Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith are the vineyard managers and winemakers of Smith-Madrone Winery. Also in the family attic is the Fetherolf family, German farmers from the Palatinate region, who came to America on the Good Ship Thistle in 1730. The name for the winery came as a tribute to the Smith brothers who pursued their dream and to the Madrone trees which distinguish the property.

In May 1971, with a partnership of family and friends, Stuart Smith bought the 'terroir' which today is Smith-Madrone Vineyards & winery. He was 22 years old and had just received his B.A. in Economics from UC Berkeley and was taking classes towards his Master's in Viticulture at UC Davis. In trying to find land to plant vineyard in the Napa Valley, through a family friend he explored a forest on the remotest and highest part of Spring Mountain and discovered that the land had been a vineyard in the 1880s and in fact had been part of the wagon trail route between Napa and Santa Rosa. Today he is respected for his expertise and leadership as a mountain vineyardist.

Stuart was born and raised in Santa Monica. Every summer during college, from 1966 1970, he worked as a lifeguard on the beaches in Santa Monica. He started at Tower #1 just north of POP Pier, spent some time at the tower just south of the Santa Monica Pier (Muscle Beach) and later spent most of his lifeguarding time north of the Santa Monica Pier. One summer Stu worked on the rescue boat and became friendly with the boats operator, Lt. Tommy Zahn. Tommy was a legend in the surfing world and also famous for winning the Honolulu-Molokai paddle board race twice, first at age 20 and then again at age 40. Tommy was also famous as Marilyn Monroes true love. In 1971 the Santa Monica Lifeguards were folded into LA Countys lifeguard program.

While pursuing his master's at UC Davis, Stuart was the first teaching assistant for wine industry pioneers Maynard Amerine and Vernon Singleton in 1970-1971. He taught enology at Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College; he has chaired the 1986 and 2006 Napa Valley Wine Auctions. He is an active member of the G.O.N.A.D.S. (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsensical and Dissipatory Society), a group of Napa Valley vintners who started getting together for monthly lunches in the 1980s. He served on Napa County's Watershed Task Force for several years, appointed by the Board of Supervisors; in 2006 he was appointed again by the Board of Supervisors to sit on Napa County General Plan Steering Committee, responsible for updating Napa's General Plan, a three-year project. Stu has also served as auctioneer for an Omaha (NB) charity auction for many years.

Stuart served as Scout Master for St. Helena's (Boy Scout) Troop One for many years and continues as the Troop's Chair today. He is an avid canoeist, having canoed through the Quetico Wilderness in Canada many times and often canoes the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in California. He has five children and four grandchildren.

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Today, were sharing an episode of When Magic Happens, a new podcast from WBEZ Chicago, where intergenerational convos of love and laughter collide. In this episode were discussing ambition.

Weve all heard the tired saying be twice as good to get half. This week Cheryle, Jennifer and Taylor talk about weaponized ambition and finding motivation at different phases in life. Then, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx reflects on her political journey, the battles shes fought behind closed doors and the things that keep her rooted throughout the challenges of public-facing ambition.

Find When Magic Happens from WBEZ Chicago wherever you listen to podcasts.

Alice Achayo is the founder and owner of the Wine Linguist. A company focused on amplifying global cuisines in the wine industry, shifting the the language and culture of wine to increase accessibility to diverse wine drinkers, and raising awareness around the work of winemakers and vineyards stewards. Before starting the Wine Linguist, Alice worked as a sales consultant for a distributor, calling on both off and on-premise clients. Her passion and belief in food and wines ability to connect people from diverse background was the catalyst and is the driving force behind the companys mission. Wine is for everyone.
https://www.instagram.com/thewinelinguist/

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Rebecca is a champagne geek, lavender farmer and multi-award-winning author of five books. She fell in love with mthode champenoise in Sonoma, California, where she lives on a lavender farm with her family and founded the country's largest lavender company. (See Sonoma Lavender article in the New York Times.) Her book Lavender Fields of America was published in 2012 and a new edition in 2022.

Since then, she has pursued decades of delicious research about champagne in the wine caves and cellars of France and California. She is a champagne historian, tour guide and champagne cocktail creator for Breathless Wines. Rebecca is also a speaker for the National Women's History Alliance.

When Rebecca discovered the real-life widows who made champagne a world-wide phenomenon, she knew she'd dedicate years to telling the stories of these remarkable women, Veuve Clicquot, Madame Pommery and Lily Bollinger.
Her other gold medal award-winning novels include The Secret Life of Mrs. London and Gold Digger, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.

https://favchef.com/2023/sarita-cheaves

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This week, Sarita, Glynis and Leslie recap their Juneteenth weekends and discuss all things blackness.

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Janelle Rucker, aka @Burgerandwines joins the Swirl Suite to discuss wine certifications. VinePair recently released an artlcle titled "Did I Waste My Time and Money on Wine Certifications?" by Sedale McCall. We dive into this article and give our candid opinions about wine certifications.

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This week, Tanisha describes the services she provides for tourists visiting Paris and what her social life is like being a Black expat. I talk about being a wine tasting tutor for the first time and entering the My Favorite Chef competition.

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