Puglian Wine Evolution: Mark Shannon’s 46-Year Passion for Quality and Authenticity
Release Date: 11/04/2025
Inventing the Coravin: Greg Lambrecht on Transforming Wine Culture and Expanding By-the-Glass Exploration
Wine Talks with Paul K.
Who invents these things? and what experience do they have that gets them to the point that they can invent these things? Entrepreneurs are a crafty bunch. They dream. They test themselves. They switch gears on the fly. So goes the story of Greg Lambrecht, the inventor of the Coravin wine preservation and dispensing system. You have to believe the story, though it seems unbelievable, because it is true. Imagine a podcast where invention, passion, and the enduring mystique of wine come together—where stories of ingenuity inspire new perspectives on the familiar rituals of sharing a...
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Breaking Traditions: Collaboration, Diversity, and Modern Strategies in the Wine Industry
Wine Talks with Paul K.
There is alot of speculation, prognositcatiom, miss-information, ridiculous conclusions, and outright bad data about the wine trade right now. Everyone with an opinion is chiming in. And some of these folks have done nothing more than work in a wine shop or behind the scenes at an agency. How does that quote go? "It is much easier to give advice from the veil of cover, than to use it at the point of attack" That is percisely how I feel about much of what is being said. Enter Barbara Gorder. She gives advice but has used it at the point of attack. You see, she didn't come from the wine trade to...
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Behind the Bottle: Wine, Humility, and Inspiring Stories from Rome to Texas
Wine Talks with Paul K.
Wine is about the humanity. This concept hit me on a flight home from Rome. I was watching a movie and started to weep. I realized the human soul needs passion, passion forsomething; maybe another person, maybe a lifestyle, maybe a career, but passion drives our will. And wine is full of passion. To do it right, it takes nothing less than passion. Hey there, it’s Paul Kalemkiarian on Wine Talks, and in this episode, I really wanted to get personal and share how deeply humanity and humility run through every thread of the wine world at its highest levels. I open the show reflecting on a...
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Puglian Wine Evolution: Mark Shannon’s 46-Year Passion for Quality and Authenticity
Wine Talks with Paul K.
Wine Talks was invited to meet the Pope....well, at least by the language in the invitation, it sounded like we were going to meet the Pope. It turns out that the word "private audience" meant with 6294 other private invitees. Lol, it was an honor just to be there. Wine Talks took a detour out of Rome to the now-famed wine region of Puglia. Home of Primitivo, Negroamaro, and Fiano, the area of Puglia has a rich Italian history on its own. As the trip was put together on short notice, I searched through my database of Puglian wines tasted and found the wines of A MANO as wines I enjoyed....
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Unlocking Luxury Wine: Charlotte Selles on Brand Strategy, Relationships, and the Business of Wine
Wine Talks with Paul K.
It is complitcated. Life. Wine. And to help clear up the wine complication (not sure there is a way to uncomplicate life), is Charlotte Selles. With a distinctive path to her new company Tassei, she brings to the table a wealth of experience cloaked in knowedge, philosophy and experience. She is like a wine savant. She was in LA for a speaking gig and breaved an unusual SoCal downpour to come to studio to share her spirit. Charlotte Selles is the kind of guest who’ll have you reconsidering not just what’s in your wine glass, but why you care in the first place. You think you know...
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From Rocks to Wine: Diana Khandilyan’s Unique Journey Through Terroir and Winemaking
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I jumped in on a LinkedIn conversation about wine, soil, volcano's and more. Thought I would contribute to the message string. That is when I engaged Diana on the concept of terroir. But not just any terroir, but volcanic terroir. Then I realized that Diana's expertise in the realm of wine...is the soil! She is a expert in energy and geophysics! Diana Kandiglian is the kind of guest who measures her excitement in bottles, not hours. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a scientist who reads rocks for a living falls in love with wine, this episode is for you. You’ll learn how...
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Wine Innovation: Mini Bottles, Younger Drinkers, and an Industry in Transition: Meet Abby Bogle
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I keep hearing how the industry has to change, how Gen Z is aren't drinking wine, how the trade is slow to do anything....until you speak with Abby Bogle. She is the type of enthusiasm and drive that is needed to move with the times. You have all heard me say that "time will tell" and that "all generations come around to the proper glass of wine." What Abby is doing is making the proper glass of wine more accessible. Be careful, she is a bit infectious. Abby Bogle is not your average disruptor—she’s bottling up tradition, cracking open innovation, and pouring new life into the wine...
