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In this episode of What's Up, Wake, Melissa explores the fascinating world of wine with Matt Weiss, a distinguished sommelier and creator of The Wine Centric Show. Matt shares his journey from studying at the American Sommelier Association in New York to teaching and becoming a certified sommelier. He discusses the benefits of boxed wine, offers tips for finding great wines at local shops, and debunks myths about North Carolina wines. The conversation also touches on wine pairings, the best regions for wine, and upcoming events like BBQ & Bubbly. This episode is packed with insights for wine enthusiasts and novices alike, making wine approachable and enjoyable for everyone.
00:00 Wine Etiquette: Ice Cubes and Boxed Wine
00:59 Meet the Expert: Matt Weiss
02:57 Matt's Journey to Becoming a Sommelier
06:13 From New York to North Carolina
07:28 Navigating Wine Shops: Tips and Tricks
09:42 Wine Preferences and Pairings
11:28 The Historical and Cultural Significance of Wine
13:43 Making Wine Approachable
15:49 Exploring North Carolina Wines
16:10 The Sweetness of Muscadine Grapes
16:39 Diverse Grape Varieties in North Carolina
18:49 Local Wine Shops and Building Rapport
19:39 Affordable Wine Recommendations
21:49 BBQ & Bubbly Event
24:47 Lightning Round: Wine Preferences and Tips
28:15 Conclusion and Event Details
Creators and Guests
What is What’s Up, Wake?
What’s Up, Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events of Wake County, North Carolina. Through conversations with local personalities from business owners to town staff and influencers to volunteers, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Wake County an outstanding place to live. Presented by Cherokee Media Group, the publishers of local lifestyle magazines Cary Magazine, Wake Living, and Main & Broad, What’s Up, Wake covers news and happenings in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Wake Forest.
06 What's Up Wake
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[00:00:00]
Melissa: Do you revoke the wine cards of people who put ice cubes in their wine?
Matthew Weiss: I have a lot of like, in-laws and people who do that. No, you're, if you're drinking wine, I'm happy.
I would love for you to think about taking the ice out of it, but you know, ultimately if you're drinking wine, we can be friends.
Melissa: We are recording this episode in the middle of the day, but I figure it's wine o'clock somewhere.
Today [00:01:00] I have the opportunity to uncork the world of wine with a bonafide expert. He studied at the American Sommelier Association in New York City. Now he makes wine approachable on his show, bringing stories, tips, and interviews to everyday wine lovers and novices alike. I'm afraid he'll walk out of this interview as soon as he finds out that I drink from a box.
I. But I figure it isn't a good thing to keep things bottled up. Welcome to What's Up. Wake the host and creator of the Wine Centric Show, Matt Weiss. Hi Matt.
Matthew Weiss: Hey Melissa. Thank you for that introduction and I'm okay with the box wine. And it is wine o'clock. Okay. But what box wine are you drinking?
Melissa: Okay, so I am a black box.
Aficionado. Okay. And I like Pinot Grigio the most.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah.
Melissa: But I will try the other ones. But normally I go for the Pinot Grigio. I like a [00:02:00] nice dry, crisp white wine.
Matthew Weiss: Sure. Okay. That so you can tell me if Definitely work, if I could do
Melissa: better.
Matthew Weiss: Well, yes. Nothing, I mean, you're a wine drinker, so already we're simpatico.
Yeah, that's fine. Yep. I will tell you, I actually love alternative packaging for wines. Meaning not in a traditional glass bottle in cork. Oh, good. Okay.
Melissa: Because
Matthew Weiss: guess what, you, the end consumer is paying a lot for that glass bottle and that cork. Mm-hmm. It costs a lot of money. So when you put it in, not only is it.
Better for the environment because it's less packaging. 'cause those boxes are usually about three liters. Mm-hmm. So it's a less environmental impact. And also it costs you the end consumer less money. And here's what I'd like you to try. They're putting a lot of better wines, higher quality wines from like.
