August 28, 2025 • 15 mins
Co-host Michelle Lam introduces us to Malexi Brands, a family-owned German-American business that imports and distributes German brands to the US market, including German wine producer Weegmüller Wines. The company was founded by Ines and Marc, who moved their family from Germany to the United States in 2022. Wine expert John Mahoney describes his choice for a remarkable late summer wine.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi everyone, and welcome to Beverage Chronicles, where Every Drink
has a Story. I'm your host, Gary Monterroso each week
we will explore the people, the passion, and the flavors
shaping what we drink today. And we're going to get
right into the show. I want to introduce one of
(00:28):
our newest team members, and that's John Mahoney, who is
a certified wine educator former literature professor. He was chancellor
of the Dionysian Society International for forty five years, a
member of the American Wine Society, director of the tri
State Wine College. He's the author of eleven books, including
(00:52):
Every Bottle Has a Story, Wine for Intellectuals, where you
start knowing very little and end up as a wine authority.
And he also wrote Wine This Source of Civilization. You know,
all these books are available on Amazon. John samples and
reviews over fifteen hundred wines a year, teaching that wine
(01:14):
is food, the liquid part of every evening meal, and
the more you know about wine, the more you'll enjoy it.
So I we're gonna hear from you, John, and move
right on to a fascinating interview. What a cool story
this is going to be I think you'll enjoy this
coming up from my co host Michelle Lamb. So let's
get right into the show with John Mahoney.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
What's the best drink for pulside drinking or you're sitting
on your back deck in the warm lingering days. Well,
this is John Mahoney with a wine tip from Wine
Radio for Beverage Chronicles, answering that the grape should be
reasling Trocking on a German wine label means dry and
the warm weather wine for sipping that you really enjoy
(01:58):
is one that's not two full of alcohol. Reasoning is
a low alcohol white wine that won't intoxicate you. Both
German and New York State reasonings have zippy acidity. Their
floral beautiful aromas entice everyone. Any chilled reasling is ideal
on a warm day. They usually have apricot and white
(02:19):
peach flavors, and they don't need food to be enjoyable.
There's just enjoyable all by themselves. Excellent reaslings also come
from Austria and Australia. Even the state of Michigan makes
superb reaslings. See if you can find a bottle of
blue Star Farms or two Lads or a Reasoning from
forty five North All from Michigan and outstanding. Another great
(02:43):
buy is doctor Lucien from Germany. His twenty twenty three
dry Moses Reasoning is under fifteen dollars and it's a
white wine that makes any pullside or a deck party
a lot more enjoyable, a superb wine. A great buy
is Washington State Sam Michelle. It's perfect white drinking for
(03:03):
everyday needs, for guests, entertaining or pre course dinners. It's
ideal and it costs under ten bucks in vino Veritas.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Welcome back to the Beverage Chronicle Show, and this is
your co host Michelle Lamb, and today we are so
fortunate to be interviewing Es who actually is made a
wine making history of all the brands that have been
out there, but this one in particular, I find it
really interesting is that it has over three hundred years
of history. Can you please introduce yourself and talk a
(03:37):
little bit more about your brand please?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yes, of course. So my name is Zenes Foyer Stein
and my husband and me and my two little boys.
We moved over to the US in twenty twenty two
and in twenty twenty four we founded our distribution and
import company, which is called Malexei Brins. And yeah, then
last year something very special who happened to us our
(04:01):
best friend who owns the Vigmulla Winery, one of the
oldest wineries in Germany. It was founded in sixteen eighty five.
He asked us if we would like to bring this
his wines to the US and yeah, for us, it
was just like, oh, yes, definitely. We started with different
brands than with the wines, and so wine was new
(04:23):
for us and we were super excited to bring our
Vigmula wines to the AS And for us, it's not
just about wine. It's about family, friendships and sharing a
piece of German heritage with American wine lovers, and that's
what makes it so exciting and personal for us.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Can you describe a little bit about the region and
also the types of grapes, because there's so many different
types of wine out there. I think the listeners will
love to learn more about that area of expertise that
you can provide to us. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So the area we are talking about, it's the German
Fauls and the files is the second biggest wine region
in Germany and that it's located very very close to
the French els Us. And yeah, people when they talk
about the falls, they often say it's the Tuscany of Germany,
and it's and it really is because it's they say
(05:16):
it's the Tuscany of Germany because it's a very sunny
and mild region. And we say it actually gets more
hours of sunshine than almost in anywhere else in the country.
