Wine Buzz Podcast

Karen MacNeil, the renowned author of 'The Wine Bible' takes her timeless wisdom into the digital age. She offers a fresh perspective on how we learn and engage with wine goes beyond mere memorization and encourages critical thinking and a deeper understanding of the complexities within every bottle.

Through diverse formats, she shares meticulously fact-checked insights, ensuring her audience receives only the most reliable and accessible information. All of this, while she advocates for sustainability in winemaking, passionately discussing her efforts to combat environmental damage caused by unnecessary bottling practices.

Tim and Su-Mari Hill, the dynamic duo, delve into the inspiring journey behind the innovative iLola Tea business. Discover the behind-the-scenes story of how this power couple navigated the complexities of entrepreneurship while balancing the roles of partners and CEOs within the same company and their unique perspective on teaching character and etiquette to their five children. They also share their insights on wine and tea etiquette, offering a glimpse into their refined tastes and preferences when it comes to the art of tea.

Sarah Heller is the youngest Master of Wine as of 2017. A fine art graduate from Yale University, Sarah's journey seamlessly intertwines her passion for visual arts with her expertise in wine. Through captivating discussions, Sarah reveals how wine transcends being a mere beverage, evolving into a form of art. Our conversations explore diverse topics ranging from the dynamics of Asian wine markets to the nuances of e-commerce, all while shedding light on the experiences of representing the younger generation and navigating the wine industry as a female trailblazer.

Wander with Ivy - what started it all? Dana loves wine and her husband loves whiskey, so they would rarely share a bottle for dinner, so Dana was always forced to waste her bottle of wine after she would only drink a glass. That sparked her curiosity and interest to find single-serve options, but she noticed there weren't many options available on the market, let alone natural and organic as well. And so it started... Listen to this fascinating episode as we dive into the behind the scenes with Dana Spaulding, founder of Wander + Ivy. Check out their website here: https://wanderandivy.com/📕 Pre-order my newest book "Master the Art of Etiquette" here: https://www.apwasi.com/master-the-art-of-manners-modern-day-etiquette-for-any-situation/

Stevie Kim, founder and manager of Vinitaly, shares with us her entrepreneurial journey to thrive and succeed in the wine industry and promote Italian wines. 

Hugh Johnson is considered one of the world's best-selling wine writer. He has published a wide array of books starting with the publication of Wine in 1966. He has also tasted one of the oldest wines in the world from the German vineyard Würzburger Stein.

Amanda Barnes is the author of the award winning South America Wine Guide. The South America Wine Guide by Amanda Barnes is the result of a decade of research and interviews conducted by the author while travelling around and living on the continent. In collaboration with over 60 regional specialists, The South America Wine Guide comprehensively details over 70 wine regions and maps out in stunning detail 40 wine regions — many of which have never before been mapped or documented in the English-language. Listen to this episode now.

Andrew Jefford has written for many British newspapers, including The Evening Standard (for ten years), The Financial Times, The Guardian and The Times; he is today Contributing Editor and a regular columnist for both Decanter and The World of Fine Wine, as well as Academic Advisor to the Wine Scholar Guild. He has written twelve books and guides including The New France, Andrew Jefford’s Wine Course and Whisky Island (about the island of Islay).  A book-length collection of his writings on wine (and tea), Drinking with the Valkyries, was published in September 2022. You can purchase the book at www.academieduvinlibrary.com  Use the code APWASI5 to get £5 off any books.

Julian D. A. Wiseman first tasted port back in 1987 and loved it immediately. Finding out about all the different types of ports was no easy feat. Julian dedicated 10 years of his life assembling this data into a narrative that is the definitive reference book on Old Vintage Ports - Port Vintages. 

Sofia Ilieva, AKA sofia.marbella on her social media channels, shares her experience of her social media success educating her global audiences with her etiquette tips. Her passion started at an early age when she dreamed about being a princess, then becoming an actress & model and now influencer for etiquette.

Madeline shares her journey as an entrepreneur, co-founding Wine Folly. She shares what she's learned, her attitude and mindset, what she sees in the future for wines and advice for those who want to enter into the world of wine. 

As the 11th generation CEO of Riedel - The Wine Glass Company, Maximilian has to cope between balancing the visions of his company while also remaining relevant in today's society.

Always thinking that she was going to become a scientist, when Susan Lueker took her first enology class, she knew she wanted to be a winemaker. She loved the vineyard, the interaction with people and nature, and the science. Now with more than 25 years of winemaking experience, she currently leads the Bordeaux Program at Kendall-Jackson winery. In this episode, we learn about Susan's journey as a winemaker.

Erica Taylor, independent PR & Marketing Professional and founder of Uncorkified shares her journey as she discovers the wonderful city of Mumbai, decides to leave NYC and now resides in South Africa. How did she get there? You'll have to listen to find out!

