A Cork in the Road

This episode features Conner Taylor, a wine professional in Atlanta, GA who has been on the distributor side of the wine industry for 12 years. He is currently the Director of Product Knowledge for United Distributors, and we chat a lot about his passion for wine education. While studying for his Certified Sommelier and WSET III last year, he and his wife Jessica - who is also in the wine industry - started brainstorming ways to make blind tasting less intimidating and more fun. After a year of prototyping, they have developed a new blind tasting game that straddles the perfect line of drinking game and info-tainment called Sommify.  Conner demonstrates the features of this new wine game by challenging me to a surprise virtual blind tasting on the show, and then we laugh about the grapes that we always get wrong :) No matter if you are a wine geek or a wine novice, they have created such a fun and accessible way for everyone to learn something new about wine. Check out www.sommify.com and follow @sommify on Instagram for all the latest updates. Recorded October 25, 2020

This episode features Seung Hee Lee - a writer, chef, and Epidemiologist with a PhD in Human Nutrition. Born and raised in Korea, she has studied traditional Korean Royal Court cuisine and serves pop-up dinners all around the world from Copenhagen to Seoul. Seung’s cooking adapts traditional Korean recipes to modern kitchens, and her unique approach to wine pairing is a big part of her culinary adventures and her life in general. We talk about how she first started exploring the world of wine due to forming connections with winemakers and sommeliers, and we dive into what continues to inspire her passion for further wine discovery. She loves to create intimate experiences for lovers of food and natural wine with a side of personal storytelling. These identities come together on her Instagram account, @koreanfusion, and in her cookbook, Everyday Korean. Make sure you listen all the way to the end on this one to soak in all the entertaining insights. To learn more about her recipes and events, check out www.thekoreanfusion.com. Recorded October 30, 2020

Noble Wine Cellar is winemaker Jabe Hilson’s label devoted to the development of Southern wines. Together with his wife Barbara and a select number of growers, Noble Wine Cellar has developed a reputation for high quality wine produced exclusively from locally grown grapes in the Southeast. We talk a lot about their insight on the industry as a whole, but for the Hilsons, it’s all about having the right grape for the region. Their tasting room in downtown Clayton, GA just one hour north of Atlanta welcomes costumers to taste their wines while learning about what makes the region unique alongside other local Georgia products available for purchase. Even with the challenges the outline about 2020, the couple remains hopeful and is preparing for an expanded production in the coming years. You can follow @noble_wine_cellar on Instagram for all the latest updates. Recorded Oct 11, 2020

This episode features Dwight Phyall, better known as "DAP", who lives in the D.C. area but is connected to the Atlanta wine community through friends of the Podcast. He is a Program Manager for a health tech company, OSCAR, in NYC full-time, but he is also a part-time Sommelier at V-NO Wine Bar & Shop in Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland. We chat about how he balances these multiple interests, and he shares what first brought him into the wine world. He highlights how it was a combination of some noteworthy wines and influential people who inspired his current journey. With a genuine passion for the craft, he talks about how he is using an academic approach to explore the various aspects of wine that continue to motivate him to learn and discover. He is the founder of "Wine the Way You Like", a wine curation service launching in the Spring of 2021, and he is also currently studying to obtain his CSW and WSET Level 2 award. Follow him @thedapper_oenophile on Instagram to get all the latest updates on his wine adventures. Recorded Oct 15, 2020

This episode features Tiffany Morris, an inspiring wine professional who recently moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Melbourne, Australia. Prior to moving, she was a Fine Wine Specialist at United Distributors with fifteen years experience in the industry and a deep appreciation for building relationships with her restaurant clients and on-premise colleagues. She is a Certified Specialist of Wine & Spirits, WSET3, and Certified through the Court of Sommeliers. While in Atlanta, Tiffany represented and focused on craft, boutique, and fine specialty brands from many regions globally.  Her team included 22 wine consultants who conducted weekly tastings with top sommeliers in the Southeast. They also hosted wine dinners and tasting events, undertook new brand procurement, and delivered focused producer & regional wine education. She has also spent time in several wine growing regions globally, including working harvest at the prestigious Opus One in the Napa Valley. We talk about what it's like to explore a new country's food and wine culture, and she describes how she is still finding ways to inspire customers to find excitement through constant discovery and wine experiences. Follow her @prettysweetmess on Instagram for captivating photography and thoughtful wine insights. Recorded September 27, 2020

Kacey Ivey is a sales consultant for a national importer and distributor, and she always puts her clients' needs at the top of her priorities. She also values the supportive relationships with her colleagues as much as she values the producers of the wines she sells in her portfolio. We talk about some of the travel and educational experiences that have had the biggest impact on how she studies and speaks about wine. She also shares how she got her start in the wine industry after a brief career in engineering. In addition to studying and reading about wine, she practices yoga, loves to be outdoors, and travels the world. We discuss the utility of blind tasting skills and how she weaves that knowledge into her assessment of wine quality. In 2019, Kacey became the first female champion of the annual "Somm Smackdown" blind tasting competition, and she is currently in the middle of her WSET Diploma studies.  You can ask her for wine recommendations and travel tips by following @sweetkaceyjane on Instagram.  Recorded September 27, 2020.

