A Cork in the Road

This episode features Dannielle Thomas, a wine sales and events professional and a WSET L3 candidate currently working at Dom Beijos wine shop in Atlanta, GA. Prior to wine, for over a decade, Danielle was working in the human rights and humanitarian sector with a focus on women's health, social and political power, and child advocacy, so we talk about how her wine journey now intertwines and overlaps with these types of interests.

Dannielle discovered her love of wine while living abroad as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, where she learned to speak Portuguese and Kriolu. Dannielle eventually spent years traveling through West and East Africa, the Middle East, and Europe working with national and grassroots organizations and leaders. One of her main goals is to support people in wine education through accessible language and learning environments, so her work in wine typically highlights the connection between people, the land, their stories, and that’s exactly the energy she brings to the wine shop but also to her wine and charcuterie company that adds the perfect amount of flair to client events and gatherings. She is also the secretary of the Hue Society's Atlanta chapter and a Roots Fund Scholar, so you’ll hear about her own personal wine education goals in this episode as well. Hopefully we inspire you to explore a few more Portuguese wines with our mutual enthusiasm for that country and its wine culture. In her non-wine working hours, she is the COO for a Liberatory research and evaluation firm specializing in supporting local and national organizations to utilize data and narrative to move the needle on social justice issues, organizational change, and equity. She is also the co-founder of MAMA Fund, one of the largest mutual aid networks in the US Southeast, and sits on multiple nonprofit boards that center well-being and community care. Dannielle loves spending time in Portugal and Spain and has curated trips and events for donors for various causes, including creating and managing a Global Gender Justice conference that allowed her to create her first bespoke wine trips for advocates and funders throughout Costantia and Stellenbosch, South Africa.

While her life is filled with wine, food, travel, and community-building, her grounding is in her advocacy, love of sci-fi books and film, and with her family especially her curious and bright 5-year-old child. You can follow @dazzlingdestinia and @giw_getintowine for her insights on Instagram. Recorded December 3, 2023 ⁠⁠TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE HERE⁠

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This episode is generously sponsored by Diane Carpenter and Ross Knoll Vineyard:⁠ https://www.dianecarpenter.org/wines⁠ - now shipping to 11 states!

This episode features Anthony Panzica, the Beverage Director of The Porchetta Group based in Atlanta, GA. He overseas the beverage programs at all of the restaurants that are part of this Italian-focused restaurant group rooted in values of community, culture, and family. We talk about his early experiences with food in his family, his approach to wine pairings, and his fascination with Vermouth. We also reminisce about some of the recent collaborations we’ve done together that have been rooted in uplifting our fellow restaurant and hospitality industry professionals. He also has a deep passion for holistic health practices, working out, and helping people heal from issues they have suffered from chronically. Balancing food and wine with a healthy lifestyle is one of his priorities, so keep an ear out for some of his guiding principles near the end of the show. On his time away from the restaurants, he gives his wife and kids as much time as he can. His energy for always striving to learn more about something or learn something new is infectious. You can follow him @thatmanant as well as find his work featured at the restaurant group's social media: @whitebullatl, @porchettagroup, @alicioysterbar, @granaatl, and @bastoneatl.

Recorded August 8, 2023

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TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE HERE