Real vineyards, real family owned vineyards into those boxes. So, okay. I can give you a few of those.
Melissa: So we, I am gonna get to the, the, the bargain wine mm-hmm. Discussion in a little bit. I do wanna back up though, and I want you to tell us [00:03:00] how you got started as a sommelier, and am I even saying that word right.
Am I adding a southern twist to it?
Matthew Weiss: You're, you're saying it perfectly and for, oh good. I did
Melissa: ask Google, but
Matthew Weiss: good. Yeah, no, you did it right. And for those who are like wondering, how do I say it? You just think about putting three words together. Saw Mule. Yay.
Melissa: Okay, so I am saying it a little bit Southern, 'cause I was saying so small.
Yay.
Matthew Weiss: That's still pretty good. It's close enough. Yeah, we're, yeah. Yeah. You say sommelier. I say sommelier. Okay. You know, it's all good. Okay. Good. Tomato, tomato. But so yeah, I, I actually have a really fun story about how I got started and just to add on to what are, what you already said was a great resume.
I am certified through the court of master sommelier, which is a more of a nationally and, and world known. Testing body for sommelier and then the American Sommelier Association. I actually I went, I moved back to New York to do that and then I ended up teaching for them. I became an [00:04:00] adjunct professor with them.
And it's a great organization if you're New York based. And then I got my Bachelor's of Arts way long before then, not to age me from NYU. So I studied history, so it goes very closely aligned with wine. Mm-hmm. But. So it was funny, my father, he is a physician and he liked wine, he likes culture, he loved to travel.
He still does love to travel. And he would always start out by drinking, which ironically was the first white wine I ever tried and liked he used to drink. So this is so Ari Suave, which was in a 1.5 liter and it's this wine from Italy. It wasn't very expensive at the time, but who knew back then?
Anyway, so he was like somewhat into wine. He liked it, he liked the idea. We, we would go to nice restaurants and because he was cultural, because he is very into the culture. We would travel to Europe a lot and at one point. I was 17 and this sounds super bougie, but we were [00:05:00] traveling through the French countryside and he was like, I'm tired of, I'm tired of ordering the wines, Matt, you order the wines.
Oh, okay. And I said, okay. I was 17 years old and it's in France. And I said I started talking to the sommelier or whoever took care of the wine. And it's like, for whatever reason, my brain just. Was able to focus on it and I kind of understood what they were saying and I had this like small appreciation for wine and taking that story further.
When I, I was an actor. I moved to Los Angeles to become an actor and like the cliche goes, I became a bartender. And in the restaurants I would work. They always needed somebody to just like know something about the wine and I knew something about the wine. Mm-hmm. Because I've had this experience. My dad was into wine and so it's like a fake it to you, make it kind of scenario.
So I became really into wine. And then like they tell you in acting when you are ready or you can see yourself doing something else, I. You're ready to leave acting. So I moved back to New York. Oh, okay. Got a job actually working at per [00:06:00] se, which is Thomas Keller Restaurant, one of the highest best known restaurants of the world.
And I, at the same time, did my formal sommelier studies then.
Melissa: Okay. So how did you end up in North Carolina?
Matthew Weiss: Oh, okay.
Melissa: Because you're originally from New York? I'm originally from New York.
Matthew Weiss: Okay. Yep.
Melissa: Then LA then back to New York. So how, how did you get here?
Matthew Weiss: Yeah. So my my wife and I were living in New York City.
I. My wife was like, I am, I'm not gonna raise our family and stay in Manhattan. It was too close for comfort and my parents lived like two blocks away and it was just like, you know, it was just, and New York City is overwhelming and we loved to travel. We had no kids at the time, and so we would just like take weekend trips and go.
And I have a cousin that raised his family in c and my partner, my former partner, max Trujillo, he randomly, I worked with him in la, moved his family here to Raleigh and Okay.