So it's a very very good climate. And this climate
it helps the Yeah, it helps rich to to Oh sorry, okay,
(05:40):
you can added that Gary has the capability of editing
anything that you yeah, okay, okay, so it's not.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Why we can edit everything out, he will do so. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
And so so it's I would say this, this warm
climate and the rich souls allow the grapes to fully ripen,
to give the wines a beauty balance of fruit freshness
and elegant. So so, my personal little fun fact is
when I first visited the Felts many years ago, I
(06:12):
was amazed to see orange and lemon trees growing in
people's backyards something, yeah, something. I had never seen it
anywhere else in Germany. And this really shows how unique
and special this climate is for for for wine making. Yeah,
and what special grapes they produce or we produce, really
(06:34):
this classic reasling grapes. We do have pino bla. We
have pino pino noirs as well, which we don't offer
in the US, but they produce it as well. And
h yeah, and some of course some special grapes like
for example, the Schoi Raber, which is a very very
(06:55):
special grape. It's a crossing between a reasling and an
unknown grape. And the founder was his name was Heinri Shoi.
That's how the name came Shoi Raba. And yeah, always
when when I talk about when when I recommend the
cho to custom US, I tried to tell them, okay,
(07:18):
it's it's the shim is very vibrant with vibrant citrus,
exotic fruit aromas, and just the hint of elderflower. And
it's funny enough when whenever I mentioned the hint of elderflower,
people immediately want to taste it and they end up
loving it.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
That is amazing. I'm actually excited to try them too.
But you had mentioned that not all are in your
US portfolio, which are the ones that people in the
US can actually.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Purchase exactly, so so when we started, when we started
or when we decided taking over the wines to the US,
we carefully selected seven different white wines, including two Reaslings,
a Pino blanc, a Pino Green, the Choira but I
(08:11):
mentioned before.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
And two Coveys. And when deciding what to bring over,
we look for wines that are not only classic examples
of the files, but also approachable for American consumers who
may be discovering German wines for the first time. And
you know, it's it was important to us to show
the portfolio, to show that the portfolio shows both tradition
(08:36):
and personality.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
That is amazing. And do you have any recommendation as
to the flavor profile that is a good choice for
consumers since we all have different palettes based on the food,
the diverse and all the different types of foods that
we have in the USA, are there any cuisines that
you recommend that will be a better pair or you know,
(08:59):
once recommendation.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
So we went to several wine fests the last weeks
and it was so customers were asking me for which
one I would recommend, and I usually started, I said,
for someone who's trying our wines for the first time
I started with the classics, I start with the German reslings.
(09:21):
What is Germany without the reflings. And people always say, okay,
I don't like reaslings because they are sweet. This is
what a lot of people think. But reeflings are not
every time sweet. So ours are definitely not sweet. They
are chris They are elegant and beautiful balanced. And we
(09:41):
have two different kinds of reasling. The one is there
mineralis the mineral one, and this is very fresh and precise,
with notes of green apples, citrus and a file mineral structure.
So it's a very I always say, it's a very
green wine. And it's a very great food pairing with
sea food or or just for a warm, warm summer day.
(10:03):
Last time I had a customer she said, oh my
good now, oh my goodness, I discovered my my beach wine.
And I said, okay, I will take that in mind.
So the minnegalisia is now the beach the beach wine.
So I love this. I love that a lot. And
on the other hand, we have another beastling, which is
called the Eleganta. It's the elegant one and it shows
(10:25):
the other side of reestling. It's more powerful. It's with
ripe fruit like peaches and apples, balanced by lively vaccidity
and yeah, making it smooth and then whiting for like
meals and social evenings. So it's these are very very
special wines. And at the same time, I as I
(10:45):
mentioned before, I love to recommend our shoyery, but which
is a crossing of a wristling and an unknown grape.
And this one offers this vibrant citrus, play flower and aroma.
And as I said this this hint of elder flower.
And yeah, these are the two wines I would recommend
(11:10):
for the first for the for the well usually recommend
for customers who want to try our wines.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Those sound quite lovely. And when enjoying all those selected
wines that you have recommended, I actually found out a
little bit of did it do it in a little
bit of research about the family history of the three sisters?
Is that something part of the brand? Or like, what
is that story? Can you tell us a little bit more? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
So, you know, so, since we taught it's the Vic
Miller Winery, is it's its own since yeah, it's it's
over three hundred years old, so over eleven family generations.