Kicking off a new season of wine stories from the Southeast, this episode features Matthew Conway - the owner, operator, and sommelier at The Tippling House in Charleston’s Elliotborough neighborhood. The Tippling House is an intimate wine bar set in a Charleston Single house, and the wine list is printed and dated every day highlighting a global selection of bottles produced by families that respect the land they farm and the history of their domaines. We talk about the goals of his wine program, why he allows all of the wines to be available by the half bottle, and how he sources from his personal cellar to create a list called “Matthew’s Stash”. He talks about how he strives to create a wine bar that caters to all wine lovers regardless of taste or budget. We chat about making the move to Charleston, South Carolina in March of 2020 after 17 years in New York City and 14 years as partner and beverage director at Restaurant Marc Forgione. Conway, a native Californian, moved to NYC in 2004 where he worked for the late Chef Gray Kunz at Café Gray in the Time Warner center from 2004-2007. In 2010, he took a short leave to work in the world-famous cellars of Taillevent in Paris, France. After returning in the fall of 2010, Restaurant Marc Forgione received one Michelin Star and shortly thereafter, Matthew became a certified coffee sommelier, was honored as one of Zagat’s “30 Under 30” in 2012 and named one of Star Chefs “Rising Star Sommeliers” of 2015. Matthew has consistently been a featured sommelier at several of the top wine events of the year including but not limited to La Paulée and La Fête du Champagne. Matthew now holds partnership at La Tablée which focuses on the Northern Rhône Valley, so we dive into what fascinates him most about this region. Since opening The Tippling House in October 2021, his team has received glowing coverage from Wine Spectator and Charleston City Paper. The Post & Courier also just named Matthew and his fiancé Carissa Hernandez a Charleston “Food and Beverage Power Couple” in February of 2022. Add The Tippling House to your list of must-visit wine destinations for your next trip to Charleston. You can visit www.thetipplinghousechs.com for more info, and you can follow @conbeazie and @tipplinghousechs on Instagram.

Recorded March 2, 2022

This episode features Hailey Culmone, a Certified Sommelier in Atlanta, GA who works in wine distribution and hosts private tasting events. She grew up working in restaurants, but it wasn't until a 6-month trip abroad between undergraduate and graduate school working on a coffee farm led her to fall deeper in love with wine. We talk about how she started to notice the nuances of both coffee and wine, the similarities, and the importance of place. Upon her return to Atlanta, she worked at East Pole Coffee Co. and simultaneously returned to Cooks & Soldiers to continue her wine education. She began hosting wine classes at her home and later started a business designing in-home tastings and wine events for private clients. We talk about the experience of recently taking the Certified Sommelier Exam, how she designs her in-home classes to make learning about wine accessible to anyone, and her passion for equipping people with the knowledge to navigate the vast world of wine. You can follow her @somm.where on Instagram and learn more about her classes by visiting www.haileyculmone.com.

Recorded August 18, 2023

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This episode is generously sponsored by Diane Carpenter and Ross Knoll Vineyard: https://www.dianecarpenter.org/wines

TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE HERE

This episode features Shauna Rosenblum who joined Ridge Vineyards in 2022 as their Lytton Springs Winemaker. She oversees all winemaking at the Lytton Springs facility in Healdsburg, CA, and she brings a lifetime of winemaking experience with her to Ridge. Her father, Kent Rosenblum, of Rosenblum Cellars, introduced his winemaking passion to Shauna at an early age. Kent taught her to read brix on a refractometer at the age of three, she started working on the bottling line at the age of twelve, and by the age of sixteen, she attended blending sessions with the winemaking team. Always enamored with fine art, Shauna received a scholarship to California College of Arts and Crafts, then pursued her Master’s Degree at San Francisco Art Institute. During her ceramics studies, she took chemistry classes where she noticed that the process for creating glaze compositions was the exact same process as blending wine. This led her to the epiphany that winemaking was art. She completed the UC Davis Master’s Wine Executive Program and in 2008, Rosenblum joined Rock Wall Wine Company as Winemaker. Her lifelong wine training coupled with her philosophy of winemaking as fine art led her to seek out treasured old-vine field blend sites and esoteric varieties like tannat, teroldego and ciliegiolo. She directed a portfolio of over fifty grape contracts around California and oversaw all aspects of production on every lot of wine from crush to bottling. During her 14-year tenure at Rock Wall Wine Company, she rose to the rank of President and Chairperson of the Board of Directors. We talk about what it’s been like to like to step into her role as part of the Ridge legacy since 2022, and we open a very special bottle on air together that she sent to Atlanta that hadn't been released yet representing her first vintage in this lead role. You can visit www.ridgewine.com to leard more about Ridge and Shauna's work, and you can follow @ridgevineyards on Instagram.

Recorded July 22, 2024