The Taste with Doug Shafer – a Podcast About Wine, Food, and Friends
Episodes
A Classic Episode with Paula Kornell — Fourth Gen Vintner with a Family Story Spanning Two Continents, One War, and More than 60 Years
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this classic episode, Paula Kornell takes us on an exceptional journey spanning two continents, one war, and more than 60 years of Napa Valley wine...
A Classic Episode with Robin Lail - A Fourth Generation Vintner with a 150-Year Family Legacy
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this classic episode, Robin Lail of Lail Vineyards takes us on an unbelievable family journey through nearly all of Napa Valley's winemaking histor...
A Spanish Adventure with Winemaker Markus Bokisch
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Markus Bokisch has spent his life savoring the best of two worlds. As a kid in Los Angeles, he spent his summers in a small village on Spain’s Medit...
Jeff Smith - Growing up in Napa Valley, a Rock-n-Roll Career, and His Winery, Hourglass
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Smith grew up in Napa Valley where his dad, Ned Smith, sold real estate in the 1960s. In the early '70s, Ned moved into the hotel business buildi...
Russ Weis - A Career through Mondavi, Opus One, Silverado Vineyards, and Walsh Vineyard Management
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Russ Weis grew up in California's Central Valley surrounded by his family's 200 acres of grapes, a background that would eventually lead him to a care...
Kim Stare Wallace, Vintner of Celebrated Dry Creek Vineyard
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Stare Wallace tells the audacious story of her father, Dave Stare, a wine-loving MIT graduate, who moved to California in a station wagon. He buil...
Robert Fiore, Winemaker, Peter Michael Winery
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Fiore's path to winemaking took a remarkable trek through archeology and geophysics. Long before he was tasting grapes in the lead-up to harves...
A Classic Episode with Virtuoso Vintner Tim Mondavi
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this classic episode, we revisit a memorable 2019 podcast with Tim Mondavi, whose family played such a legendary role in launching and defining Nap...
This Week's Guest is You -- Answering Your Listener Questions
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's episode is a medley, a grab bag, a breakfast scramble of your questions for Doug -- covering everything from "when should I drink my 2018"...
A Classic Episode with winemaker Heidi Barrett
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Heidi Barrett has produced extraordinary wines for clients including Screaming Eagle, Paradigm, Dalle Valle, and many more. One of her Cabernets holds...
Kyle MacLachlan - A Classic 'Taste' Episode With Our Favorite Actor/Vintner
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's harvest here on the West Coast and this week we're letting our winemaking friends focus on picking their grapes.We thought this would be the perf...
Lee Hudson, Legendary Grapegrower and Vintner, Hudson Vineyards
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1980s, Lee Hudson, still in his 20s, was one of the first to recognize the promise of Los Carneros, Napa Valley's gorgeous southernmost g...
James Hall, Vintner, Patz & Hall
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Hall proved that you actually can go home again when, in 2024, he bought back the winery he'd sold nearly 10 years earlier. We had a great time ...
Jebb Dunnuck - Wine Critic
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jeb Dunnuck's journey to becoming a globally recognized wine critic took an unexpected path, starting in Indiana farmland, where he grew up, then thro...
Judd Finkelstein -- 2nd Generation Vintner and Cocktail Impresario
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Judd Finkelstein's earliest memories are all about life at a Napa Valley winery. In the 1970s his parents started Whitehall Lane Winery, later selling...
Pat Monahan - Rock Star/Vintner
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We first got to know Pat Monahan when he and his Grammy-winning band Train filmed much of the 2012 music video for their hit song "Drive By" at Shafer...
Bobby Stuckey on continuing to redefine hospitality
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bobby Stuckey loves creating welcoming, inspired spaces in his restaurants both for customers and employees, seeing hospitality as a mission as much a...
Suzanne Deal Booth -- Bella Oaks and Wheeler Farms in Napa Valley
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suzanne Deal Booth is a fairly recently name to Napa Valley in that her first released vintage was 2018 from Bella Oaks winery, a property with a rich...
Alex and Graeme MacDonald - MacDonald Vineyards
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The story of MacDonald Vineyards begins with a deep, foot-dragging, don't-make-me-do-it reluctance to get into the business of grape-growing four gene...
