Sway Explores Napa's Finest Winery with Lorenzo Trefethen | SWAY’S UNIVERSE

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We're coming off this great conversation about having a sober vac a sober holiday. Boos
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citizens, thank you for supporting my booze. It didn't go over too well. No. Um,
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didn't go too well, but you know, um, nevertheless, I thought in the spirit,
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the the operative word being spirit Yes. of things that we'll have a special guest today um, who we consider a good
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friend. Yeah. The man's hospitality is impeccable. Absolutely. I mean, he brought us to his home.
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Yeah. He brought us to his family's home, childhood home, where we grew up and spent many a holiday.
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Talked about their legacy and and and how his family has helped
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to shape and mold what we know as the wine industry. Uh, from his beginnings
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in Napa Valley to what we know of it now. Globally, they have made their imprint. And I want to welcome him to
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the show, the one and only Lorenza. Lorenzo is here. Goodness.
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With that introduction, I think maybe I should just stop talking and let you do it for me. Well, you know,
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I appreciate it. No. Yeah, man. It's a It's a You know, my sister and I
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are Shout out to Haley. That's right. Uh we're we're caretakers of this amazing legacy and but it's a
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legacy that a lot of people don't know about. Well, we want to come back and talk about it. You open to doing that?
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Oh, I'm And then listen, if you're into wines, like seriously, on the highest
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level, Trafan Legacy is golden, you know, it's platinum. Um, they've done so
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much in the world of wine and we learned so much just coming onto their property and Lorenzo just giving us the tour and
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telling us the history. If you are into the wines, uh, this is a great time to
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call, you know who I'm speaking of, 8887423345. And if you want to learn and some of the
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great things that they're doing, community outreach as well, uh, give us a call. All right, 8887423345.
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Let's go. As you know, I I have never proclaimed to be much of a spirit induler.
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Let's just call it an appreciator. I'm a I'm an appreciator. But what I am an appreciator of is history.
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Yeah. And I am a big fan of u California terrain. Having grown up in Northern California,
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my family owned um Oh, yeah. property in Clear Lake, California. In order to get there, we
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had to drive through Napa uh wine country. Okay. Um, that's a beautiful drive.
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That's a beautiful drive from Oakland and it would take us a couple of hours. And oh man, I'm just thinking about this.
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God bless my grandmother Elsie Waters. LC Waters. LC Waters. Uh, and I used to
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take her, her first cousin, Bertha, um, my my auntie Katie, my auntie Selia,
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Selia, Selia, all of these folks. We would on our way to Clear Lake, we would always stop by the different wineries
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and and I I I wouldn't drink cuz I was the driver, but I would treat them to that whole Right. that whole experience.
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And I would see all these brands and one of the brands I saw I would see often was called Trafan.
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Right. I'm saying that correctly. Right. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're right there at the base of the valley. You got to drive by
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us to get anywhere. Na Valley starts at our place. It starts at your place. And and this is
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a a winery that I want to say in the '60s '68 my grandparents came to town and
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there was nothing there. It was walnuts, apricots, prunes, cattle. When they
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started ripping out walnuts to plant grape vines, everyone thought they were out of their mind. They thought they were going crazy,
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right? So it was only walnuts and what else you said? Corn, apricots. There was there was I mean it
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was a lot everything but a lot of orchards, a lot of cattle, uh beef and dairy and um yeah the
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America Napa didn't exist yet. Napa wasn't Napa yet. It was a beautiful place but Napa was known for two things
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really had the uh largest veterans home in the state of California and also the largest mental hospital
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that was in Napa back and forth from time to time. It still is. It's a beautiful place for rehab. That's
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where I would want to be. That's right. Exactly. That's right. Good point, Tracy. Uh especially after the conversation we had
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earlier. Oh boy. Here he goes. I'm trying to bring Lorenzo in on that. Yeah. Down the line because I I I we we
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I want to see if he could The way we went to your winery, Trofthan Winery,
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and you gave us such an amazing tour. We don't have that kind of time, but can
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you break down Yeah. your family's history, how you were able to restore Napa Valley, right? your
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impact that you've made on the winer wine industry, not just here domestically, but also internationally.
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You guys accomplished things that American wines have never accomplished until you did, right? Can you give us a
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breakdown of that? Well, and Napa Valley was first, you know, we were one of the first in Napa
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Valley and Napa Valley kicked the door wide open for everybody else. So, we got started and you know, uh, we like to say
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my grandparents were visionaries. Today, that's what we say. back then they were just out of their minds.
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And my my parents too um they started the winery started making wine. There
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were like 20 25 wineries in Napa at the time and many of them were run by the Christian brothers making wine for the
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Catholic Church. So it wasn't you know wine country yet and we started making among other wines
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of Chardonnay uh which there wasn't very much Chardonnay when we started. There were fewer than a thousand acres of
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Chardonnay in the state of California and my grandfather planted about 200. So we had the Chardonnay vineyard in the
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early years. We were growing other things too, but Chardonnay was important because in 1979
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the French put together the largest competitive wine tasting the world had ever seen. You can think of this the the
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wine industry has a little bit of That's right. Yeah. Yeah. They called it the uh laser Olympia divine, the wine Olympics. And
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there were there were 33 countries represented. And when Trafan Chardonnay was declared the best Chardonnay in the
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world in 1979 in Paris, no one was more surprised than my parents.