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From the LA Lakers Locker Room to Napa Valley vines: Kelly E. Carter on Diversity, Story, and Wine Exploration
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I can tell you it was like sitting with a long, lost neighbor when sitting with Kelly E. Carter. And in fact, we were neighbors of sorts back in the day. It wasn't until I was searching for images to create the icons for this podcast did I realize I was in the presence of true maverick royalty. Besides being a New York Times best selling author, she has reported from the greatest sporting events of the world: the NBA FInals, Super Bowls, Grand Slams, Stanley Cup Finals and much more. And more intriguing, she was the woman reporter in the locker room! I was so intrigued and we could...
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Wine, Passion, and Perseverance: Why Human Connection Matters in Hospitality
Wine Talks with Paul K.
Sometimes I just get an hankering. Ya know, a chance to try and tell it like it is. There is no óne-size" fits all solution to what is happening in our trade. And there still are many successes in the trade...more to come on that front. Wine is too important to the existance of man to address the ills of the trade with thinking marketing and packaging solutions will solve the problems. Certainly, the trade can make some contemporary adjustments to those issues, but those are not the core issues. They can't be, wine is a conduit for the human soul to the soil; deep rooted (pun intended) in our...
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Beyond the Vines: Tony Biagi’s Journey Through Napa, To Kalon, and Winemaking Wisdom
Wine Talks with Paul K.
One of the on-going themes with Wine Talks, with virtually all guests, is the idea that you never stop learning in the wine trade. I supposed you could say that about many industries, but wine carries with it the idea of the harvest; the surrounding conditions that otherwise would be called "terroir" when discussing the differences from one year to the next. And there in lies the "never stop learning" aspect of wine. Each year is different and each your your knowledge and curiosity is compounded. Tony Biagi relishes in this concept. He finds the will and the drive directly from the annual but...
info_outlineWine Talks was invited to meet the Pope....well, at least by the language in the invitation, it sounded like we were going to meet the Pope. It turns out that the word "private audience" meant with 6294 other private invitees. Lol, it was an honor just to be there.
Wine Talks took a detour out of Rome to the now-famed wine region of Puglia. Home of Primitivo, Negroamaro, and Fiano, the area of Puglia has a rich Italian history on its own.
As the trip was put together on short notice, I searched through my database of Puglian wines tasted and found the wines of A MANO as wines I enjoyed. In the meantime, I reached out to Vahe Keushguerian for some advice on who to contact for a podcast; after all, his famed winemaking career started in Puglia. He mentioned Mark Shannon of A Mano wines...how about that for a serendipitous connection? I put out a quick email to Mark, and he graciously accepted...and offered to bring in a "traditional" Puglian lunch for our group.
Mark Shannon may call himself “just a student of winemaking,” but after you hear his journey, you’ll realize he’s more of a wine whisperer—an alchemist who turns curiosity and grit into liquid art. Pour yourself a glass, because in this episode you’ll travel from the bustling streets of Toronto and the sun-drenched vineyards of California, all the way to an ancient town in Puglia, Italy, where Mark Shannon has spent nearly three decades revolutionizing the region’s wines. You’ll discover how he ditched a potential career in medicine for the fermentative fascination of grapes, and how, propelled by his mother’s wisdom to “work at something you really want to do,” he has woven innovation through tradition. Journey me and Mark Shannon as they break down the science, art, and sheer perseverance it takes to make world-class wine in a place once known as Europe’s bulk wine cellar. You’ll learn about the true identity of Primitivo, the surprising origins it shares with California’s Zinfandel, how post-communist Slovakia and Texas played into Mark’s winding path, and why he chooses soil health and vineyard wisdom over trend-chasing packaging fads. They’ll dig into the sociocultural shifts rocking the global wine market, dissect the mythos (and madness) of biodynamics, and debate what makes a wine truly reflect its terroir—even as climate, culture, and commerce threaten to pull it apart. By the end, you won’t just know how great wine is made—you’ll understand why people still obsess over it, why the right bottle at the right table can mean everything, and why Mark Shannon wouldn’t trade his hard-earned slice of Puglia for anything in the world.
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Amano Wines (also referred to as a Mano or Amano):
https://www.amanowine.com
This is the winery founded by Mark Shannon, and much of the conversation centers around it. -
Bogle Vineyards (mentioned by Mark Shannon as a place he worked):
https://www.boglewinery.com -
Fess Parker Winery (another winery Mark Shannon helped build):
https://www.fessparker.com
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