From his teetotaling childhood home to Opus One’s debut vintage to putting Argentine Malbec on the map, winemaker Paul Hobbs talks about his career-defining moments with candid humor and insightful analysis on the season 2 premiere of Wine Spectator‘s Straight Talk podcast.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off our second season than with Paul Hobbs,” says host James Molesworth, senior editor and special projects director for Wine Spectator. “I’ve been fortunate enough to cover his work for more than 20 years—which is still just barely half of his career—from growing up on an apple farm in upstate New York to becoming one of California’s most prominent winemakers.”
Now available on Apple, Google, Spotify and more, including at WineSpectator.com/podcast, episode 19 of Straight Talk also takes a deep dive into a government study that recently surfaced in Oregon, and the controversy over why it had been buried.
Molesworth also reports that the newest episode represents a format shift for the second season of Straight Talk with Wine Spectator. Each monthly episode of season 2 spotlights a single in-depth interview with intriguing and accomplished guests making unique impacts on the wine and service industries. Molesworth will continue to be joined by podcast director Rob Taylor and senior editor for news Mitch Frank to catch up on the biggest stories, trends and upcoming events, and advice columnist Dr. Vinny (senior editor MaryAnn Worobiec) will once again share from her deep well of wine education and etiquette experience.
Straight Talk debuted in October 2022 and has attracted some of the wine industry’s biggest stars for honest, probing, revelatory and sometimes hilarious conversations. Season 1 guests included winemakers Aubert de Villaine, Tim Mondavi, Tony Soter, Mark Aubert, Helen Keplinger, Thomas Rivers Brown, Greg Brewer and many more, as well as chefs Thomas Keller and Marcus Samuelsson, NBA Hall of Famer and winery investor Tony Parker and film, TV and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc star Sarah Jessica Parker.
“The Straight Talk podcast is a must-listen for anyone in the wine industry, and gives consumers a personal connection with our expert staff of tasters that no other format—or podcast—can offer,” said Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken, who himself made several guest appearances in Straight Talk‘s first season.
Wine Spectator‘s Straight Talk podcast is available for free on all major podcasting platforms, as well as right here at WineSpectator.com/podcast; listeners can email their questions and comments to StraightTalk@WineSpectator.com. The next episode, starring Massican founder Dan Petroski, will debut March 22.