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They had no idea that a tasting was even taking place, much less that our wine had somehow made its way in there. And
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the French, as you might imagine, were not very pleased by that result. So they
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essentially threw out the results, said uh you know this can't possibly be true. And uh they did a they host a rematch
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the following year this time in Burgundy, the home of Chardonnay. Yeah. And they tasted through all the top
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finishing wines from the year before. Threw a few GR crew wines in that had not been part of the mix the year
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before. And um and we won again. And that was that was that was the
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beginning of the beginning of Napa Valley and the new world of wine. Up until that point, you could only make
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great wine in Burgundy, Bordeaux, and the Rine. That was it. Nobody cared about the rest of the world. And
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certainly not California. Yeah. And uh, you know, we came along and kicked the door, not not only us, but a
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few people, other friends in Napa, kicked the door open for the rest of the world. And the world of wine is much
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more interesting now as a result. This is Lorenzo Trafathan, right? Come on. Of the bloodline right here. He's of
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the bloodline, right? What I love though, you know, you break it down so simple, Lorenzo, and as
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Sway said, you walked us around, you showed us the beautiful property, the vineyard, and and shared the story with your history, and you made it so simple,
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yet wine can be so intimidating. Oh, wine's difficult. It It's very difficult.
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You need like a special tool to just get in the bottle, right? It's so difficult. What would when
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you're at a table your dinner and you want to order a bottle of wine like and if someone puts it on you to order not
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you Lorenzo but let's say a sway sure hey sway pick out a bottle of wine. How does a beginner even know where to
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start? We have the holidays coming up and different things like that. Where do you start Lorenzo? Cuz sometimes you'll
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see something for 275 for 85 and then you don't want to be the person to order
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the $15 bottle of wine. But where where does one start? Yeah. Well, trfathan.com's a great place to go.
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There you go. That boy is good. He's good. But, uh, no, uh, most restaurants are a
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lot of great restaurants. Someone someone's putting that list together. Someone's making the decision to put the
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wines that they have on the list and they're usually thinking about the food, right? Wine, yeah, it's complicated. Um, but it
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rewards study. That's part of the fun part about wine is its diversity. And
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once you start getting into it, I mean, it's an endless universe of things that you can try and flavors that you can
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find. Uh, and there's nothing else that you're going to have that's actually going to make the food that you're going to enjoy
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taste better. And so when you're at a restaurant, there's someone who has some knowledge
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and just start asking questions. Be like, "Hey, you know, come over here. Help me. I want to spend this much. I
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like these flavors. where, you know, we're going to have this tonight. What would you recommend? Yeah.
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And uh there's always, you know, take advantage of the person who like assembled the list. And the
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the um that's that's how I like even I that's what I do. Yeah. Yeah.
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Okay. Lorenzo Trofthin is here. He brought a box. Tracy, I'm I brought two two boxes. Tracy, he thought you were
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going to be here, but she's in New York. You can grab it for me, Sway. Tell me how it tastes. I appreciate your
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palette. Lorenzo. Yeah, I'm so happy to meet you, my dear. I am
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very much a wine enthusiast. Yeah, I love myself a good glass. And for
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anyone, you know, we're now in a space of mindful drinking and balance and you
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know, sobriety has definitely become a part of the picture. Um, for yourself,
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what is your philosophy on moderation? And for someone who maybe has never had
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a glass of wine and they are maybe in their their 40s, they've gone their entire life without ever having a sip.
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Yeah. What would you say are the benefits to even enjoying wine?
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Well, it is a mindful experience. As you say, a great bottle of wine does
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something that no other drink really does. It puts you in the moment. You can be
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having a conversation, then you dip your nose into a glass. A really great wine will make you sit up and go, "Wait a
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minute. What is this? What am I having?" And so it really does like bring you into the moment. A great bottle of wine
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really elevates the experience that you're going to have. Uh it makes the night memorable.
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Um and uh there's there's nothing else that does that there. You know, nobody
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calls up their friends the next day and goes, "Hey, how about that espresso martini we had last night? Wasn't that
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amazing?" But if you if you have a great bottle of wine, you'll be talking about that for
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like a long time. Um, but uh that
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the other thing that happens with wine is it you appreciate the food that you're having too. It again it brings
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you it's it's wine and food, right? And uh and so it really does bring um
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you into sort of a responsible mode of drinking, right? And I drink mostly
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because of the flavor. The flavor is what I'm after and the you know the alcohol is kind of a nice side effect of
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that flavor. There's something about the fermentation of a wine grape that's magical. You like
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um the reason that wine has this weird vocabulary. That's the other, you know, sort of intimidating thing about wine.
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You start listening to wine people and you're like, "What the hell are they talking about?"
