The Wine Makers on Radio Misfits

While Evan Roscoe is a Napa native, he grew up far from Napa’s wine culture. So far, in fact, that his family’s mountainside cabin was technically on the Solano side of the county line. There wasn’t wine on the table growing up, and his family had no connections to the wine business.

Evan left Napa for college in Chicago and eventually found his way into hospitality and bar management. He returned home after the 2017 fires to find a wine industry already reeling, at the beginning of what would become a long stretch of calamities, corrections, and a few brief booms over the next eight years.

In that time, Evan formed some strong opinions about how the wine industry presents itself to the public and how it operates behind the scenes. With a keen sense of aesthetics and a sharp instinct for storytelling, he has turned his creative director skill set into a mirror held up to the industry itself.

Evan now posts provocative, thought-provoking reels nearly every day on Instagram @Evan__Roscoe, punctuated with taglines like “Wine is fucked” and “Wine is boring.” After months of sharing, reposting, and commenting on his work, and watching colleagues across the country do the same, we realized we needed to hear directly from Evan Roscoe himself.

Sit down, pour a glass, and settle in for this one. Evan has a lot to say. [Ep 397]

We sit down with Tom and Chrissy from Grand Scheme Wines and dig into a story that has more layers than it first appears. It begins in Carneros, where they bought a piece of land and started planting Barn House Vineyard in 2018 with a clear vision from day one. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were non-negotiable, and organic farming was always part of the plan.

What follows is a conversation about commitment, patience, and the reality of building something from the ground up. As they walk us through the decisions, challenges, and moments that shaped the vineyard, the bigger picture comes into focus, and it’s worth paying close attention to how it all connects.

We wrap things up feeling grateful for the year behind us and excited about what’s ahead. Happy New Year, and here’s to raising a glass together in 2026. [Ep 396]

We get together with Isabel Gassier and Jasmine Egan for a relaxed year-end catch-up, looking back at the guests, conversations, wines, and trends that stood out in 2025. It’s part reflection, part shop talk, and very much the kind of conversation that happens once the microphones are already on.

Listener questions guide a lot of where we go, including the critical ones, and we appreciate all of it. We wrap things up by raising a glass to the year behind us and talking about what’s ahead, with plans to keep pouring and talking into 2026. [Ep 395]

Jenny Murphy went to UC Davis to study forensics. While attending a job fair, she was lured into the wine business with visions of a laboratory filled with expensive, new equipment. She took a temporary position at Korbel Champagne and was bitten by the wine bug.

After accepting a job at Paul Hobbs, she moved up the ranks, finally settling into the Director of Winemaking, where she was responsible for numerous 100pt wines.

Jenny recently left Paul Hobbs and started her own label, Oxlee Graham, making precise Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, and some very interesting whites. She is perhaps the most detail oriented winemaker we have ever met, her attention to the wine, barrels, tanks and even corks set her apart from the crowd. The wines are expressive and speak to the vineyard sites, from Mendocino to Santa Cruz. We can’t recommend these wines highly enough, they are very small production so move fast. [Ep 394]

oxleegrahamwines.com

@oxleegrahamwines

The conversation this week features Keith Beavers, Tasting Director at VinePair and host of the Wine 101 podcast. He’s a self-taught wine geek who once ran the New York wine bar In Vino and co-owned Alphabet City Wine Co., and he brings that mix of curiosity and real-world experience to everything he does.

Wine 101 is his way of breaking down grape varieties, regions, and technical concepts so they feel clear and approachable. He focuses on helping people understand how wines are made, why they taste the way they do, and how to navigate the world of wine without feeling overwhelmed.

The discussion stretches across a wide range of topics, including standout American wines from outside California and a lively digression about “natural wine,” whatever that may mean on any given day. It’s an easy, engaging conversation with someone who knows the subject inside and out, and already feels like a guest worth welcoming back the next time he’s in California. [Ep 393]

@vinepairkeith