I have been jealous of Vincent for years. When in wine media, the audience is small (though Vincent and I agree on that we need to change that), so navigating marketing a wine show to find the eyes and ears of the people that care, is more the battle than producing the show itself; even one as professional and well-produced as his show "V is for Vino."
So here I am, a wine DTC guy wanting to be a star of wine media, and here he is, a wine star wanting to be a DTC guy. I guess the grass is always greener. We had a hoot.
Trading drumsticks for decanters might not sound like the smoothest career move—but then, the best wine stories always begin with an unlikely pairing. Imagine a young musician, hustling gigs in Santa Monica, realizing after a hundred late nights that the sold-out stadium might have to wait. Instead, a different kind of stage was beckoning, one with vineyards for backdrops and vintners for collaborators. This episode uncorks the saga of a rock-and-roll hopeful who followed his curiosity straight into a glass, and in doing so—with just a camera, a liquor license taped to a Santa Monica apartment window, and a head full of ideas—accidentally birthed one of streaming’s most dynamic wine travel shows.
The conversation focused on those hustling, uncertain beginnings, peeling back the curtain on the unexpected trials of launching a wine club in a marketplace glutted with bland bottles and even blander regulations. Vivid tales emerge from the trenches: of liquor control boards bewildered by a mail-order club at a city apartment; of sleep-deprived weekends filming “on location” with nothing but motel coffee and ambition for fuel; and of realizing that making a wine club “feel like a club” is at least as complicated as rehearsing a band, but a lot more rewarding when the notes finally ring true.
A key theme that emerged was the power of memory and community—the stories woven into every glass, the toasts echoed around supra-filled Georgian tables, the emotional connection that lingers long after the bottle is dry. The discussion explored the quiet revolution happening at the margins of the wine world, from Lebanese hillsides to the clay amphorae of Georgia, and why the story behind the bottle matters more than the varietal on the label. There’s humor, too: in watching new drinkers’ eyes glaze over as an eager bare-bones tasting room host launches into soil taxonomy, in making sense of what “natural wine” really means, and in charting a course between tradition and trend.
As the reels of this episode spin, listeners will come away with a patchwork of anecdotes, hard-won lessons, and a blueprint for making wine something personal, transportive, and unforgettable. Here’s what you’ll discover:
🎞️ Why high production values in wine shows can make the difference between forgettable and transformative storytelling
🎞️ How small-batch wine regions like Georgia, Armenia, and Lebanon fight for recognition—and what their ancient toasting rituals teach about hospitality
🎞️ The real reasons most American wine clubs fade (and what it takes to build a community that lasts beyond the shipment)
🎞️ How buying wine from a grocery store differs—culturally and emotionally—from building relationships with boutique producers
🎞️ The secret to making a wine club that feels exclusive and alive, by weaving together experiences, stories, and personal touches that last far beyond the last glass
Places and sites we talked about:
amazon.com/prime-video (for Amazon Prime)
somjournal.com (SOM Journal)
journeymanmeat.com (Journeyman Meat Co)
totalwine.com (Total Wine)
YouTube: https://youtu.be/qBSx_33_jpE
YouTube 
Pandora 
iHeartRadio