Episode 28: Reading the Tasting Room with Galen Becker Drace & Glass with a Grower, PJ Alviso

In this episode of Grown in Napa Valley, host Caleb Mosley welcomes Galen Becker Drace, Executive Director of the Napa Valley Hospitality Forum, to talk about what really happens on the tasting room floor. Drace discusses the difference between service and hospitality, the most common (and most memorable) questions guests ask, and how growers can help frontline staff speak confidently about soil, farming practices, and vineyard stewardship when it fits the moment. 

He notes that viticulture isn't always the right topic, given how much frontline staff are already reading and juggling with each guest in a short window of time, from wine club details to restaurant recommendations to simply sensing what a guest wants out of the visit. The conversation closes with an invitation for listeners to share the most memorable tasting room questions they've overheard or what they want to know.
​
In the episode's Glass with a Grower segment, Caleb sits down with PJ Alviso, Senior Vice President of Portfolio Operations at Duckhorn Vineyards, over a 2023 Napa Valley Merlot. Alviso makes the case for why Merlot deserves more recognition, reflects on Duckhorn's fiftieth anniversary and the legacy of founders Dan and Margaret Duckhorn, and shares how the winery is balancing that history with new technology and innovation on the production side.

Episode Highlights: ​

• "The whole ethos of the [Napa Valley Hospitality Forum] is very easily distilled into providing resources and community to hospitality professionals." - Galen Becker Drace
• "Hospitality is reading between the lines and getting to know people without actually having asked questions about what they're up to." - Galen Becker Drace
  
• "Merlot pays the mortgage at Duckhorn. This is what we do. It's what we've done."     - PJ Alviso
• "This isn't just a label that exists fifty years later; it's an ethos. We still stick to our guns in our style, and I think that's something to be celebrated." - PJ Alviso