Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Larry Van Aalst talks to James Caudill & Ben Cane

 James Caudill - Director, Public Relations & Hospitality, The Hess Collection Winery
A long time pro in the wine business, Jim has been with the big names, Jackson Family, Brown Forman, The Hess Collection and many more. We talk about a veterans perspective of the new trends in the industry and what he thinks is in store in the coming years & The new association with
Westwood Anadell Gap Vineyard will be announced.







Ben Cane - Head Winemaker, Westwood Wines
Originally from Australia, Ben is the Winemaker at Westwood Vineyards in Sonoma County. With only a few vintages released, Westwood hit it out of the park winning the sweepstakes award at The North Coast Wine Challenge last month. The best of the best was the Westwood Pinot Noir and it won the award by the largest margin in the history of the competition.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Larry Van Aalst talks with Steve Falk & Daryl Groom

 Steve Falk - Chief Executive Officer, Sonoma Media 

Steve is the Publisher of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Northern California's most important Wine Country newspaper. With a background on the East Coast and on the set up team for USA Today, Steve came to the San Francisco Bay Area and was President of The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, before moving to being publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. Being the visionary he is, the Chronicle sponsored what has become The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition of American wines in the world. Four yeas ago the idea for The Best of the Best Wine Competition came to light. The North Coast Wine Challenge came into being, and now has a reputation for having the very best wines, judges, and is thought of as the Best of the Best. We talk about the recent competition, and the Public Tasting coming up.


 Daryl Groom - Owner/Winemaker, Groom Wines

After making his mark on Australian wines, Daryl came to California and took the position as Winemaker at Geyser Peak Winery. Awarded Winemaker of the Year by a number of Journals and organizations, Daryl started Groom Wines in Australia, and was nicknamed The Flying Winemaker.
As he travels and consults, he has also taken the position of Head Judge for The North Coast Wine Challenge. Many years as a Judge, and tasting some of the best wine made on earth gives him the perspective to be part of The Best of the Best. We talk about the Competition, and the Colby Red project he partners with his son.