Melissa: Okay. And,
Matthew Weiss: So we came down to visit them.
Melissa: So it's not like you were coming [00:07:00] down totally blindly, you knew people here and mm-hmm.
Matthew Weiss: We knew people here. Mm-hmm. And we had heard good things and we just came to visit. And funny story is my wife, I'm, I'm a big Mets fan, she was wearing a David Wright Jersey t-shirt, jersey. Mm-hmm. And. I mean, literally everybody we talked to around there, oh, new Yorkers, when are you moving down? Or, oh, have you bought your house yet?
Oh, yeah. I mean, it was just like, well,
Melissa: you know, what they say about Carrie,
Matthew Weiss: the containment area for replaced Yankees? Yes or yes, relocated Yankees. Relocated Yankees, something like that. Yes.
Melissa: So, and I, I do wanna get to North Carolina wines and a in a few minutes, but first I, I know that when I walk into a store and I'm, .
Trying to avoid the box section. A lot of stores have the wines broken out into countries. Yeah, so there's a Spain section, France, Australia, United States. Which section should I go to and why? If I had to choose one country.
Matthew Weiss: Okay, so even, let's back up for a second. Mm-hmm. Because I love that you're [00:08:00] gonna go into a wine shop.
Right. And when I mean,
Melissa: or like a Harris Teeter or Trader Joe's.
Matthew Weiss: So that, that, that's the first thing I would say. Mm-hmm. And nothing against those stores, but. There's no, there's no educational value and there's no like give and take there. You're just buying and it's very transactional versus if you have a local wine shop and right where we are in Cary, there's great ones, right?
Mm-hmm. You, you can go all the way to Holly Springs and talk with Bob at Wine 100. You can go to you can go to Triangle Wine Company and talk with Nikki and Chris there. You can go to great Grapes right down the street here, talk with Gene, or go to, you know, the Raleigh wine shop and talk with all the great team there.
But that. Is the first tips and tricks I give anybody on their wine journey develop a relationship with a local wine shop. And here's why. You go in and you say, Hey, I typically like fresh, crisp, white wines. You're way ahead of the game already. They already have a like a Rolodex of like, okay, these are the wines that I wanna present to you that you would like, [00:09:00] and so you.
By then are going to get that give and take or be like, okay, I tried that wine, I liked it because of this, this, and this. And then they're gonna have other cool things and they're gonna be like, Hey Melissa, guess what I just found, I just found this verdicchio, you know, from the marque region in Italy.
It's super crisp, but it has that little salinity thing that you like, so, so your life just becomes so much richer, or your wine drinking journey becomes so much richer and, and so then. That's how you start to learn, like, and then you'll start to know, oh, I want to go to the Spanish section, or I want to go to the Italian section.
You like Pinot Grigio. So typically Italian is best known for Pinot Grigio, Italy.
Melissa: I did see, I didn't even know that. Yeah. So what, what is your favorite type of wine and what is your favorite region?
Matthew Weiss: I get this question all the time, I'm sure. Yeah. And and
Melissa: do you drink one type or do you, I, I mean, I'm assuming, do you have a go-to, I guess is my question?
Sure.
Matthew Weiss: Great question. I, I truly, I drink seasonally. I like to, and I like to pair my wines right, depending on, mm-hmm. On what I'm eating. [00:10:00] But I will say that I am definitely a Franco file at heart. Probably 'cause I started, found my wine love there in France. So I gravitate to France especially Burgundy.
I actually, and this is a, I, when we have more time, I'll, I'll step up on my soapbox and tell you my dissertation on Chardonnay. But I love chardonnay. It's actually one of my favorite grapes, and I know that's a polarizing topic, so that'll be good. SEO for your, for your podcast. But, well,
Melissa: I, some of my closest girlfriends, that's all they'll drink is Chardonnay.
