January 8, 2026 • 10 mins
The new year brings fresh ideas for how people connect, gather, and entertain at home. Joseph Carr, Founder of Josh Cellars, shares emerging 2026 at-home entertaining trends highlighting thoughtful planning, crowd-pleasing touches and elevated non-alcoholic options that are shaping modern gatherings.From a renewed interest in American-made brands – celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary- to innovative beverage offerings, Joe will share his expertise, industry insight and turn-key hosting tips for the year ahead. Joe Carr began his career in the restaurant industry, rising from busboy to sommelier. In 2005, he launched Josh Cellars as a tribute to his father, selling the first cases from the back of his truck. The brand quickly gained acclaim, earning Carr Wine Spectator’s Vintner to Watch in 2009 and growing into America’s #1 premium wine, with over seven million cases sold globally and recognition as Wine Enthusiast’s 2021 American Winery of the Year. Carr is also an active philanthropist, supporting causes important to his father, including military and veteran organizations, out-of-work restaurant workers, and healthcare providers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We all have love stories, but are you willing to
share yours? This one is one of my greatest love stories.
My thirty four years with Ernie, a blue Crown conyer.
We were both called to live life and to learn
from life inside this collection of trees in South Charlotte,
North Carolina. The lyrics from Ernie's Forest on Arrow dot
Net A R r o e dot Net. Find it
(00:23):
on three different podcasts, Forest Stories, the choice and view
from the writing instrument Arrow dot Net, A R r
oe dot Net. Enjoy the exploration I R Hey, how
are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I am fantastic, I am beside myself.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
You know what, That's exactly what I would expect from you,
because you totally are in touch with people. I've always
thought of you as being a silent watcher in the
way that you watch people and you try to figure
out newer ways to get into and onto their paths
so that they too can enjoy just a lot of
simple things in life instead of making it a big hassle.
Exactly exactly where does that journey begin for you? Because
(01:06):
I mean, you really do step onto some some things
that really invite me to say, you know what, you
know what Joe's on to something here, especially since they're
still saying we're in these Roaring twenties. Well we're at
number twenty six now, these Roaring twenties, and it's like, Okay,
we've got we've got to get going here, and you've
got some great ideas.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, you know, twenty twenty six, I mean it's it's
America's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I mean, there's going to be some amazing events and things,
and we are in the middle of it. Josh Stellers
is one of America's most beloved wine brands. It was
a company that I started with my wife in our garage,
of all places. Our desk was a picnic table. I
(01:52):
worked inside somebody else's winery for five years, and it
really it embodies the American dream, and that was something
that my father instilled in me. His nickname was Josh.
And this year, twenty twenty six is going to be
probably one of the most exciting years that we've had
since we started.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, one of the things that I've always loved about
Josh is is the fact that it really does bring
people together. Because we just had the friends giving we
just celebrated the holidays, the Super Bowls right around the corner,
and look at who everybody is taking off the shelf,
you guys. So obviously you've got a mix of something
that really really becomes a part of our chapters.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, you know, the alcohol industry is down, but Josh
Sellers is up.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
That's what I've heard.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And it's become a go to brand and people like
it because it's authentic, it's a true story. It's not
some marketing play. The wines are priced the right way,
they're approachable, they have complexity to them, and people really
really like them, really enjoy them. One of the things
(02:59):
that we're doing now is we just introduced a non
alcohol sparkling wine, which we actually make in Italy. We
have a beautiful winery north of Venice where we make
Josh Sellers prosecco and prosecco rose.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yes, yes, And we introduced.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
This na sparkling wine and people love it. You know,
they're doing dry January, or they're cutting back. They drink
it by itself, or they make a mocktail. And that's
another trend that we find exciting. We're embracing it.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
But you know what's really interesting about this one of
my essential things to do. You get there's a certain
age you get to in life where you want to
do everything that nobody else wants to do. And one
of them for me was to go to work at
a grocery store because I had never done anything like
that before. So when I'm over there in the beer
and wine section and I see what people are selecting,
and I see that you're right there, and you just
hit something big time when you said that non alcoholic, Joe,
(03:55):
that number is going through the roof right now, and
that's what people are looking for. I mean, you are
so on.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, you know when they when we first talked about it.
You know, my mom was diabetic and she couldn't have
alcohol yep, And I mentioned it to her and she's like, yeah,
going for it, Joe. So anyways, it came out great.
