Independent Filmmaking and Wine: Chris McGilvray on Craft, Passion, and Perseverance
Release Date: 04/07/2026
From the Plate to the Brain: The Neuroscience of Taste and Harmony: Dr. Peter Klosse.
Wine Talks with Paul K.
The idea of food and wine pairing is elusive at best. If you gave five Sommeliers the same dish and a host of wines to pair with the dish, you could very easily get five different suggestions. I know for me, when I pair wine and food, my first ideas usually don't work. Enter Dr. Peter Klosse and his research. If you’ve ever stared at a wine list or picked up a tasting note and thought, “There’s got to be a better way to make sense of all this,” then this episode of Wine Talks is for you. Paul K sits down with Peter Klosse, the Dutch chef and flavor scientist who’s shaking...
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Navigating Wine Lists and Confidence: A Conversation with Natalie McLean
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I find her refreshing. I find her intriguing. I find her wise: In wine. Natalie brings to the proverbial table an unabashed view of wine and she will tell you like it is. I have to tell you that having Natalie McLean on the show was one of those times where you know you could just keep talking for hours, and still barely scratch the surface. From the moment she cracked her opening line about starting to drink when she met her husband—"and haven't found a reason to stop"—I knew we were in for an episode rich in anecdotes, laughter, and real insight into the world of wine and the...
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Behind the Bottle: The Human Stories and Craft of Tuscan Winemaking with Ivo Assanelli
Wine Talks with Paul K.
This is what is so interesting about the wine trade. It takes a ton of passion to do this, it is hard work and sometimes, without the passion, it just feels like a vanity project. At Caiarosa in Italy, the passion extends from Bordeaux France. I have had the pleasure to sit with the Director of the famed Chateau Giscours, a 2nd growth Bordeaux, and find their story and approach solid, but adventurous. Enter Caiarosa on the west side of Tuscany; a solidly Tuscan winery employing the methodes and thought processes of Bordeaux; sounds mixed up? Have a listen and find out why this makes...
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Behind the Lens: How Klaus de Jong Brings Wine Culture to the World
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I have been watching, waiting, watching and waiting again...to talk with Klaas De Jong. He produces some of the most unique and cinematic wine footage in the trade. But it isn't just about the footage, it is the story telling. And he didn't come from the wine side, he is a movie maker who loves wine and he brought the two worlds together. If ever there was a guest who could turn the scrutinizing lens of cinema on a glass of wine, it’s Klaus de Jong—part philosopher, part producer, and entirely convinced that the best stories ferment slowly at the intersection of culture and...
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Uncorking Wine Fraud: Maureen Downey on Counterfeits, Crime, and Blockchain Solutions
Wine Talks with Paul K.
She is the worlds preeminent authority on wine fraud. If you weren't even aware that wine fraud exists, if does...in a big way. Wait until you her Maureen's disdain for Rudy Kurniawan, the famed and jailed wine fraudster (he was sent back to Singapore a few years ago), she tells it like she feels it. You might say Maureen Downey has the world’s most expensive palate—and the sharpest magnifying glass for tasting deception in a bottle. If you think wine is just about swirling, sipping, and enjoying a story-laden pour, think again. In this episode, Maureen Downey—the preeminent authority...
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Exploring the World of Wine Competitions and Armenian Winemaking with Quentin Havaux
Wine Talks with Paul K.
The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is coming to Yerevan, Armenia. It is a huge feather in the cap of the Armenian wine trade and the story of how and why it landed there is inspiring. Quentin Havaux is the 3rd generation of the fames tasting and judging group and the ascent to international recognition of the CMB is quite organic and humble. The wine trade is unforgiving and requires tenancity and patience. Quentin describes the history of CMB with pure enthusiasm and passion. And the relentless ambition to tell the stories of wine is inspiring. Quentin Havaux believes wine isn't...
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How the Judgment of Paris Changed the World of Wine with Stephen Spurrier
Wine Talks with Paul K.
He changed everything...without a clue on what can of worms he was going to open. Steven Spurrier, the architect of the Judgement of Paris, checked in with Wine Talks to tell his and it's story. He passed only weeks after. Stephen Spurrier was never just a spectator in the world of wine—he was the host who re-sorted the guest list, rewrote the rules, and decanted a whole new future for California and beyond. In this episode of Wine Talks, you’ll hear firsthand how one Englishman’s curiosity and courage upended centuries of French dominance and invited America to the table. Spurrier’s...
