I'm telling you like it is in the wine trade. A trailer as it were.

The late, great, George Mardikian was restauranteur extraordinaire, philanthropist, and an inspiration to his family and employees. Hear from his nephew/son Haig Mardikian wine, Ohmar Khayyams, immigration and philanthropy. 

George Mardikian represents all that is good as an American immigrant. He fled Turkey ahead of the Armenian genocide and made his way to San Franciso to start a new life. Fell in love with an American girl only to have her shunned by the family. He sets up shop on Powell St in San Francisco and becomes a legend of cuisine before America really recognized such acclaim.

We sat with his son to discuss the famed Mardikian Pinot Noir, the immigration of 10’s of thousands of Armenians to America, and life. It is probably the most emotional podcast I have hosted and guessing that monicker will stand for a whileGeorge Mardikian was an exceptional restaurateur, philanthropist, and an inspiration to his family and employees. He was also an immigrant who fled Turkey ahead of the Armenian genocide and made his way to San Francisco to start a new life. Despite facing challenges, such as having his American girlfriend shunned by his family, he set up shop on Powell St and became a legend of cuisine before America recognized such acclaim.

PK

The Association of African American Vintners started in 2002 with 4 vintners; now there are over 200 members. Thanks largely to the efforts of Angela McCrae and her associates. 

Diversity is an important subject in the wine trade. The industry is light on BIPOC and women in the workforce; both labor and executives. But that is all actively changing.   In fact, there is a large event in the Napa Valley at the CIA Napa Copia campus entirely committed to black-owned wineries and black wine industry executives (March 9th and 10th.) Wine Talks will be there.

On this podcast, Angela discusses the headwinds that the BIPOC community has faced over the decades of trying to break into the wine industry. Let's face it, the subject of wine is intimidating and has not been an active part of the lifestyle in BIPOC communities. 

It takes a committed and passionate soul to bite off such a huge sociological education. Angela is the right person at the right time.

Hear her plight here.

In the wine trade there is a lot of idle talk.  Opinions on the longevity of the industry, opinions of consumerism, opinions of packaging trends...let's face it Wine Talks has it's opinions too. 

But it takes fortitude to stay the course; pick a philosophy and run with it. Talley Farms does just that.  

Guests come on this show to tell their stories. Typically, Wine Talks will bring in a couple of vintages to show its support for the brand and the story

telling. It was a first here that we subscribed to their farm-direct fruits and vegetables in lieu of bringing in their wines. It was fabulous.

Meet Brian Talley as he navigates the interview, he admittedly gets himself into hot water (no pun intended).

Have a listen.

In 1988, Paul K Sr. featured a Romanian wine in the Original Wine of the Month Club. The wine was Premiat Sauvignon Blanc and was $2.50/bottle on reorder. It was a very nice wine. 

Turns out, according to Marinela, that wine was purchased from Romania during the USSR rule. Long before the value and complexity of freedom was real. It is so interesting that the Original Wine of the Month Club was ahead of its time in 1988...finding a Soviet block wine worthy of the American palate.

Now, as she explains, the wine trade is dynamic and changing to a European model. This is a slow and complicated transition. 

Despite the headwinds to brand building, exportation, and world wine recognition, Marinela is confident that Romanian wines will find their way to the world wide wine stage.

This is a tall order and if you listen carefully, you will here her passion to get it done.

Here her here.

Off the main highway that runs through Napa Valley and specifically through Saint Helena, one can make a hard left turn after passing the cute gas station that doubles as a coffee shop (yes, new meaning to the question "leaded?". Make the next right and travel a block or two and you will find a hidden gem of a tasting room. Understated and doubling as an office, Chris Phelps and his son Josh hole up here to create their wine magic.

Chris's path to this quaint tasting room/office has taken him all over the world to make wine, not the least of which at Chateau Petrus (perhaps the most expensive wine at release that Bordeaux has to offer). If you add in various other wineries not to mention Inglenook, where he crafted wine for Francis Ford Coppola at the historical Inglenook winery, you have a pedigreed career.

Ad Vivum is his brand and he sources grapes from the finest vineyards in the Napa Valley. What is astounding about his wines...he cares not for the trend of over-extracted, fruit-forward clichéd wines of the Napa Valley...he actually gets acid out of grapes grown in this special wine region of the world. Meet the non-conformist, Chris Phelps.

Sometimes an interviewer and an interviewee just sync up...have a listen.

Chateau Lagrange was in Los Angeles. Matthieu Bordes presiding.  

On a recent visit to the WIne Talks studios, we caught up with all things Bordeaux.  

