In this episode of Barrels and Roots, I sit down with Jeffrey Plant, estate winemaker at Round Pond Estate in Rutherford, right in the heart of Napa Valley, to talk about why wine is really a people game. We go back to our shared roots growing up in St. Helena, talk about bikes on vineyard roads, mustard blooms, and how harvest turns the whole valley electric with energy, forklifts, and that crush-time aroma in the air.

Jeff shares how he went from a mildly lost college kid to falling completely in love with winemaking during one harvest, mentored by Napa legends who taught him not just how to make wine, but why each decision matters. We get into his Captain America approach to leadership, why collaboration beats secret recipes, and how a rising tide of better wine lifts every winery in Napa Valley. We break wine education down to three simple things, fruit, acid, tannin, and one easy trick for telling the difference between a 50 dollar and a 150 dollar bottle by the finish alone, making this a super approachable listen for anyone who wants to actually understand wine. We talk about wine as terroir, time capsule, and social glue, why prices finally need to be more approachable, and how younger drinkers can start with a 10 dollar bottle, ask questions at a local wine shop, and slowly level up.

Jeff leaves us with his cellar mantra, that we will never make our best bottle of wine, because next year is always a chance to make it better, and invites listeners to come taste at Round Pond, say they heard him on Barrels and Roots, and come geek out about Napa Valley wine in person.