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They've got this whole other vocabulary. But the reason that they can sniff a
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glass of wine and be like, "Oh, there's, you know, cherries and chocolate and tobacco and stuff like that is there's
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nothing as chemically complex, uh, aside from life itself. There's
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nothing as chemically complex as a glass of wine. the the very chemistry that
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gives cherries their flavor, that gives chocolate their flavor, that gives that tobacco box its smell,
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that that's going to be in that glass if you can smell it. And there's uh there's
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nothing else. You can make wine out of other things. You can make it out of pineapples. You can make strawberry wine and it's going to taste like
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strawberries and pineapples, but the thing about a a wine from wine grapes is
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it never tastes like grapes. It tastes like everything else. There's something about the fermentation of the wine grape
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that just creates this explosion in chemistry that's really sort of unmatched anywhere else.
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And that's, you know, the beauty of one of the beauties of wine. Let me ask you about grapes, right? And
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because these aren't the grapes that you will buy at the store. Yeah. Right. Right. And
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yeah, I remember you tasting the grape and you're like, "Wait a minute. What have I been buying?" This these grapes taste different. They were
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little. It tastes like the Garden of Eden. Yeah. Right. And Trafan doesn't even You don't buy grapes, right?
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No, we grow our own. You grow your own grapes. Talk about that. Is that Is that the key to the
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taste? Absolutely. Right. Uh the other I had a I have a good friend who's really into
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beer. And he took me aside one day and he was like, "Lorenzo, I understand beer. I do not understand wine. Break it
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down for me." And I said, "Okay, a couple key differences." And one is that
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we don't work with the commodity feed stock. Mhm. Uh I plant grapes on one side of the hill, my neighbor plants the exact same
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grape on the other side of the hill. We're going to make very different wines. Um because the grape really uh is
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it it takes on that certain place. That's the other beauty of wine is that you really capture a place. And so for
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us, the key component of the wine making experience is the wine growing, the
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farming that we do. And that's unusual. Most wineries, they might grow a few grapes, but they're mostly buying grapes
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from other people. And most wine growers who are growing grapes aren't making wine. They're growing grapes for other
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people. But for us, the two are inex, you know, they're they're linked at their core. And uh yeah, so we grow
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everything that we turn into wine. How has um climate change affected your
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process of growing if at all? Yeah. No, it's a interesting question. Um, Napa is a great place to grow grapes
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because it's at this sort of balancing point between two really strong climactic factors.
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Uh, you got the warm California sun on the one hand and then you got cold Alaskan currents that come down the west
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coast uh, keep, you know, San Francisco a balmy 54 degrees throughout the
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summertime. And we get all that San Francisco fog because that sun creates a
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vacuum effect as it creates rising air and it pulls those cool ocean breezes.
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Oh, that's a nice photo. Um in through the the Golden Gate, which is the break
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in the mountain chain. So, it's the first time the air can get in off the Pacific Ocean, pulls it in, and we have
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this, we call it our natural air conditioner. So, every day at like 100 p.m. the breeze starts to come in and
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cool us down just as it's getting warm. And uh as the weather has has gotten
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warmer, as the sun has gotten stronger, that vacuum effect has gotten stronger. So, we're kind of moderated in terms of
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temperature rise. But what we have seen is just every weather pattern is
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stronger. you know, the the storms hit harder, the heat waves are hotter. Yeah.
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And it that's where growing your own is really important because we can
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react to that. And everybody who works in the vineyard, we have a really unique labor setup, I don't know of really any
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other winery that works this way. Everybody who picks a grape at Trfett, and we just finished harvest, they're all full-time, fully benefited employees
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and uh they're that's amazing, man. take good care of our people and they take good care of the grapes.
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You when I when we went to your vineyard, I I what I couldn't help notice is the the tech systems that
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surround the winery, you know, and even what you guys are doing, you have an
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online presence as well. You guys are living in the digital space and this is more of a
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modern approach. Yeah, everybody is. to um to to for the industry. I think it's
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been very important that you guys have been able to be progressive. What is one of the most the innovations that you
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brought to the table that you're most proud of? I think it's what we're doing right now, right? Like the wine industry needs new
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consumers and uh we need to find people, bring them into this historic industry,
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get them to start appreciating the unique place that wine has in culture.
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And wine needs, you know, wine was with my parents' generation, wine got really cool. Yeah, it was uh you know it was it
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was definitely you know especially after that 60 Minutes spot that everybody of a certain age remembers and everybody
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that's not that age has no idea what I'm talking about. But it was the French paradox and how
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people lived longer uh when they when they drank wine and uh you know that
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that result still holds up. Um, and but it's a it's a interesting time because
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wine wine's still cool, but there's some other cool things that are starting to displace it like cocktails and marijuana
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and now psychedelics. And so we need to bring, you know, wine back into that special place where and I feel like as a
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culture in societ in America right now, we need wine. You need to take time to
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have a glass of wine. Everybody is just going crazy. Um, and there's so many
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things that are pulling us apart as a nation. We need some stuff that brings us back together.