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Breaking Barriers: How Ten Ten Wine Bar Champions Black-Owned Wines
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I am proud when I say I was born in Inglewood, California. So were Li and Leslie Jones. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my father would take me to work as I sat and stamped brochures with the name Van Ness Pharmacy. Then the perscription driver would take me to Daniel Freeman Elementary School. I say that with all the reverence in the world for the process; I learned work ethic. When I heard that there was a wine bar that primarily served wines from black owned wineries and was catgering to a fnew crowd of black wine enthusiasts and in Inglewood, I had to hear more. And Li and Leslie Jones did...
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Growing Wine Brands: Digital Strategies and Innovation with Molly Bossardt
Wine Talks with Paul K.
I watch social daily. I guess we all have to. Besides the interaction with peers, it keeps you aware of what people are thinking and doing. Once you get past the chaf and get to the honest opinions and outlooks, you get folks like Molly Bossardt. I reached out to her to get a glimpse of what she is thinking and doing in our trade. Have a listen. Molly Bassard proves that you don’t have to be born in Napa or Bordeaux to turn the wine world on its digital head. When she launched Bread and Butter in the thick of 2020, Molly saw what many in the wine trade still missed: wineries...
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Building Wine Experiences: Kerrin Laz on Napa, Innovation, and Giving Back
Wine Talks with Paul K.
Relentless in her pursuits would be an understatement because Kerrin Laz is a force of nature. Kerrin is the type of person the wine trade needs...now. She is chock full of energy, a plethora of ideas, and a cavalcade of pathways to get there. She will be on the show again; there were too many subjects we never discussed. Sitting down with Kerrin Laz was like flipping open a well-loved journal and discovering a handful of stories you’d forgotten you needed to hear. There’s a warmth to the East Coast energy she carries with her, this tenacity blended with familiarity—sort of like...
info_outlineThere has been an uptick in wine media. The series "Drops of God" has raised an eyebrow. It has become quite common when I am speaking about wine that someone asks if I have seen the show.
I have been horrified by some of the work I have seen on-line and even on an airline. Just when the industry is reevaluating where it needs to go, ghastly footage shows up in the medai...have we no understanding of what the people want to see?
Film is story telling...and Chris McGilvray is keenly aware of this. Though he was focused on corporate productions in the Silicon Valley, the opportunity to document a story of the winery Eden captured his imagination.
Chris McGilvray’s path to wine was anything but typical—he started at USC’s prestigious film school, dropped out to wander Central America, and finally became an independent filmmaker in Santa Cruz, a place where both winemaking and movie making are decidedly unconventional, and the distance from Silicon Valley is measured in more than miles. Chris bridges the worlds of slow cinema and meticulous viticulture, unraveling the layers behind his films Eden and Terroir. Not only does he reveal how the Santa Cruz Mountains’ small wine community operates on passion rather than profit, but you’ll also gain rare insight into how documentary filmmaking mimics the slow, steady rhythms of vineyard life—a process measured in seasons and decades, not in quick cuts or viral videos.
As you listen, you’ll come away with intimate knowledge of how Chris tracked the entire 2015 vintage with four wineries, walked vineyards to understand the terroir, and wrangled seven years of evolving storylines into a film that is as honest and surprising as the wines it documents. He explores why storytelling is critical for both wine and film in a world crowded with content, sharing why he believes experiences, not data or trends, are the key to reconnecting us with craft. From debates about wine’s value—human, not monetary—to the practical realities of distribution, direct-to-consumer sales, and innovation, McGilvray shares trade secrets, the existential challenges both industries face, and his hopes for what lies ahead. Chris peels back these layers—one slow shot, one vintage, one interview at a time—connecting artistry, agriculture, and authentic narrative with every turn of the cork and every frame of film.
Three points you will learn from this episode:
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How the art of documentary filmmaking parallels the patient, generational craft of winemaking, and why both thrive on constraint and authenticity.
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Why storytelling and firsthand experiences matter more than data and metrics in building passion for wine—and what both industries can learn from this approach.
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What the future might hold for small, independent producers in both wine and film as they navigate distribution challenges, technological shifts, and the quest for genuine connection.
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