How this Wine Cuts Emission in Half w/ Currently Wine Co. (Part 2)

Ep 118

What if the biggest barrier to wine sustainability isn’t the farming, but the bottle itself?

In part 2 of my conversation with Daniel Rodriguez, CEO of Currently Wine Co., we dive deep into how wine packaging, labeling, and consumer education all play a role in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive wine industry. 

We explore Currently’s decision to use aluminum bottles instead of glass, not just for aesthetic appeal, but to drastically reduce the wine’s carbon footprint. Daniel breaks down why weight and distance matter in emissions, and how switching from glass to aluminum can cut the carbon footprint in half.

You’ll learn why Currently is proudly certified vegan and how they’re promoting transparency around additives, sugar content and winemaking practices. Daniel also explains why they include calorie and sugar information on their bottles, even though it’s not required, to help consumers feel more informed and empowered.

We also dig into the consumer psychology behind wine packaging and labeling, including how words like “dry” are often misunderstood. Daniel explains how they approach wine education without snobbery and how their Sauvignon Blanc was intentionally crafted to be crisp, clean, and grapefruit-free; think more Sancerre than California. Plus, you’ll hear why aluminum bottles are more approachable than cans and how they make the wine more portable and shareable.

So, if you are ready to dive into how Currently balances sustainability, quality and approachability all while creating a wine that’s meant to be enjoyed anywhere, from boats to beach to your backyard, then this episode is for you!

Thank you to Wine.com for sponsoring this episode. Go to Wine.com/corkfizz and use code CORKFIZZ for FREE shipping on your order over $150. (Limit one per customer.)

As a listener of this podcast, go to https://currentlywine.com/ and you will receive a 20% discount with promo code CorkandFizz20 - discount valid through 9/23/2025. Up to 3 purchases per customer.

Connect with Daniel 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drodriguez4/

Episode Highlights:

• How aluminum bottles cut carbon emissions in half
• Why Currently is certified vegan and what that really means
• Where Currently gets thei