We are kicking off Season 3 with Stephen James of Uva Imports. After falling in love with nature out West, studying Ecology at the University of Georgia, and pursuing a musical career for 10 years, Stephen developed his passion for nature, art, and history surrounding the world of wine in New York while working at a French restaurant. A few years later, his musical career brought him back to Georgia where he started working in restaurants under mentorship of Chef Hugh Acheson. In 2015, James moved to Atlanta as the opening beverage director for Staplehouse where the focus was on pairing wine with food. Now at Uva Imports, the focus is on connecting small family producers; their history, geography, culture, and individual expression, with wine lovers around the U.S. We talk a lot about the parallels between wine and music, and his multiple career interests highlight the importance of always "listening" to whatever opportunities life brings your way. Part of his job now at a small import company is to make this vast, variegated world of wine more approachable to those getting started. He usually does this by comparing wine to music, often stating “wine does for your taste-buds what music does for your ears. Slow down and take some time to listen to your palate." You can learn more about Uva's tasting events and producers by following @uvaimportants on Instagram and checking out www.uvaimports.com. You can also find Stephen @ragazzi_perduti for additional wine adventures. Recorded live on September 20, 2020.

Sommelier Joon Lim's wine journey started in college by picking up a wine book - and he still recommends that anyone interested in wine do the same. He brings a love for hospitality and education to his profession, but it wasn't until after transitioning from a job working in the coffee industry  that he cultivated his passion for studying wine. Gaining experience serving in restaurants furthered his appreciation for the craft, and he has since worked with some of Atlanta's most talented chefs. From Rathbun's to Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse and now to his current role at Cherokee Town and Country Club, Joon has always enjoyed blending formal education with a thirst for exploration into his approach to helping customers discover new wines. He says he is constantly humbled by the world of wine - such an admirable mindset for a wine professional. He is looking forward to technology innovations for the sommelier profession as a form of resilience during and after the pandemic, and he encourages the industry to focus on shining a brighter light on our small domestic producers and regions. You can connect with him @joon.lim918 on Instagram to see photos of his unicorn wine discoveries and to follow along for all of his sommelier adventures.

This episode featuring Sommelier Chris McLloyd is both inspiring and entertaining - he has such a joyful approach to wine exploration. After first working in the music industry, he gained experience serving at restaurants and ultimately decided to pursue a career in wine. With a combination of both formal and informal wine studies, he transitioned to the wine retail space where he still continues to weave music and an appreciation for culture into his lifestyle as a connector within the Atlanta wine scene. He talks about what makes the Atlanta wine market so unique, and he shines a light on how tasting groups with fellow wine professionals have had an impact on helping to build his wine vocabulary. He also encourages people to partake in blind tasting to expand their palates and to deepen their understanding  of varietal nuances. Before we wrap up, we make predictions for the future of the wine industry during the pandemic, and he's optimistic about the role of wine bars and also excited about the amount of sommelier knowledge transferring to the retail space. You can connect with him on social media @thehiphopsomm to get the latest updates on all his upcoming projects and collaborations. Recorded July 19, 2020

This episode featuring Sommelier Juan Cortés is one of a kind - it will give you a true look behind the wine into his incredible journey to becoming one of Atlanta's most talented wine professionals. Like a series of short stories, he will outline details of experiences that have shaped his perspective and work ethic from a very young age growing up in Colombia. Wine has always been woven into his life, but some of the things he has accomplished along the way will surprise you. After completing an internship at Noma in Cophenhagen, he returned to Atlanta to continue serving as a sommelier at Atlas as well as most recently influencing the wine selection at the Garden Room in Buckhead. He is also one of the founders of the Stanky Wine Pop-Up, which is designed to showcase natural wines and help people connect with local chefs in a whole new way. He gives "The Most Interesting Man in the World" a run for his money - a true storyteller with a unique appreciation for how wine interacts with all other aspects of life. You can follow him on Instagram @sommjuan and let him pick out wines for you at Savi Provisions on Roswell Road. In the Podcast thumbnail photo, he is wearing a facemask that he made out of Riedel microfiber typically used for polishing glassware.  Recorded July 17, 2020