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I like that. And wine is one of those things. Yeah. I like You want to do it now, Heather? Absolutely. I think I think Trofthan a
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truthan celebration celebration partnership with
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Heather B and myself. Oh my god. Let's take this thing domestically. Yeah, let's do a tasting tour.
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And in that in that citizens of sway in the morning and and with that we'll
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provide information, you know, uh resources about wine. Um even from a
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medicinal place, you know, we'll make it fun, which is what it should be.
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Well, what we said and we'll have special guest. Yes, special guest. Heather celebrity friends will come.
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You guys don't know what's coming. All right. Helen V talk to Oh my god. George, you like that?
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I love it. All right. Go ahead. All right. Go ahead. Well, what I was going to say, the cool thing about what Lorenzo does, and even
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for me, who who I mean, I'm the happy hour. That's my brand. Happy hour would have to be. But what you do is you make
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it so simple, Lorenzo, and less intimidating. And I think the reason why people it was just lull and whine is
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because it started to feel like other like it's just not my crowd. It's not my
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thing, you know. And you have simplified this and made it fun again problem with pretentiousness.
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Yeah. The snobs, the Frasier cranes of the world. Exactly. And you walk down a w You open
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that wine list at a restaurant, it's like how am I going to make a decision? This is overwhelming. You walk down a
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wine aisle, so you need uh you know just a little bit of confidence. Absolutely. And you know you everybody can tell you
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what it tastes like, but the most important thing is do you like it? Does it taste good to you? Mhm.
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And uh that a lot of people who like are just getting into wine, they're so intimidated. They're like, I think I
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should like this, but I'm not sure that I really do. Right. No, no. Drink what you like. That's the that's that's the master value.
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Drink what you like. Lorenzo Trafetthan is here. Yes. All you want to know about wine and its
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industry. Give us a call 88874233 while we open up a bottle. And if you
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think it's a good idea, you want to come to the Trafan Happy tour citizens tour,
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let us know you would be down to do this. We got to get a proof of concept. So citizens, if you would be down to to
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attend this tour when we put it together, happy hour and citizen wine tasting tour, sip some wine, listen to some good music
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and learn a little bit and meet people. Exactly. Because what did you say? Uh
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it brings us together. Wine brings people together. Superpower. That's the superpower. 8887423345.
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Where y'all at? Yeah. You got to love it, man. Amy Wayne Winehouse. Oh, get it. Amy Winehouse.
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Very definit. Put that on purpose. Yeah. Right. Okay. Work with me. Work with me. Everything's favorites.
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Everything's a bar. And we're at a bar it seemed like in here. As much wine is being poured. There you go.
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No judgment. No judgment. Lorenzo Trfethan is here. um of the Trfthan Winery family. Uh his
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good sister Haley, who I've yet to meet, and he have taken over the reigns. Uh
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something that his family created back in 1968. They got a lot of acres. I'll
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just leave you with that, you know. Uh let me hit that. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. It's a beautiful place. We had a
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chance to visit it. I want to say to you, if you're ever in that Napa Valley area, make sure you visit the Trafetth
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and Winery. Big facts. All right. Matter of fact, maybe I could hook you up with a tour. Can I do that?
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We Let's do something. You want to do something? Yeah. Okay. I'll figure it out. Okay. Yeah, it's easy.
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Yeah. Well, say I don't know. Yeah. Just say Sway sent you. Sway. Yeah. Right.
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He just made it super easy. Yeah. Yo, that's just sent me. I'm interested
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in in in, you know, learning about wine. We we like to say the Napa Valley starts here at Trfthan. And it's not just
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graphic, it's historic, but it's also the my I can't tell you how many people
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I have met, consumers who say, Trafan, oh man, it's so nice to meet you. Your
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wine, your wine was the first bottle of wine that I had that clued me into what
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this whole fine wine thing was. cuz it opened my eyes to like, oh, there's something here. There's something really
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interesting here. That is my favorite favorite story. So, you come to Napa
22:56
with no knowledge and curiosity. Stop by Trafetth and we'll take care of you. And tell them
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Avon is on the line from Orange County. Avon, how you doing? What a nice name. Hey, what's going on y'all? Man, I
23:09
cannot believe I'm talking to y'all right now. U first of all, first time caller. First time we got a first time caller.
23:16
for the first time. Level up. Level up.
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Welcome to the vineyard. All right. What's on your mind, Avon? Absolutely. Um well well before we get on the wine
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thing, I I I want to I want to say thank you uh to you and to Heather B cuz my my
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son um you guys actually uh called him and uh put him in the game um about like
23:41
a month or so ago on here. Um, and on your morning show, he was Eric. He was
23:46
Eric aka Eric the producer. Yeah, that's that's my son. And
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with much gratitude, just much love to y'all. Bless us. God bless. Wow. They create opportunities here. It's
24:00
amazing. Thank you. Oh, man. I was that warmed car going crazy, man. That was just you. You guys
24:06
couldn't believe how happy I was. And just the fact that you guys just took the time for I just want to give y'all each shout out. you guys just completely
24:12
just gave him the motivation to keep pushing, you know, just the information y'all gave him, he man, he's off and
24:17
running. So, I just want to start off with that. Get into this wine. There you go. That Yeah, man. Now, now
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now let's get into this wine. Have you ever been to a winery? Okay. I've been to a few wineries like
24:30
my my my wife drinks wine, my parents drink wine, and they've been trying to get me to drink wine for at least 10,
24:37
you know, 10, 12 years. Um, and it was just I don't and maybe it was just I don't I mean every time I go to the
24:44
wineries it was like all luscious. That's all I felt was just the drunk ladies just stumbling and falling over.