Through her passion for data, Rachel started off her career in Facebook as a data scientist and as she slowly discovered more about wines, she started The Wine Nerd and then 2 years later, Vinebase. Listen to this episode as Vinebase aims to disrupt the ways that consumers buy wines from wineries and how Vinebase is helping more independent wineries get discovered.

Mead is a delicious alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water. It's not a very popular drink but Alexander Eckert, President of the Mead Association hopes to globalize this market and make it more accessible for mead lovers around.

Israeli and the Eastern Mediterranean wine regions are the next big players in the wine world and Adam Montefiore, Israeli Wine Specialist shares with you why on this Wine Buzz Podcast Episode.

Will Blackmon is a Super Bowl Champion and NFL player who played for the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars and finished his playing career with the Washington Redskins. Since retiring from NFL, he has started his journey into the world of wine. He launched The Wine MVP as a way to educate, make wine more approachable as well as empower those looking to learn more about wine. This was an episode full of laugh, passion and athleticism as Will Blackmon shares his journey from NFL player to become the "NFL Wine Guy".

The award winning best-seller of the Wine Bible, Karen MacNeil joins us for this fascinating episode. She shares her insight into how cultures play a big factor into understanding the wines itself, the inspiration that led to her writing the Wine Bible and why she doesn't believe in the wine point rating system for writers. 🔎 To learn more about Karen, please visit: https://www.karenmacneil.com/ 

Over the last two decades, Robert Stelmachuk has run various campaigns in retail, training, management, restaurant and the hotel sectors. He has been recognized by a local magazine as being the top Sommelier in the city of Vancouver, Canada and was selected to be the Wine Director of Mott 32. He shares his top indicators that can identify a restaurant as being on-top of their game, some of the common failures of many wine menus in restaurants and much more. Listen to this episode to be inspired on how to achieve a career in the restaurant and hospitality industry as Robert has.

Victor Shoenfeld is a born native in California who moved to Israel after a 3-year stint became a lifetime career. Winning awards after awards for his wines and winery, he is shaping the Israeli wine industry for the future generations to come. He has been described as the "Golan Heights Winery personified, but also an Israeli treasure". Victor shares his wine career journey with us in this episode.

Meridith May is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Tasting Panel & The Somm. Starting her early career in radio, it's helped shape her vision and understand what an audience wants to know about. She's seen trends and generations change and her platform is always adapting to meet the needs of her audiences. Her one tip to future wine writers: be original, curious and always know your audience.

Sherry's image has been changing over the last few decades, becoming a more popular drink for more than just the elderly. The authentication, regulation, marketing & education of Sherry is vital to the progress of changing people's perception of Sherry globally.   

César Saldaña is the President of the Regulatory Council of the Protected Denominations of Origin "Jerez-Xérès-Sherry", "Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda" and "Vinagre de Jerez”.   Learn more about Sherry here: https://www.sherry.wine/

Chng Poh Tiong is a lawyer by training who works now principally as a wine journalist and columnist. Passionate about food and its culture, Poh Tiong shares his insight as a Bordeaux specialist and why it was so important for him to write the book 100 Top Chinese Restaurants of the World 2019 & 2020.

Highlight: "Don't change the fundamentals of wine! Wines are made to express the place where it comes from and the varieties."

Learn more about him at https://www.chngpohtiong.com/ 

As a Director of Sales of NASDAQ, fortune 500 company, Sonal left her company to pursue a career in wine. Now she owns multiple successful wine companies.  

Sonal's mission is to share her knowledge and passion of wine to India and has seen changes already in their drinking culture.   

Learn more about Sonal's passion and how she is helping to shape India's wine industry and what the future lies ahead for this country.

Dr. Keith Herndon is a man who wears many hats. He's a Journalism Professor, Executive Director of Cox Institute at UGA's Grady College and APWASI Certified Wine Educator. However, he didn't start off his career in teaching, but as a reporter. Over the years he discovered his passion in wine and how important wine culture and history all plays into the overall experience of wine. Learn about his career journey, his passion for wine and how wine education is changing in the media and culture landscape in this new generation of technology. 

Joined by Dr. Iwan Diestchi join us as our first guest in this series, we dive into why mentors are important in your career, the philosophy of "how to create an unmatched experience for your guests to last a life time",  the next big thing in wine in Asia and generational liquor choices in hotels.

Dr. Dietschi is a highly motivated, driven, quality focused, successful International trained Swiss Executive with over 25 years of luxury hotel experience, mostly with Ritz-Carlton hotels, in four Continents and 13 countries. He has a proven record of accomplishment of exceeding financial performance targets and achieving consistently high employee- and guest engagement scores.