James Molesworth - Wine Spectator's Bordeaux and California (Cabernet and Pinor Noir) Senior Editor
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Molesworth often finds his way into a wine through anthropology, which was his major in college. As Wine Spectator's lead taster for California ...
Chris and Josh Phelps - A Father-and-Son Napa Valley Duo
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris and Josh Phelps are a father-and-son team who have worked together unofficially for a long time. While Josh was a kid growing up in Napa Valley,...
John Caldwell - Caldwell Vineyard
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Whoever said crime doesn't pay, didn't know John Caldwell. When John bought his 54 acres (and three houses) in the Coombsville area of Napa Valley in ...
Tom Colicchio – Chef, Restaurateur, and Food Advocate
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Shafer and Chef Tom Colicchio first met in the early 1990s on board a nearly empty cruise in the Baltic Sea in what turned out to be an unforgett...
Glenn Salva - Antinori Napa Valley
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Glenn Salva has been at the heart of Antinori Napa Valley since the mid-1980s when the renown wine family, the Antinoris, who'd been making wine in Tu...
Dave Phinney
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Early in his career Dave Phinney redefined the look and feel of winemaking and marketing in Napa Valley when he created a red blend called The Prisone...
Chelsea Barrett
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up in one of Napa Valley’s most celebrated winemaking families, Chelsea brings a wealth of personal knowledge to her professional success. A...
Jean Hoefliger
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Switzerland, Jean Hoefliger worked in vineyards and wineries throughout the world before landing in Napa Valley in 2001 and his first job here...
Emma Swain
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Her journey in wine took Emma Swain from Francis Ford Coppola’s Neibaum-Coppola Estate to wineries owned by Sonoma’s Sebastiani family before taki...
Violet Grgich
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Third-generation vintner Violet Grgich tells an incredible family wine story that spans a century that includes a world war, daring escapes, and a yea...
Hugh Davies
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh Davies lives in the same house he grew up in at Schramsberg Winery here in Napa Valley and, in a case of history repeating itself, it’s where h...
John and Rory Williams
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1975 John Williams arrived in Napa Valley with a return bus ticket and $40 in his pocket. He fell in love with wine and never used that return tick...
John Kongsgaard
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
John Kongsgaard grew up in Napa Valley, where his father was a beloved local judge. John says their father-son relationship was tested during the stre...
Alan and Delia Viader
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Delia Viader came to the wine business in Napa Valley in the 1980s after living in Argentina, Switzerland, Lebanon, and France and earning degrees fro...
Adam Lee
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Lee comes from a family of devout Texas teetotalers. In college, however, Adam not only tasted his first wine, he became passionate about it. He ...
Donald Patz
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Early on Donald Patz thought he’d pursue a medical career. After college, however, he landed a wine sales job and one thing led to another. By the 1...
Elizabeth Vianna
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As a kid Elizabeth Vianna lived in Brazil, Los Angeles, and Illinois, then moved back to Brazil. She entered college intent on becoming a concert pian...
Michael Silacci
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While Michael Silacci grew up near the vineyards of Gilroy, California, it took years of travel through Hawaii, Japan, Switzerland, and eventually Fra...
Jay McInerney
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jay McInerney burst onto the literary scene in 1984 with Bright Lights, Big City, his novel based on an era both in his life and the life of New York ...
Listener Questions with Spencer Christian
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the guest is you! We invited listeners to send in questions about wine collecting, winemaking, or all things Shafer – and you came t...
Charles Woodson
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Later in 2021, Charles Woodson will accept a Pro Football Hall of Fame award in Canton, Ohio, just 100 miles from where he grew up in the small town o...
Tor Kenward
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Early in college Tor Kenward was drafted and sent to Vietnam. Coming home he realized that life is short and he only wanted to do things that brought ...
Naoko and Maya Dalla Valle
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dalla Valle, long known for elegant and outstanding wines, is opening an exciting new chapter. Originally founded by Gustav and Naoko Dalla Valle in 1...
Cyril Chappellet
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1967 the Chappellet family built the second post-Prohibition winery in Napa Valley. Cyril was in elementary school then and mostly what he recalls ...
