The Stories Behind Wine

In this episode, Catherine Bugué sits down with Andrew Jefford to have a deep conversation,

with a focus on Andrew’s recent book, “Drinking with the Valkyries”. Andrew speaks with conviction on finding pleasure in affordable wines while championing wines from lesser known regions like Liguria, Bandol and Georgia. You will find yourself deeply involved in the people and places in his stories, and each story is a lesson in a wine or a wine region you must know. Andrew weaves must-know wines and regions into human stories that touch on personal lives, regional strife, hidden gems, and more.

In this episode, Peter Marks and Christian Oggenfuss chat with Steven about his book, “A Life in Wine”, his memories of the Judgment of Paris, and the Pinot Noir grape variety. Sadly, Steven Spurrier passed away soon thereafter, yet not before regaling us with a bounty of historic stories and fun facts in this inspiring session.

In this episode, our very own Catherine Bugué interviews the world’s best selling wine writer, Hugh Johnson. Hugh has been a prolific wine writer since 1960, penning classics such as “The World Atlas of Wine” (8 editions) and “Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Book of Wine” (published annually since 1977).

In this interview, Hugh delves into his latest book, “The Life and Wines of Hugh Johnson”, regaling us with his stories of reinvigorating Tokaj, his love of lists, writing his many books and why the Chinese prefer Lafite over Latour.Link to membership: https://napavalleywineacademy.com/nvwa-membership/

Link to his book: https://napavalleywineacademy.com/product/the-life-and-wines-of-hugh-johnson/

In this episode, Catherine Bugué sits down with the irrepressible Oz Clarke. Oz has been a positive force for wine for decades, writing and speaking with both wit and lucid prose. He was a big part of England’s wine revolution in the 90s and 2000s and an early flag bearer for the wines of Australia. The interview delves deeply into Oz’s new book, “Oz Clarke on Wine: Your Global Companion”. See if you can keep up with Oz as takes viewers through a fast-paced whirlwind of wine stories and wine facts.

IN THIS EPISODE OF WINE, WORK & PASSION, WE’LL TALK TO PETER MARKS, MASTER OF WINE, INSTRUCTOR, AND PARTNER IN NAPA VALLEY WINE ACADEMY.

BECOMING A WINE EDUCATOR IS A GOAL OF MANY OF OUR FOLLOWERS, SO IN THIS EPISODE OF WINE, WORK & PASSION, KAREN WETZEL TALKS TO MASTER OF WINE, PETER MARKS. PETER HAS HAD AN EXTENSIVE CAREER IN WINE EDUCATION AND HAS HIRED, GROOMED, AND MENTORED MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING KAREN, WHO HAVE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL CAREERS AS EDUCATORS THEMSELVES. IN THIS PODCAST, HE WILL SHARE HIS INSIGHTS ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A WINE EDUCATOR AND THE MANY WAYS TO ENTER THIS EXCITING SIDE OF THE WINE INDUSTRY.

Book a career coaching session with Karen: https://go.oncehub.com/KarenWetzel

WWP - Episode 4 - Peter Marks

Karen Wetzel: Readings wine enthusiasts and job seekers. Welcome to the wine work and passion podcast, where we go beyond wine education and help you pursue your dream job in the exciting world of wine. I'm your host, Karen Wetsel and I've been working with wine ever since I was old enough to serve my first glass. I know from experience that being part of the wine industry means more than a career.

It's a lifestyle and I've loved every minute. Our mission at wine work and passion is to help you pursue your best life in the field you love. In each episode, I'll talk with wine industry insiders and leaders who know what it takes to help you get the interview, land the job and flourish in this amazing world of work.

Becoming a wine educator is a goal of many of our followers. So today I'll talk with master of wine. Peter Marks, Peter has had an extensive career in wine education and as higher groomed and mentored many people, including. That went on to have highly successful careers as educators themselves, Peter will share his insights on what it takes to become a wine educator and the many ways to enter this exciting side of the wine industry.

Be sure to stay tuned until the end when Peter will give us specific action items and some insider tips on how to get. And now let's get to our interview.

Welcome Peter. Can you tell our audience who you are and what you do in the wine industry?

Peter Marks: Hey, thank you, Karen. Hi, I'm Peter Marks and I work with the Napa valley wine. I do a number of things, but I mostly teach about wine. I work helped organize our wine tasting kits that go out, organize webinars and teach primarily our diploma classes.