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I'm like is this what I'm about? Like what? Yo, that's so real though.
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Yo, that is so real. I mean every time I'm sorry. Is there a problem here or
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hilarious? So, you know, it it just it just really it just really didn't it really didn't
25:08
fit my vibe. So, so I never really got into it. So, but once I hear you guys talking about it, Mr. Travethan, I'm you
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know, I'm just hearing about just uh the introduction that, you know, they gave you. And again, I'm very curious. I I
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want to get into wine, but I just I just don't I just don't know. I don't have the information. I mean, my family can tell
25:27
me about it. Oh, try this, try this, try this, and they and I'm just kind of I don't know.
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I I prefer to my you know you don't know about the the flavors that you're in that you're being
25:40
introduced to or you or you don't know about just like the the culture of wine
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the the culture I mean I I guess I mean I know a little bit about the culture. I was actually in the Navy um where my son
25:51
was actually born in in Italy and I actually you know I I was I was surrounded by wine drinkers. So and you
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know I saw you know actually I put I used to put his pacifier in wine because I was told that you know it helped you know with the numbing and stuff. So I
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mean I saw some Italian families sting dipping their little thing you know and putting in the baby's mouth. I'm like oh
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I guess you know win in Rome right? Okay let's do this. Let's do this man cuz um this is an exciting I feel like
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this is a potential learnable moment. It is. I feel like Avon, you and your family should drive up from Orange
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County to Napa Valley, right? And go by the Trfett and Winery, make it a day that maybe Lorenzo was
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there. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Could Could you connect us? You We can make a connection. You'll give them that
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tour you gave us. I'll give them I'll give them a tour. No. And uh e even for everybody else
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listening, even if I'm not giving you a tour, uh we really pride ourselves at Trarefan on the educational aspect. Like
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you come to Trfth and you're going to learn something. Uhhuh. That's what I'm talking about how wine is made about how we how we make it
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about the and and most importantly the story the story of the wine is really
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important. This is a human craft and the the blood and sweat
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and tears that go into making a bottle of wine really make that wine taste
27:08
better. Once you know the story it tastes better. And I think too, Advon, you sound much like Horse, my husband,
27:15
who is not a big wine drinker. He said he he felt, you know, drunk and and slow
27:21
and and hung up. He didn't understand what his body was doing. And and I said to him, you need to find what you like
27:27
and you need better wine. You need better wine. You need to find what you like. And when he ended up going on the
27:33
tour, Advon, he fell in love. I think the thing that Lorenzo touched on, which I think people miss out on, it's the
27:40
pairing. like you had a beautiful pairing for us as well. And so you need the food to balance it out. Um and not
27:47
just sit there. That's why you see a lot of drunk ladies because they're just drinking. There's no food and it's just
27:52
the slur speech and the falling over. I get it. But it needs to be an experience for you and your wife and especially for
27:58
you to find what you like. Yeah. No, definitely. My my my mother
28:03
says, you know, uh cuisine it it it awakens the pallet. Yeah. And then you
28:10
get interested in what you find in wine and the way that they interact together. We've got an experience at the uh
28:16
vineyard called Taste the Estate where not only the wine that you're drinking, but a lot of the food that we pair with
28:22
the wine comes from the property. So it's like I mean farm to table
28:27
everything comes from like a square mile and it's a
28:33
go for it. Oh. Oh, no. I'm sorry. I had to clear my throat. Um, but you know, I was I was just trying to I I was just
28:41
trying to figure out is just, you know, all I knew was just talons. That's all they told me. It's like, oh, if it has
28:46
legs on it, then it's good. That's all I know. No, no. That's just a measure of
28:53
viscosity. It's It's fun to say. It's like, oo, look at the legs. Got legs. But, uh, it's got legs. But, uh, no,
29:00
that doesn't tell you too much about wine, actually. All right. Let's do this though, Evvon. I I appreciate the conversation. That's
29:06
why we're letting it because you're speaking not just for yourself, but millions of folks out there that want to
29:11
have a better understanding of what it is. And when done properly, even someone like me, I enjoyed all the wine that I
29:17
tasted. I enjoyed you did good. And I wasn't tipsy or any of that.
29:23
We did get a chance to go walk through that amazing garden that they have there, you know, in in the vineyards.