They they worked.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
With this on this winery.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
And the story you are talking about that, that's the
story about the In Germany, you would say the Dreischwestan
the three Sisters. And these three sisters they their names
were Gabi, Steffi and michaela very German. And the story
behind this special wine three Sisters is that each of
(12:12):
the sisters they put their favorite varietals in the covid
Dreichwstan and these favorite varietals were the pino Blas, the
pino Gree and the Shoi Raber. And yeah, the result
is a semi dry white wine that strikes a wonderful
balance of fruitiness and freshness.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
And yeah, what makes it.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
So special for us or so for the wig Mother Winery,
it's it's not just a wine, but it's a really
it's a family story in a bottle. I had a
little fun fact so which I which I last week
was so funny. A friend of ours, she runs in Airbnb,
and she called it they just bought it, and she
(12:58):
called it Three Sisters and she ordered this wine to
place it in her house for her guests. And I said,
such a nice example of how the story behind the
wine continues to connect with people in unexpected ways. So
I love this story a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
This is beautiful. And where can the listeners find your
wines in the US? And also stores or maybe restaurants?
Where should they how should they follow you to?
Speaker 4 (13:26):
So we've just started bringing the wig Mulla Wines to
the US and the listeners can currently find our wines
online at Wwwigmulawines dot com, where we currently offer some
special opening bundles like a wristling Bundle, a seafood bundle
or a pasta Lava bundle, all at very attractive prices.
(13:49):
And yeah for New Jersey, so we are located in
New Jersey. Our wines are also available at Royal Atlantic
in Atlantic Highlands. Yeah, but because we feel it's a
very small and family run winery and as we act
as our own distributors, it's not always easy for us
(14:10):
to find retailers. So every new customer and every new
partner means a lot to us. And yeah, we've already
been at several wine festivals in New York and our
next one, next big one will be the Fine Wine
Series in New York and at the City Field on
(14:31):
September sixth, which is a wonderful opportunity to discover our
wines in person.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
That is amazing. Thank you so much for joining us
and everyone at Beverage Chronicles. Listeners please go and try
their wines. Until next time, cheers.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Thanks to John Mahoney for that report on reaseling wines
and to Michelle Lamb and her special guests. Really enjoyed
that segment. Well that's it for this week's episode of
Beverage Chronicles. I'm Gary poterroso see you next week.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Stas
Hi everyone, and welcome to Beverage Chronicles, where Every Drink
has a Story. I'm your host, Gary Monterroso each week
we will explore the people, the passion, and the flavors
shaping what we drink today. And we're going to get
right into the show. I want to introduce one of
(00:28):
our newest team members, and that's John Mahoney, who is
a certified wine educator former literature professor. He was chancellor
of the Dionysian Society International for forty five years, a
member of the American Wine Society, director of the tri
State Wine College. He's the author of eleven books, including
(00:52):
Every Bottle Has a Story, Wine for Intellectuals, where you
start knowing very little and end up as a wine authority.
And he also wrote Wine This Source of Civilization. You know,
all these books are available on Amazon. John samples and
reviews over fifteen hundred wines a year, teaching that wine
(01:14):
is food, the liquid part of every evening meal, and
the more you know about wine, the more you'll enjoy it.
So I we're gonna hear from you, John, and move
right on to a fascinating interview. What a cool story
this is going to be I think you'll enjoy this
coming up from my co host Michelle Lamb. So let's
get right into the show with John Mahoney.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
What's the best drink for pulside drinking or you're sitting
on your back deck in the warm lingering days. Well,
this is John Mahoney with a wine tip from Wine
Radio for Beverage Chronicles, answering that the grape should be
reasling Trocking on a German wine label means dry and
the warm weather wine for sipping that you really enjoy
(01:58):
is one that's not two full of alcohol. Reasoning is
a low alcohol white wine that won't intoxicate you. Both
German and New York State reasonings have zippy acidity. Their
floral beautiful aromas entice everyone. Any chilled reasling is ideal
on a warm day. They usually have apricot and white
(02:19):
peach flavors, and they don't need food to be enjoyable.