Matthew Weiss: Chardonnay. It's. It's not the most widely planted white grape. In the world for a random reason. Mm. It's because it's a de nobles of white wine grapes.
Melissa: Oh. So it's fancy. It's a fancy grape.
Matthew Weiss: It's fancy. Okay. I mean, if you've heard of Shaya Che Meau you know, cha, I have not shali,
Melissa: they all sound very royal.
And Rachel,
Matthew Weiss: so the. Ian Monks have been making wine in Burgundy from those villages, ah, since, since [00:11:00] the, since the 12th century. So there's quite the history there. Yeah. And so that's so to answer your question, that's, I love that. I love Burgundy. But I also, I. Anytime I can get my hands on whites from Campania, this coastal place on the shin of the Italian boot.
If you look at Italy, it looks like a, a boot. Mm-hmm. The map. So I always pointed out it's like the shin of the Italian boot. It's coastal and the whites there are rich, but have this beautiful minerality and salinity as well.
Melissa: Well, and you brought up the fact that wine has so much history and I do think that that is perhaps why a lot of people might get into.
Studying wine. Yeah. Because of the history part. So it is very interesting and it's, it's layered to use a a, a wine term. I think that's a wine term. I like that. Yeah. Layered. I like
Matthew Weiss: it.
Melissa: So it, it is layered in why people would like to, to learn more about it.
Matthew Weiss: I love You
Melissa: can't get more history than, than Wyoming, I mean, is in the Bible.
Yeah, so
Matthew Weiss: exactly I it and it, it is, you know, I love that you brought this [00:12:00] up. I just did for friends of mine in-home tasting and we did the wines of the ancient world. So I mapped out how the Venetians. You know who started out like in Lebanon and the Baca Valley mm-hmm. And whatnot. And then they were seafaring people, so they went to the islands of Greece and you know, and then how the Greeks brought it up to Rome and Spain and the rest of the rest of Italy and stuff like that.
So yeah, the historical part of it, and that's the other beautiful living that excites me. And why wine is for everybody. There's science, there's politics, there's history, agriculture, mathematics, you name it. Mm-hmm. It touches the wine world.
Melissa: Yeah, it definitely does. So I, I do see why even if you might not have started out as.
A wine drinker, why you would find it interesting at least. Yeah.
Matthew Weiss: So as long as, and, and, and this is the other thing, Melissa, that a lot of people, I, I know a lot of wine professionals, there's a lot of great ones, but the problem is, is they start talking [00:13:00] and the average, the wine enthusiast, like, I like wine, I drink Pinot Grigio, right?
They start talking in a way about how wine is made and trellising and stuff on the vine, and it's like people just, they, their eyes glaze over and like, I don't understand. So I was
Melissa: a little bit worried, if I'm honest, that this conversation would go that way because I, I don't wanna be looking at you like you have two heads, two heads, you know, and, and, and I want to be able to talk on a normal layman's term basis about a subject in which I don't know.
A lot about
Matthew Weiss: Right. But you do know about a lot of things historically. Mm-hmm. And, and wherever your expertise is. And that's where it's my job to find that, you know, and it's very simply start. What I, however I start a conversation about wine, especially when I'm teaching or talking or giving a a, a presentation, is where does wine come from?
Melissa: Mm-hmm.
Matthew Weiss: Where does wine come from?
Melissa: I, well, oh, you're asking me? Yeah.
Matthew Weiss: Um,
Melissa: Well, you know, I [00:14:00] don't absolutely know other than it came from Jesus made it
Joe: of water. Well, he turned, apparently he turned, he made outta water. Yeah. You see?
Melissa: And doing so it was a magic trick, but it comes from grapes and that's all I know.
Matthew Weiss: Yes, exactly. Mm-hmm. It comes from grapes. Mm-hmm. That's, I mean, when people think that, I know it's such a simple thing, but when you just say that, you're like, oh. And so like grape, it's a fruit. We need sweetness and acidity in any fruit to make a balanced wine. So it starts with growing grape grapes before you ever think about making wine.