29:29
And you'll be able to have that natural natural experience while you It's a experience, man. So when you go there,
29:36
Advon, tell them you heard Lorenzo on this on this show and you came up for a tour and
29:42
you're a guest of Heather, Tracy, and me. That works. That works for me. Okay. Go up there and
29:48
then tell us how it was, man. Take your family, right? And they'll be very impressed by you. Okay. You're a super
29:54
citizen in the morning. All right. Yeah, man. We going to MA is in Alabama way in
30:01
they drink wine in Alabama. Man, listen. Where are you in Alabama? Ma, I'm headed
30:06
out your way for Thanksgiving. I'm going to be in Huntsville and uh for Thanksgiving with my wife's family.
30:12
Oh, wow. Since you said that, I might go to Huntsville with my ex-wife and her
30:17
family cuz my my young I might go out there and meet you out there. But I'm in Birmingham, Alabama.
30:24
Oh, I love Birmingham. Born and raised. Yeah. Yeah. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California. So, I got like a three in one question for you
30:31
real quick. Um about uh about five years ago, I read an article
30:36
about the valley and about uh the merger of cannabis growers merging with uh wine
30:43
growers. So, I did some research, couldn't really find anything that anybody was producing. So the question
30:50
to you, Renzo, was did did did you and your team, your family, did you all get
30:55
in the wine cannabis merger game? And do you all have any uh wine cannabis
31:02
mergers uh pairings on the market? The the short answer is no. Um but we uh
31:11
have some funny stories that we can share. Oh, we had a G. We have got a
31:17
hillside property which is the home of our top Cabernet called Halo which Sway
31:23
really took a liking too. And so I got I got the new release of Halo for you here.
31:29
I'm that guy. I'm that guy. Um it's just coming out. You can only get it if you're in the club right now.
31:34
Um, so, uh, but, uh, we we had a geologist who came up to our hillside property and it's this amazing place and
31:41
it was like a geologist wet dream. He was having so much fun up there. He was
31:46
up for a month just like collecting rocks. And then one day he called my dad. He's like, "Hey, John, can uh,
31:52
you want to go on a hike with me?" And he said, "Yeah." And so they went up and he was like, "So I I um I was just
31:58
walking around here and I and well, I started there's you might want to check this out." So they just walked and you
32:05
know someone was squatting on the property growing some marijuana. Oh wow.
32:11
Damn. And uh you know there was the occasional like new piece of farm equipment hidden
32:18
in the bush that we started finding. Um but uh we
32:23
some some people down most of the sort of cannabis and wine. Um that's it it's
32:29
interesting because they're competitive for the most part. There's a lot going in in like Pasar Robels and the
32:36
uh wine industry is not so happy about it actually. Um because it's uh really
32:43
changing the landscape. When you when you grow grapes, you've got a vineyard out there. When you're growing marijuana, you have these like hoop
32:49
houses. Yeah. And they kind of disturb the landscape. If my right in the article I read, there
32:56
was a battle over water. There was a battle over water. The the plants needed a whole lot more water and they were
33:02
taking water that you all use naturally and your reserves that you had and it was going into their farm. So, I read
33:08
that in that article. Okay. So, I ain't going to I ain't going to hold us all up. I got Yeah. Yeah. I'm in I'm in this business.
33:15
Um uh BU Global 205. You can see me on Instagram. And so we start we started a
33:21
I started a business back in the day called uh Wei World Candies. We did that and it was all amazing. So second
33:27
question real quick. Uh Rizzle, do you all make wine popsicles?
33:32
Wine popsicles. Little we we uh for what was it was like uh I guess sometime in
33:39
May we did uh we make an amazing rosé. Um, rosé usually isn't amazing, but we
33:46
make an amazing rosé called Sin for summer in Napa. And, uh, our chef made
33:53
actually some rosé popsicles. They weren't they were not that sweet. They were really good. They were so good.
34:01
So, yeah, there's something to that froze thing. Okay. And then last question, uh, ma, I like your question, so I'm glad you get
34:07
them off. Well, and it's it's a quick and fast. It's a quick fast. GB, uh, you should have played Larry June, Napa Valley in
34:13
that mix. Just shout out to Larry June cuz it's in the mix right now. Um, and so throw that out there for me. Um, and
34:20
uh, if I want to distribute, how how do I find you and how can I and can you distribute to Birmingham, Alabama?
34:27
Yeah, trfan.com's the easiest, but in Alabama, I'm trying to think of the retail stores that we're in out there.
34:35
Um, and you know, grocery store should be able you know, they can get
34:40
the wine. And out here, places like Whole Foods, Pavilions, uh, and, uh, you
34:46
know, they carry the wine. Um, yeah, HB in Texas. All right. Hey, hey, hey. Ma, great
34:53
question. We appreciate you. No, that's it, man. That's it, man. That's it, man. That's it, man. Thank you, Ma. We love you, man. You're a super citiz.
35:00
Can I squeeze in another question real quick? Hold up, Tracy. I'm going to get one in. I'm going to go ahead and get one in. I'm sorry, Tracy. even to your
35:07
colleagues. I'm not sorry. I'm not I'm not I'm glad we could be honest on this
35:12
show. Me, too. Um here, Sway, have a glass one. I was going to say I'm reaching my cup for
35:18
another. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. I'm not really a drinker, but I'mma hold
35:23
it up. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Because truthfan is a different experience. And we're we're members.
