A Cork in the Road

This episode features our live audience conversation with Marco Ricasoli Firidolfi, the current owner of Rocca di Montegrossi in Tuscany, recorded at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA. Marco has 37 generations of family history in Italy, and he is a descendant of Bettino Ricasoli, who played a central role in the history of laying the foundations for Chianti Classico wine. We gathered at The Vine Club in Atlanta with almost the entire team from Bon Vin Selections, who represents and distributes his wines in the state of Georgia. We talked about the Chianti Classico region, his foundational winemaking philosophies, and his various experiences selling wine in the United States. Throughout the conversation, we tasted several of his wines, and we talk about the key grape varieties that he works with in addition to the flagship Sangiovese. You’ll hear some helpful context for the history of “Super Tuscans” while also hearing about his unique method for crafting his Vin Santo. He also tells us that he anchors his ethos in not only sustainability and organic farming, but also in the fact that his wines are best enjoyed with food and friendship. You can visit www.roccadimontegrossi.it to learn more about the estate, and you can find the wines in Georgia distributed through Bon Vin Selections (@bonvinselections).-------------Recorded October 6, 2025 with a LIVE audience at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA. October is Virginia Wine Month! The Monticello Wine Trail is hosting a Red Wine Showcase on October 17th bringing together 18 standout wineries from the Monticello Wine Trail for one unforgettable event at Eastwood Farm and Winery: INFO AND TICKETS HERE

This episode features a conversation with Chavonne White, a Licensed Cosmetologist, Personal Development Coach, Author, and Wine Enthusiast dedicated to helping people live authentically. She is the creator of I Am ME (My Essence) and the author of publications called "The Unveiling of a Queen" and "Embody & Elevate: Your Guide to Self-Love; The Best Love”. We talk about her foundational presentation, "Tasting Through the Life Cycle,” that was featured at the 2025 Crafted for Action conference. She outlines some creative and interesting parallels between winemaking with human development combining her studies of both wine and psychology. We also dive into the inspiration for her newest series, "Uncorked & Conscious,” which is an intimate conversation experience centered on the relationships that shape us. You’ll hear why Chavonne is dedicated to creating spaces where transformation feels both approachable and empowering in a bold, relatable, and authentic way. And while her wine journey and wine education are relatively new endeavors, she has already formed solid connections within the Atlanta wine community as a member of The Hue Society. We talk about how the ATL wine community experiences have exponentially elevated her curiosity, her appreciation, and her desire to learn more about wine. You can follow @_mahoganyandmerlot on Instagram to learn more about her work and upcoming events.Recorded September 16, 2025

This episode features a conversation with Barbara Gorder, a consultant to the wine business who recently became the Managing Partner for the Direct to Consumer (DTC) Wine Symposium. We met at the 2025 edition of this conference out in Monterey, CA, and I am currently designing a session for the January 2026 edition on the opening day of the conference that has been inspired by our Sommlympics competition. We talk about how this event has evolved over the years and also how Barbara’s background in marketing and consulting plays into the design of the programming. Barbara is the President of Undisclosed Location, a nationwide creative consulting firm that develops business strategies, marketing plans, and creative work for clients by assembling tailored teams from across the US. She started her career in advertising at Leo Burnett and DDB, creating campaigns for notable clients like General Mills, GM, and Proctor & Gamble. She even launched the Army of One campaign for the US Army while leading new business efforts. She specializes in branding and working with a diverse range of clients, from startups to public companies, so we dive into a conversation about what creativity looks like these days in wine marketing and the value of wine marketing. We even reveal a few details - a podcast exclusive sneak peek - of the 2026 DTC Symposium agenda and featured speakers. We hope this gives you a unique exploration of this segment of the wine industry and offers an intriguing exploration of the current wine marketing landscape. You can follow @dtcws on Instagram and visit www.dtcwinesymposium.com for all the information about the conference.Recorded August 18, 2025