Melissa: Yeah. And the soil it has to. To go in into, yeah. You know, from the very beginning. And that's why I said in, in our intro that your show makes wine approachable.
Matthew Weiss: I hope so.
Melissa: It's not just for the, the fancy people that like the, the big terms and big words.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah. No, I, and I, I often have to stop and I'm lucky 'cause I, I can do as long a show as I want.
I know we're trying to keep it to 30 minutes here, but, so like, I'll stop [00:15:00] and we're talking with Titans of the wine industry. Mm-hmm. So these people are, you know, like they've forgotten more than I know ever will ever know about wine. But sometimes you just have to pause and, and break it down and say, okay, they're talking about whole cluster fermentation.
What does that mean? Well that means when they take the grapes and they're making the wine, they're putting the stems. The crushing machine, so it's a part of the actual finished wine that you're drinking.
Melissa: Okay. But is that a normal part of the process? A
Matthew Weiss: lot of people do that. Okay. Especially in Burgundy.
It, yes. It, it can add what's called tannin, the things that dry out your mouth. Mm-hmm. You know, and, and give you that like puckery biting part. Yeah. Those are called tannin. So it can add that, it can add flavor, it can add all sorts of dynamics, layers. I would think it would to the wine.
Melissa: Yeah. I would think it would add a earthy type of layer to it.
Totally.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah.
Melissa: Okay.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah.
Melissa: So speaking of regions, let's talk about North Carolina wines. Let's. To me, they seem to be on the sweet side. So I, I've always been curious as to why they're [00:16:00] more sweet, because like I said, I like dry wines. Yep. So I kind of steer clear out of the North Carolina section.
Matthew Weiss: Yep.
Okay. Great question. So let me dispel the myth. Yes, there has been a lot of North Carolina sweet wine. Why? Because our climate here, it's a somewhat warm climate and all that red clay leads itself to growing muscadine grapes, muscadine, which is not Muscat, very different. Mm-hmm. Is presents a very sweet wine.
Melissa: Mm-hmm. Okay. And that's the only grape we have in North Carolina.
Matthew Weiss: No. Okay. That was just traditionally what was drank. There's a big historical culture. Okay.
Melissa: I thought it was still the only one we really would. No, were able to grow here. We're, we're
Matthew Weiss: growing everything from Cabernet Franc is doing very well.
We're doing this really odd grape from France, which only grows in the small place calling petite Menang, which Jones VRE is doing a great job of making. Mm-hmm. And, and a lot of other, like the grapes that you think about, Cabernet Sauvignon, we even make some Pinot Grigio. We're going a lot of.
International varietals is what they call. [00:17:00] But anyway so between that and then you have Dublin Winery, which is actually, I didn't know this until a few years ago. One of the largest volume producers of wine and they make sweet wine. So that's why everybody has this connotation. Oh, okay. North Carolina and Sweet Wine.
Melissa: Because they're so large, it kind of makes you feel like Yes. Therefore, all of North Carolina. Wine a sweet.
Matthew Weiss: Exactly.
Melissa: Okay. Okay. Between
Matthew Weiss: those two factors mm-hmm. Of muscadine. Mm-hmm. But, and, and then the fact is like North Carolina warm climate. So back to the idea that wine comes from grapes. When you're growing grapes and you have a very warm season, especially in the summertime that we have really hot and humid summers, you don't get as much of what's called the acidity in the grape, the stuff that gives you like the power and the backbone.
Mm-hmm. So you end up with a very high sugary wine because it just can't. Get that because you have to pick it at a certain time in order in order to preserve that. So you still have a lot of sugar in the wine.
Melissa: So [00:18:00] what is your favorite North Carolina vineyard or winery? Yeah. To visit.
Matthew Weiss: Yep. I, I love the people from Jones vre.
They make great sparkle wine. Where is that? That's in the Yadkin Valley.
