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Husband and Wife Team Transforms Passion into a Thriving Wine Bar: Chuck and Amanda Azar

Wine Talks with Paul K.

Release Date: 07/21/2026

Digital Nomads Swarm Armenia—And a 400 year old vineyard? Meet Mathew Zein show art Digital Nomads Swarm Armenia—And a 400 year old vineyard? Meet Mathew Zein

Wine Talks with Paul K.

Who does this? I am actually part jealous and part concerned for this mans sanity. He goes to a country, married no less, to visit for a week and hasn't left for 10 years. I'm like "what?" When Matthew landed in Armenia, he didn’t bring a suitcase full of big plans—just a battered laptop and the crazy notion that a tiny country he didn’t even have roots in could become his home. Instead, what happened next might change how you think about destiny, culture, and even what it means to plug in and connect. This isn’t another dry “expat tale” about escaping the ordinary for a bit of...

info_outline Why Most Master Sommeliers Are Still Broke: Doug Frost Exposes Industry Secrets show art Why Most Master Sommeliers Are Still Broke: Doug Frost Exposes Industry Secrets

Wine Talks with Paul K.

The top accolades in the wine trade are tough to acquire. The Master of Wine and the Master Sommelier both can take years if not a decade to study for and pass the tests. But to have both credentials on your resume! I'm like what? Doug Frost is the man...and one of three in the world that have accomplished earning both accolades. It’s one thing to love wine, but it’s another to flat-out admit you may have to drink your entire inventory if nobody else buys in. That’s the raw honesty you’re in for with Doug Frost, a man who admits that in wine, if you want a small fortune, you’d...

info_outline Is It Going To Work? Ancient Wines, Modern Idea: How Armenia Is Sharing Its Bottles: Vahe Baloulian. show art Is It Going To Work? Ancient Wines, Modern Idea: How Armenia Is Sharing Its Bottles: Vahe Baloulian.

Wine Talks with Paul K.

This is cleaver, and grass roots. Vahe has an idea to promote the wines of Armenia, one bottle, one dinner, one enthusiat at a time. And, if you ask me, that is what it is going to take to get the industry grounded again. There is alot of spectulation on the role AI will play in this renassance, and most likely the role will be voluminous, but AI cannon the place of sharing a bottle of wine with a friend. And Vahe is proposing this very idea. If you’ve ever wondered how the wine world can get shaken up by a little friendly challenge, you’re in for a treat! In this episode, host Paul...

info_outline Champagne Rebel: Marvina Robinson Pops the Industry’s Bubble show art Champagne Rebel: Marvina Robinson Pops the Industry’s Bubble

Wine Talks with Paul K.

Most...no, all Champagne and Sparkling wine houses will tell you: Champagne is not just foe celebration. Kind of like tinsel in the movie Elf (not just for decoration). Enter Marvina Robinson with an intriguing journey from Wall Street to the wonderful world of wine and Champagne. Who would hang up their proverbial cleats of a steady high paying job for the unknown landscape of adult beverages and uncertainty. Nobody ever told Marvina Robinson that starting a champagne brand as a Black woman from Brooklyn was “a good idea”—in fact, they told her the opposite. She laughed, uncorked, and...

info_outline Visionary Disruption: How David Kong Is Redefining Wine Glassware for a New Generation show art Visionary Disruption: How David Kong Is Redefining Wine Glassware for a New Generation

Wine Talks with Paul K.

It takes "b_ll$"to go after industry giants. And it doesn't mean toppling an industry giant, it just means getting a slice of the pie. I have witnessed numerous attempts at this in a variety of sectors, and most fail...and for many reasons..but this idea is working. David Kong might have traded the high-octane pace of New York hedge funds for the delicate clink of hand-blown glass, but don’t think for a moment he’s lost his edge. In this episode, you’ll hear how an outsider to the wine glass industry spotted a wide-open niche, challenged global heavyweights, and built a thriving...

info_outline Secrets Under the Table at Stecca: What Really Happens in a Tiny Kitchen: Giorgio Vizia and Wimberly Meyer. show art Secrets Under the Table at Stecca: What Really Happens in a Tiny Kitchen: Giorgio Vizia and Wimberly Meyer.

Wine Talks with Paul K.

The crazy world of hospitality can be considered a lost art. It seems more and more restaurants are opening as a walk up, order, take your table number and wait.  Hardly a "how are you?" and it all seems lost. Enter Stecca Traverna.  An unassuming Italian tavern in the heart of the So Cal surf capital, Hermosa Beach. Then I visited the kitchen, it was so small..."how small was it?" "It was so small that the shrimp didn't fit." Giorgio Vizia jokes that he was born to the sound of pots clanging and sauce simmering—destined for a life in the kitchen before he’d even tasted his first...

info_outline Are Gen Z and High Wine Prices Killing the Industry? Paul Mabray and Andrew Levy Answer. show art Are Gen Z and High Wine Prices Killing the Industry? Paul Mabray and Andrew Levy Answer.

Wine Talks with Paul K.

