DAVID GREGA: A SELF EDUCATION IN WINE

With his father’s suburban loaded up with Petit Sirah and layered with dry ice, David Grega, nearly asphyxiated on the highway before he got his grapes to the crusher on his very first day of winemaking.  As someone who has no interest in saying “no” to opportunity, David has taken a novel approach to his career with wines.  An Army combat veteran of Iraq, cigar enthusiast, self-made Tea sensory instructor, and now Cab winemaker by day and Rhone wine guy by night, it became clear during our podcast conversation that the unifying characteristics of David’s success in a range of fields stems from his focus and hyper-disciplined self education.  We spent a good portion of our recorded conversation talking about David’s path into all things wine and ended with his specific vision of what he hopes his impact to be on the winemakers that come after him.

Carlotta Wines is the brand that David and his partner created to focus of wines using mainly Rhone varietals.  David also works with winemaker, Jeff Ames, who is the creator of the Rudius Wines, and together they manage Jeff’s clientele of high-end Napa Wineries including Tor Kenward, Boich Cellars, and Anthem Winery.

As both David and I have an interest in personal development, especially health and fitness, we talked extensively about his forays into intermittent fasting and physical transformation through diet and exercise.  Since that is not everyone’s interest, and isn’t directly focused on grapes and wine, I decided to keep that portion of the conversation and to paste it onto the end of the main podcast.  This way you can finish with the winemaking portion and have that other segment available if you choose to hang around.

Thanks for your support in listening and in letting me know what you think about Inside Winemaking. Email is the best way to reach me.  I enjoy the feedback that you guys provide and am committed to continue making improvements in the audio quality and the show as a whole.

Jim

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Carlotta Wines the wine David makes with partner Aran Healy. Facebook Page for Carlotta
• Broken Arrow Wine Company
• Professional Culinary Institute / French Culinary Institute where David studied to be a Certified Sommelier
• David’s Facebook page For the record, it’s Facebook.com/loveswine cause he’s a baller
• Sur Lucero Master Sommelier
• The documentary, Somm, where four sommeliers attempt to pass the master sommelier exam
• David Grega Youtube page
• Teance Fine Teas in Berkeley, California
• David works with Jeff Ames on Jeff’s own brand, Rudius, and his clientele of Napa Wines including Tor Kenward Family Wines, Anthem Winery, Boich Cellars