Podcast Episode 22: Cross Country Craft: A 2026 Kickoff with Mark Carter & Glass with a Grower, Dan Petroski

Caleb opens the 2026 season of Grown in Napa Valley from Louisville, Kentucky, where he sits down with vintner-turned-whiskey-maker Mark Carter. Their conversation traces Carter’s journey from Eureka hospitality to Napa winemaking and ultimately to Kentucky bourbon, highlighting the shared craftsmanship between wine and spirits, barrels, blending, farming roots, and the growing consumer interest in how raw materials are cultivated. Carter reflects on decades of working with iconic Napa vineyards and the parallels he now sees in the rising “grain-to-glass” movement, as distillers embrace terroir and agricultural storytelling much like grape growers do. Their tasting together underscores how both wines and whiskies reflect the land, the season, and the maker’s hand. 
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The episode then returns to Napa for Glass with a Grower featuring winemaker and NVG Board Member Dan Petroski. Dan speaks to his passion for Mediterranean-style white wines, the evolving needs of Napa’s wine market, and the importance of growers becoming more visible partners in consumer storytelling. He discusses the challenges of the 2025 season, the opportunities ahead in 2026, the need for deeper collaboration between growers and wineries, and the promise of AB 720 in connecting visitors directly with vineyards. Looking forward, Dan stresses community resilience, thoughtful adaptation, and a renewed focus on helping growers navigate shifting markets while continuing to champion the quality and diversity of Napa Valley agriculture. 

Episode Highlights: 

• “About four bottles in at four o’clock, he said, ‘You ever think about making wine?’… and I said, ‘Yeah, I only got one problem—I don’t have any grapes.’” - Mark Carter 
• “You can't control that kind of serendipity… having Fred Schrader walk into your restaurant and getting a contract passed over to you. Unbelievable.” - Caleb Mosley 
  
• “We have to refocus our message… there are only a few places in the world that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Napa Valley.” - Dan Petroski
  
• “We’re going to make every batch different… just like in Napa with wines, every vintage is different.” - Mark Carter 
• “I don’t profess to be an expert in grape growing—I just want to understand the feeling… to be there at every inflection point as the vine develops.” - Dan Petroski
  
• “Every year of my farming career, I can almost remember month-to-month what was going on… it keeps you in touch. It keeps it real.” - Caleb Mosley