in Malbec.  From storied beginnings to becoming a new classic, Laura shares with us the stories of the history of...

“The last frontier of Europe,” “A pristine region,” “A mosaic of soil varieties and temperatures” are all ways João Gomes de Silva, Board Member of Sogrape , describes the Alentejo wine region.  João tells us about the evolution of Portugal’s wine industry, the complexity of the Alentejo wine region, and how the industry has been promoting and building the brand of Alentejo wine.  From “seasoning”...

“Ura-what?, Ura-where?”  Selling Uruguayan Tannat has many challenges, recognizing both the country and the signature variety not well known globally.  However, Christian Wylie, General Manager of Bodega Garzón , and owner Alejandro Bulgheroni have risen to the challenge.  So much so that the late, famed wine writer Steven Spurrier once said that “Garzón achieved iconic status in less than a decad...

For the first time, European wineries can have direct relationships with customers, and lovers of many European wineries can consistently secure access to their favorite wines via the VinConnect platform.  Founder and President, Kevin Sidders, explains how VinConnect works, tells us some of the unique, rare wines that have been offered, and all the reasons how VinConnect benefits their winery part...

When Robert & Peter started the XChateau Wine Business podcast, the idea was to try and build a community around the business of wine. Part of that has been engaging with our listeners, as well as our guests. While it has happened on an ad hoc basis, we wanted to do it more proactively for our 50th Episode / One Year Anniversary.  We recorded our 50th episode live on Clubhouse to have a broader in...

Focused on helping the casual wine consumer buy better wine, Vivino has spent over 10 years building its database of wines, creating a structured tastings database, and network of merchants to make buying better wine more convenient.  Heini Zachariassen, founder and CEO, tells us about the journey, what Vivino is up to today, and where it’s going.  A must-listen for anyone interested in wine.   De...

Having gone through the most difficult period in history with an unprecedented shutdown during the Covid pandemic, restaurants and their sommeliers and beverage directors are in a new world and need to evolve.  Mia Van de Water MS, of Cote Korean Steakhouse and the United Sommeliers Foundation, explains everything that has happened in the world of wine and restaurants.  From the scandals at the Co...