By Amanda McCrossin
When I started the Wine Access Unfiltered Podcast with Vanessa Conlin, our goal wasn’t to be another “wine podcast.” We wanted to inspire conversations around wine–to spark discussions and revelations, and see another side of comedians, athletes, musicians, and pop-culture icons to connect people around wine. So when Vinous founder and wine expert Antonio Galloni reached out, I was nervous… but Vanessa and I couldn’t resist sitting down with one of the world’s foremost wine critics.
Antonio didn’t disappoint—the MIT grad, musician and tri-lingual renaissance man only strengthened our mission. In fact, he had us practically rolling on the floor laughing as we traded tales and learned that there’s a lot more to Antonio’s than extensive wine expertise. It’s one of my favorite episodes so far…
Which brings me to comedian Bert Kreischer, my original dream guest. I’ve been a diehard fan of his for many years—following his journey from a host on the Travel Channel to becoming a full-time comedian and podcaster. I played out how the show might go in my head every night leading up to the recording, but I never could have imagined how this conversation would go down.
Many people know Bert for his shirtless comedy specials on Netflix, or being the original “Van Wilder,” or as “The Machine”.. his infamous story about robbing a train in Russia with the Russian Mafia. Bert was undeniably funny, but I never believed that wine—or our podcast—would be what had the funny man choking up about what really matters in life, and how wine has defined those times for him. It made me sit back in my chair — and makes me do so whenever I listen—to think about how we really are connecting people with, through, and around great wine.
Just over 6 months after launching, we’re accomplishing our goal one bottle at a time. I’d love for you to listen in and join us. It doesn’t matter if you prefer Old Vine Zin to Napa Cab, hate Chardonnay, or adore Champagne, because this isn’t another podcast about grape varieties and sommelier tests. It’s a podcast about how there’s more to our favorite beverage—and to all of us—than meets the eye.
And let’s Drink
