Agriculture

Wine is a big business sold in many venues and one of the newest is a hybrid wine club/ wine maker cooperative that is only possible due to the internet. In the first segment Ralph & Lahni de Amicis, the hosts and tour guides explain about the various business models used in wine country, and in the second segment Ralph interviews Mary Gavin from Naked Wines, a departure from traditional wine selling models.

The Napa and Sonoma Wine Country has a tremendous history and George is one of the most recognized educators in the area within the hospitality field. He shares a some wonderful stories about Napa and Sonoma that provides great insights about how this area developed.

The building at the heart of this family winery dates back to the late 1800's. They are famous for their location and their hospitality. This very entertaining interview with their team offers wonderful insights into what makes a successful winery tasting work for both the customers and the staff.

Ralph de Amicis is a top wine tour guide in the two top wine destinations in the world, Napa and Sonoma. Over the years from visiting wineries with his clients he had learned a thing or two about what makes a wine tasting enjoyable and educational. He share some of that here and follows that up with some insights about wine grapes based on clients questions, and finally a look at enjoying sparkling wines.

Napa is known for being a famous producer of wine and yet its history goes far beyond that. One of the towns great performing historians is tour guide and actor George Webber, who has created numerous characters, both fictional and historic to tell the fascinating story of Napa and Sonoma. This half hour interview in Napa with host Ralph de Amicis is filled with interesting insights about the region and the work of an actor/tour guide.

This rolling museum/restaurant rolls up the beautiful Napa Valley twice daily, but what goes on behind the scenes, with these antique cars hosting visitors from throughout the world is a whirl of well organize activity. Ralph starts of in the train yard among the repair crews, moves into the big commercial kitchen, and then travels up the valley splitting his time between compact kitchen, work areas, dining cars and platforms. It is a wonderful, graceful relaxing trip.

Perched on the steep hillsides of Howell Mountain in Northern Napa, this small family winery is known for its remarkable wines and incredible scenery. Here Ralph is looking for answers about how much the location shapes both the products and the experience? The answer appears to be, dramatically! This episode is not surprisingly filled with gorgeous scenery and a wonderful interview with the tasting manager, a native of Napa with wonderful insights about the local wine world.

Houses in one of Napa's oldest winery buildings this large, estate family winery is well known for their excellent hospitality. In Ralph's interview with one of their most experienced team members, and one of their newest, he seeks answers to how they create this welcoming and diverse educational experience as part of their retail operation.

Very little in Wine Country happens quickly, and digging caves is not one of them. This particular project is fascinating because it also spawned a unique business model where four wineries share the same remarkable cave complex. This project from inception to opening doors spanned almost ten years and hearing the story from the two founders offers a great perspective on what it takes to make a modern winery.

Host David Delk talks with Shari Sirkin, Exec Director of Friends of Family Farmers on what Friends of Family Farmers is and why it was formed and the conflict between family farmers and corporate farms, like mega-dairies. We talk about CSAs - Community Sustained Agriculture as a way for individuals to support local family farmers. CSAs represent a partnership between the eater and the grower.