A Cork in the Road

This episode features audio clips from wine professionals who work at WOW, The New Cultural District in Porto, Portugal, followed by a discussion with Melissa Abreu who owns a Portuguese-focused wine shop in Atlanta, GA. Melissa is from a small town in South Georgia, but her Father is Portuguese, and they traveled to Portugal every two summers since she was born. She says her father always put so much emphasis on appreciating the culture there and making it as big a part of their lives growing up as he could. She later graduated from Georgia Southern with a business degree and spent the majority of her career working in manufacturing and supply chain. Four years ago, however, she says she finally gained the courage to open her own business. We talk about how she had always wanted to open a retail store, and her love for wine along with determination and drive far outweighed any fear or lack of experience to take a leap of faith. The Dom Beijos wine shop in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta is building community through wine, and Melissa shares gratitude for her partner, Justin, and the support of her family and friends. We talk about the portfolio she sources for the shop, her love for introducing people to Portuguese wines, and what it's been like to work in Atlanta's wine industry. She says owning this shop is truly what she believes she was always meant to do. You can visit www.dombeijos.com and follow @dom_beijos to learn more about Melissa and plan a visit to the wine shop. Featuring audio clips from: José Sá - Educator at The Wine School  Maria Delamain - Brand Manager at WOW Priscila Haddad - Head Sommelier at WOW Recorded July 18-22, 2022 in Porto and July 25, 2022 in Atlanta. For more information about planning your own visit to Porto, visit www.wow.pt and www.the-yeatman-hotel.com. This episode was made possible with generous support from WOW Porto, The Yeatman Hotel, and Wagstaff Marketing. 

Originally from Philadelphia, Eric Palmer moved to Atlanta in 2020 after completing his degree in Philosophy and Economics. His current role in the wine industry is working as the Sales Lead at Perrine’s Wine, an independent retail shop in Atlanta. Prior to his work in wine retail, he was the Assistant Sommelier at The Chastain where he helped open and develop the Atlanta restaurant’s award-winning wine program (Wine Spectator, Atlanta Magazine). We talk about how he recently passed his certified exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers and is now pursuing a Bordeaux certificate with the Wine Scholar Guild. He provides some helpful tips and tricks for navigating blind tasting and service exams including citing research from Harvard Business School about "Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement" published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. He brings a love for hospitality to the retail space and loves helping people discover new wines and regions. You can connect with him @eric.palmr on social media. Recorded July 24, 2022 This episode is sponsored by Diane Carpenter and Ross Knoll Vineyard: https://www.dianecarpenter.org/wines

This episode features Mason Washington, a certified specialist of wine through the society of wine educators paving the way through Germany and German wines. Born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, he moved to Raleigh/Durham for the beginning of his career, but is now based in ATL. He got his start in wine at age 20 working in various country clubs and hotels, but he didn't grow up around wine and confesses that he actually hated the taste of wine initially! He knew, however, that if he wanted to go farther in the wine industry that he would need to hustle, study, taste, and sacrifice time to it in order to grow out of his comfort zone and accept any challenge ahead. As he then maneuvered his way through the industry, he had to figure out a purpose for what he wanted to do in wine because he says everything he does in life has to have a purpose, and having that strength in purpose will cause him not to quit. So, during the pandemic, he started exploring how German wine could help him pay tribute back to his German heritage as both his mom and his grandma passed when he was at a young age. Now, his primary focus is on German wine solely and to uplift it in the USA. We talk about how he is also mixing wine and music by teaching it through the lyrics. He just announced some exciting news about a new project...so follow @leliyg_wine on social media to follow along for his upcoming endeavors. Recorded July 17, 2022

This episode features Mike Annis, who began his wine journey by bussing tables at Del Frisco’s Atlanta in early 2014. By 2017, he was their full time Sommelier handling a list of over 350 labels. We talk about how we first crossed paths in the wine industry while he was working as a harvest intern out in Napa Valley, and he talks about how he seized the opportunity to temporarily move across the country to work a full 3 month harvest at Emeritus Vineyards in Russian River Valley as part his transition from floor service to distribution. Now, he is a Certified Sommelier and Certified Specialist of Wine who works as a distributor rep for Northeast Sales showcasing the esteemed Kermit Lynch, Ethica, and Skurnik portfolios. He is also a founding member of the All In Wine ATL blind tasting group - and he is known for having some of the most descriptive, memorable tasting notes. His mission is to give anyone the opportunity to pursue learning about wine, regardless of position or experience, just as he was encouraged to by his early mentors. Mike is also a music nerd, cat dad, and gardener. You can follow his journey as he pursues the title of Advanced Somm by following his Instagram @Sommwhere_I_Belong.  Recorded June 25, 2022 This episode is sponsored by Diane Carpenter and Ross Knoll Vineyard: https://www.dianecarpenter.org/wines