There's just enjoyable all by themselves. Excellent reaslings also come
from Austria and Australia. Even the state of Michigan makes
superb reaslings. See if you can find a bottle of
blue Star Farms or two Lads or a Reasoning from
forty five North All from Michigan and outstanding. Another great
(02:43):
buy is doctor Lucien from Germany. His twenty twenty three
dry Moses Reasoning is under fifteen dollars and it's a
white wine that makes any pullside or a deck party
a lot more enjoyable, a superb wine. A great buy
is Washington State Sam Michelle. It's perfect white drinking for
(03:03):
everyday needs, for guests, entertaining or pre course dinners. It's
ideal and it costs under ten bucks in vino Veritas.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Welcome back to the Beverage Chronicle Show, and this is
your co host Michelle Lamb, and today we are so
fortunate to be interviewing Es who actually is made a
wine making history of all the brands that have been
out there, but this one in particular, I find it
really interesting is that it has over three hundred years
of history. Can you please introduce yourself and talk a
(03:37):
little bit more about your brand please?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yes, of course. So my name is Zenes Foyer Stein
and my husband and me and my two little boys.
We moved over to the US in twenty twenty two
and in twenty twenty four we founded our distribution and
import company, which is called Malexei Brins. And yeah, then
last year something very special who happened to us our
(04:01):
best friend who owns the Vigmulla Winery, one of the
oldest wineries in Germany. It was founded in sixteen eighty five.
He asked us if we would like to bring this
his wines to the US and yeah, for us, it
was just like, oh, yes, definitely. We started with different
brands than with the wines, and so wine was new
(04:23):
for us and we were super excited to bring our
Vigmula wines to the AS And for us, it's not
just about wine. It's about family, friendships and sharing a
piece of German heritage with American wine lovers, and that's
what makes it so exciting and personal for us.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Can you describe a little bit about the region and
also the types of grapes, because there's so many different
types of wine out there. I think the listeners will
love to learn more about that area of expertise that
you can provide to us. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So the area we are talking about, it's the German
Fauls and the files is the second biggest wine region
in Germany and that it's located very very close to
the French els Us. And yeah, people when they talk
about the falls, they often say it's the Tuscany of Germany,
and it's and it really is because it's they say
(05:16):
it's the Tuscany of Germany because it's a very sunny
and mild region. And we say it actually gets more
hours of sunshine than almost in anywhere else in the country.
So it's a very very good climate. And this climate
it helps the Yeah, it helps rich to to Oh sorry, okay,
(05:40):
you can added that Gary has the capability of editing
anything that you yeah, okay, okay, so it's not.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Why we can edit everything out, he will do so. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
And so so it's I would say this, this warm
climate and the rich souls allow the grapes to fully ripen,
to give the wines a beauty balance of fruit freshness
and elegant. So so, my personal little fun fact is
when I first visited the Felts many years ago, I
(06:12):
was amazed to see orange and lemon trees growing in
people's backyards something, yeah, something. I had never seen it
anywhere else in Germany. And this really shows how unique
and special this climate is for for for wine making. Yeah,
and what special grapes they produce or we produce, really
(06:34):
this classic reasling grapes. We do have pino bla. We
have pino pino noirs as well, which we don't offer
in the US, but they produce it as well. And
h yeah, and some of course some special grapes like
for example, the Schoi Raber, which is a very very
(06:55):
special grape. It's a crossing between a reasling and an
unknown grape. And the founder was his name was Heinri Shoi.
That's how the name came Shoi Raba. And yeah, always
when when I talk about when when I recommend the
cho to custom US, I tried to tell them, okay,
(07:18):
it's it's the shim is very vibrant with vibrant citrus,
exotic fruit aromas, and just the hint of elderflower. And
it's funny enough when whenever I mentioned the hint of elderflower,
people immediately want to taste it and they end up
loving it.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
That is amazing. I'm actually excited to try them too.
But you had mentioned that not all are in your
US portfolio, which are the ones that people in the
US can actually.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Purchase exactly, so so when we started, when we started
or when we decided taking over the wines to the US,
we carefully selected seven different white wines, including two Reaslings,
a Pino blanc, a Pino Green, the Choira but I
(08:11):
mentioned before.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
And two Coveys. And when deciding what to bring over,
we look for wines that are not only classic examples
of the files, but also approachable for American consumers who
may be discovering German wines for the first time. And
you know, it's it was important to us to show
the portfolio, to show that the portfolio shows both tradition
(08:36):
and personality.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
That is amazing. And do you have any recommendation as
to the flavor profile that is a good choice for
consumers since we all have different palettes based on the food,
the diverse and all the different types of foods that
we have in the USA, are there any cuisines that
you recommend that will be a better pair or you know,
(08:59):
once recommendation.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
So we went to several wine fests the last weeks
and it was so customers were asking me for which
one I would recommend, and I usually started, I said,
for someone who's trying our wines for the first time
I started with the classics, I start with the German reslings.