This episode features a live audience conversation and bottleshare with Ikimi Woodson, the CEO of The Roots Fund, recorded in Smyrna, GA at The Oenophile Institute. The Roots Fund is a non-profit that empowers underrepresented communities within the wine and spirits industry to build successful careers through financial support, education, mentorship, and career development, and because the value of community lies at the core of all their work, we invited a few friends and fellow wine professionals from the Atlanta wine community to join for this recording session. We asked everyone to share a little bit about why they chose the wine to open, so you’ll hear why we opened the special wines in the room. Ikimi grew up in Brooklyn and attended Johnson & Wales University, but after graduation she utilized her time traveling the world studying culture through food. Upon her return to the states, she was the youngest & first woman to complete the Marriott & Ritz Carlton management training program. Her career led her to lead culinary and management teams at sports organizations, restaurant groups, and prestigious educational institutions. In August 2017, in conjunction with Lifeworks Restaurant Group, she designed and opened LEO MKT, a food hall in Washington, DC, focusing on cuisines around the world. Ikimi is known for her ability to create managers, lead large teams, encourage the growth of women and minorities in the business, and her insight throughout - and especially at the end of this episode - is important for everyone interreacting with the wine space to hear right now. You can visit www.therootsfund.org to learn more and get involved in their work, and you can follow @rootsfund on Instagram. -------------This live audience episode was sponsored by Tower Beer Wine and Spirits, a family-owned business for 76 years, who continue to elevate the Atlanta wine scene creating access to craft beverages (@toweratl)www.towerwinespirits.com/buckhead---------------Recorded August 11, 2025 with a LIVE audience at The Oenophile Institute in Atlanta, GA. You can follow @oenophileinstitute and visit www.oenophileinstitute.com for more info on their certification programs and educational events.-------------Featuring appearances by Jade Palmer, Aaron Cooper, Jordan Traylor, Dannielle Thomas, Amanda Kimbrough, and Chelsea Young.

This episode features a conversation with Taylor Simpson, one half of the second-generation team that now owns and operates two wineries on the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan. The Simpson family first planted their roots on the Leelanau Peninsula in the 1950s when visionary entrepreneur John Simpson grew pears and plums for Gerber’s baby food. In the 1970s, he replaced the trees with cherries when that industry became more marketable. John then saw an opportunity for cool-climate wine and sent his son, Bruce, to study grape growing and winemaking at the University of California, Davis. The Simpson siblings have now expanded their reach beyond two family wineries creating Simpson Family Estates, which includes their winery businesses but also plays a critical role in the community by advocating for Michigan agriculture, supporting local wineries and wine trails and early childhood education for local children. Their winemaking operation, called Harbor Hill, supports other wineries across Northern Michigan through production and vineyard services and consulting. We talk about Taylor’s strong roots – literally – to the Leelanau peninsula even reminiscing about helping her mom in the tasting room after school growing up, but Taylor also lived the city life in Chicago after graduating from the University of Michigan. She worked in wine sales distribution for a large wine and spirits distributor, honing her knowledge of wine and business while traveling to renowned wine regions of the world. She carried this extensive experience back home with her and continues to expand the reach of their wines through direct to consumers channels in 17 states (and growing!), boutique and chain grocery stores, and Midwest restaurants. She focuses her marketing efforts on building brands that convey a genuine story of the people and places behind the wines. We hope this conversation sparks your interest in Michigan wine while also giving you some insight on what it’s like to be part of an up-and-coming wine region. You can visit www.simpsonfamilyestates.com to learn more about their winery portfolio and their viticulture practices, and you can visit www.michiganbythebottle.com to learn more about their satellite tasting room project.Recorded August 5, 2025

This episode features my conversation with Tom Sherwood, the owner and winemaker of BXT Wines in California. BXT is an exploration of Californian viticulture through the lens of traditionally made sparkling wine. The idea of “Bubbles by Tom“ (BXT) is to take a grower-Champagne mentality and apply it to hand-crafted sparkling wines from grapes grown throughout California, and Tom seeks out interesting vineyard sites to work with for producing his small batches of these wines. He started this project in 2018 inspired by grower Champagne, but he grew up in Australia where he says he stumbled into wine making when he attended Adelaide University and studied Viticulture and Enology. He not only discovered a love for this career but he also me his now wife, Britt, who also works in the wine industry as the Director of Winemaking for Lawrence Wine Estates in Napa, CA. Tom was not afraid to get a little nerdy while talking about the details of his grape growing and winemaking practices, and you’ll appreciate his transparency during our discussion about wine pricing and the state of the market for domestic sparkling wine. You can visit www.bxtwines.com to learn more about the portfolio, and you can connect with Tom by following @bxtwines on Instagram.Recorded July 20, 2025

This episode features a conversation recorded live at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with Suzanne Denevan-Brown, the Show Runner / Estate Director for a US importer and exporter of fine wines called Maze Row Wine Merchant. Maze Row represents a curated collection of wines from artisan producers around the world. Suzanne’s first ever wine job was at Tower Beer, Wine, and Spirits in Atlanta, GA, but now she leads the Maze Row brand platform designed to build a community connected by a love for wine and wine culture. Her role involves leading the integrated marketing, planning, and execution for their 11 partner Estates, driving market share growth and building equity. She also publishes VOICES, a bi-annual publication that explores the intersection of wine and culture. With almost 20 years of experience in the wine and spirits industry, her professional expertise spans supply chain, distribution, advertising, promotion, media, and experiential marketing. Suzanne holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing, along with certifications as a Certified Specialist of Spirits, Certified Sommelier, and Certified Specialist of Wine, reflecting her dedication to continuous learning and professional development. Throughout the episode, we taste a flight of wines that she brought specifically to highlight components of her wine journey and speak to the type of family-owned estates that she gets to communicate about across the country. We have some fun with blind tasting, I try to win a tee time at Pebble Beach, and we laugh about our mutual roots, crazy enough, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can follow @mazerowwines on Instagram and visit www.mazerow.com to learn more about the portfolio and read the VOICES publicationsRecorded June 24, 2025 at The Vine Club