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Transcript

0:09

Interested in learning about wine but not sure where to start. You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. I'm your host, Hayley Bowlman and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and and founder of the Seattle based wine tasting business Cork and Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine to what to pair with dinner tonight and so much more. Whether you're a casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. So glad to have you here. Today we will be listening to part two of my interview with Daniel. He is the CEO of CURRENTLY Wine company. Now if this is the first episode that you are listening to of Cork and Fizz, I'm so glad you're here. But I would recommend going and listening to part one first. You'll get a little more context in that interview. That is the episode just before this one, episode 117 and then you can come back and listen to this one. Now if you prefer out of order, you go for it my friend. But just know that this is part two of my interview. Daniel is the owner and CEO of currently WineCo. He has a background in building tech brands and he hopes to bring those skills to create a disruptive wine brand to a slow moving industry that is ripe for change. His wine brand currently has a focus on sustainability impact and just enjoying wine as it's meant to be enjoyed. In this episode we'll talk more about the sustainability efforts that currently is making to have a positive impact on the environment. How currently makes their wine and ensures high quality while focusing on sustainability. The benefits of using an aluminum bottle over glass. Yes, I said aluminum. Daniel's go to bottle of wine to bring to a dinner party and so much more. Let's get into the episode. Okay, well let's dive into now the sustainability cause. I know that's a major aspect for currently. What choices are you making for currently to have a much lower carbon footprint than other brands in the wine industry. Yeah, so when I started just digging around about this question of carbon footprint and I use kind of sustainability and carbon footprint in the same way, I mean to become more sustainable we need to lower our carbon carbon footprint of consuming the wine. Right. So how does one go about doing that? And if we had some type of pie chart and I've put some of this material out there in the past, I can send it over. We can dork out on charts with people, but basically, you don't have to look very far. The biggest thing is the. The weight of the vessel getting transported. Interesting. I feel like that wouldn't be the first thing people think of. I don't think so necessarily either, which is why all of this feels, like, really dorky and academic. And I don't want people to necessarily have to, like, I'll do the work, and then you can just support the cause. You know what I mean? Right, right. Because it's like, okay, you know, but the reality about. The reality about being a consumer of anything is that the closer that thing is to where you are, the lower carbon footprint is then happening. Right. So the only year in the past 100 years where we actually, like, had lower carbon emissions globally was like, when Covid happened and nobody was going anywhere. We stopped traveling, which is bad. And then you start. And they start consuming you more local. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Right. So, you know, getting more local, getting more domestic, you know, is. Is actually a lower carbon footprint thing, but the actual weight of the. Of the thing that's getting shipped around matters. Right. And in wine's case, a bottle of wine, in a traditional glass bottle, about half of that weight of that product is the glass is not the wine. Right. And there are other things like aluminum that weigh almost nothing compared to glass. And you therefore reduce the carbon footprint of consuming by half by lowering the weight and then doing some things also in the vineyard. Like, so there's things you can do actually in the vineyard and in the wine winery and in the vineyard itself, a lot of that is around water waste, and that's a much more sustainable way of producing. So instead of going around and, like, you know, using the right type of irrigation and then instead of using a bunch of chemicals which have their own kind of footprint associated with them. You know, there's owl boxes that just, you know, eat the rodents. Right. And so they don't get the. Don't eat the grapes and destroy the leaves and stuff. So it's, you know, it's stuff like. It's stuff like that where there's just. People are making very intentional choices. There's, you know, certifications associated with these things. There's gradations of certifications. I didn't know anything about any of this stuff, but I just got into the weeds about it. And was like, okay, well what's like the actual legit certification? Who's doing this stuff? Well, so when we went and sourced our wines. Cause I don't own any land, I don't own any equipment. I myself do not know how to make wine. I only know the difference between wine that tastes awesome and wine that doesn't. And have an enormous amount of respect for the people that then know how to turn these grapes into the most beautiful thing ever. But I was looking for the people that were then also making these types of choices. Right. So we have, you know, like the highest level of bar for certification about our certified sustainable practices, both that are being done in the vineyard and in the winery itself. The wine itself is certified vegan as well. Which is interesting to me in some ways because I was always like, wait, why isn't wine vegan? Right? You're like, excuse me, wait, grapes