You can also listen to this on your podcast platform of choice:
Our first “Vinterview”! Interviews with professionals from both the wine space and entertainment spaces, expect many more to come in-between our usual wine and entertainment pairings!
Today we had a chat with
.
From corner bars to Michelin stars, Liz Mendez hails from the Midwest and over the years has developed a portfolio career in wine, tech, and radio, spending three decades immersed in the restaurant industry. She is an award-winning sommelier and a previous owner of a Chicago wine bar, though she hit the reset button when she began working in hospitality technology with American Express and their platform "Resy".
Liz is passionate about the immense opportunities within the zero-proof world and inclusive hospitality, which she writes about in her newsletter, The Luncheonette:
Liz is also the founder of Aldea Hospitality + Productions, an agency that works with businesses, retail, and restaurants to reimagine the power, reach, and impact of hospitality as a community-driven art and craft.
Also follow Liz on:
In this episode, we talk about wine-in-can, the NoLo space, Internet 3.0, Social Media 2.0, the “Analogue Sandwich”, and the “Death of the Follower”.
A LOT has changed in the past 10 years! And while the pandemic pushed beer and spirits into whole new territory, wine was mostly spared having to adapt as a necessity. But time keeps on ticking, and the money wine is leaving on the table is growing more obvious.
We’re ripping out vines, selling whole wine portfolios, going out of business, and none of this has to be so dire. Plenty of hot topic button-pushing issues on display here, but I hope everyone enjoys the conversation no matter what your current thoughts on the subjects are!
A Few Very Cool Things Mentioned on the Pod
Zeronimo - The World’s First 20-year aged de-alc wine
The first 20-year aged dealcoholized wine! And apparently it’s tasting amazing.
A blend of Blaufränkisch (50%), Pinot Noir (30%), and Merlot (20%). The blend was aged for a full 24 months in new French barriques before its 18 years of bottle aging and contains 22 grams of residual sugar per liter.. The grapes come from over 60-year-old vineyards on the famous Neckenmarkter Hochberg.
It can be purchased here for €50, though note they do not ship outside of Europe!
Name-Dropped De-Alc Wine Brands
Oceano (Rachel Martin)
Oceano is a full-acl winery who also launched a de-alc line and not only sold out of their first two vintages of the de-alc, but has also seen their full alc sales rise 200% during the same period, post de-alc launch!
Eins Zwei Zero
The German winery that Liz said was “crushing it” (pun intended!) with thier de-alc Riesling. Many European wineries send their juice to Germany for the de-alc process as the technology is ready and available there.
A play on the name “Eins Zwei Dry”, which is their full-acl Riesling!
Mentioned in the News
Athletic Brewing Non-Alc Brews will now be served at all LiveNation events (Annoucnement)
What are your thoughts on the Ready-to-Drink and De-Alc space?
What about wineries and their use of social media, the internet, and using them to craft analogue (IRL) ways to connect?
Share this post