Two pretty new, exciting wineries join me to talk about their wines, experiences in starting up new wine empires, and the past, present, and future of the small guy in Sonoma:

Robert Larsen runs The Larsen Projekt, which specializes in three main things --  public relations, marketing and branding, and making wine. We talk to him about his long career in wine and what spurred him to  leap from marketing and talking about it only, to actually making it. Robert makes stunning Grenache and Grenache Rosé.

Alan Campbell and Craig Strehlow are the founders of CamLow Cellars. Craig is the former winegrower/winemaker with Keefer Ranch and Keefer Ranch wines where, for 13 years, he managed the vineyard and created a single vineyard Pinot Noir that was well known and well loved. Alan is a Sonoma County native and local photographer who captures the beauty of wine country and also takes on farming, winemaking, and wine growing -- just for fun.

CamLow makes two Pinot Noirs: one called Magna Porcum (we will discuss his obsession with pig) from the Green Valley of Russian River Valley and another Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, as well as a Rosé of Pinot Noir.

 

Some of the points we cover in the podcast... 

1. Why the guys decided to put themselves "out there" and start new wineries, which is really difficult to do.
2. We talk with Alan, Craig, and Robert about their history of home winemaking and how it turned into these two cool projects (or Projekt, in Robert's case).
3. Alan and Craig talk about their love of pig, food, and the nuance of making and growing Pinot in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma, California.
4. We reveal Robert's big secret: He is kind of a Public Relations force in Sonoma who has been in the biz a long time. Then we ask him the big question: why make wine now? Why get out of big wine and make a go of a wine project?

In the latter half of the podcast, we get into a big discussion about the business of being a small wineries -- the fun, the craftsmanship of being a small winery, the hardship of doing everything yourself when you start up, and how the federal government makes it so hard for the small guy to succeed in wine. 

This is a lively, quick conversation -- I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

 

Thanks to this week's sponsor who makes the podcast possible!

The Great Courses Plus -- who makes you smarter and more well rounded! With thousands of outstanding video lectures that you can watch or listen to any time and anywhere, The Great Courses Plus is an easy way to stimulate your brain and make you smarter! For a free trial, go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/wine

 

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