are vegan? What are we talking about here? What did you put in the wine? Yeah. And you know, part of this is like the lack of overall transparency about what is used in wine, making it in the bottle that, you know, I am all about creating more transparency and trust with buyers. People, if they're going to make a decision to put something into their bodies, I want them to feel comfortable knowing that we're not hiding what's in this product. As a matter of fact, I want you to know exactly what's in this product so that you can make that choice for yourself. Right. And so, so yeah, we're really, you know, we're really proud that it, you know, is certified vegan. The thing, by the way, in wine that makes it not certified vegan is that in the process of taking out the little bits, you know, called fining the wine. Not like you got a parking violation and you're getting a fine, but it is the same spelling that the products using fining are. Some of them are egg based and some of them are fish based. And I know that when I say that to people, then they're like, my wine has fish in it. I'm like, right, it's, it's inert in the flavor. No, it's not like that. But you know, these were basically processes that were developed on farms 150 years ago. Right. You know, and sticky yolk helps to kind of pull these things apart. And there's a kind of protein based collagen. So it's great. That works. So I don'. Have anything per se knocking non vegan wine. But it just so happens that my wine is not using those things and therefore it is vegan. And for the, you know, the percentage of people that then care about that, it's like, hey, here you go. By the way, we'll, we'll be able to say this on the bottle. That is true. I feel like that's just like, honestly a good, a good marketing thing to be able to like market to that group of people as well. Because I agree with you, there's a lot of things in wine. I actually did an episode, I think it was either the one a couple just before this where it was about like things that are in your wine and just talking about that. Cause I think we hear the word additive and it freaks us out. But sometimes they're just things that have been used forever, like you said. I mean, egg whites are a totally traditional way to get all those little particles out. They stick to it, and then they get the egg whites out of the wine. It's not like you're actually drinking it, but you wouldn't know that. And so if you see a wine and you're like, oh, this is vegan. And then somebody says it's not, you'd be like, wait, hold on, huh? And like, you'd have to know so much information to know what's in it. And so it's even just in the simplest thing. We're not saying anything against non vegan wine, but it's nice to be able to market and be able to reach that group that are vegan and have them feel confident that they can drink this wine. Just a quick reminder, if you are not on my mailing list yet, what are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under $15. Head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now let's get back to the show. Yeah. And I mean, going on to this point, if we could a little bit, because I'm, I, I think that, you know, the data that I actually saw about this type of millennial and Gen Z buyer saying that, you know, hey, I want to know what I'm putting in my body. I want to understand what's in this bottle. One of the biggest things that they care about is sugar. You know, is additional sugar. I mean, alcohol is a sugar. But when we are talking about an Alcoholic beverage we're talking about, is there any sugar that's not the alcohol? Right. And this was like a huge learning to me because I never had really considered that a dry wine, which I know means that it has zero grams of additional sugar in it. I'd never considered that most people don't necessarily know that. And that because there is no requirement for wine, unlike for other beverages, literally. Any other beverage, as soon as you remove alcohol from wine, they have to put a nutrition label on it. It absolutely kills me. Sorry. I digress. Go ahead. No, so. Well, I was like, well, but people care about this stuff and I want to make sure that we're being transparent with people about what's in the bottle. And so we're going to make sure that we tell people that our wine has 0 grams of sugar and 106 calories for a 5 ounce serving. Because that's one of the reasons that they're having a hard seltzer, is because they might think, whether it's correct or not, that a wine, a glass of wine is worse for them on those two metrics than a seltzer would be. And when we can then bring that information forward voluntarily, because you're right, it's not required, even though it should be. I'm like, why is the wine industry fighting this? I think I know why. I think it's because there's a bunch of. Yeah, I think a lot of your typical grocery store brand, you're going to see that they are putting some sugar in their wine or they are, you know, wines. There's. Yeah, there, it's masking things. There's a, you know, I think the sugar thing is, is a, is this kind of like secret thing that's kind of going on in the wine space to try to, I think, hide and trick. But I hear it from a lot of people that they're like, oh my God, I love that you say that. This is zero grams of sugar. And it's making me wonder now that I'm then tasting, you know, this is no knock on like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, for instance. I know people love New Zealand Sauvignon. Most New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, it has a touch of sugar in it. And you can probably taste that if you then were to do like a side by side, right, with like whether it's currently or not. I mean, just you could