You know, you know the holidays things, you know, people
(04:22):
are looking for easier ways to have gatherings, you know,
a little more fun but thoughtful. So wine based based
cocktails those are trending, you know, experimenting with all types
of wine because we make you know, Josh Tabernet, Josh Mirlow.
We have a really cool white blend called Sea Swept
was Pinogrizio and Savon Blanc. And then we have our
(04:44):
sparkling selections, and we're about to release a new sparkling
wine called Sea Swept Sparkling out of California. And you
know that's gonna be you know that's gonna be that
bubbly daytime drink, you know, a sprits with fresh fruit,
go to the beach. I can't, I cannot wait.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Please do not move. There's more with Joe Carr from
Josh coming up next, Josh Wines, Big Seller, Amazing Celebrations.
We're here with the creator and main force behind Josh Wines,
Joe Carr. One of the things that I've taken note
of in my people watching is the fact that I
can see how people on a Thursday and a Saturday
(05:24):
night are actually coming into the location dressed up. In
other words, this isn't just the dressed down wine where
people are coming in just to get a wine. Oh
my god, everybody's talking about this. No, no, no no.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They're now making it a part of their bigger and
better celebrations and they're dressing up to get their Josh.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah. I like that. I like that A lot considering
my job. You know, my dad only wore flannel stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So now what do you do in the situations that
we're presently in, which is we're all getting together? But Joe,
you know that it's not in big Even weddings aren't
doing two hundred and fifty three hundred people anymore. They're
they're happy with seventy five to one hundred. So we're
getting together smaller. How can we be very happy that
big numbers don't mean big party.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, you know, like I said, you got to keep
it easy, you know. I put out chakouterie board. Yes,
you know, I let people kind of graze and then
I might even have a wine station, or I might
have a cocktail station where that's where you go and
have that cocktail that you want, but you try, you know.
I want to make things easy and light and not
(06:36):
not too heavy and have fun. I mean, time is
short and you want to share, you know, share your
experiences with people.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Well, speaking of those experiences, I think people who go
in and they get some josh or haven't tried it yet,
they need to know how dedicated you are to the community,
especially our military and veteran families, because you guys are
loyal to us.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, you know, that was something that my father instilled
in me a long, long time ago, and we've been
very fortunate. It's been an honor and privilege to work
with American Armed Forces veterans, helping Gary Sonisee build smart home,
working with first responders. You know, those are the things
that my dad, you know, made sure that I knew
(07:22):
was really really important. And it's all part of our foundation.
It's part of our value.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Now do you do you think with Josh though? I mean,
it's one of the things that I'm taking note of
is how people they when they start mixing things with
the wine. It's not always the wine and cheese anymore.
They're mixing things with it that that really make it
more of a celebration or an occasion. And what what
do you suggest when it comes to different forms of
Josh that we can add to our life. But what
I mean, we can't just add pizza all the time
(07:50):
and hot dogs that would taste.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Good though, yeah, that would be good. You know, Josh
Cabernet is like the pizza that go to wine. I
can't stop it. It's just it's just the way it is.
But yeah, I mean, we're just we're meeting all kinds
of like we do installations that concert yes, and we
(08:14):
meet young people that want to try these new wines
and they're easy to understand. You know, they're American wines,
so they're named after the grapes Cabernet, merlou Charnay. And
we want our wines to be approachable. That's really important
to us is you know, we don't want to make
a wine that you have to sit in a wine
cellar for five to eight years. No, we want something
(08:35):
really approachable. And that's that's one of our philosophy.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Very interesting when you say that, because once again I'm
thinking about the marketing side of it. When I go
into a wine section of a grocery store, the Josh
wines are not like sitting there on a bookshelf, like
a book at a library. You are visible. And when
you're visible, that means you're speaking my street.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah. Yeah. We we have some wonderful retailers and distributors
that know, if they, you know, put together a display
and maybe they put my picture up there something like that,
or or there's a great picture of an old red
truck and people really you know, go towards it and
enjoy it. And we've we've done really well in retail.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You know, you were talking about how sales are down
just a bit, which is just a turning point. That's
what my financial guy always tells me. But the thing is, though,
do you find yourself getting into the THC style or
is that something that we're going to set to the side.
Let it grow and do what it needs to do.
But we're going to concentrate on wine.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, we're you know, our focus and concentration is on wine.