And you'll

Karen Wetzel: get to interview some pretty cool

Peter Marks: people. Don't you. I get to interview with you. This is very, very cool.

Karen Wetzel: I was thinking about Steven Spurrier Johnson. Fiona Morrison. That's pretty good. Isn't it? Bigger celebrities than me?

Peter Marks: I don't know. Karen. You're pretty famous in your own, right. Definitely even in the why business a lot of time is like you get to meet these movie stars and people like, whoa, I can't believe I get to talk and meet these folks.

And if you're really into the personalities that are involved with wine, then I've definitely been lucky to meet some superstars.

Karen Wetzel: That's great. Before we get started on the serious stuff, why don't you briefly tell the audience how you and I got to know each other? I

Peter Marks: would love to. Yeah. I don't know if I should consider you the little sister I'd never had, or as we often say, you're my work wife and I'm your work husband, but we've had a long relationship.

I actually just look to see how long it's been. Karen. It's been almost exactly 11 years since we were in Tuscany.

IN THIS EPISODE OF WINE, WORK & PASSION, WE’LL TALK TO CURTIS MANN, MASTER OF WINE, GROUP VICE PRESIDENT – ALCOHOL (WINE, BEER & SPIRITS). CURTIS SHARES INSIGHTS ABOUT WORKING ON THE RETAIL SIDE OF THE WINE INDUSTRY AND PROVIDE ACTIONABLE ADVICE TO HELP YOU IN PURSUIT OF YOUR WINE INDUSTRY CAREER.  HE’LL ALSO SHARE HIS EXPERIENCE AS ONE OF ONLY 52 MASTERS OF WINE IN THE US/CANADA.

Book a career coaching session with Karen: https://go.oncehub.com/KarenWetzel

[00:00:00] Karen Wetzel: [00:00:00] Welcome Curtis. Can you please tell our audience who you are and what you do in the wine industry?

[00:00:03] Yes,

[00:00:03] Curtis Mann, MW: [00:00:03] Karen, my name is Curtis Mann. I am the group vice president for alcohol, so beer, wine, and spirits at Albertsons companies. And that means I lead up a national team for buying for all three of those categories, and I'm also a master of wine.

[00:00:13] Karen Wetzel: [00:00:13] Great. Yeah. Thanks for that. Those are two really big subjects, right? Master of wine and being the wine buyer for the second-largest grocer in the US, so tell us how you got the bug to even get in the wine industry. Before we get into the specifics about the company and your master of wine, how'd you get your, we're just start.

[00:00:25] Curtis Mann, MW: [00:00:25] I started way back in the day in the early two thousands at UC Davis as an undergraduate student and as a student, right. When I turned 21, I became really interested in wine. I had a lot of friends that were winemakers, and so I got my start in the wine industry and a tasting room. So I worked as a tasting room employee at ZD wines, and that really got me the bug going there.

[00:00:38] They taught me a lot about wine at ZD, and then I just tried to attend as many tastings as I could to learn about it. And that's really, once I got the bug, as a lot of you probably know it just built and built and built.

[00:00:45] Karen Wetzel: [00:00:45] Yeah, exactly. And when you started at ZD, did you have any wine credentials per se, any initials after your name or things you could brag about?

[00:00:51] No,

[00:00:51] Curtis Mann, MW: [00:00:51] I didn't. I was 22 and they just saw this kid that was passionate about selling wine. I was passionate about wine before I started ZD and I really try and find a job and they hired me to work one day a week. And the great thing about ZD was, is they committed a lot of time for the tasting room employees to learn about the wine making process with the wine maker.

[00:01:03] And they also paid for some wine education. So I. Was able to take the first level, the Sommelier, a through Z D wine. So I learned a tremendous amount there in the tasting room and it helped really build my structure for a lot of my wine knowledge going forward.

[00:01:12] Karen Wetzel: [00:01:12] So Curtis, tell us how pursuing your credentials, which ultimately led you to becoming a master of wine.

[00:01:15] How did that help you in pursuing the job that you have today? The VP of alcohol for the second largest grocer in the U S

[00:01:20] The

[00:01:20] Curtis Mann, MW: [00:01:20] master of wine is a certification that was built out of the UK retail trade in the 1950s. And so a lot of it is geared directly towards. What wine buyers do day in and day out for me, the theory exam is a lot of what I do on my side from understanding how the wines are made, how they're processed, how they're sold, and that's very relevant to my day in and day work.