take a, you know, a Sancerre, right? Sure. And then you'd be like, okay, right. And then you ask people also the next Morning. Yeah, right. They're busy complaining about sulfites, and you're. Like, no, no, no. It was the alcohol plus the sugar, my friend. I mean, it ends up adding up to people. I. I really do hear that from a lot of people. Yeah. I think it's so hard because I was always very adamant about, like, I didn't always love when wines would say they were sugar free or they were like, there's no sugar, or like. And I think this came from, like, the healthy and the fit wines, which I still stand, you know, against that. I don't think that makes any sense at all. No. But I'm realizing now that, like, some of it comes from, like, I was. So maybe I was up on my pedestal a little bit because I was over there being like, well, I know a dry wine has no sugar, so you can drink all these wonderful, you know, European wines and all of these wines from small producers in the US and they're not adding sugar. It's a dry wine, like, and you don't need to put it on the label. But that was because I knew that. And a lot of people who are just getting into wine, that is far more education than they need to enjoy the wine. So just being able to say 0 grams added sugar or, you know, something like that just informs them of that without having to do all the education. I totally agree. And this is again, where I think, you know, because I, like you, went through the education and learned the words and everything, and then you take for granted that those words not only do they not mean something to, in my case, the lifestyle buyer that I'm catering toward, but they actually mean something different to people, which is even worse because you're actually. Then it's not like you're speaking a foreign language that someone can't understand. You're speaking a foreign language and then saying words in English that don't mean the words in English. So a dry wine. To a lifestyle wine drinker, my customer, a dry wine means a wine that makes your mouth feel dry after you drink it. Because wouldn't that naturally be the thing you'd think it would mean? Of course. It makes total sense. It's a very logical way. And therefore, a dry wine is actually high in tannin. Right. That's the actual thing going on with wine. And so people will say all the time, and I will say that I used to really judge this, and now I just think of it as, like, good markers for me to understand who someone is, you know, because I can't judge it at all. Because it makes total sense. If you don't have this wine education. Why do you say this? They say, I like wines that are dry and are a little bit sweet. Oh, sure. Okay. And you're like, wow, that was an oxymoron. But of course, that's just to, you know, that's just because you speak the wine language. Exactly, exactly. And so what they. What they mean, I think when they're saying that is that they like wines that are bright and have some fruit content in them. Right. And are probably zero grams of sugar. Yeah, that's what I think that that's being communicated. Right. Yeah. Oh, it's such a fun tangent to go on. I do love talking about. And it is such a great thing for me to realize too. Like, of like I had that I was like, oh, I really need to give wines a break when they're saying 0 grams of sugar on the label. Because they're doing that to be helpful and to like share that information. Yes. Because you don't have to be a collector. Like I have collectors like all the way on the side, but. Right. And an explorer. Right. You know, and I think of you certainly as. As an explorer. Right. And your audience is probably in varying shades of explorer mode, you know, which is a wonderful time of life to just explore wine. God, it's just the best. Yeah. Just for funsies. Oh, it's just the best. Right. But I mean, you kind of, you know, you kind of realize that that person actually knows what 0 grams of sugar means. They know it means it's a dry wine. Right. But the rest of people don't know if it's. It just says on the label, this is a dry white table wine. Right. They don't know what that means. So zero grams of sugar is actually a great way of just speaking everyone's language. Exactly. Yeah. I like that. Okay, we're gonna talk about the wine. I wanna go back to one thing. Cause I was so curious. This question popped up when you're talking. So you sell currently in aluminum bottles. Yes. Why bottles and not cans? This is a great question. So the thing we had talked about before, where there is a consumer bias against alternative packaging. I think that there is a distinct difference in the way that people view wine in a wine bottle shaped aluminum can. It is a can, right? A bottle. It's actually like a bottle, right? Sure. Yeah. Versus a traditional, what we think of as a pop top can. Yeah. And unscrewing a bottle, which people are now more or less not so stuck on. The idea that good wine can't come with a screw top. Right. Yeah, Even that it takes away from like, you know, the traditional or like the feel. You know, people feel like you need to like pull the cork out for it to like feel really like wine. Yes, exactly. Right. But. But interestingly. Right. Like for a lot of people, especially with white wines, you know, people are like, oh, a screw top grade, you know, and you go to a restaurant that serves and they're like, we're not like at the bar where it's busy. They're like, we don't even bother buying wines that have corks because it's such a time suck for them. It's a pain in the butt to then have to go and open up the wine, stuff like that. So, yeah, I really do think that. And again, this is me just kind of looking at anecdotal data that there is a distinct disadvantage that wine brands that