That's that's what we do best. I don't think we've
ever even had a conversation about that. That's probably for
others to do. But but yeah, that's it's an exciting
time I think. I mean, alcohol is down, but we're up. Yes,
you are, you know, almost double digit. Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
You got to come back to this show anytime in
the future. The door is always going to be open
for you, sir.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
You got it. Check us out on Joshsellers dot com, Instagram,
or you can go on YouTube. I've had about ten
million views.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Be brilliant today, Okay, sir, all
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Right, thank you
We all have love stories, but are you willing to
share yours? This one is one of my greatest love stories.
My thirty four years with Ernie, a blue Crown conyer.
We were both called to live life and to learn
from life inside this collection of trees in South Charlotte,
North Carolina. The lyrics from Ernie's Forest on Arrow dot
Net A R r o e dot Net. Find it
(00:23):
on three different podcasts, Forest Stories, the choice and view
from the writing instrument Arrow dot Net, A R r
oe dot Net. Enjoy the exploration I R Hey, how
are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I am fantastic, I am beside myself.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
You know what, That's exactly what I would expect from you,
because you totally are in touch with people. I've always
thought of you as being a silent watcher in the
way that you watch people and you try to figure
out newer ways to get into and onto their paths
so that they too can enjoy just a lot of
simple things in life instead of making it a big hassle.
Exactly exactly where does that journey begin for you? Because
(01:06):
I mean, you really do step onto some some things
that really invite me to say, you know what, you
know what Joe's on to something here, especially since they're
still saying we're in these Roaring twenties. Well we're at
number twenty six now, these Roaring twenties, and it's like, Okay,
we've got we've got to get going here, and you've
got some great ideas.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, you know, twenty twenty six, I mean it's it's
America's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I mean, there's going to be some amazing events and things,
and we are in the middle of it. Josh Stellers
is one of America's most beloved wine brands. It was
a company that I started with my wife in our garage,
of all places. Our desk was a picnic table. I
(01:52):
worked inside somebody else's winery for five years, and it
really it embodies the American dream, and that was something
that my father instilled in me. His nickname was Josh.
And this year, twenty twenty six is going to be
probably one of the most exciting years that we've had
since we started.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, one of the things that I've always loved about
Josh is is the fact that it really does bring
people together. Because we just had the friends giving we
just celebrated the holidays, the Super Bowls right around the corner,
and look at who everybody is taking off the shelf,
you guys. So obviously you've got a mix of something
that really really becomes a part of our chapters.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, you know, the alcohol industry is down, but Josh
Sellers is up.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
That's what I've heard.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And it's become a go to brand and people like
it because it's authentic, it's a true story. It's not
some marketing play. The wines are priced the right way,
they're approachable, they have complexity to them, and people really
really like them, really enjoy them. One of the things
(02:59):
that we're doing now is we just introduced a non
alcohol sparkling wine, which we actually make in Italy. We
have a beautiful winery north of Venice where we make
Josh Sellers prosecco and prosecco rose.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yes, yes, And we introduced.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
This na sparkling wine and people love it. You know,
they're doing dry January, or they're cutting back. They drink
it by itself, or they make a mocktail. And that's
another trend that we find exciting. We're embracing it.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
But you know what's really interesting about this one of
my essential things to do. You get there's a certain
age you get to in life where you want to
do everything that nobody else wants to do. And one
of them for me was to go to work at
a grocery store because I had never done anything like
that before. So when I'm over there in the beer
and wine section and I see what people are selecting,
and I see that you're right there, and you just
hit something big time when you said that non alcoholic, Joe,
(03:55):
that number is going through the roof right now, and
that's what people are looking for. I mean, you are
so on.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, you know when they when we first talked about it.
You know, my mom was diabetic and she couldn't have
alcohol yep, And I mentioned it to her and she's like, yeah,
going for it, Joe. So anyways, it came out great.
You know, you know the holidays things, you know, people
(04:22):
are looking for easier ways to have gatherings, you know,
a little more fun but thoughtful. So wine based based
cocktails those are trending, you know, experimenting with all types
of wine because we make you know, Josh Tabernet, Josh Mirlow.