(09:21):
What is Germany without the reflings. And people always say, okay,
I don't like reaslings because they are sweet. This is
what a lot of people think. But reeflings are not
every time sweet. So ours are definitely not sweet. They
are chris They are elegant and beautiful balanced. And we
(09:41):
have two different kinds of reasling. The one is there
mineralis the mineral one, and this is very fresh and precise,
with notes of green apples, citrus and a file mineral structure.
So it's a very I always say, it's a very
green wine. And it's a very great food pairing with
sea food or or just for a warm, warm summer day.
(10:03):
Last time I had a customer she said, oh my
good now, oh my goodness, I discovered my my beach wine.
And I said, okay, I will take that in mind.
So the minnegalisia is now the beach the beach wine.
So I love this. I love that a lot. And
on the other hand, we have another beastling, which is
called the Eleganta. It's the elegant one and it shows
(10:25):
the other side of reestling. It's more powerful. It's with
ripe fruit like peaches and apples, balanced by lively vaccidity
and yeah, making it smooth and then whiting for like
meals and social evenings. So it's these are very very
special wines. And at the same time, I as I
(10:45):
mentioned before, I love to recommend our shoyery, but which
is a crossing of a wristling and an unknown grape.
And this one offers this vibrant citrus, play flower and aroma.
And as I said this this hint of elder flower.
And yeah, these are the two wines I would recommend
(11:10):
for the first for the for the well usually recommend
for customers who want to try our wines.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Those sound quite lovely. And when enjoying all those selected
wines that you have recommended, I actually found out a
little bit of did it do it in a little
bit of research about the family history of the three sisters?
Is that something part of the brand? Or like, what
is that story? Can you tell us a little bit more? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
So, you know, so, since we taught it's the Vic
Miller Winery, is it's its own since yeah, it's it's
over three hundred years old, so over eleven family generations.
They they worked.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
With this on this winery.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
And the story you are talking about that, that's the
story about the In Germany, you would say the Dreischwestan
the three Sisters. And these three sisters they their names
were Gabi, Steffi and michaela very German. And the story
behind this special wine three Sisters is that each of
(12:12):
the sisters they put their favorite varietals in the covid
Dreichwstan and these favorite varietals were the pino Blas, the
pino Gree and the Shoi Raber. And yeah, the result
is a semi dry white wine that strikes a wonderful
balance of fruitiness and freshness.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
And yeah, what makes it.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
So special for us or so for the wig Mother Winery,
it's it's not just a wine, but it's a really
it's a family story in a bottle. I had a
little fun fact so which I which I last week
was so funny. A friend of ours, she runs in Airbnb,
and she called it they just bought it, and she
(12:58):
called it Three Sisters and she ordered this wine to
place it in her house for her guests. And I said,
such a nice example of how the story behind the
wine continues to connect with people in unexpected ways. So
I love this story a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
This is beautiful. And where can the listeners find your
wines in the US? And also stores or maybe restaurants?
Where should they how should they follow you to?
Speaker 4 (13:26):
So we've just started bringing the wig Mulla Wines to
the US and the listeners can currently find our wines
online at Wwwigmulawines dot com, where we currently offer some
special opening bundles like a wristling Bundle, a seafood bundle
or a pasta Lava bundle, all at very attractive prices.
(13:49):
And yeah for New Jersey, so we are located in
New Jersey. Our wines are also available at Royal Atlantic
in Atlantic Highlands. Yeah, but because we feel it's a
very small and family run winery and as we act
as our own distributors, it's not always easy for us
(14:10):
to find retailers. So every new customer and every new
partner means a lot to us. And yeah, we've already
been at several wine festivals in New York and our
next one, next big one will be the Fine Wine
Series in New York and at the City Field on
(14:31):
September sixth, which is a wonderful opportunity to discover our
wines in person.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
That is amazing. Thank you so much for joining us
and everyone at Beverage Chronicles. Listeners please go and try
their wines. Until next time, cheers.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Thanks to John Mahoney for that report on reaseling wines
and to Michelle Lamb and her special guests. Really enjoyed
that segment. Well that's it for this week's episode of
Beverage Chronicles. I'm Gary poterroso see you next week.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Stas
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