are in cans have when it comes to how do consumers view that product. And I do think that in this vessel form, we escape most of that because people's initial take is, oh, this is a pretty bottle. Yeah, it's not. Oh, this is canned wine. Nobody actually calls currently canned wine. Right. I mean, I wouldn't even think of it. It's in a bottle. Why would I call it canned wine? Right, right. But it's an aluminum bottle. Yeah. They'd say it's in an aluminum bottle, but it's not, you know. And again, yes. The lack of the actual pop top, you know, I understand. Kind of makes it kind of functionally different. So you end up, I mean, unless you're in a desperate moment or whatever, you end up pouring this wine because. Because it's a 750ml too. Right. Pouring this wine into your own cup of some kind. Right. Or wine glass, whatever, you know, and canned wine, which is usually in like half bottle size formats, sometimes people then end up drinking that wine straight out of thing, which, whether or not you feel like the wine is like inferior or not, say the wine is never inferior. The wine is great. Some people, that's a hurdle like that I'm just actually drinking my wine out of like the same type of can that I'm drinking out of any. Anything else. Because they don't want to drink wine in. In that format, you know? Yeah, no, I think that makes a lot of sense. I'd never even thought about it that way. But you do view those, you view those differently. Cool. I think that the consumer views those. Oh yeah, definitely. I Mean, I admittedly, I think I do a little bit. Like, I think, you know, like, pouring from a bottle is also like. And it's also shareable. So it feels like other wines that are out there, you know, that like, you have a friend over, you're going to do that versus, like a can, you're only going to have those when you're solo. I feel like I'm not usually one to like, pour some for a friend, you know, so it just like doesn't have the same vibe as I think about with a lot of wines. That's right. Yeah. And you had mentioned this, you know, it's not readily obvious to people that it actually is in aluminum. Right. That is. I think that for me, as a brand owner, right, that cuts two ways. On one hand, it's awesome because people aren't going down this canned wine equals inferior wine thing. So I don't have to then overcome, you know, I then overcome it anyway when people taste the wine because then they're like, oh, my God, this is really freaking good. You know, not even for canned wine. They're just like, this is just good wine, you know. But there's also, I mean, it's a challenging thing to then communicate on the other end of it that this wine is shatterproof bottle. So you can take it to the boat and the beach and the pool. It's not totally obvious to people at the beginning. So I'm trying to do more like with my signage and the way that we're communicating to. To let them know, hey, shatterproof bottle, right? Which then people know, oh, I can take this with me to these places. That glass is not allowed. Right. And I'm not trying at all to, in the purchase moment, communicate any of the carbon footprint stuff or any of the glasses ass kind of stuff. You know what I mean? It's not my job at that moment. It's not. You know, that type of education campaign would. Would take millions of dollars and many years, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that makes sense. Okay, last thing I want to talk about before we dive into. I do a little speed round at the end of every episode, but obviously this is a wine podcast and you are selling wine. So let's talk a little bit about the wine that's in the bottle. We've done a little already, but can you tell me a little bit about how the wine is made? You know, where do the grapes come from? What is the process, like, who makes your wine, all that good stuff? I'm so grateful to the sponsors who Help make this podcast possible. And Today's sponsor is one I personally love. Wine.com you know, I'm all about exploring new wines, but let's be real, it's not always easy to find unique bottles, especially if you're limited to what's near you. That's why I love shopping on wine.com they have a huge selection wines at every price point, user friendly search features and real wine experts ready to help you find your next favorite bottle. And here's a special deal just for you as a podcast listener. Get free shipping on orders over $150 at wine.com corkfizz with promo code Corkfizz. My recommendation, build a mix of 6 to 12 bottles to try some, you know, some you've never heard of. Not sure what to pick. Message me, I'd love to help or take advantage of the live chat wine experts@wine.com. Yeah, so, so again, you know, as a brand, you know, there are many brands out there, they source product that is then made by experts. Right? So I've done the same thing and it was, it was a really fun process to kind of go through. I assembled a panel of my wife and her savvy beloved friends and, you know, presented them with wines that were all, you know, made sustainably and zero grams of sugar. Right. I bet you had to really convince them to be very difficult. This was a very difficult thing to have come true. And now what was really fun though, because again, it took me out of this frame of, oh, I'm supposed to be sitting down and taking notes about the, every piece of the flavor profile and everything, like, because it's a $20 bottle of wine that is supposed to just be yummy, it's just supposed to be delicious and easy to drink. Right. So what are the flavor profiles that make something like that? Now that to me is really of interest. Right. And that's what we then tried to assemble. So the wine itself is from the northern part of the central coast of California in