We have a really cool white blend called Sea Swept
was Pinogrizio and Savon Blanc. And then we have our
(04:44):
sparkling selections, and we're about to release a new sparkling
wine called Sea Swept Sparkling out of California. And you
know that's gonna be you know that's gonna be that
bubbly daytime drink, you know, a sprits with fresh fruit,
go to the beach. I can't, I cannot wait.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Please do not move. There's more with Joe Carr from
Josh coming up next, Josh Wines, Big Seller, Amazing Celebrations.
We're here with the creator and main force behind Josh Wines,
Joe Carr. One of the things that I've taken note
of in my people watching is the fact that I
can see how people on a Thursday and a Saturday
(05:24):
night are actually coming into the location dressed up. In
other words, this isn't just the dressed down wine where
people are coming in just to get a wine. Oh
my god, everybody's talking about this. No, no, no no.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They're now making it a part of their bigger and
better celebrations and they're dressing up to get their Josh.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah. I like that. I like that A lot considering
my job. You know, my dad only wore flannel stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So now what do you do in the situations that
we're presently in, which is we're all getting together? But Joe,
you know that it's not in big Even weddings aren't
doing two hundred and fifty three hundred people anymore. They're
they're happy with seventy five to one hundred. So we're
getting together smaller. How can we be very happy that
big numbers don't mean big party.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, you know, like I said, you got to keep
it easy, you know. I put out chakouterie board. Yes,
you know, I let people kind of graze and then
I might even have a wine station, or I might
have a cocktail station where that's where you go and
have that cocktail that you want, but you try, you know.
I want to make things easy and light and not
(06:36):
not too heavy and have fun. I mean, time is
short and you want to share, you know, share your
experiences with people.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Well, speaking of those experiences, I think people who go
in and they get some josh or haven't tried it yet,
they need to know how dedicated you are to the community,
especially our military and veteran families, because you guys are
loyal to us.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, you know, that was something that my father instilled
in me a long, long time ago, and we've been
very fortunate. It's been an honor and privilege to work
with American Armed Forces veterans, helping Gary Sonisee build smart home,
working with first responders. You know, those are the things
that my dad, you know, made sure that I knew
(07:22):
was really really important. And it's all part of our foundation.
It's part of our value.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Now do you do you think with Josh though? I mean,
it's one of the things that I'm taking note of
is how people they when they start mixing things with
the wine. It's not always the wine and cheese anymore.
They're mixing things with it that that really make it
more of a celebration or an occasion. And what what
do you suggest when it comes to different forms of
Josh that we can add to our life. But what
I mean, we can't just add pizza all the time
(07:50):
and hot dogs that would taste.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Good though, yeah, that would be good. You know, Josh
Cabernet is like the pizza that go to wine. I
can't stop it. It's just it's just the way it is.
But yeah, I mean, we're just we're meeting all kinds
of like we do installations that concert yes, and we
(08:14):
meet young people that want to try these new wines
and they're easy to understand. You know, they're American wines,
so they're named after the grapes Cabernet, merlou Charnay. And
we want our wines to be approachable. That's really important
to us is you know, we don't want to make
a wine that you have to sit in a wine
cellar for five to eight years. No, we want something
(08:35):
really approachable. And that's that's one of our philosophy.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Very interesting when you say that, because once again I'm
thinking about the marketing side of it. When I go
into a wine section of a grocery store, the Josh
wines are not like sitting there on a bookshelf, like
a book at a library. You are visible. And when
you're visible, that means you're speaking my street.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah. Yeah. We we have some wonderful retailers and distributors
that know, if they, you know, put together a display
and maybe they put my picture up there something like that,
or or there's a great picture of an old red
truck and people really you know, go towards it and
enjoy it. And we've we've done really well in retail.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You know, you were talking about how sales are down
just a bit, which is just a turning point. That's
what my financial guy always tells me. But the thing is, though,
do you find yourself getting into the THC style or
is that something that we're going to set to the side.
Let it grow and do what it needs to do.
But we're going to concentrate on wine.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, we're you know, our focus and concentration is on wine.
That's that's what we do best. I don't think we've
ever even had a conversation about that. That's probably for
others to do. But but yeah, that's it's an exciting
time I think. I mean, alcohol is down, but we're up. Yes,
you are, you know, almost double digit. Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
You got to come back to this show anytime in
the future. The door is always going to be open
for you, sir.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
You got it. Check us out on Joshsellers dot com, Instagram,
or you can go on YouTube. I've had about ten
million views.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Be brilliant today, Okay, sir, all
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Right, thank you
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