PEOPLE Behind the Places

Change and Challenges are part of life.

Life and the wine business are quite different in the Napa Valley now compared to 50 years ago when Summit Lake Vineyards was founded. Heather Griffin and Brian Brakesman join me to discuss the changes, challenges and evolution a small family winery faces. Their experience over 50 years is great to hear and I hope you enjoy!

Steve

Website https://www.summitlakevineyards.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SummitlakeVineyard

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/summitlakevineyards/

Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/summit-lake-vineyards-and-winery-angwin

Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g29096-d3600893-Reviews-Summit_Lake_Vineyards_Winery-Angwin_Napa_Valley_California.html

With the increasing impact of wildfires on our lives, we were very fortunate to welcome Forest Science Expert, Stacy Drury to share his insight and experience.

Coming from a place of deep expertise with decades of passionate study, work and observation, Stacy helps us understand better the natural ecology of forests, the dynamics of human society's interaction with forests and considerations on how we can improve our forest management.

In a world filled with so much "opinion", it was great to dive deep with a real expert.

I really hope you enjoy listening and learning as much as I did.

Thank you,

Steve

Stacy Drury, Forest Service: https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ff/staff/sdrury/

Napa County Community Wildfire Protection Plan:  https://ncff-cwpp-dms-usa.hub.arcgis.com/

Northern California Prescribed Fire Council: http://www.norcalrxfirecouncil.org/home.html

The link to the Napa CWPP has a link to the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation.

Two active FireSafe Councils are :

• FireSafe Sonoma https://www.firesafesonoma.org/ 
• Fire Safe Marin (https://www.firesafemarin.org/)

Before taking over the family business, Hoopes Vineyards, Lindsay Hoopes, was an aspiring spy, was hired by now Vice President Kamala Harris to work with her in the District Attorney’s office and cut her wine teeth working in the famous sales programs of Gallo. I really appreciated her thoughtful and holistic perspectives that are born from not just ideology but by this broad range of experiences in life.

We dive into life, law, regulation, succeeding as a woman, motherhood, the evolving definition of luxury and all the good things they’re doing at Hoopes Vineyards.

I think you’re really appreciate getting to know Lindsay, her great perspectives and the spirit behind Hoopes Vineyards. Enjoy.

Social Handles: 

@hoopesvineyard 

@oasisbyhoopes

#hoopesthereitis

#hoopesididitagain

#hoopesvineyard

#hoopeswines

#OasisbyHoopes

#WomenInWine

Jason Moore wasn’t born into a multi-generational winemaking family, come from big family money or have a prestigious degree in viticulture an enology. 

What Jason does have, is an infectious passion for wine and a love of people. He represents a class of winemakers that are still alive in the Napa Valley, who are young, hungry, work hard and are driven to pursue their passion. Get to know Jason, his struggles, his life and his perspectives.

He’s a friend, a great winemaker, a great guy and I’m grateful to have him on the show today.

www.moduswines.com

https://www.facebook.com/ModusWines

https://www.instagram.com/moduswines/

My guest today is Philippe Langner, someone who has a love of life, people and an adventurous spirit which will put a smile on your face. He’s the Owner and Winemaker of Hesperian Wines on Atlas Peak in Napa Valley. 

Of French descent, his journey started growing up in Africa, where, when his parents weren’t working, they’d take the family 10 hours by boat and jeep into the bush where they chose to live and enjoy their time off. Philippe shares how such experiences living so far from any aid or assistance helped form his character including his innate ability to accept and deal with severe challenges in life. 

Listening to Philippe, one can’t help but feel his infectious love of life, people, passion for growing things and his free spiritedness.

He has relations with the Rothschild family, has worked in and seen success in the world of finance, yet he just couldn’t sit still and be content in his corporate, indoor office. 

In our conversation you’ll hear his fascinating journey and get to know his wonderful character that is embodied in his estate and Hesperian wines he crafts.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

https://www.facebook.com/HesperianWines

https://twitter.com/hesperianwines

https://www.instagram.com/hesperianwines

https://www.pinterest.com/hesperianwines

[email protected]  

My guest today is Dave Thompson whose passion or what he might call his obsession with Napa Valley wines has led him to create probably the number 1 website for people interested in Napa Valley wineries, napawineproject.com. 

