Friends make the best company when enjoying a nice bottle of wine. Trouble is these days sharing that bottle often has to be done on Zoom! Nevertheless, the hosts and their guests had a fun time on this show getting to know one another, what motivates them to buy a wine, and how or if the pandemic has affected their wine choices.

After we checked in with our co-hosts, Misty Roudebush Cain (busy with planning St. Supery’s spring marketing programs), Lisa Adams Walter (writing numerous articles for local publications as well as myriad winery clients), and Marcia Macomber (designing websites for five new clients simultaneously), we turned to our wonderful guests.

Jasmine Pomeroy has been an emergency dispatcher in San Francisco for fifteen years and recently moved to an acre of property in the North Bay. She vowed during the show to change her previously black thumb into a green thumb in order to generate some of her own produce beginning this spring. While she doesn’t work in the wine industry, she shared her thoughts on what attracts her to a new wine. (You’ll have to listen to find out!)

Lynda Paulson is practically a guest host, with numerous turns at the mic on several past shows. As Chief Trainer and Coach at Success Strategies, Lynda has been coaching winery owners, winemakers, chefs and tasting room staff for decades on improving their communication and sales skills. Her tips for what makes a great speaker? They’re energetic, i.e. passionate about their subject matter, and they make the audience want to invest more time with them. Easier said than done, you might say? Lynda’s approach is honed from decades of training CEOs, politicians and executives on how to deliver their message clearly.

The co-hosts discussed current wine news, including the speculation about Tennessee legislators potentially turning direct-to-consumer shipping on its head again: the upcoming WineFuture 2021 conference; the Women’s Beverage Alcohol Symposium on Feb. 24th; and the new wine, food and travel series (along with the wine tasting series’ new season) releasing on SommTV.com.

What were we drinking? Of course, we remained socially distant, all drinking different wines in our own homes. Lisa raved about the Priest Ranch rose in a can (!) she was loving for its elegance and a package design to match. (See links below.) Jasmine followed suit with West+Wilder’s Sparkling White Wine in a can. When asked what she looks for, Jasmine said something “unique” that might have some personal association to her. Conveniently, she noted that her sparkling white indicated “jasmine” in its tasting notes, and she’s not about to pass that up!

Lynda was savoring the Three Rivers Svelte Bordeaux, made by Holly Turner as part of her “head turner” wine series for Three Rivers Winery in the Columbia Valley. Lynda liked it for the elegant and beautiful bottle design initially. But she described the wine to us as “intriguing” and having a long finish. This led to a long discussion about the vocabulary of wine tasting, a specialty of Lynda’s, who prefers the romance language of wine.

Misty said the dead of winter drives her to enjoy the many flavor and aroma notes of excellent cabernet sauvignons, particularly with warm, savory dishes. The St. Supery Rutherford Estate Cabernet definitely fills that bill! Lastly, Marcia was enjoying a no-longer-available Bedrock Chuy Chardonnay. For fans of Bedrock wines, many are aware that they are sourced from heritage vineyards, often planted in small plots decades ago to vines that will only last another year or two due to their low yield production before being replanted to younger vines.

As frequently happens when friends gather around a bottle of wine, the topics of discussion varied widely, from the use of Biochar in the soil to wine label design and copy writing. More importantly, what are the elements that move you to look more closely at a front label, then back label and (maybe) reading the back label copy? You’ll have to listen to learn what made a different to the hosts and guests. Cheers!

WINES

Lisa was drinking 2019 Priest Ranch Rose in a can

Misty was drinking St. Supery’s Rutherford Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Jasmine was drinking West + Wilder’s Sparkling White Wine in a can

Lynda was drinking 2017 Three Rivers Svelte Bordeaux, Columbia Valley

Marcia was drinking the 2017 Bedrock Chuy Chardonnay, Moon Mountain District

Podcast (ww): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:13 — 47.5MB)

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