Melissa: Okay. Yep. Okay.
Matthew Weiss: A lot of them are sanctuary. I. Vineyards, which is out in Keita County. They're doing really cool stuff. They make a lot of different wines. They make an Albarino, which traditionally comes from the coastal region of Spain called Galicia.
But they do that, they do it really well. And I think Mc Richie is wines I've tasted that's doing a really good job. So you're
Melissa: naming places that I haven't even heard of, so you gotta check it out. No. North Carolina wine, like Yeah,
Matthew Weiss: we just, we don't have like the, the problem is. You can still buy the equivalent in California or France, even before the tariffs if they come of a wine that's a lot less expensive.
So you're probably, and then you don't have the knowledge, or a lot of us don't have the knowledge of North Carolina, so we're not buying those wines because it's like, I, I have this many dollars to spend and I'm [00:19:00] not gonna open two bottles of wine. So I'm just gonna go with what I know, which is back to my original point of why we need to establish rapport with a local wine shop.
Melissa: Okay. Yeah. I mean, and, and I don't, I don't wanna get into tariffs and everything because I feel like that would be its own podcast. Sure. But it's a very good argument to why we should start drinking local and not just eating and shopping local. True. Mm-hmm. I have a
Matthew Weiss: whole segment on tariffs, on the wine centric show, YouTube channel that you can check out.
Oh, good. So, yeah. Okay.
Melissa: Okay. So. For our listeners, if you are more interested in, in finding more about the, the tariffs and everything and how that would affect the wine world. Check that out.
Matthew Weiss: Yes.
Melissa: On behalf of all budget wine connoisseurs mm-hmm. Can you give us a list of a few wines that are not top shelf cost?
Matthew Weiss: Yeah.
Melissa: And is it even it, so it is possible, I guess, to buy inexpensive wines
Matthew Weiss: 100 for those
Melissa: black box drinkers that might wanna buy a bottle every once in a while.
Matthew Weiss: 100%.
Melissa: Okay.
Matthew Weiss: And so off the top of [00:20:00] my head, like your Pinot Grigio drinker mm-hmm. Look for Z Pinot Grigio or Tein Bruner. Tein Bruner, exceptionally delicious and different because it comes from a very specific place in the Dolomite Mountains and for boxed wine, there's VNA Borja, which makes some really good Spanish box wine.
Mm-hmm. Higher quality. And I think. Like, when more labels, when you're looking for, like, if you do like Chardonnay and you do like French Chardonnay, look for Macon Vill, you can put that in the show notes. Like that's a, that's a. Typically a region that grows beautiful chardonnay, but it's less expensive because it doesn't have like the hierarchy of names.
Okay. So, so those things. I also would direct people to regions like s Spanish wines like Rioja Rivera Ro for people that like big Red wines are typically great bargains and they're typically aged longer than we would drink in American wines. So you're getting like more complexity, more [00:21:00] layers.
Melissa: Is that what makes wine dry is the aging process is age longer. It's not just the grape type. It's also the age.
Matthew Weiss: The dryness pre predominantly comes from fermentation. Right? Okay. So just like any fermented beverage where you make beer or whiskey the yeasts eats sugars. Then it becomes alcohol, right?
Very simply put, so, basically when you're making a wine, it's about how dry you're letting it go. Are you letting the yeast eat all the sugar so there's no residual left in it? Or are you stopping fermentation at some point to leave a little sugar
Melissa: and see, that's another layer to this learning about wine.
It's, it's science.
Matthew Weiss: It's. 100%. Yeah. Biology is involved in their chemistry, the whole thing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Melissa: Okay. So Carry Magazine and Wake Living are sponsors Yes. Of your upcoming barbecue and bubbly event. Yes. Can you tell us about that event? How it got started? Yes. I'm very excited [00:22:00] about this one because there's two things that I really like.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah, exactly. Who doesn't like barbecue and who do I mean if you don't like bubbly, well, it's time to, so, it is a celebration of the magical pairing prowess of sparkling wine, meaning champagne, Prosecco, kava, you name it. If for the cool kids, we'll have some pet nuts there as well. I've never even
Melissa: heard of that, so I guess I'm not.