Monterey County. This is a cool climate growing region because you get this marine layer that comes down from the ocean kind of around the corner of the mountain range that's on the left side and you have the Santa Ana highlands over there on the left side. That makes world class Pinot Noir, another thin skinned grape like Sauvignon Blanc that benefits from cool mornings and then warmer afternoons. So that you get this balance of the right amount of fruit from the ripening and then acidity from the slowness of that ripening actually happening. The Lack of certain things from a flavor profile perspective is one of the secret ingredients of currently. So California savvy bee tends to be ripe, and with ripeness tends to come one specific fruit flavor that is polarizing, and it's grapefruit. Oh, interesting. And I didn't really know this until I really got into this, but now going around and sampling the wine to a bunch of educated wine buyers, like people at restaurants and stuff that are, you know, that. That are credentialed in wine and know a lot about wine, when I come to them with my wine and they're like, where's it from? I was like, well, it's from Central coast, you know, to California. And then the first thing, now that I've done this a bunch, because I've, you know, the first thing I then say is, but it doesn't have grapefruit on it. And then they go, oh, good. Interesting. And so there is a whole bifurcation that has gone on of this, like, domestic savvy bee market that is like, you're in camp grapefruit or you're in camp not grapefruit. Like, literally, like, you don't like grapefruit on the. Okay. And I think it's actually like, it's like the pith of the grapefruit says the finish. This is what happens. And I really can't believe how strongly people feel about this. Right. So the wine also does not have some of the traditional flavor things that you get from a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc because it's from totally different place, different weather. And, you know, New Zealand, traditionally, as you were talking about these gooseberries or some people, you know, cat piss, right. Kitty. And then you get grass. And so currently does not have those things on it. So, you know, it. It doesn't taste like a New Zealand savvy bee. It does not taste also like a more, I would say, traditional California style. It tastes more like a. A Loire or a Sancerre style Sauvignon blanc that has a light crisp with a nice minerality on the finish. People like to use the word clean when they are talking about the flavor experience of the wine because it finishes nice and clean because of the nice acidity that it has in it. It's 12.4% alcohol because it does not sit in a hot growing place. So it. It is actually lighter in that way. I mean, this is. This is certainly not low alk. You know, when we talk about that part of the industry, you know, but you can. You can get California sauvignon blancs that are 14 and a half percent, you know. Yeah. And that's a different wine. You know, it's. It's heavier in your mouth. It's got a ton of usually, like, tropical fruits and grapefruit finish. And, you know, it's got bracing acidity and big fruit. And there's a bigness to. To that, you know, and those wines are certainly. Can be incredible wines. Right. And some of them are $100 a bottle. I mean, in Napa Valley, I mean, it's not like. Not. I'm not talking about wine that's cheap when I'm talking about this flavor profile, certainly. But, you know, we're really trying to deliver something that can go with or without food, you know, that you could have outside, you could have by the pool, and. And is, again, this phrase kind of, you know, easily crushable. Yeah. Gotta love a crushable. Like a patio. Patio pounder. I've heard before as well. Yeah, People like them. They're good. Okay. If folks want to try your wine, how can they do that? Yeah, they can go to currentlywine.com and place an order. And we should do some promo. Let's make sure we add in. Yeah, definitely. Well, I can put it in the show notes for folks to. Okay, great. Yeah, so there'll be a cork and fizz discount code that we'll be able to provide for people. We'll do a 20% discount code that people will be able to get. That's what we're doing. Sounds good. Okay. Ork and Fizz20. And you'll see it in the notes there as well. And then also, if you live in the east coast, please go and go to our website@currently wine.com and find where we are near you. Because if. If you can buy it nearby, that is much better for the environment. It's also much better for our brand as we are trying to show that we have customers that are purchasing the wine where it's available in locations. It's available in over 135 locations today, and many more are coming as we're expanding up into Maine right now. So please, you know, please, please check in there. Cool. Sounds good. All right. Yeah. Folks, try out the wine now to end every episode, I do what I call a speed round. It doesn't mean that it's going to be like, necessarily rapid fire. You don't have to come up with things in a second. But it's meant to be, like, go with the first thing that comes to mind, because otherwise these questions could take A very long time. Let's do it. We'll do it quick. Okay. What is your favorite wine at the moment? I always love Left Bank Bordeaux. I don't care what time of year it is. Although I do tend to drink seasonally. Sure, sure. Okay. All right. What is your go to bottle of wine to bring to, like a dinner party or to share with friends? I tend to bring sparkling when I go to places. So there are some really cool kind of French producers that are not part of the big houses that, that I. That I love to share. Do you go the crement route or do you go champagne? No, I