35:30
My cousin, my family is in the wine business. I don't know if you knew this. Oh, the really? Yeah. Uh, my cousin E40.
35:37
Oh, nice. Valo. Yeah. Pave the way for my friend Lar Russell.
35:46
Wow. You know what's up. Can't mess with I'm telling you. So, I love 40 because he's a vent. He's
35:54
an adventurous entrepreneur. Yeah. We've gotten a chance to by example
35:59
lead. He leads by example. To be an entrepreneur is a scary business. There's no guarantees. And
36:06
to make it in life, you got to be in scary situations. Yeah. And he jumped into the spirits industry,
36:12
I want to say, back in 2010, I think, is when he started his Earl Stevens. You're familiar.
36:18
Oh, the Earl Stevens. That's E4. Loi, I think. Yes. Yes. Yes.
36:23
That's E40s um brand. And what I like about it is what Heather was talking
36:29
about. A lot of And you were talking about a lot of people are intimidated. Yeah. by the wine industry and they need an entry level. So, what better way than
36:37
somebody who sold millions of records in his past. We've known him for years and
36:43
we could kind of trust what he's put into his product. What are your thoughts about people who may not come from a
36:49
wine background? Oh. But been entering the industry like he has and it's 2010, so we're talking 15
36:55
years. Yeah, it's gotten well, nobody in the wine industry comes from the wine
37:02
industry usually. I mean, when you look at the beginning of Napa, it was my family and a few other families and I
37:09
think only the Mandavis were really in wine. Everybody else came from somewhere else. Okay. And that that keeps the business fresh
37:16
because they bring a a new perspective to it. And Napa attracts, it's
37:21
interesting to see, you know, what's the hot industry at the time. I remember I was in college trying to figure out what
37:26
the hell I was going to do with my life. You went to Stanford, right? I did. Yes. And I came home one one uh Thanksgiving
37:33
and I looked around the valley. I was like, "Wait a minute. We've got the best
37:39
people in tech and construction and film and they all just seem like when they
37:45
make it and they want to have some fun, they get into wine." So maybe all right, I guess I'll start
37:51
here and see how that goes. That's that was sort of when I made the decision to dip my toe into the family business and
37:57
see see if I liked it. And it's a very seductive industry, but I like what Yeah. E40 is making a very different
38:04
style of wine than we are, but as you say, it's it's for people who grew up on, you know, uh,
38:11
Coca-Cola and soft drinks and things. And it's that entry in um, sort of, you
38:16
know, big simple sweet flavors, but it, you know, the friendly wines. I would say friendly wines.
38:22
I love that, man. You're not a hater, man. I appreciate that about Traffic, man. Shout out to Earl Stevens. Make
38:28
sure y'all check that brand. I'll get you some. We'll We'll swap. There we go. We'll buy. All right. Um me and Heather is We're in
38:34
his wine club, too. He thought he put me in. I didn't know. Yeah. Of course you in.
38:40
I didn't know. I didn't want to assume because it's your cousin. That's why you're in. Oh, see it's different. LZO invited me
38:47
in. Yeah, it's different. Um no, 40 loves you. Um, Tracy, you want to uh uh conclude the conversation?
38:53
Yes. And I love that you asked that way because that was on my mind, too. Just thinking about all of the um celebrities
38:59
that are now in the wine industry. I think about a Issa Ray. I think about your cousin E40 or um Dwayne Wade. Yep.
39:06
John Legend. But in the spirit of of innovation, I was inspired. Snoop big facts. Yeah. With the 19 crimes
39:13
partnership facts. Um there's a lot I want to I want to hear in your opinion what the trends in wine
39:20
are today. For me personally, I think about like orange wine. I think about um biodnamic wine, which I actually am not
39:28
even 100% sure what that is. Can you kind of break that down? And also what
39:33
you see on the frontier of the wine industry wine industry. Yeah. Uh I orange wine, natural wines, I
39:41
they had a moment. I think that moment is probably concluding. Um because the
39:48
wines are just uh they're they're hard. Um and uh
39:53
yeah. Yeah. There there's some orange wine real there's some strange flavor.
39:58
They very funky. It's too real. Um but uh the you know
40:04
what's happening now is uh there's a real just kind of the wine industry is
40:11
in a little bit of trouble. Honestly, we've we've been growing very steadily
40:16
for the last 30 plus years and then really since the pandemic now people are
40:22
not drinking the way that they used to. Um, and so I think, you know, everyone's
40:27
sort of scrambling to try and figure out what is the next thing. And, uh, the
40:33
next thing really does seem to be like celebrity partnerships. They are springing up all over the place because
40:40
what the again what the wine industry needs right now is just new audiences
40:45
like and how do I get attention, right? Um, so they got a built-in audience and
40:51
they find someone uh and they're, you know, good and bad examples. Yeah.