Cool.
Matthew Weiss: I'll, I'll, I'll introduce you all fine. Okay. So, and then, you know. We have such a rich history in this area of barbecue and the knowledge of barbecue. So I got together 10 of my favorite pit masters and chefs and to do their spin on barbecue. So they're gonna do a dish and and then we're gonna have the Raleigh Wine Shop and Luella Durham partner to help me.
Provide these wines here and it's gonna be a tasting of 20 different of those sparkling wines that are meant to pair with all this beautiful different takes on barbecue. So, and we're gonna have different styles of barbecue, like Eastern Carolina barbecue, Texas barbecue I'm [00:23:00] talking possibly have Korean barbecue, and we're definitely gonna have some like Mexican barbacoa there as well.
Melissa: Oh, nice. Yeah, I mean this really sounds like my ideal event.
Matthew Weiss: Oh, it's amazing. And the other cool thing about it is. In my like ambition to position. Raleigh and Carrie as this real unbelievable food destination alongside like Ala Charleston Food and Wine and South Beach Food and Wine and Aspen, like Aspen's my North Star, right?
I'm doing some educational seminars as well. So Adrian Miller of Soul Food Scholar and he wrote the book, black Smoke and he's James Beard, nominated, is going to do seminars. On barbecue at the event, and as well as, I can't say who yet, but I'm bringing down a thought leader in the wine industry to do a sparkling wine seminar as well.
So it's encompassing food, wine, and people that want to nerd out about those things as well.
Melissa: And the event is at Fenton? It's at Fenton. One of our favorite places. Yeah. [00:24:00] It's may 31st.
Matthew Weiss: Yes.
Melissa: And it's one to four.
Matthew Weiss: One to four is for general admission. Okay. If you want to get a VIP ticket, it's from 12 to one, and that gives you an hour early access.
It gives you specific area where you'll have a specific chef dedicated, a specific food vendor dedicated to VIP as well as a specific champagne that's only available. In the VIP area. Oh,
Melissa: then I want the
Matthew Weiss: VIP ticket. Get, get the VIP ticket. Melissa, do yourself a favor. Yeah,
Melissa: yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go ahead and, and blur on that.
Matthew Weiss: It's, it's a lot of food. It's a lot of great wine and all the education and, and a great time as well. Yeah. And the
Melissa: perfect location, like I said,
Matthew Weiss: I mean that, that location, Fenton is just epic.
Melissa: It really is. Yeah. Yeah. It's very hard to beat in this area. Okay. It's time to wind down. So let's get to our lightning round of questions. First question, do you have a favorite wine movie?
Matthew Weiss: Sideways.
Melissa: I have not seen sideways.
Matthew Weiss: Oh, do yourself? I have a copy at home. I'll give it to [00:25:00] you. Oh, okay.
Melissa: Yeah. Well these days, I mean, I finally threw out all my DVDs and CDs and tapes and
Matthew Weiss: That's true.
Yeah. You can get, I think Hulu streams it for free or whatever. Yeah. But yeah, sideways is an amazing movie. I will
Melissa: add it to my list, my ever-growing movie list. What is your favorite local wine shop? I know that that might be like asking your favorite child, but Yeah. Do you have one that you can recommend?
Matthew Weiss: I mean, I live in Holly Springs. So I love Wine 100. They're great. I also, when I'm in Raleigh, I go to the Raleigh Wine Shop. Mm-hmm. When I'm in Durham, I go to Lua. Okay. So I'll give you three for the separate areas.
Melissa: Great. Okay. Perfect. If you could only drink one kind of wine for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?
