My grandfather went from kerosene to AOL. One life. That kind of speed creates a craving for something slower — something that anchors you to a specific time and place. Wine might be the most powerful nostalgia machine ever invented, because every bottle carries something almost nothing else does: a year. In this solo episode, I explore why that year matters, how wine bridges generations at a dinner table, and why a bottle of 2019 will still taste like 2019 long after we've forgotten what that year felt like. In a world moving at the speed of light, wine moves at the speed of seasons. That's not quaint. That's essential.

The wine industry has a generational problem — and almost nothing it believes about it is true.

Pauline Vicard runs ARENI Global, the leading international think tank on the future of fine wine. Her team studied how young people in six cities — Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai — actually get into fine wine. They started with six hypotheses. Only one held up.

In this conversation, Pauline and Jon get into what the research actually says: why parents don't pass wine down (friends do), why women enter at equal rates and then disappear in their 30s, why the "$18 glass" problem is quietly killing wine's consumer base, why Succession and White Lotus have done more damage to fine wine than any health study, and why the industry's bottle-selling business model may be reaching its expiration date.

Plus — Pauline's free consulting for Jon as he opens Preface Wine: how to curate a room, why young people don't go out for wine (they go out for each other), and how to "monetize friendship" without making it feel transactional.

Guest: Pauline Vicard — Co-Founder & Executive Director, ARENI Global (https://areni.global)

Host: Jon Frutkin (@winewithjon) — lawyer turned collector turned wine bar owner, opening Preface Wine in Delray Beach, FL.

Eric LeVine found wine "hopelessly intimidating" — until a 1999bike trip through Tuscany changed everything. A few years later, he built CellarTracker during a Microsoft sabbatical. It's now the world's largest wine community: 13+ million tasting notes, 175 million bottles tracked, nearly a million users.

We talk about what two decades of community data reveal about how people actually engage with wine, why he avoided gamification, and what the industry gets wrong about welcoming newcomers.

Guest: Eric LeVine — Founder & CEO, CellarTracker

WineWithJon — new episodes every Tuesday.

Connect: @winewithjon | jon@winewithjon.com

What does a $25,000 bottle of Burgundy have to do with the $14 Pinot Noir at Trader Joe's?

More than you'd think.

Most people assume the fine wine world is a parallel universe for rich people — disconnected from the wine the rest of us actually drink. In this essay, Jon makes the opposite case: the top of the wine world is the reason the rest of it works.

Using the Ferrari-and-Toyota analogy — the kid with the Ferrari poster on his wall who grows up to drive a Civic but still cares about cars — Jon argues that aspiration builds categories. Champagne's mythology fuels its mass market.Bordeaux's classified growths made Napa possible. Burgundy's prestige launched Oregon's 700+ wineries. Remove the top of the pyramid, and the bottom doesn't get stronger — it gets flatter.

"Fine wine and everyday wine aren't two separate worlds. They're the same world at different altitudes. The mountain is the reason the valley has a view at all."

Host: Jon Frutkin (@winewithjon) — lawyer turned collector turned contentcreator, opening Preface Wine in Delray Beach, FL.

Sam Capaldi liquidated her savings at 22 to go to sommelier school. Today she's the "No Snob Somm" — 300,000+ followers, a wine club, a wine label, and a community built by pairing wine with Taco Bell instead of white tablecloths.

In this episode, Sam and Jon get into why the wine industry keeps losing the next generation, what COVID virtual tastings taught her about what people actually want, the role vulnerability plays in her brand, the story behind FaffWine Co., and the advice she gives anyone who's curious about wine but feels like they don't know enough to start.

If you've ever felt like wine wasn't "for you" — this one is.

Guest: Sam Capaldi (@samanthasommelier) — Certified Sommelier, Founder ofSamantha Sommelier, Co-Founder of Faff Wine Co. Website: https://www.samanthasommelier.com Faff Wine Co.: https://www.samanthasommelier.com/faff

Host: Jon Frutkin (@winewithjon) — lawyer turned collector turned wine barowner, Preface Wine in Delray Beach, FL.

Joe Emmett came from music into wine — and landed at Berry Bros & Rudd, Britain's oldest wine merchant. 326 years of history.

He works with a younger clientele, giving him a unique perspective on how a historic institution connects with a new generation. We recorded this in person at their St James's Street original HQ in London.

We talk about what younger clients want, how to balance heritage with accessibility, and what wine can learn from music.

Guest: Joe Emmett — Account Management, Berry Bros & Rudd

WineWithJon — new episodes on Tuesday mornings.

Connect: @winewithjon | jon@winewithjon.com

Chris Zago went from running food and beverage at a premiercountry club in St. Louis to pursuing his true passion — wine. For the past seven years, he’s been the Director of Advisory Services at UOVO Wine, the largest wine storage and collection services network in the United States. He works with everyone from first-time collectors to people with legendary cellars.

In this conversation, we talk about what it actually takesto start collecting wine, the misconceptions that keep people from getting started, and how his hospitality background shaped the way he thinks about making wine feel welcoming.

Topics covered:

• Making the leap from hospitality to wine full-time

• What “Advisory Services” actually means for collectors

• How the wine collecting world has changed in seven years

• The misconceptions that keep people from starting acollection

• What the wine industry gets wrong about reaching newpeople

• Lessons from country club hospitality that apply to wine

WineWithJon is a podcast exploring how we make wineinteresting and compelling for the next generation. New episodes every Tuesday morning.

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Guest: Chris Zago — Director of Advisory Services, UOVO Wine

Website: uovo.art/wine

Connect:

Instagram: @winewithjon

Email: jon@winewithjon.com

The Surgeon General says loneliness is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Young people are spending 70% less time together in person. And at the exact same moment, we'veconvinced them to stop drinking — removing one of humanity's oldest tools for connection.

In this solo episode, I make a case. Not for drinking more. But for understanding what we've lost, and what wine might help us find again. Wine as social infrastructure. Wine as a practice of presence. Wine as a reason to stay at the table a little longer.

This isn't a defense of alcohol. It's an honest conversation about connection in a world that's starving for it.