do like Cremont, but I think if I'm bringing something, I'll like, bring champagne just so that it says champagne. I need to invite you to my get togethers. That sounds great. Somebody that brings champagne with them, like. Thank you. Well, it's partly so that my wife, she'll want to drink a glass if they. Sure. That helps you bring the wine that you want to drink as well. Right. And she's like, I mean, this sounds. Cheesy, but like, oh, of course. Anytime we go somewhere, I'm bringing currently. And it's very much a standout thing because the bottle and everyone's, you know, what's going on here? You know, and then if I don't do that, my wife is like, what are you doing? And I'm like, isn't that like, kind of tacky of me? And she's like, no, currently, if it. Wasn'T good, then it would be bad. But you mean, you know, if it's something that's enjoyable, fun, you know, then you're just like, you gotta show it off. Exactly. So I do end up. I do end up bringing currently around. And I mean, I will say it is really fun to. I'll probably have a glass tonight. It's just a really fun thing to be able to. To be able to enjoy because I do like to drink white wine in the summer and, you know, like, I. Yeah, I like it. Okay, how about a favorite wine region you've ever visited? Ooh, I loved visiting Piedmont. Ooh. Okay. And I loved it because when we got there, thinking that we were going to be going down this Nebbiolo train, you know, I knew about Barolo and Barbaresco and. And we were, you know, really excited to be drinking some of these amazing wines. And I got there and what I didn't know was that Nebbiolo is actually not the most widely grown grape in that region. Red wine Grape. And so I got introduced to and fell in love with Barbera while we were there. And I think Barbera is, first of all, a much more approachable grape than Nebbiolo. Nebbiolo is really. It's like a fickle, mean, spirited, crotchety person or something. I don't even know. Like, and you have to warm to it, and it takes time. And Barbera, you know, can be just really, really light and refreshing. And. And. And then there's ones that are made more in a more, like, serious way that are unbelievable, like, really incredible wines, you know, for $50 bottle of wine that'll blow your mind about its depth and complexity. So, yeah, Barbera, where it's at. Cool. Okay. Now, on the flip side, a wine region you'd like to visit that you haven't yet. Okay. Well, I had mentioned that I am, like, a Francophile, you know? Yeah. I've never freaking been to France. Oh, no. I mean, do I have to only pick one when I go on this bucket list trip to France? I absolutely have to go to Bordeaux. I have to go to Bordeaux. But I would love to go to the Loire Valley. I would love to go down into Burgundy. I would love to visit Champagne. I need a full nation tour. I mean, the. I mean, the Crow Hermitage going down into the. I mean, there's a lot. Yeah. Trust me. I went for the first time last fall. I went in September last year. And it was. We were there for. My husband and I were there for 10 days, and it was, like, so hard choosing where to go because, like, I feel like we could have spent 10 days in the Loire Valley itself. We only went to one area in the Loire. And so, yeah, I'm, like, already ready to, like, go back to France and, like, visit where I was already and then go to new region. It's like, I need, like, so much longer than 10 days. I believe that there are probably seven wine regions of France that if you told me you can only drink wine from one of these regions, but we will draw it at random for the rest of your life, you would still be discovering things years and years on because it's. You know, the regions are so diverse. You know, the Loire in particular, I mean, you can have there's, you know, reds and whites and sweet wines, and I mean, it's unbelievable. Like, so. Yeah, I agree. I need to go 10 days. One of the spots. Yeah. Back again. 10 days. Just another one. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Okay. How about a favorite wine and food pair pairing? Oh, my God. I mean, I I sound so cliche saying this, but I actually really do love, like, a cab blend with steak. Yeah. Can't. I mean, it's popular for a reason. Grilled steak, I truly love that. But, you know, I have been to restaurants and done some, like, really type of fun tastings. I love oysters, and so I love a savvy bee. Just like, currently, you know, it doesn't have to be. Currently's not the only one. But, you know, you know, currently with. With some oysters on Cape Cod is like, to me, that's like an infinite summer kind of feeling, you know, I love doing that. And then my favorite dessert. Forget the pairing. My favorite dessert is to just have a Sauterne. Yeah. And whether or not there's any additional food associated with that, that's just gravy, you know? Yeah. Well. And sometimes it's so rich itself. It's like this. This has to be the dessert. I can't have anything else, so I don't know how the French do it with, like, cheese at the end of their meal and a, you know, rich glass of solder. I'm like, what are you doing? Yeah, the portion sizes are. That is probably fair. That's what they're doing. And they do it very effectively, actually. You know, so it's like rich foods all the way, but no 16 ounce. You know, it's like, here's your meat. That is fair. Ounces. Yes, that is fair. Okay, last two questions. If you were given $1,000 to spend on wine, you had to spend it on wine, how would you spend it? Oh, my gosh. So I think that. I think that what I would do is I think I would get a vertical of. So same bottle, different years. Just for folks who haven't heard, same bottle, different years. Yeah. So I would like. Of like a. It doesn't have to be a Bordeaux. I'm