This episode features Atlanta native and recently-retired educator, Dr. Santresa Glass (San), who is the founder of Vino &, LLC (formerly Vino & Leaf), Cutting Board Stories, and The ASHtionary. She is a food, wine, and cigar educator, as well as writer and food photographer, so we talk about how her accomplished career in education has created such a strong backbone for pursuing roles in these types of other industries. She has 18+ years of experience in hospitality, small business, entrepreneurship, and executive administration guiding her along the way. At the intersection of education, wine, food, writing, learning, cigars, and photography is where her layered expertise and passion meet, merge, and serve as a connection catalyst for her Instagram LIVE "Porch Sippin' Series" and crushed grapes geekdom. An avid reader, writer, home cook and baker, San specializes in curated wine and cigar pairing experiences, pairing food with lesser known grape varieties, and resourcing the history and science of wine, cigars, and various cuisines from Vino & Read library. We invite you to pour a glass and toast a cigar while you join us for today's episode. You can follow San @vinoandllc on Instagram to stay updated on all her adventures and forthcoming ventures. Recorded June 12, 2022

This episode features Joe Herrig, the Director of Education for Georgia Crown Distributing Company. He is a Certified Sommelier, a Certified Specialist of Wine, and a Diploma candidate with the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. He has over a decade of experience in the Atlanta wine wholesale industry, and he talks about his own journey in wine education that has brought him to this point of his career. Joe was a finalist in the 2022 Atlanta “Somm Smackdown” Blind Tasting competition, and has been practicing the skill formally for the past nine years. We talk about the art of blind tasting, the exciting aspects of the Atlanta wine market, and the importance of inspiring customers to get excited about how much more there is to learn about wine. He also passes along insight from his current role in onboarding beverage professionals to the wholesale side of the business. You can follow his cooking, travel, and wine adventures at @suburbanwino on social media.  Recorded June 12, 2022 This episode is sponsored by Diane Carpenter and Ross Knoll Vineyard: https://www.dianecarpenter.org/wines

Jade hails from London, England, but has called Atlanta her home for most of her life. We talk about how she first became intrigued by wine while working as a flight attendant and taking a “Sky Sommelier” course that helped her inform Business Class customers about the wine selections on their flights. Faced with challenges of the pandemic, Jade left the airline industry and found herself working at a local Atlanta wine shop where she enjoyed taking a deeper dive into learning about wine. Since then, Jade has gotten her WSET Level 2 in Wines and is a Certified Specialist of Wine. She is currently studying for the WSET Level 3 exam and hopes to eventually sit for the WSET Diploma. In the future, Jade plans to work in wine education and events teaching wine to anyone interested. Her energy is contagious, and her love for learning is inspiring. You can connect with her @lowkeywinenerd on Instagram. Recorded June 5, 2022

This episode was recorded live in Atlanta while sitting across from and drinking wine with Maurizio Zanella of Ca’ del Bosco. He was born in 1956 in the Lombardy region of Italy, and his introduction to the world of wine came in the 1960s when his mother, Annamaria Clementi Zanella, acquired a small hillside property called “Ca’ del Bosc”. We talk a little bit about Italy's history of wine culture before his time and how a trip to the then "rustic" wineries of Burgundy inspired him to put his agricultural studies and what he learned in France into practice in his native Franciacorta. In 1968, he created Ca’ del Bosco, which today is the leading producer of Franciacorta. Zanella transformed what was a house in the chestnut woods of Lombardy into one of the country’s most modern wineries, becoming one of the leading figures in Italy’s wine renaissance. On air during his first ever trip to Atlanta, we taste and compare two of their wines and discuss their personalities, their oak profiles, and their nuances while also highlighting the importance of their strategic details at every stage of production. He believes in the power of innovation and is constantly striving for improvements toward excellence, and he also speaks to some of his personal goals for success of their wine in the U.S. market. You can visit www.cadelbosco.com/en to learn more about their story, practices, and portfolio. Recorded May 9, 2022 Episode sponsored by Diane Carpenter and Ross Knoll Vineyard: https://www.dianecarpenter.org/wines 

Henna Bakshi is a producer at HLN/CNN and an on-camera personality for everything food and wine. She was born and raised in New Delhi, India, and that is where Henna started developing a culinary interest. After rigorous cooking and understanding food flavors, she began her journey into wine study. Henna is WSET Level 2 certified and hopes to educate people about pairing wines with bold eastern flavors. We talk about how she recently hosted her first food and wine pop-up called, "Hands," where she cooked Mediterranean food and paired it with an assortment of ancient and old world wines. She also shares a few of her wine pairing tips as well as some insight on working with food and wine in the media. You can follow her updates and learn more about future pop-up events by following @hennabakshi on Instagram.

This inspiring and uplifting episode features Reggie Leonard, a wine student and Virginia wine enthusiast based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He currently leads career development at the University of Virginia's School of Data Science, but when he’s not coaching students or hosting events, Reggie is a regular on the Charlottesville arts, dining, tech, and wine scene. His discerning palate and accessible commentary have already opened doors to countless conversations-turned-collaborations. Reggie is a recipient of the inaugural cohort of Wine Unify, an educational program providing award opportunities for minority groups interested in or working in wine, through which he pursued a WSET Level 1 certification and earned his WSET Level 2 with Distinction shortly after. We talk about his wide array of experiences in the Virginia wine industry that have been pivotal moments in his wine education journey, and we discuss how he is working to combine his knowledge and passion toward a parallel career in the wine industry. We discuss the art of "paying attention" while developing your palate, and we highlight a few of the items on his "wine bucket list". Keep an ear out for a list of some fantastic Virginia wine recommendations at the end of the episode, and you can connect with him at @reggieleonard on Instagram to learn more about his goals for the industry. Recorded April 2022