By the age of 35 Thomas Matthews had lived in several U.S. states and abroad in Belgium, France, and Spain. He didn’t see himself staying anywhere for long. Then he took a job in London to write for a magazine called Wine Spectator.

And something happened. He fell in love with the world of wine. This year Tom retires after more than 30 years with Wine Spectator, 21 of those as Executive Editor. It’s been quite a ride - enjoy!

https...

By the time her parents started Araujo Estate in 1990, Jaime Araujo was in college. She went on to earn four degrees, was a theater actress in London, and launched her own marketing agency in France – all before returning to Napa Valley. That life experience has been a boon in partnering with her parents on their winery, Accendo Cellars, as well as launching her own label, Trois Noix. Enjoy!

For more visit: https://accendocellars.c...

Oscar Renteria grew up in Napa and wanted to escape the wine industry so he went to college and earned a business degree. After graduation his father called and asked Oscar to come work for his new vineyard management company. Oscar accepted and together as they turned their business into one of Napa Valley’s leading vineyard companies. Today Oscar also has a wine brand, Tres Perlas, producing ultra-limited beautiful wines. Enjoy!

...

Tom Rinaldi grew up in San Francisco, enjoyed the Summer of Love, and tasted wine in Napa Valley on his motorcycle. Later he signed up for the Navy before entering UC Davis where he studied winemaking -- and the rest is history. He’s been winemaker for Round Hill, Duckhorn, Provenance, Pellet Estate, and others. His sense of adventure intact, Tom looks forward to many more vintages to come. Enjoy!

For more visit: http://pelletestat...

In his 20s Andy Erickson thought he’d work in the diplomatic corps but an extended trek through South America’s wine country and a chance encounter with Paul Hobbs changed all that. Erickson came back and started a Napa Valley winemaking career producing outstanding wines for Dalla Valle, Screaming Eagle, Bond, Staglin, Mayacamas, as well as the wine brand, Favia, he launched with his wife, vineyardist Annie Favia.

For more visit: ...

Robert Kamen has written the screenplays for blockbusters including Taps, the original Karate Kid films, Fifth Element, Gladiator, Lethal Weapon 3, the Transporter Films, A Walk In the Clouds, the Taken films, and on and on. In the middle of an active screenwriting career, he's been producing some real blockbusters as one of Sonoma's top vintners with a stunning vineyard at Kamen Estate Wines.

For more visit: https://kamenw...

Though Kim McPherson of McPherson Cellars grew up surrounded by wine history-in-the-making, it wasn’t obvious that vineyards and cellars were in his future. Kim’s dad, “Doc” McPherson, is credited as the father of the modern Texas wine industry but Kim’s got a degree in food science. Doc persuaded him to study winemaking at U.C. Davis and come back to Texas to redefine winemaking in the Lone Star State. Enjoy!

For more visit: https...

In spite of his last name, Mark Beringer’s future in wine was not a foregone conclusion. His family had sold Beringer in 1971. When he graduated from high school he thought he’d pursue music but changed course and began to study viticulture and winemaking. His career includes stints at Benzinger, Duckhorn, and Artesa before becoming winemaker at Beringer, the winery founded by his family 150 years ago. Enjoy!

For more visit: https:...

Cristie Kerr discovered golf at the age of eight growing up in Florida. She played on her high school’s boys team and by her late teens went pro, becoming one of the most successful players in LPGA history. Bringing the same drive she has in golf, Kerr has started two wine brands: the first one, Curvature, which raised funds for breast cancer research, and her latest with winemaker Helen Keplinger is Kerr Cellars. Enjoy!

For more v...

From an early age Laura Catena wanted to pursue her interest in science. She earned an M.D. and became an emergency room physician in the Bay Area. Then in mid-career, while raising three children with her husband, who’s also an ER doc, she decided to join her family’s wine business in Argentina. Today she divides her time between San Francisco and Mendoza as managing director of her family’s wine empire.

For more visit: http://cat...

As a kid David Graves loved science and he earned a degree in evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz. Soon though, in a grad program, he realized he wasn’t enjoying life and what sounded like a lot more fun? Wine. He and a friend, Dick Ward, founded Saintsbury Winery in 1981. Today Saintsbury is known for beautifully crafted Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, based in the Carneros District. Enjoy!

For more visit: https://www.saintsbury.co...

This episode with Robin Lail covers nearly all of Napa Valley’s winemaking history – from her great-grand-uncle, Gustave Niebaum establishing Inglenook in 1879, through the rebuilding years after Prohibition, to the birth and boom of Napa’s modern era. Her story is one of success and heartbreak and of finding the strength to start over – more than once. Today Robin’s winery Lail Vineyards produces wines of outstanding distinction a...

Spencer Christian is recognized as Good Morning America’s former weatherman but is less known as a wine pioneer. He created the first national wine show in the 1990s on HGTV – and he’s still sharing his love of wine on a show called Sips with Spencer. In this episode he talks about growing up in the segregated South, his television career, gambling addiction, and tips to surviving a hurricane while on live TV. Enjoy!

For more watch...

Ray Isle grew up in Houston, Texas, thinking he’d be in a band or write novels. Along the way he fell in love with the world of wine and found a way to turn that enthusiasm and excitement into a career working in wine magazines, such as Wine & Spirits, and on television in countless appearances on NBC’s The Today Show.Today Ray is executive wine editor of Food and Wine magazine. In this episode he talks about the challenges of ...

The enterprising mother/daughter team at the heart of Staglin Family Vineyard talks about Napa in the ‘60s, the challenges and joys of establishing a winery in the 1980s, Hollywood showing up in the 1990s, and how when son and brother, Brandon, was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the family responded by creating an annual music festival that has raised $400 million for brain health research. Enjoy!

For more visit: http://www.staglinf...