Victoria James got an early start in the restaurant biz at 13. She blazed her path as a server, bartender, and sommelier working at Harry's at Hanover Square, Aureole, Morini, Piora, and now as Beverage Director at Cote in NYC. Victoria became a Certified Sommelier at age 21, has been named a Wine and Spirits "Best New Sommelier", Forbes and Zagat's "30 Under 30" and a Wine Enthusiast "40 Under 40 Tastemaker". Victoria James is a Rose evangelist and author of "Drink Pink: A Celebration of Rose", published last May.

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Olivier Krug is Directeur de la Maison Krug and a member of the Krug tasting committee. Olivier grew up in Reims, France and is the eldest of Henri Krug's five children, Olivier joined Krug in 1989 and is now Krug's house director. Olivier talks about Krug's rich history since 1843 and the transformation of Champagne in the past 20 years.

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Yumiko Munekyo and Jason Geiger are the co-founders of Sake Suki. Yumiko was born and raised in Fukui Prefecture and Ishikawa Japan, famously know for thier rice and Sake production. Yumiko came to the US in 2011 with the intention of bringing great Sake to the US and focusing on small production regional artisan Sakes known as Jizake. Jason Geiger is a Certified Sake Adviser from the Sake Service Institute.

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Belgian born Cedric Nicaise grew up in a family of wine enthusiasts. Cedric worked his way downstate to Charlie Palmer's Aureole in NYC, later becoming a sommelier at Eleven Madison Park and eventually the Wine Director. Cedric oversees the wine and beverage program at the three Michelin starred, New York Times four starred, and the Best Restaurant in the World from the World's 50 Best Restaurants. A very very rare achievement.

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Alsatian born Michael Engelmann is a Wine and Spirits "Best New Sommelier", he has won the American Sommelier Association's "Best Sommelier in America" and is a Master Sommelier. Michael is one of only 14 Master Sommeliers to receive the Krug Cup, awarded to those who pass all three parts of of master Somm test on the first day. Michael Engelmann is the Wine Director at Danny Meyer's The Modern at MoMA and Untitled at the Whitney, borth in NYC.

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Jon Bonne is an award winning author and journalist. He is Senior Contributing Editor for Punch, an online magazine featuring wine, spirits, beer and cocktails. He is the former editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Jon is the author of "The New Wine Rules", his current book and "The New California Wine". He is working on his next book, "The New French Wine". We'll talk to Jon about his new book and the "New" wine.

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We will look back to 2017, the year in wine with Josh Greene, Editor and Publisher of Wine and Spirits Magazine. Josh has been at the helm of the magazine for over three decades and has a unique perspective of wine, wine regions, restaurants, sommeliers, trends, and much more.

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We look back at the past year on The Grape Nation to present six awards recognizing past guests, trends, and wine including Favorite Wine & Food Pairing, Best Rant, Favorite Wine Guest, Favorite Restaurant and/or Wine Bar, & more. Winners call in to accept their awards. Plus we do a quick dive into Central Coast/Santa Barbara wines with winemaker Tyler Thomas of Dierberg & Star Lane Vineyards.

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Peter Liem is an American wine writer and author of the new book "Champagne The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region". He is the author of of the online site ChampagneGuide.net, a comprehensive guide to the wines and producers of Champagne. Peter splits his time between New York and is the only English wine writer living in Champagne. Peter is the co-creator of of Le Fete Du Champagne and Sherryfest, one of the world's largest Sherry events. He also co-authored "Sherry, Manzanilla, and Montilla."

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Ryan Arnold is a Divisional Wine Director of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, one of Chicago and the county's most successful restaurant groups owning a diversity of restaurants. Ryan oversees the wine programs at some of Lettuce's finest restaurants, each focused on a different cuisine and wine program. Ryan was a 2015 Star Chefs "Rising Star."

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