This episode features my conversation with Chicago-based marketer, award-winning writer, and wine culture expert, Chasity Cooper. She recently attended Riesling Camp in the Finger Lakes region of New York with some good friends from the Atlanta wine industry, and I was excited to learn more about how she has nurtured her voice for communicating about wine. As a wine professional, she says she strives to make wine more accessible and relatable through storytelling, education, and unique tasting experiences. In 2024, Chasity was named a 2024 Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker and currently serves on the board of directors for Batonnage Forum and The Veraison Project. We talk about how she navigates her wine-related experiences in a way that allows her to welcome more people into conversations about wine. We also talk about the book that she published last year that is dedicated to sparking wine conversations and encouraging communication about wine. Given her unique skillset and variety of wine travels, we also dive into why the culture of wine is so important to her and how her own life continuously intersects with wine. You can follow @bychasitycooper on Instagram visit www.chasitycooper.com to learn more about her work.Recorded June 23, 2025

This episode features a conversation with Scott Neal, the winemaker and owner at Coeur de Terre Vineyard in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Along with his wife Lisa, they crafted a humble 57 cases in their inaugural 2002 vintage but have grown to making over 6000 cases a year of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Syrah, and Sparkling wines from grapes grown on their estate vineyard in the McMinnville AVA. We talk a lot about geology in this episode because his wine style is focused on reflecting the time and place from which the grapes were grown by employing a gentle hand and allowing the grapes to express in their voice. In the vineyard, organic growing practices have been followed from the beginning in 1998 with a concentration on regenerative farming. The fun connection we discovered was that we both have roots in Minnesota - Scott grew up on a southern Minnesota farm from which he learned a strong work ethic as well as gained respect for the land and for the whims of Mother Nature. Scott, Lisa and their daughters, Abigail and Tallulah, live on the estate vineyard along with their dog Cici. You can visit www.cdtvineyard.com to learn about and order their wines, and you can follow @cdtvineyard on Instagram. Thank you to the Willamette Valley Wineries Association for connecting us when Pinot in the City came to Atlanta!Recorded June 9, 2025

This episode features our live audience conversation with members of FORTH Club in Atlanta, GA and Nicola Lenci, the co-owner of Fattoria di Magliano, a winery located in the Maremma region of Tuscany. Nicola has been working at the estate since 2010, first in the vineyards and later in the cellar. He became an AIS Sommelier and started traveling, mainly North America, Germany and the UK, as the National Sales Manager of Fattoria di Magliano. Additionally, he currently is the Export Manager of the company and also the assistant winemaker. Nicola brought a flight of 4 of his family’s wines to share with us while talking about his family’s history, their experience starting a winery business, and their dedication to hospitality in the wine industry. We dive deep into what makes the region so unique, and you’ll hear some interesting insights about Italian wine classifications and the estate’s specific growing conditions. In 1996, Nicola’s father, Agostino Lenci - a fashion professional - turned his passion for wine into a business by investing in a 97-hectare property. At the time, Maremma was not recognized for producing high quality wines, but Lenci endeavored to bring notoriety to this little-known wine-producing region situated a mere 10 miles from the Tyrrhenian coast in southeastern Tuscany. His vision was realized a few years later when Maremma Toscana was granted DOC status by the Italian government. Now at the estate, there is a restaurant serving local cuisine as well as a boutique inn with 30 guest rooms and a swimming pool overlooking the rolling hills. Our audience brought such a great energy of curiosity to this episode, and there was a line that formed behind the mic when we opened it up for the live Q&A at the end of the episode. Recorded May 13, 2025-----------------Our presenting sponsor for May is The Monticello Wine Trail in Virginia. The Monticello Wine Trail proudly announces Monticello Wine Week, an immersive celebration of Virginia’s premier wine region, taking place from June 5-8, 2025. With events spanning Charlottesville, Nelson, Orange, and Greene counties, this annual series highlights the exceptional wines, winemakers, and vineyards that define the Monticello American Viticultural Area (AVA). Nestled in the heart of Virginia’s wine country, the Monticello Wine Trail is home to more than 40 acclaimed wineries, all within a short drive of Charlottesville, VA. Click ⁠HERE⁠ for info about all Monticello Wine Week events!“Monticello Wine Week is a time to celebrate the remarkable wines being produced in our region and to share the passion and dedication of our winemakers with both locals and visitors,” said Stephen Barnard, President of the Monticello Wine Trail and Winemaker at Keswick Vineyards.