Frances Dinkelspiel hardly seems the type to expose the underbelly of California’s wine country, but you’ll be glued to your headphones as she uncorks the sordid, surprising, and criminal history behind some of America’s most beloved vineyards. You’ll emerge from this episode with a new appreciation for the untamed spirit of the West, tracing the journey from Gold Rush ambition to grape-stained intrigue. Frances peels back the romantic veil over California wine and reveals a tangled legacy full of greed, murder, arson, fraud, and exploitation; you’ll hear how the dreams of immigrants like her own great-great-grandfather Isaias Hellman—who arrived in a dusty Los Angeles pueblo in 1859 and rose to become a banking titan and landholder—intersected with the story of early winemaking in Rancho Cucamonga, including a notorious murder and the exploitation of Native American labor. You’ll discover the strange path that led from Hellman’s dry goods store (and secret safe!) to the creation and collapse of empires—none more fascinating than the rise and fiery destruction of historic California vintages, including 175 bottles of 19th-century port lost in an infamous Vallejo warehouse fire. Frances takes you behind the scenes of some of the wine world’s greatest scandals, from Fred Franzia’s clever grape capers to the notorious wine forger Rudy Kurniawan’s audacious cons, revealing how each twist exposes the cracks in a glamorous, yet vulnerable industry. If you’ve ever wondered what’s really in your bottle, why restoration and reputation in wine are so hard-won (and so easily lost), or just want a ringside seat at the wildest true crime stories in California viticulture, Frances Dinkelspiel delivers—one juicy, jaw-dropping tale at a time.
Wells Fargo
Website: https://www.wellsfargo.com
University of Southern California (USC)
Website: https://www.usc.edu
Omar Khayyam Restaurant (historical San Francisco restaurant, now closed. No official website)
New York Times
Website: https://www.nytimes.com
Winehaven
Info: https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/
Acker Merrall & Condit (Acker Merrall)
Website: https://www.ackerwines.com
Bronco Wine Company
Website: https://www.broncowine.com
Sutter Home Winery
Website: https://www.sutterhome.com
(Owned by Trinchero Family Estates https://www.tfewines.com)
Barefoot Wine
Website: https://www.barefootwine.com
(Now owned by E. & J. Gallo Winery: https://www.gallo.com)
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