The Grape Nation

Our 300th Episode- Raj Parr has been a friend of The Grape Nation podcast from the beginning. He has been on multiple times to talk about his wines, books, and new projects. He is an award-winning Sommelier, author, winemaker and the most soulful and spiritual guy I know in wine. He also has the greatest uncertified pa

Texas born Jeff Porter and Jersey Boy Raj Vaidya have spent over 4 decades in wine and hospitality. Jeff at Tra Vigna, Babbo, Del Posto, Raj at Gary Danko, Per Se and over a decade at Daniel to name a few. Jeff went on to consult while Raj joined Pressoir, responsible for La Paulee, La Fete du Champagne, La Tablee, Pre

Three Per Se Alum walk into a bar, you know that joke, have a drink, and decide to open a Hawaiian restaurant in the East Village. Jin Ahn is the co-owner, general manager and beverage guru at Noreetuh. He spent decades in service, hospitality and wine at places like Jean Georges and Per Se, where he worked with his ot

Straight outta DC, Carlton McCoy made his Grandma proud receiving a scholarship to the Culinary Institute in NY studying to become a chef, eventually moving to NYC and back to DC to work in some of the hottest restaurants including Aquavit, Per Se and City Zen. His love of food started shifting to wine and Carlton head

Josh Bergstrom is a second-generation Oregon winemaker. His dad emigrated from Sweden as a teenager to Portland, eventually becoming a surgeon and later buying property in the Willamette Valley. After receiving a postgraduate degree in Viticulture and Enology in Beaune, France, Josh joined his dad in 1999 establishing

Born in Milan…and not from a wine or mapping family, Alessandro Masnaghetti, the “Mapman” is the preeminent wine and mapping expert in the world. As a budding epicurean he found wine, began tasting and writing about it, started to map wine regions and the rest they say is history. Alessandro’s company Enogea publishes