Sophie Menin is an award-winning cultural journalist and author whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Barron’s, Wine Spectator, and Saveur. She earned an MA in Cultural Reporting and Criticism from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, and a professional degree in the Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Education. 

Her wine writing focuses on the myriad ways that wine connects us with our senses and the rhythms of the natural world. She has just co-authored a book, A Year in the Vineyard, with environmental artist Bob Chaplin. It beautifully captures the yearlong cycle of the vine, framed in the context of the ongoing evolution of viticulture as climate change reshapes centuries of tradition. A Year in the Vineyard will be released on June 4.

Wanda Mann is the East Coast Editor of The SOMM Journal and The Tasting Panel, and founder of "Wine with Wanda." Her writing has also been published in Food & Wine, Decanter, VinePair, and NAPA Magazine, and she has a loyal following on Instagram.

Wanda is a speaker, host, and judge at wine events around the world, including the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival, and the Women In Wine Leadership Symposium. She is also on the board of the Society of Wine Educators.

You can find her at winewithwanda.com or on Instagram at WineDineWanda.

Brian Freedman writes regularly for Food & Wine, Forbes, and Whisky Advocate, and also contributes to publications such as Wine Enthusiast, Travel + Leisure, and The Bourbon Review. He is a frequent guest on news and talk shows around the country, and often consults as a sommelier and wine-cellar assessor. As mentioned in the episode, Brian’s #1 book Crushed: How A Changing Climate Is Altering the Way We Drink is now available in paperback.

Kathleen Willcox is a journalist who writes about sustainability, wine, spirits, travel, and food. She has written for Wine Enthusiast, VinePair, Wine Searcher, The Drinks Business, and Modern Farmer, and coauthored the book Hudson Valley Wine: A History of Taste & Terroir.  To learn more about Kathleen, find her on LinkedIn and Instagram @kathleenwillcox.

Betsy Andrews is a James Beard awarded writer & poet. Betsy has more than two decades of experience writing about food, drink, travel, and the environment for publications including Travel & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, the Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, SevenFifty Daily, and VinePair. She is a former senior editor for Zagat and the former executive editor for Saveur. Betsy is also a poet, and her books include New Jersey, The Bottom, and Crowded.

To learn more about Betsy, visit https://betsyandrews.contently.com. To learn more about the Chumash marine preserve Betsy mentions in this episode, visit chumashsanctuary.org.

Meridith May is the owner of two national U.S. wine and spirits trade publications: The SOMM Journal and The Tasting Panel. Meridith’s career in the media spans over 40 years, first as a Vice President of Marketing for Los Angeles-based KIIS FM/KRLA radio, and then as Senior Editor at Patterson’s Beverage Journal, which she ran until 2007 when she purchased the name and started The Tasting Panel, now the leading national wine and spirits industry magazine. She purchased the SOMM Journal in 2013, and it is now the leading wine education print publication for trade professionals.

The Tasting Panel Women’s Issue Jess and Meridith discussed in today’s episode will be released digitally on May 1. If you liked this episode, please rate, review, and share our podcast to help others find it, too. 

Ray Isle is the Executive Wine Editor of Food & Wine and the Wine & Spirits Editor of Travel + Leisure. Ray has won the IACP Award for Narrative Beverage Writing four times, has won the gold award from the North American Travel Journalists Association, and has been nominated three times for the James Beard Award in beverage writing. He is a frequent guest on national media, appearing on programs such as NBC’s Today show, CNBC’s Squawk Box, and CBS Mornings. He has hosted the Aspen Food and Wine Classic since 2005, and speaks regularly on wine at events around the country. Ray’s book The World in a Wineglass: The Insider's Guide to Artisanal, Sustainable, Extraordinary Wines to Drink Now is available in paperback this month. Learn more at rayisle.com. 

Elin McCoy is the wine critic for Bloomberg News, the U.S. columnist for The Wine Conversation podcast, and frequent contributor to publications such as The World of Fine Wine, Decanter, and Elite Traveler.  To learn more about Elin and read some of her exceptional writing, visit elinmccoy.com.  

Soil to Soul: Farming, Food, Wine, and our Collective Future is dedicated to exploring diverse voices and perspectives as they relate to farming, food, wine, and the future we’re working to build. Soil to Soul is brought to you by Bonterra Organic Estates and is hosted by Jess Baum, Bonterra’s Senior Director of Regenerative Impact.

This episode features chef, writer, homesteader, and educator Georgia Pellegrini. Her critically-acclaimed books include Food Heroes, Girl Hunter, and Modern Pioneering. Georgia has written for The Wall Street Journal and hosts the television show “Modern Pioneering” on PBS. She has appeared on “The Today Show” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, and has been featured in Food & Wine magazine and The New York Times. Georgia works to empower people to learn manual literacy, find their personal strengths, and pursue their life passions. 

Listen in to our season finale as Georgia talks about her deep connection to her family's land in upstate New York, why fried onions and fresh herbs are the smells of her childhood, the experience of sharing a bathroom with frogs in the south of France, and how manual literacy connects us to our origins as humans. 

Soil to Soul: Farming, Food, Wine, and our Collective Future, dedicated to exploring diverse voices and perspectives as they relate to farming, food, wine, and the future we’re working to build. Soil to Soul is brought to you by Bonterra Organic Estates and is hosted by Jess Baum, Bonterra’s Senior Director of Regenerative Impact.

Today’s guest is Adam Schlegel of Chook Chicken, a B Corp-certified fast casual restaurant in Denver dedicated to serving delicious, responsible food sourced from those that care for and respect our land.  

Before that, Adam co-founded Snooze, an A.M. Eatery in 2006 with his brother Jon, a breakfast and lunch restaurant that has grown to 59 locations around the country, where he led development strategy and sustainable and community initiatives and remains involved today. Adam is also active with various non-profits, start-ups, and government organizations working to improve agriculture, education, and food.

Jess and Adam discuss the evolution of Snooze and Chook and how they’re providing sustainable sustenance at an affordable price, the reckoning the restaurant industry faced during and after the pandemic, and the most important part of running a restaurant: taking care of staff.