The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast

Justin Ennis, senior director of winemaking for Joseph Phelps Vineyards and the steward of its Freestone brand along the Sonoma Coast, where he's spent the last twenty years shaping the wines. Justin grew up surrounded by wine without ever planning to make a career of it — his grandfather kept a full table, and his mother's family in Healdsburg tended an old field-planted vineyard in the heart of the Russian River Valley. It wasn't until his stepfather, who worked facilities at what's now Hartford Family Winery, nudged him toward a harvest internship that everything changed. Justin signed on as cellar help for his first vintage in 1995 under winemaker Dan Goldfield, expecting little more than hard, unglamorous labor: power washing, barrel cleaning, and punch-downs. What he found instead reshaped his entire worldview. That first harvest, he worked alongside cellar hands from Portugal, France, and Australia, brought to the United States through agricultural exchange visa programs like CAEP. For a young guy from what he calls an "insular" Sonoma County, the camaraderie and global perspective of harvest work opened a door he hadn't known existed — one that would eventually take him as far as New Zealand using that same visa program. Justin reflects on falling into winemaking purely by chance, simply applying for a job that needed warm bodies, and discovering a calling he never set out to find.

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Keith talks his TV run on Leno and The View, a fan poll that had him wanting to see him on the big screen (right behind Faith Hill), and previews the next single, Raining on Sunday, written by Radney Foster and Darrell Brown. Keith geeks out over guitar heroes Lindsey Buckingham and Mark Knopfler, his love of Bob Seger, and reveals the surprising story behind But for the Grace of God — co-written with two members of the Go-Go's. A warm, funny, guitar-obsessed snapshot of Keith Urban on the rise.

Show notes (timestamped highlights)

Rebecca Lynn Howard calls in — Somebody Like You is her favorite on the radio

How fast the single caught on, before the record was even done

The TV whirlwind: Leno and The View, and winning over a non-country crowd

The fan poll that wanted Keith on the big screen, right behind Faith Hill

Guitar talk: Dire Straits, Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler

Previewing the next single, Raining on Sunday (Radney Foster / Darrell Brown)

The Bob Seger shirt and playing Against the Wind

The Go-Go's story behind But for the Grace of God

Co-writing Somebody Like You with John Shanks — and that banjo riff

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Thirty-five years. Same 800 number. Still picking up.

That's Premium Blend in a nutshell — built on relationships, consistency, and a product that just keeps finding new audiences. In this final episode of the series, Gino Santos gives Forrest a full picture of where the brand is headed and what it looks like at home.

Highlights include:

A new Aguardiente (Colombian-style spirit) launching just ahead of the FIFA World Cup, with Miami games on the schedule and Premium Blend accounts already lining up launch parties

The long-term retail vision: getting agave wine and other products onto shelves at stores like Ralph's so consumers can take them home

The Santos family holiday table — roast pork, black beans and rice, and the Cuban flag in food form, shared with three generations across Miami, Jacksonville, and Nashville

The full drink lineup for that dinner: Santos Sangria (100% Spanish origin, grandmother's old family recipe), rum and Cokes made with Rumbero, vodka sodas made with Clear Red, and after-dinner pours of Failing Irish Cream (produced in Ireland) and Cafe Luna coffee liqueur

Why the margarita quietly became America's number one cocktail — and what the tequila boom means for Premium Blend's agave wine collection

How Premium Blend supports its accounts beyond the sale: recipe books, promotional materials, and hands-on drink-making help

A fitting close to a five-part series packed with business insight, immigrant grit, family pride, and genuinely great product storytelling.

📞 Premium Blend toll-free: 800-899-0331 🌐 premiumblend.com

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Maryse Chevriere's illustrations — a little figure she simply calls "my little dude." He's intentionally universal, someone anyone can see themselves in, though she'll add a ponytail, a bow tie, or a mustache when a drawing calls for it. Forrest zeroes in on a favorite: a "greets you with… but hits you in the face" illustration featuring the character at a microphone under a spotlight, arms up as if shielding himself. Maryse explains the improv-style thinking behind it — "greets you with" is the chill, gentle version of describing a wine's notes, while "hits you in the face" is the version where lemon, lime, and green bell pepper smack you so hard you can't miss it. The whole thing is built around a punchy Sauvignon Blanc (or, in Forrest's Boston translation, a "Savvy B").

Then the practical heart of the episode: who is the book for? Maryse describes it as ideal for newer wine appreciators looking to level up, or anyone who wants a fun, flip-through companion for a glass of wine — originally imagined as a coffee-table book. It's rich with 101-level information, but polished enough that professionals will recognize their own wine-speak and chuckle. Above all, it's a wine book that doesn't feel like a textbook, and a great gift for anyone who loves wine.

Maryse takes the open mic to acknowledge the people behind the book: her mom, aunt, and in-laws (who bought and promoted copies), her publishers who finally saw a vision she'd carried for years, her friends Annie, Jess, and Laura, and especially her husband, who held her together while she wrote and illustrated the book through her pregnancy. There's a warm, funny riff about family members enthusiastically promoting her at local wine shops — her mom being the biggest cheerleader of all — and even getting her book and drawings into a charity silent auction.

She closes with where to find everything: Instagram at Freshcutgardenhose, prints and custom work at fcghstudio.com, and the book at Amazon, local bookshops, and Barnes & Noble — or search "How to Sound Wine Smart" at SimonandSchuster.com for every retailer. A warm, generous send-off to a standout series.

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Every great business has a moment when the founder walks into a stranger's establishment and has to sell the dream from scratch. For Gino Santos, that pitch had three parts: increase your margins, keep your customers coming back, and make your wait staff more money — all with just a beer and wine license.

In this final installment of the Premium Blend series, Forrest gets the full story:

Why Premium Blend launched in plastic bottles — a practical shipping decision when you're self-distributing across Florida with almost no capital

Why plastic has actually become a selling point for bars and restaurants where dropped bottles are a real cost

The three-part sales pitch Gino used to walk cold into venues: higher profit margins, increased customer retention, and bigger tips for waitstaff

How Premium Blend sales presentations work — Henry and Gino would show up with bags of product like they were moving in, letting everyone taste everything

Blind taste tests against actual rum, tequila, and more — and why the cocktails are indistinguishable

Pricing breakdown: roughly $8–$10 per liter depending on state alcohol tax

The philosophy behind the business: owning a company, not just having a job

A moving tribute to their late father, Orestes Santos — the Cuban musician who said "we didn't come here to take, we came here to give" — and what he would think seeing his sons build something that employs people and sustains small businesses across the country

Learn more at premiumblend.com

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