Matthew Weiss: Mm. This dystopian question always follows me. Mm-hmm. It'd have to be, it'd have to be Shaya Mont.
Melissa: And is that a red wine of,
Matthew Weiss: that's a white wine. White. Okay. From Burgundy. And it's a hundred percent Chardonnay.
Melissa: And see here I am, I have convinced myself that Burgundy only has red wines [00:26:00] because it's called Burgundy.
And so there you go folks. That's, if you learn nothing else,
Matthew Weiss: you know that now.
Melissa: Okay, good. Do you have a dream interview for your show? Somebody that you could have on to interview?
Matthew Weiss: I've been so lucky that I've like checked. Boxes off of everybody. But I think if I could go back in time, it would be Andre Scheff, who is thought of as the Dean of American Wine making.
Melissa: Okay. What Vineyard have you yet to visit but is on your must list?
Matthew Weiss: Oof. Nothing anywhere in the world. Yeah. You know, I've, I've had the pleasure and the being lucky enough to be at Domain de la Romani Conti, which is thought of as the highest absolute top. So I'd love to go back there. But where,
Melissa: where is that?
That's
Matthew Weiss: in Burgundy as well. Oh, in Burgundy, okay. Yeah. Yep. So I
Melissa: need to add Burgundy to my visit list and
Matthew Weiss: you absolutely do. And sideways
Melissa: to my movie list. That's, yes. Yeah, we talked
Matthew Weiss: about Burgundy a lot. Yeah. Then Grow Great [00:27:00] Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. But I, I guess I just, what's on the top of my mind, and I, I guess it's on my bucket list now, is I've never been to South Africa so I, oh, that would probably be amazing.
Need to go to the, like the Stellenbosch Vineyards and then go on Safari after that.
Melissa: Oh, that would be an awesome trip.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah.
Melissa: Okay. This is, this is a, a tough question.
Matthew Weiss: Okay.
Melissa: Do you revoke the wine cards of people who put ice cubes in their wine?
Matthew Weiss: I have a lot of like, in-laws and people who do that. No, you're, if you're drinking wine, I'm happy.
I would love for you to think about taking the ice out of it, but you know, ultimately if you're drinking wine, we can be friends.
Melissa: I, I've gotten to where I really like ice and my wine and I, I think it embarrasses my husband when I do it out in public.
Matthew Weiss: But just put it, why not? Well, okay, at home, just put it in the freezer and you get it really cold.
You put it for like 20 minutes. I.
Melissa: I don't know. There's something about like, you want the water, it's a little water down. Like a slushy.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah. Yeah. I hear you
Melissa: See box. Wine. Wine [00:28:00] slushy. I might as well just go to seven 11.
Matthew Weiss: No, I mean, like I said, I mean, listen, I, I would, I rather you not drink it with an ice cube 'cause it dilutes the wine.
Yes. But again, but
Melissa: then it gives you more wine technically.
Matthew Weiss: Yeah. Yeah. It's true.
Melissa: Okay. Thank you so much. Let us know right now where we can follow you and where we can get tickets to this bubbly and bar barbecue and bubbly event.
Matthew Weiss: Yes. So, BB q and bubbly, if you just google bb q and bubbly 2025, you'll find it.
But if you want to be very exact, it's a Bitly registration site, so it's bid ly slash bbq and bubbly. BBQ. Bubbly. Yep.
Melissa: Okay.
Matthew Weiss: Bit Lee slash bbq bubbly. And then please, yes, follow me if you like some of this talk at Wine Centric Show. At Wine Centric Show if you can listen, you can watch and listen on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Obviously I'm an Instagram as well, apple, Spotify, the whole thing. [00:29:00] It's all at wine centric show, and we do a lot of tips and tricks like we've talked about today on YouTube.
Melissa: Great. Thank you so much for being here. We are leaving this chat on cloud wine.
Matthew Weiss: This has been great. Thank you, Melissa.