Tom Matthews
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
By the age of 35 Thomas Matthews had lived in several U.S. states and abroad in Belgium, France, and Spain. He didn’t see himself staying anywhere f...
Jaime Araujo
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
By the time her parents started Araujo Estate in 1990, Jaime Araujo was in college. She went on to earn four degrees, was a theater actress in London,...
Oscar Renteria
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Oscar Renteria grew up in Napa and wanted to escape the wine industry so he went to college and earned a business degree. After graduation his father ...
Tom Rinaldi
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Rinaldi grew up in San Francisco, enjoyed the Summer of Love, and tasted wine in Napa Valley on his motorcycle. Later he signed up for the Navy be...
Andy Erickson
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In his 20s Andy Erickson thought he’d work in the diplomatic corps but an extended trek through South America’s wine country and a chance encounte...
Robert Kamen
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Kamen has written the screenplays for blockbusters including Taps, the original Karate Kid films, Fifth Element, Gladiator, Lethal Weapon 3, th...
Kim McPherson
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Though Kim McPherson of McPherson Cellars grew up surrounded by wine history-in-the-making, it wasn’t obvious that vineyards and cellars were in his...
Mark Beringer
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In spite of his last name, Mark Beringer’s future in wine was not a foregone conclusion. His family had sold Beringer in 1971. When he graduated fro...
Cristie Kerr
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cristie Kerr discovered golf at the age of eight growing up in Florida. She played on her high school’s boys team and by her late teens went pro, be...
Laura Catena
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From an early age Laura Catena wanted to pursue her interest in science. She earned an M.D. and became an emergency room physician in the Bay Area. Th...
David Graves
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As a kid David Graves loved science and he earned a degree in evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz. Soon though, in a grad program, he realized he wa...
Gerald Casale
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Gerald Casale is best known as co-founder and bass player of the ‘80s band Devo – a group with a style all their own with hits like “Whip It.”...
Robin Lail
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode with Robin Lail covers nearly all of Napa Valley’s winemaking history – from her great-grand-uncle, Gustave Niebaum establishing Ingl...
Spencer Christian
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Spencer Christian is recognized as Good Morning America’s former weatherman but is less known as a wine pioneer. He created the first national wine ...
Hailey and Lorenzo Trefethen
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Brother and sister, Lorenzo and Hailey Trefethen, are the third generation of their family involved in the wine business in Napa Valley. They look bac...
Ray Isle
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ray Isle grew up in Houston, Texas, thinking he’d be in a band or write novels. Along the way he fell in love with the world of wine and found a way...
Shari and Shannon Staglin
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The enterprising mother/daughter team at the heart of Staglin Family Vineyard talks about Napa in the ‘60s, the challenges and joys of establishing ...
Zelma Long
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Zelma Long is known for her pioneering work at Robert Mondavi Winery in the early 1970s, at Simi Winery for 20 years, and for mentoring young winemake...
Randy Lewis
11 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Randy Lewis grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with such a love for fast cars that the local police got to know him on a first name basis. After college he t...
Bo Barrett
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 1972 Bo Barrett was a surfer in Southern California when his father bought an old winery in Napa Valley called Chateau Montelena. After finishing c...
Dave Ramey
03 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In college Dave Ramey initially pursued an interest in literature before realizing his passion for wine. He earned a degree in enology in the late 197...
Tim Mondavi
13 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Mondavi spent more than 30 years working with his father at Robert Mondavi Winery until the family lost control of winery. Undaunted he started ov...
Tony Biagi
30 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
At UC Davis Tony Biagi discovered the enology program and wine became his overriding passion. He first worked for Duckhorn and went on to launch the w...
Helen Keplinger
16 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Keplinger grew up envisioning a future in medical science, however, wine offered greater adventure – taking her to work with winemakers in Nap...
A Classic Episode with Paula Kornell — A Fourth Gen Vintner with a Family Story Spanning Two Continents, One War, and More than 60 Years
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this classic episode Paula Kornell takes us on an exceptional journey spanning two continents, one war, and more than 60 years of winemaking. Her f...
