Neal Empson is the founder of Empson & Co., an exporter of wines from Italy and other countries.
Neal, who is from New Zealand, recounts his youthful days driving fast, reselling Ferraris, and meeting with intelligence officers. He talks about meeting his wife Maria, who convinced him to move to Italy and take up the wine business there, founding a company for wine export. And he recalls his first sale of wine to the United States, a Chianti that was sold to Trader Joe's. At that time, back in the early 1970s, Neal recognized the potential for Italian wines sold in the United States.
Neal discusses the changes in the market for Italian wine in the United States in the intervening decades since the 1970s. He also talks about his relationships with key Italian wine producers, such as Angelo Gaja (Gaja), Beppe Colla (Prunotto), Sergio Manetti (Montevertine), Giacomo Tachis, and others.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
419: Beppe Colla is one of the Founding Fathers of Barolo
418: Steven Spurrier on the Day that Changed Everything
417: Mapmaker Alessandro Masnaghetti Studies the Borders Between Wine Cultures
416: 100% Whole Cluster
415: Frederic Lafarge Shares the Family Secrets to Making Great Burgundy
414: Randall Restiano Shares Strategies for Buying Wine
413: Patricio Tapia on the New Generation of Wine in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil
412: Marika Vida-Arnold Balances Being Mom with Being a Somm
411: Arnaud Lambert
410: Philippe Newlin
409: Rhone Grape Varieties Throughout California
408: Fred Merwarth
407: Larry Stone
406: Stefano Almondo
405: Frederic Mugnier
404: Ehren Jordan
403: Heidi Schrock
402: Bill Nesto and Frances Di Savino
401: Dangerous Drinking Between Erdogan and ISIS in Turkey
400: Favorite Episodes
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
50 Tastes Of Gray
Gastropod
The Recipe with Kenji and Deb
The Turn of the Screw
Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Walk-In Talk Podcast
Be My Guest with Ina Garten