May 2020 - On The Wine Road

While the Napa and Sonoma Vintners organizations are incredibly supportive to their winery members and their communities, covid-19 has required an even greater response.

The Napa Valley Vintners and Sonoma County Vintners are helping to promote the creative and necessary ways wineries are reaching out to the wine loving public. In some cases, they’re presenting their own virtual tasting sessions.

In this podcast, I talk with the President and Executive Director of the Napa Valley Vintners, Linda Reiff, and the Executive Director of Sonoma County Vintners, Michael Haney. These interviews were conducted to coincide with my previous post “Wineries Battle the Coronavirus Blues.”

As you’ll hear, there is no elitist attitude from either of these executives, despite the fact they run organizations in two of the world’s top wine regions. They’re pleasant, down to earth people. Many winemakers, growers and owners are the same way. As I’ve said before, that’s what I love about the wine industry.

Keep listening until the end. You’ll hear promising news that was released as I was finishing up the podcast today. We may be seeing you soon on winery patios. That’s all I’m going to say about that right now. Can’t ruin a good content tease.

How do wineries battle the coronavirus blues? By being creative, stepping up, helping their employees and keeping you smiling during these sobering times. Many wineries across the country are reaching out through social media with virtual tastings.

Here’s an updated and refined list of what the wine regions are doing in Northern California. I’m also including my interviews with Jackson Family Wines and Spring Mountain Vineyard from my show on April 18th.