It is going around. The wine business is slow. Slow to change, slow to recognize the market, slow to become digital...shall I keep going. Two gentleman agree, at least on the retails front. Paul Mabray is an old friend. Andrew Levy is a new friend, and they have teamed up, with dozens of wine tech years between them, to solve some problems. Problems that seem natural to fix through tech in our trade. Have a listen, these guys get it. Paul Mabray and Andrew Levy have never been shy about shaking the wine industry’s dusty foundations. They’ve watched as old ideas about how wine gets into a...

info_outline Orange Wine Is Not a Fad: Digging Up Ancient Flavors in Modern Bottles; Meet Stetson Robbins. show art Orange Wine Is Not a Fad: Digging Up Ancient Flavors in Modern Bottles; Meet Stetson Robbins.

Wine Talks with Paul K.

I met Stetson years ago. Orange wine was not a thing. But he was making it a thing. I was intrigued by his commitment to the sector and the develpment of Georgian wine in the US, particularly in Los Angeles. Bringing Stetson Robbins onto this show is like popping the cork on a bottle you’ve never heard of, from a country you can barely pronounce, and finding it’s the most fascinating taste you didn’t know you craved. Forget everything you thought you knew about wine, because this conversation isn’t about chasing the next California cab or French pinot—this is about tracking the...

info_outline Strikes, Somms, and Screwups: David Schulner’s Wild Ride Beyond Hollywood show art Strikes, Somms, and Screwups: David Schulner’s Wild Ride Beyond Hollywood

Wine Talks with Paul K.

I am pretty sure you didn't catch the article in the Somm Journal written by David Schulner. And if you did, you were not as jealous as I was. Well, let's call it inspired. Trading the glitz of Hollywood for the chaos of the restaurant floor, David Schulner doesn’t just pour wine—he pours gasoline on the genteel myths swirling around it. You’ll hear what happens when a successful TV showrunner, fresh off the picket lines of the 2023 writers’ strike, crashes headfirst into the closed ranks of Michelin-star restaurants. Forget those dreamy drone shots over gleaming vineyards; David...

info_outline Are Michelin Stars Ruining the True Spirit of Great Restaurants? Patric Kuh Tells All show art Are Michelin Stars Ruining the True Spirit of Great Restaurants? Patric Kuh Tells All

Wine Talks with Paul K.

I first met Patrick at our favorite steak house in Manhattan Beach; the Arthur J.  The wine list there is one of the most thought out I have seen in all my travels. It was Patricks first day there. We had an intriguing conversation and returned a week later to continue our discussion. Serendipitously, by me eavesdropping on a conversation, I learned that Patrick had authored a book: The Last Days of Haute Cuisine.  I was seriously taken by this accomplishment and immediately found the book on Amazon and voraciously read it cover to cover. A stroy of food in America that had been...

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I was walking on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach and I spied some activity in what was a small French inspired restaurant which had closed months earlier. I decided to poke my head in a find you what was going on.  Greeted by a smiling, pleasant woman, I sat at the new wine bar named Malendrina. And the conversation ensued as I was completely taken by Amanda Azar and the story of her and her husbanc, Chuck and their venture into enrtrepreneurship.

Amanda Azar may be the only person who can make “torturing” her partner with bad wine sound like a priceless education, but that’s just the tip of the bottle here. In this episode, you’ll enter the world of two hospitality visionaries who’ve poured sweat, soul, and every saved penny into their dream—a wine bar born from decades inside both the supplier and distributor trenches of the wine industry. You’ll hear stories of failures—10,000 wine brands, 99% of them doomed—and how the real magic comes not from corporate playbooks or celebrity endorsements, but from relentless perseverance, deep culture, and a partnership fueled by passion, humor, and plenty of grape leaves. Here, a glass isn’t just filled; it’s accompanied by stories, family, and genuine warmth.

There’s inspiration in Amanda’s Sicilian childhood, where wine was never taboo but a natural extension of family, food, and connection. Pair this with her partner’s Palestinian heritage, and you’ll witness how root-deep values of generosity and community shape not just the service but the heart behind it all. The episode uncorks what it truly means to build something together: overcoming headwinds, trusting each other’s strengths, and redefining what success and hospitality can look like. And if you’ve ever wondered what working side-by-side with your spouse looks like when exhaustion and dreams are equally shared, you’ll find insight—and camaraderie—at this table.

Listen in and you will learn:

  • 🍷 Why “what grows together goes together” is more than a catchy phrase—it's a philosophy for pairing wine, food, and life.

  • 🍷 What it really takes to work with your spouse in business, blending strengths, sharing burdens, and supporting each other's dreams.

  • 🍷 How to curate a wine list that resists commercial sameness and instead tells a story, elevates the experience, and educates palates.

  • 🍷 The secret power of genuine hospitality—treating staff and guests as family, and why that matters more than any fancy marketing.

  • 🍷 Real-world lessons from the trenches: why passion, persistence, and authenticity are worth more than a celebrity name on a wine label.

You’ll come away not only inspired by their grit but with a deeper sense of what it means to use wine as a vessel for true connection, discovery, and belonging.