40:56
Not all of them are good partnership. So, you got to you got to, you know,
41:02
figure it out. Be selective. But, yeah, you know, go out and try it, find what you like, and then um start drinking
41:10
wines like that. And, you know, everyone uses the your phone now to find out
41:15
things. and we're trying to meet people where they are. But there's still something about that human connection.
41:21
And wine for me, it really is. It's about bringing people together. So go down to your local shop and start
41:28
talking to them uh about wine and and you'll find someone who uh has a real
41:34
passion for what they're doing and that they'll be a great guide into wine. Lorenzo Trafetton is here. Great
41:41
question, Tracy. Yeah. Um, this was fun, man. I enjoyed myself,
41:47
man. This is good. Give it up for this guy, man. Great. Yeah, you can hear it. Tracy, I had a
41:53
question. I lost it back there. I'm done. So, the final final question is,
41:58
have you changed your mind around Thanksgiving? This is for Sway Callaway.
42:04
He was planning a dry Thanksgiving, Lorenzo. No alcohol, no no marijuana. Uh
42:12
because he feels like as a family we should all come together and be sober for 4 hours. And I booed him. I booed
42:18
him out his own studio. How you boo that? What kind of evilness am I surrounding?
42:23
How do you invite someone with a happy hour to a unhappy place? It doesn't even make sense.
42:31
Hey, to each their own. Uh but uh I I think again you know you you're going
42:39
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Nice. It is there's you don't have to go out
42:44
and buy a costume or presents and it's it's like the anti-commercial holiday.
42:50
It's hilarious. We're driving down the street the other day and people have their Christmas decorations up already.
42:55
It's like why you know Thanksgiving is not even you know thought in the
43:00
commercialization of uh holidays in this country which makes it real and it's
43:06
just what do you do? You sit down with your family you have a nice meal bonus if you cook it and uh there's something
43:14
you can add. You know you need good tunes and you need some good wine.
43:20
We got Lorenzo's vote profan here. I want to Okay. So, what is it real quick? This
43:27
isn't a fool, but where's Haley? Like, we never see Haley. Haley's taking care. She's holding down
43:32
the property. You know, somebody got to be so I can be down here.
43:38
My sister Haley and together. Yeah. Together, we're the namesakes of
43:43
Halo. You put Haley Lorenzo together. That's uh that's our top wine. And we just released the 2021. Got a little
43:51
something here for for you, Master Sway. and Heather B. A little preview. I'm
43:56
excited. It's um it's it's it's beautiful. Tell her we said thank you.
44:01
One day hopefully we'll cross paths. But I definitely Lorenzo offered me I'm
44:07
embarrassed to say this Tracy, but Lorenzo offered me opportunity to stay to stay on this property for a few days
44:13
and I'm just very, you know, honored that the humble brag king. Didn't your mom you offered me that,
44:19
right? Yeah. Yeah. I can't say no now. Right. He put him That's why he That's
44:25
why he did it. He alive in front of Good good invit self invitation. And do y'all have any ponds or bodies of
44:31
water on the property? You into fishing? What are you asking? Yeah.
44:36
All right. We'll stock the reservoir. Okay. Y'all got something over there, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, my uh we've always
44:43
been leaders in sustainability. Even before the word sustainability existed, we were setting things up. And one of
44:49
the things that my grandfather did when he set up the property was really sort of a circular system when it came to
44:56
water. So all the water we use in the winery to clean tanks and stuff is captured, recycled um and we create this
45:03
circular use. But he put two reservoirs in the low points of the property and uh there's fish in one of them. I mean we
45:10
had some otter show up, some river otter actually, so there might not be any more fish.
45:16
Well, they they're not gluttonous like humans. They they know when they want to tap out.
45:21
Oh, you never met an otter. They are gluttonous. Oh, yeah. They eat everything. They eat it all. How many acres again?
45:27
We farm 400 down around the winery and then another 40 up in the hillside.
45:32
Beautiful. Yeah. Something to see. Citizens, make sure you go check it out. Interested in selling any of those
45:37
acres? Let me know. Goodbye. Thank you, Lorenzo. Thank you, Lorenzo. I appreciate you, man.
45:43
You see where the cuff does for inviting you me into your house. This was a real treat. and and to all the citizens. Uh
45:49
it's a real treat to be talking to you. Um I consider it an honor and I hope you come visit us in Napa.
45:56
There you go. Trafan.com, right? Trafthan.com and get you some uh
46:03
Trafan dry relin peninoir for Thanksgiving and you will blow your
46:08
family's minds. Okay. How do you spell Trafan? T R E F as in foxtrot. E T Hen
46:17
and Tracy, they have an amazing recipe, Citizens. I'll post it with for prime rib with porchini mushroom crust. Yeah,
46:24
it looks absolutely divine. Um I'll post it on my IG and you guys make sure you
46:29
follow me at the happy hour WHB. They have their own olive oil as well, Tracy G. Yeah, man. It's lit. It's lit. All
46:36
right, we're gonna end the show,

Sway Explores Napa's Finest Winery with Lorenzo Trefethen | SWAY’S UNIVERSE

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