Napa Valley Inside Out

In this edition of "Napa Valley Inside Out" I sit down with the Grande Dame of Napa Valley, Robin Daniel Lail, Founder and Owner of Lail Vineyards. In Part 1 of our interview Robin shares her family's deep history in the wine business. Our conversation starts with her great-granduncle Gustave Niebaum's journey from Helsinki to Napa Valley, and his dream to produce "the finest wines which equal and exceed the most famous vintages of Europe". We talk about his founding of Inglenook Vineyards and Winery in Rutherford in 1879, Prohibition, the transfer of ownership of Inglenook to her father John Daniel in 1936 and the legendary Inglenook wines that he made until his death in 1964, which are still coveted today by connoisseurs. Robin shares the memories of her life growing up at Inglenook and walks us through the history of Inglenook and how her childhood home and surrounding vineyards of nearly 2,000 acres were ultimately acquired by the Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola.

On this edition of "Napa Valley Inside Out", I sit down with Bernard Lauper, CEO of MacCorkle Insurance, one of the most successful firms in Northern California. Twenty eight clients in his firm suffered losses in the California wildfires. Bernard explained the new 'hard market' that we are now in where many of the insurance carriers are not only no longer insuring properties in the wine country and other parts of California, but cancelling policies and not renewing others. We talked about my firsthand experience with this in a recent high end transaction, how to navigate the increases in premiums coming our way and what the future holds for owners. Our discussion covers the best way to choose a carrier to mitigate surprises when you have a claim; steps owners can take when building or rebuilding to have a better chance of gaining insurance with an admitted carrier; and steps to show proof of contents in our homes and much, much more.

I have the pleasure of sitting down with the Mayor of the City of Calistoga, Chris Canning, on this edition of "Napa Valley Inside Out." Chris has been Mayor since 2012 and before that served as Calistoga City Councilman. We talk about the beauty and uniqueness of Calistoga and how it is now only 28 minutes from touch down to downtown with the expansion of the Charles Schulz Airport in Santa Rosa. We look into the future as Calistoga continues to grow at rapid pace. We discuss the evolution of Calistoga, the impact the new upcoming resorts – Four Seasons & Rosewood Hotels will have on the area and how the City is navigating traffic issues, affordable housing for workers, labor issues and possible solutions to these issues and much more.

In this week's edition of "Napa Valley Inside Out" I sit down with Clint St. Martin who truly has a servant's heart. He joined the Armed Forces Post 9/11 and served in the United States Marine Corps as Motor Transportation Chief and Staff Sergeant at the age of 24. He was called to duty as a volunteer firefighter the night the 2017 October Wildfires broke out and wreaked havoc throughout Napa & Sonoma Counties. Clint is Head Liaison Representative for Sonoma County Devil Pups Youth Organization - this year he was awarded "Liaison Representative of the Year" for being the top performer in the country. We discuss his time in the Marine Corps, his experience in fighting fires with winds up to 70 miles per hour, his training to become a paramedic, fulfilling his dream of becoming a helicopter pilot and one more adrenaline driven jaunt in China to save animals.

If you need help accessing exceptional VIP experiences in Napa Valley that most people don't even know exist, then you need to know Scotti Stark. Scotti's great personality, love and knowledge of extraordinary wines and his amazing connections can be your entrée to a wine country vacation like no other. Scotti joins Napa Valley Inside Out to share how representing his portfolio of boutique wineries has given him access to wine lovers around the country, tips on wine country etiquette, the restaurant scene and how he goes about creating custom itineraries for his clients. He also talks about his wine label Harumph that he makes with Michael DeSantis.

Top chefs, lavish meals, delicious food photography, sizzling television shows and world travels. Susie Heller of Full Plate Media joins Napa Valley Inside Out to discuss it all and share her amazing journey - from producing all of Julia Child's television shows to writing Thomas Keller's cookbooks. We talk about her passion for producing television and cookbooks, as well as the countless top chefs she's worked with including Jacques Pépin, Jeremiah Tower, Alice Waters and of course Julia Child and Thomas Keller, to name a few.

Barney Welsh of the famed Forni-Brown-Welsh Gardens in Calistoga, Napa Valley, joins this edition of 'Napa Valley Inside Out' to tell the story of how this beloved annual plant sale got started and grew to become the go to place in spring for restauranteurs and people from around the country wanting to plant vegetable gardens. Barney shares some of the secrets for keeping a lush and delicious vegetable garden. We discuss different planting and watering methods for the various plants and how to maintain a healthy vegetable garden year after year.

Oliver Cardwell has been an Art Dealer since 1978. He's had galleries in New York, Carmel, San Francisco and St. Helena. His clients are well traveled collectors, with access to extraordinary art from all over the world. He talks about the pressure that puts on art dealers to work with the best of the best to meet their expectations and provide art for their homes around the world. He tells us about the challenges of finding good artists and how technology and a shifting economy have changed artists' outlook and how companies such as Pixar and Lucas Films are pulling artists away from a lonely working environment and providing the security of a job and benefits, thereby creating a shortage of great traditional artists. But for those who've stayed the course and been discovered, the art world can be very rewarding. Oliver talks about his band 'The Fabulous Screwtops', which I absolutely love and his love of Saint Helena and why he believes it's so unique and unmatched by other wine country towns. He's passionate, extremely talented and always coming up with great ideas to make our wonderful town of Saint Helena even better than it already is.