actually really into, like, the mountain fruit in California. This whole mountain fruit theme, by the way, that I talked about from the initial wine, that made me fall in love with this. This has persisted in my life. Sure. Elevation. Because it creates this denser, darker fruit flavor profile. So I'm obsessed with, like, places in. In California in the. In Napa that are the mountain fruits, like Diamond Mountain and. And Spring Mountain. And so I would probably do that. I'd probably get a vertical where I could then go. And I would space it out. Sure. The vertical would be, like, five years apart. Nice. You know, this would be, you know, wine that's a hundred dollars a bottle. You know, I'd get 10 of them and we would just have it go in five year increments back to, you know, 19, 1980. And we would just sample. Everyone would get a chance to sample the wines in reverse chronological order. We'd start. You start old and then, and then you kind of go young. And then you just get a chance to fully appreciate what happens to these wines over time, which I think is just so spectacular. Yeah. Oh, that's fun. I love it. Great answer. Okay, last question. What is one wine myth or myth surrounding wine that bothers you the most? I think it generally probably bothers me to think that like, wine has to be expensive to be good. Yeah. You know, and again, what expensive means, of course. Like, I'm myself someone who's higher income and a total wine snob, you know, so. But I was hanging out with some people this week and he opened up a Mugo Reserve Tempranillo. This is Rioja, which is Tempranillo grape. It was from 2001. And if you haven't had older Spanish wine like this, I would highly recommend it. It tasted to me and I ask, I always ask, I'm like the jerk guest who asks how much the bottle of wine costs. But I do it for the reason of wanting to actually know, you know? Right. No, I do the same thing. And it. And it drank. Like, there's so much complexity that goes on with these aged Riojas that I, you know, if you like these bigger kind of cab style blends and stuff like I'm talking about, try this if you haven't done it, because it will really blow your mind. Find a rioja that's like 20 to 25 years old and you will find a complexity in that wine that is absolutely unmatched and world class. And I was drinking the wine, I was thinking to myself, and I love doing this. I love playing the guessing game. Like, ah, I feel like this is probably like an 85 to $100 bottle of wine, you know, and we were drinking it next to a Barbaresco that was also from 2001 that was probably more expensive than that even. Right. And this bottle of wine was 35 bucks. Wow. It was. And it was purchased from a wine shop nearby that they had gotten something from an estate sale because it had that much age on it. It's 35 bucks. And I'm like, now is 35 bucks nothing? No. Is it like a cheap product? No, but I'm talking about a world class wine experience where we're sitting around and like you're really kind of freaking out about the wine. That to me shows that. No, it doesn't. You don't need to spend a hundred dollars to get something that'll blow your mind. No, I love it. All right, well, thank you so much, Daniel, for joining me and talking. It's such a great conversation. I love that we went all kinds of different ways with it. Anything else you want to share before we end the podcast? No, I just, I'm just really appreciative. I know we were excited to be able to do this. You know, I was personally excited about this because what you're doing out there in the wine world and bringing people in and making wine more approachable I think is just what the industry needs and what so many people find to be really important in kind of demystifying and then like anti snobbing kind of wine. So keep on keeping on preaching the good word. Thank you. That is exactly what we're here. We are anti snob for sure. Even when I can get a little snobby, you know, we do a good mix. All right, thank you so much again for joining. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. Be sure to go check out correct Currently wine. Their Sauvignon Blanc is absolutely delicious. I have tried it myself. Perfect summer wine, but honestly, you can enjoy it year round. Go to currently wine.com to order yours if you're on the east coast. Also go check out go to their website to see where you can find it near you. Online, you can use discount code cork and fizz20 to get 20% off your order. If you love this episode as much as as I did, please take a second rate it, leave a review, share it with a friend. Share it with all your wine loving friends. Let them know more about wine. Next week's episode is something I've never done before and is extra special because it's releasing on my 30th birthday. I have asked Mr. Cork and Fizz to come in and interview me. I know I'm usually the one interviewing people so I think it'll be, it'll be fun. But also I'm a little scared to be in the hot seat I think. So I have asked for questions on my social media that you'd want him to ask and I'm sure he'll come up with some dandies on his own. If you've ever seen videos of us together, we've posted a few on social media, mostly blind tasting, but I'VE also done a few Instagram lives with him as well, so you'll know it'll be a good time, so I hope you tune in for that. Thanks. Watching for again for listening. And if you want to learn more about wine, come follow me at corkandfizz on Instagram. And if you're interested in exploring new wines and joining an incredible community of wine lovers, be sure to sign up for my virtual tasting club, the Court crew. Head to thecourtcrew.com to learn more and use code winespecial to get your first two months for just $8 a month. Cheers.