Be Inspired.

Season 15

June 13, 2023

"Noted Celebrity Sommelier," you heard that right. Meet Marc Kauffman

His LinkedIn profile calls Marc out as "Noted Celebrity Sommelier" and I couldn't agree more. When you have been around the industry in the various capacities as Marc, you can call yourself whatever you want...but it does he…
June 8, 2023

So you want to own a Chateau in Bordeaux. Hear from Romik Arconian

Romik Arconian bit at the dream.  He was in the wine trade working in Paris. He loved what he was doing. As with most of us in this industry, the idea of owning a Chateau swirled around in his head. Seeming like an unattaina…
June 4, 2023

Austin Hope has a story. Success in wine doesn't just happen. Meet the man.

WIne is a tough racquet. You have heard this before. Sometimes we all learn through trial and error, our failures and sometimes our successes. But as Calvin Coolidge says "perserverence is omnipotent." Nothing could be more …
May 26, 2023

Gary Fisch does wine retail right. Duh, he offered me a job. Meet Gary Fisch of Garys Wine Marketplace

There is no standard path to get into the wine busines. Ask 100 people and you will get 100 answers on landing on the passioln it takes to make, market or sell wine. Garys story is one for the books.  When you have seen as m…
May 23, 2023

We NEED Jay Nunez making wine. Meet No Love Lost winemaker Jay Nunez.

It takes inspiration to make wine. It takes a dream. It takes ambition. It takes hard work. Jay Nunez has all these traits and more.  But the most important trait it takes to make honest wine is philosophy. Wine is part scie…
May 15, 2023

Learn Armenian wine here. Meet three wine families in this discussion

GiniFest is a Los Angeles bred wine festival that features the wine making skills of both indigenous Armenian winemakers but Armenian winemakers in the diaspora as well. A very professionally done show and an opportunity to …
May 11, 2023

Mike Grgich made California wine famous. Meet Violet Grgich.

Mike Grgich realized his dream to come to America.
May 5, 2023

The food philosophy of a Michelin starred Chef. Meet Dave Beran of Pasjolis

The holy grail of the restauranteur is to be recognized by the Michelin Guide. Though the guide has various levels of accolades for the restaurants it reviews, the best restaurants are awarded stars; 1,2 or 3. These stars ar…
May 2, 2023

George Taber, only journalist at the Judgement of Paris. May 1976.

He became the man by just showing up.
April 27, 2023

Wine influencer turned wine shop owner. Crazy stuff. Meet Jamie Griffiths.

Influencers are a new marketing tool. Some have more influence than others. Jamie, as part of corporate retirement, decided to TikTok some wine information videos...and voila, influencer. What started as a hobby turned to a …
April 25, 2023

So you want to own a winery in Europe? Meet Bettina Kurz...she sells wineries world wide.

So you want to own a winery in Italy, Germany, France? you name it....Bettina can fill your needs. Oh, and she will sell you a winery in Napa too!  Listen as we role play as a potential client who wants to buy a winery in Mo…
April 20, 2023

Does low cal wine help? Meet food and fitness experts Gina Wynn and Angie Alles.

In 1990 when 60 minutes released the evidence that supported the healthy consumption of wine in the French Paradox, the world learned that wine can be part of a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle coaches Gina and Angie took a minu…
April 18, 2023

There are wine journalists...and then there is Dan Berger. This is real wine education.

You can't help but be in complete aw when speaking with Dan Berger. He has been writing about wine for so many decades that when he writes about wine, he transcends normal conversation. And because of this cast experience, y…
April 13, 2023

What I have to say…(ain’t pretty). I rant today.

There is so much "inside baseball" in the wine trade. We all know what each other is doing. There are not many secrets and when one is exposed...well, it is no longer a secret. What is fascinating to me is the consistent att…
April 11, 2023

One of the great LA wine guys waxes poetic on wine. Ed Masciana was in the house.

In 1969, Ed approached Palos Verdes Wines and Spirits to sell my father advertising space in the Peninsula News; thus started a love affair with wine. Ed wrote the book, Shortcuts On Wine as a simple approach to understandin…
April 6, 2023

Purely educational Bordeaux talk. Like serious. Meet Guillaume-Alexandre Marx

As your first soirée into wine study, one might say study Bordeaux and particularly the Classification of 1855. Here Napoleon III ordered a ranking of wine of the Medoc for the Paris Exhibition of 1855. Here you will find fa…
April 4, 2023

Single serve wine...it was her idea. Meet Dana Spaulding

She came home from work and had a hankering for a glass of wine and as she reached to open, her husband made a face. "What?" she inquired. "You are just going to drink one glass and waste the rest!" he replied. Thus was born…
March 30, 2023

She will create thoughts. Kira Ballotta is brilliant in her approach to wine.

Wine is really about history. What other product do you deliberately wit 20 years to explore, what other product can you take half way around the world and say “This is who we are and when we are”   I was thinking about the …
March 28, 2023

Fruili is one crazy place for vineyards. Massimo Furlan will tell you why.

All of a sudden there are have been two Friulian wine houses in studio when for years there had only been on in here prior.  Why? The world of Italian wine is complicated and can take years to understand. And as one studies …