We so often romanticize about a certain lifestyle, without recognizing how much work and devotion the people in it make to their craft. One could say that about wine and talking with Dave, one can understand how it applies to travel writing as well. 

In Dave’s case, his love for Napa Valley wines and their stories, has led him to visit, taste and review over 1050 wineries over 15 years, with hundreds of revisits. Even with such extensive Napa Valley coverage, it’s only part of his passion for travel as he explores the world, writing, taking photographs and sharing in depth and with great detail about these places on his website DavesTravelCorner.com. 

On top of that he’s built up and shares his explorations with almost 400k followers on Twitter. It’s a fascinating conversation where we get to see his inspiration and a behind the scenes look at the life of a modern day wine and travel blogger. I hope you enjoy listening and learning as much as I did. Enjoy!

www.davestravelcorner.com 

www.napawineproject.com 

www.twitter.com/davedtc 

www.instagram.com/davedtc

www.facebook.com/davestravelcorner 

www.linkedin.com/in/davelevart 

http://pinterest.com/davestravel/pins/ 

http://www.youtube.com/user/davestravelcorner 

NWP Instagram: www.instagram.com/napawinetasting 

Our guest today is Kirk Venge. 

He is part of one of the multi-generational Napa Valley wine families, with his father being quite a pioneer in making world class Cabernet Sauvignon in the 80’s. Kirk has picked up the mantle and passionately forged his own path as a very successful consulting winemaker and owner/winemaker of Venge Vineyards in Napa Valley and Croix Estate in Sonoma. 

We dive into what it was like growing up in Napa Valley and the various challenges they’ve faced from fighting off the fires to running a family owned business. His love for what he does, the people and valley really shines through and I’m sure you’ll enjoy getting to know him.  

Check out the links below to buy their wine and visit their properties.

Enjoy!

https://www.vengevineyards.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Venge-Vineyards-185223143032/

https://www.instagram.com/vengevineyards/

https://twitter.com/vengevineyards

https://www.croixestate.com/

https://www.kv-wines.com/wines

https://www.instagram.com/kv_wines

@kv_wines 

This is Part 2 of a discussion I had with Stu Smith as he reflects on entering their 50th year as Smith Madrone Winery in Napa Valley. You can tell from the trailer that Stu is immensely entertaining, intelligent, passionate about wine and certainly doesn’t hold back sharing what he thinks. We discuss the evolution of wine styles in Napa Valley, the effect of wine “ratings” on the entire wine world, the value and ethics learned from the great outdoors and much much more.

You’re in for a real treat and I hope you enjoy.

https://smithmadrone.com/

https://www.instagram.com/smith_madrone/

https://www.facebook.com/smithmadrone/

Deborah is a highly respected and prolific wine writer, critic, competition judge, editor, educator and more. She’s part of a community of professionals that really fascinates me, as they are determined to craft a life they love, doing what they love, oftentimes in a field which might not have a clearcut step by step path. I know it’s often a challenging path to forge but also immensely fulfilling. 

Enjoy hearing Deborah’s story, perspectives and insights learned along the way.

Follow or Connect with Deborah at:

www.deborahparkerwong.com

www.facebook.com/deborah.parker.wong/ 

https://www.facebook.com/deborahparkerwongdwset 

Twit @parkerwong

IG deborahparkerwong

LI www.linkedin.com/in/deborahparkerwong/

Publication sites:

www.sommjournal.com

www.tastingpanelmag.com

Slow Wine Guide https://deborahparkerwong.com/2020/02/10/slow-wine-guide-2020-your-free-digital-edition/

Master Sommellier Matt Stamp and Ryan Stetins discuss "what is a sommelier", making wine approachable, what it takes for a successful partnership, wine program and restaurant. They share the vision and culture of their award winning and locals' favorite Napa Valley restaurant and wine shop, Compline, as well as how they're helping the community and adapting to the great challenges the restaurant industry is facing.

Great guys, great food, wine and service at Compline, so I'm sure you'll enjoy.

www.complinewine.com

instagram: complinewine

Photo courtesy Emma K. Morris