Matthieu considers it a dream job. Maybe "job" isn't the best adjective. When you love to do something and have the passion to do it every day at the best you can offer, maybe it is no longer a job. This is clearly Mattieu Bordes as the Director Général of the Chateau.

Chateau Lagrange is owned by the Japanese conglomerate, Suntory Group, but is left alone to his devices to produce the persona of Chateau Lagrange. 

The Chateau earned the accolade of Troisiemme Cru Classé in the 1855 classification. And every time we have a pedigreed Chateau on the show, we learn something new.

In this case, the classifications of the 1855 event were given to the Chateau and not necessarily given to the vineyard. Do you think that is unfair....hear what Matthieu has to say!

Wrapping up his 4-week tour of the US to taste and inspire consumers about the famed Chateau, Matthieu made his last stop of this exhausting US tour at the Wine Talks studio.

In his new book "Facing the Heat; From my grand mother's kitchen to cooking on the line." Chef Castan has peeks around just about every corner of the chef business. After all, he has worked for some of what would be considered the best restaurants in France to being head Chef at one of the largest hotel chains in America and just about everything in between; including but not limited to an absolute failure with his mexican restaurant in Nice, France.

This path is hard and the difficulty for Frederic is no exception. His story stirs all kinds of emotions and demonstrates some of the best of human traits.

On a flight, he was engaged in conversation with a young man (who did not know the vocation of whom he was talking to) who answered the proverbial question  "What do you want to do with yourself?" with the unexpected answer, "I want to be a Chef!" ...and the immediate follow-up comment was "I want to have my own TV show, I watch a lot of Food Network" The conversation that followed could be tantamount to a slap in the face by Chef. I don't think Hollywood could have written the ensuing inquisition as Chef pontificated his position. 

Cooking is hard; there is no one there to pat you on the back, only someone to yell at you, there is no one there to hold you up as the fatigue grows, only your aching muscles to strain and there is no one there to get you out of bed the next morning to do it all over again. Chef tells it like it is in "Facing the Heat, from my grand mother's kitchen to working the Line."

Hear from Chef Frederic Castan.

The Areni Global group is on a mission. They want to protect the flanks of fine wine. What is fine wine? Pauline Vicard defines it here.

Areni Global was named after the famed Areni-1 cave found in Aremia; the oldest known in-tact winery ever unearthed. The founding of the group was to create a think tank of industry leaders who, well, maybe not predict the future, but consider the future of wine wine on a world wide basis.

There are so many moving parts in producing wine and getting it to market that the a need for a focused and organized approach to managing the information coming out of the industry. 

Pauline has the passion, and that is what it takes to make this work. You will here in her presentation of the mission statement of Areni Global the intensity and ambition it takes to move the needle in the wine trade.

She is coming back on the show in a few months to continue to monitor the changes that are rapidly changing the landscape of wine.

Michael Higgins is quite unique in the world of wine. He has published three photo journals on three popular wine-growing regions of the world. Starting in Argentina, he sets out to bring to the readers a comprehensive view of the region, people and wineries. But he adds an important twist to his books. He explains where, who and what each winery is; what to look for there, where to eat, and provides amazing photos to support his viewpoints. These are not your regular travel books. 

Since he published the book on Argentina, he has exposed the famed district of Bordeaux, France and rolling hills of the Central Coast of California. Soon to publish is the book on Mexicos wine country and soon after, his take on the Greek wine culture. 

Frankly, anyone that travels to any of the destinations in his books, must take it along; but there is more...you can buy the digital version and have it at your fingertips while in the wine countryside of your choosing (better than lugging around a 100 page volume).

Wine Talks caught up with Dr. Michael in-between tours of Mexico and Greece. You will raise an eyebrow to what you hear.

PK

Unaware he was creating the $3B Direct to Consumer wine industry, Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. explains how the idea evolved and his thoughts on business.

In 1969, a time where California wine was barely recognized to the world. a pharmacist who was born in Cairo, bought a liguor store in the quaint beach town of Palos Verdes Estates.

As a good merchant would do, he wanted control of the quality of the merchandise and insisted he taste every wine that was brought to him to consider. This was highly unusual to the trade in those days, typically you just put Robert Mondavi on the shelf.

In 1976, a neighbor and customer, Jim Barrett (Chateau Montelena) walked into the store and announced they had won the Judgement of Paris...and recited his famouis quote "not bad for a couple of guys from the sticks."

Eventually, wine enthusiasts frequented the store and were asking Paul for his recommendations. Tired of leaving the pharmacy to consult on wine, he began choosing a red wine and a white wine as his prefered selections that month. Thus was born the Wine of the Month Ciub.

Have a listen to the path of what is now a critical part of the wine industry; the DTC market (Direct To The Consumer).