[00:01:36] So having to study for all the information about.

Welcome to the Wine, Work & Passion Podcast where our mission is to help you turn your passion for wine into a career.In this special episode, we’ll talk to Morgan Bailey, Hospitality Director at Quintessa Winery, about the surge in available wine jobs as wineries reopen and the busy season approaches. Morgan will share her experience and expertise and offer advice on how you can find and secure a job right now in wine hospitality.Book a career coaching session with Karen: https://go.oncehub.com/KarenWetzelKaren Wetzel: Today, I'll talk to Morgan Bailey. She's the hospitality director at the majestic Quintessa winery in Napa Valley. A few weeks ago when I was visiting Quintessa. Morgan. And I got to talking and we discussed this podcast. We also talked about the [00:01:00] tremendous need to fill open positions that are available right now on the hospitality side of the wine industry.And that was the inspiration for this interview. As our wineries are reopening and our busy seasons approaching the job market here in Napa is really heating up and finding qualified candidates to fill all the positions that were lost earlier in the year because of the pandemic is a real challenge.This means there are job opportunities for everyone to that end, Morgan will share her experience and expertise of the hospitality side of the wine industry. And she'll talk about the types of roles that you might find at a prestigious property, like when Tessa be sure and stay tuned until the end when Morgan will give us actionable insights about how you can enter the world of wine.By working in high-end hospitality. And now let's get to our interview.Welcome, Morgan, can you please tell the audience who you are? Where do you work? What do you do in the wine industry?Morgan Baily: [00:02:02] Thank you so much for having me, Karen. My name is Morgan Bailey and I'm the hospitality director at QuintessaKaren Wetzel: [00:02:09] state. Great. So just to set the table for the audience, Morgan and I met while she and a few coworkers were taking a class for me, a WSET level two class at the Napa Valley Wine Academy.And they were nice enough to invite me out to Quintessa for a tasting. And of course, you don't say no to the stunning reputation of Quintessa. So of course, I went and it did not disappoint the views, the wine, the hospitality, it was all just really amazing. And during that visit, Morgan and I got talking about her role and wine jobs and that light bulb went off over my head and I said, boy, this would make a great podcast.So here we are. So Morgan, thanks for agreeing to join me today. And. To helping our audience really discover your world. So can you tell us your story? How did you get started in the wine industry? What led you [00:03:00] here? So give us the beginning from soup to nuts.Morgan Baily: [00:03:02] Yeah. Okay, perfect. I am one of those weird people who knows.They want to work in hospitality. A lot of people just fall into it, but it's something that I knew I wanted to do from an early age. I started working in the restaurant industry. I worked at a restaurant in mill Valley. And I did everything from hosting to running food. And then I went to college for hospitality at Boston University.When I had finished there, I went to culinary school in Pasadena because I thought that's what I wanted to do. And I ended up while I was in school reading about a company called hospitality. So it's a boutique hotel company based out of San Francisco. And I started working with them and I worked for them for 13 years, starting out as a breakfast server at one of their smaller hotels in Tiburon.Moving from breakfast server, doing housekeeping, working the front desk, really anything that they needed I would do. So I moved up to the operations track.

Welcome to the Wine, Work & Passion Podcast where our mission is to help you turn your passion for wine into a career. In this inaugural episode, you’ll meet Christian Oggenfuss, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Napa Valley Wine Academy. He’ll inspire you with his amazing journey on his way to becoming the CEO of America’s Premier Wine School, and I’ll share my story as well. We’ll also expert advice on how you can enter our exciting industry.Book a career coaching session with Karen: https://go.oncehub.com/KarenWetzel

In this episode, we catch up with wine legend, Hugh Johnson. Hugh has been one of the wine world's most read and influential authors over a 60-year career. He has inspired so many to pursue further wine education and helped transform how we think about wine writing. His story is complex, thrilling, and inspiring much like many of the finest wines of the world.

In this special episode, We have the opportunity to chat with one of the wine industry’s most storied and accomplished figures, Steven Spurrier, perhaps best known for organizing the 1976 Paris Testing that helped catapult Napa Valley onto the world wine stage.