Paula Kornell
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This episode gives you two incredible life stories in one – that of Hanns Kornell, who managed to get out of a Nazi concentration camp, make his way...
Elias Fernandez
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez grew up in Napa Valley, attending school with the kids of prominent winery families. Meanwhile he got a taste of agri...
Beth and Lindy Novak
03 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Beth and Lindy Novak have lots of great memories of growing up in Napa Valley including hanging out with the Shafer kids. But things got tough when th...
Mia Klein
15 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As a teenager Mia Klein wanted to be a chef. In her first job as a cook, however, she discovered wine and a whole new path opened up for her. In 1984 ...
Richard Peterson
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Few people can tell the story of California wine from the 1950s to today with the flair and authenticity of Richard Peterson. Hired by Gallo in 1958, ...
Kyle MacLachlan
03 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Not long out of college Kyle MacLachlan was cast as the lead in the 1984 film, Dune, launching a career, that's included film and TV roles in Blue Vel...
Maralissa Allegrini
18 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Marilisa Allegrini travels the world promoting her families wines made throughout Italy’s top appellations. She was not always eager to be part of t...
Giovanni Manetti
04 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1968, Giovanni Manetti’s father purchased a rundown vineyard in Chianti called Fontodi that he set about restoring on weekends. Giovanni eventual...
Danny Meyer
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1985 Danny Meyer opened Union Square Café, which became beloved in New York City for its great food and even greater sense of warmth and welcome. ...
Cleo Pahlmeyer
08 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Cleo Pahlmeyer grew up in Napa then headed to the East Coast and later to London to pursue her of love art history. By 2008 though, she’d developed ...
Chris Carpenter
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
At nearly 30, Chris Carpenter moved to Napa, earned a viticulture degree at UC Davis, and went on to become winemaker at Lokoya, Cardinale, Mt. Brave,...
Michael Honig
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1980s Michael Honig took over the family’s Napa Valley vineyard property and started Honig Winery, focusing on Sauvignon Blanc. While making ...
Cathy Corison
26 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Cathy Corison discovered her passion for wine almost by accident when she was a biology major in college. She went on to study winemaking at UC Davis ...
Paul Hobbs
12 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
He grew up one of 11 children on an apple farm and become one of the most celebrated names in the world of wine. The epic story of Paul Hobbs includes...
Paul Hobbs
12 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
He grew up one of 11 children on an apple farm and become one of the most celebrated names in the world of wine. The epic story of Paul Hobbs includes...
Jim Regusci
22 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Regusci on 100 years of family, wine, and fun in Napa on “The Taste with Doug Shafer” The Regusci family’s roots in Napa Valley go back mor...
Carmen Policy
31 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Carmen Policy practiced law in Youngstown, Ohio, when his career took an unexpected turn -- he began doing legal work for the San Francisco 49ers in t...
Michael Twelftree
09 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Twelftree was a construction business owner with a taste for rum. In the late 1990s he fell in love with wine and by 2000 he’d launched his ...
Heidi Barrett
20 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Heidi Barrett has produced extraordinary wines for clients including Screaming Eagle, Paradigm, Dalle Valle, and many more. One of her Cabernets holds...
Pete Seghesio
05 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Pete Seghesio tells the incredible 120-year story of his family in Sonoma County from Italian immigrants with only a love of farming to leaving a last...
John Anthony Truchard
22 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Before John Anthony Truchard started high-end brand, John Anthony Vineyards, or his runaway brand JaM Cellars, he was a kid growing up working in vine...
Marc Mondavi
10 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Marc Mondavi grew up at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena and learned the wine business from his father, Peter Mondavi. Marc tells wild stories of gro...
John Skupny
19 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Shafer talks with vintner John Skupny, whose resume includes working with Francis Ford Coppola at Inglenook, Bernard Portet at Clos du Val, and C...
Leslie Sbrocco
19 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Shafer talks with TV host and “wine translator” Leslie Sbrocco, known to millions from her fast-paced wine segments with Kathy Lee and Hoda K...
Cindy Pawlcyn
18 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Shafer talks with chef Cindy Pawlcyn, who is credited with launching the current era of Napa Valley’s restaurant scene, when she opened Mustard...