Patrick Davis is returning to Northern California for SIP - Songwriters in Paradise 2024. You may have caught him on my podcast last year, and it’s a real pleasure to catch up with him again to chat about Songwriters in Paradise 2024 in Napa, very soon April 18th-21st, then Healdsburg, Sonoma County  July 23rd – 28 at special wineries in each region. Patrick Davis is a talented performer. He's a prolific writer, travels quite a bit, and likes to be so surrounded by his friends. Together they put on a great show with humorous jabs and banter between songs. It’s evident, these Songwriters i ..read more

This month we celebrated Women’s History, International Women’s Day was March 8th, and this past Monday, the 25th, it was National Women in Wine Day in the U.S.  So, appropriately, my guest for this episode is an accomplished woman in wine, who also happens to be an international woman. Marimar Torres is a member of Familia Torres, a historic winemaking family in Spain’s Catalonia region. She loves living in California, especially Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley, where she presides over Marimar Estate Vineyards and Winery as President and CEO. Yet she continues to be a trailblazer an ..read more

  This brand is what you get when you combine the 4th generation of a historic wine brand (Charles Krug Winery, first established in 1862), with an off-shoot winery that is predominantly owned by women who exhibit the courage and grace of the family’s immigrant matriarch (C Mondavi & Family), and a passion to support nonprofit causes (Equality Now), and blend it all into a wine brand that is enhanced with innovative augmented reality technology.  What's more, it's the juice is sourced from three European countries to provide a certain je ne sais quoi! It's Aviana. Giovanna Mondav ..read more

In this episode you’ll meet Jennifer Brown of Napa Valley’s Hall Family. They are more or less based in three counties, they source from a good number of appellations across California, and they have three brands that I’ll touch upon, but we’ll focus on BACA Wines. BACA only produces Zinfandel, which I found interesting knowing that Jennifer’s family has gained notoriety for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc. Jennifer and I met in 2020 at the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers Zinfandel Experience Grand Tasting event and she told me she loved to skip through the Zinfandel vineyard ..read more

On this episode, you’ll hear about wine that has been nurtured by Mother Nature for over 100 years. Winemaker and ampelographer Greg Lafollette has been crafting wine from old vines for so long that he knows of their place in history and other names they’ve had throughout the centuries.   His latest wine project is Marchelle Wines. I’ll chat with Greg about the gnarly old vines and the diverse geology of the Russian River Valley’s six Neighborhoods. You’ll also hear from Greg’s partner with Marchelle, Kevin Lee, a marketing master who is doing an excellent job of propping up the ..read more

This episode was originally posted in 2019 - Now a guy who calls himself John Fucking Caldwell is likely to be brash...probably a risk taker, and likely one of a kind. In John's case, yes, he could be described by each of those descriptors, as well as pleasant, inventive, philanthropic, and one who can make the best of a situation. So it may come as no surprise that he's the kind of person who would consider, and accomplish, smuggling grapevines into the U.S. And that's just half of the story. Join us in his kitchen in south Napa Valley as John shares the compelling tale he's told many times ..read more

Like many people in Northern California, Tony Lombardi's ancestors emigrated from Italy. He grew up in the area and his friends are the Who's Who of the wine industry. His background in PR and marketing led him to join his pals who founded one of the coveted cult brands of the early 2000s, Kosta Browne. That position paid off in spades as you'll hear in this interview, ultimately leading KB winemaker, Cabell Coursey to join Tony at Lombardi Wines. Tony shares the story of his family's influence and his enviable position in the Sonoma County wine world. Lombardi Wines also provides Tony with th ..read more

My guest is Jessica Venezia, the Director of Administration and Marketing for FWC. Not only does Family Winemakers of California hold tasting events to highlight and support their member wineries, but the organization also lobbies for legislative action on behalf of the wine industry, focusing on the smaller production facilities. Jessica delves deeper into the details. This podcast is for wine lovers and fledgling wineries who are looking for support to generate growth, awareness, and sales.  On The Wine Road Podcast is sponsored by Sonoma Clean Power ..read more

Originally posted in December 2020, I thought I'd share this story of Frog's Leap Winery once again in case you missed it. John Williams has had quite a career. The story of Frog's Leap didn't begin until after John worked with Napa Valley icon Warren Winiarski at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. He helped launch Glenora Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes region. Afterward, he returned to Napa Valley as a winemaker for the esteemed Spring Mountain Vineyard. All this, before and during the founding of Frog's Leap, where early business decisions, like their comical slogan, "Time's fun when you're ha ..read more

Today's story features a fantasy come true story that follows the "rags to riches" life of an American with an Italian heritage. My guest is Gudrun Cuillo, an Austrian woman who was working for an opera company when she met Robert, the American. The incredible part of the story is not that they ended up in Tuscany, but had the good fortune to turn their newly purchased property into a winery that sits near a long abandoned medieval village. What they were able to do with each property is remarkable. After 20 years of exasperating work and the loss of her husband, what does Gudrun do? She write ..read more