Koffee ChitChat
Koffee ChitChat
How A Simple Love Of Wine Turned Into A Community You Can Feel
Friendship tastes better when it’s shared, and that’s exactly how Through the Grapevine grew from a personal love of wine into a citywide community. In this episode, we sit down with the team behind the movement to explore how a simple passion became a welcoming club where novices, enthusiasts, and certified sommeliers learn side by side, with no gatekeeping, just good pours and even better conversation.
We dive into the tools and tricks that turn tasting into confidence, starting with the Five S’s: See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Savor. From unlocking aromas to pairing for holidays or choosing bottles that match your mood, we break wine down in plain English. Learn why rainfall can change flavor year to year, how soil and sun shape Albariño’s zest, why Montepulciano feels cozy by the fire, and when a zippy Sauvignon Blanc shines at Thanksgiving.
Through the Grapevine is more than wine knowledge, it’s about connection. We talk event design and vendor partnerships that spark interaction, like Italian nights with passionate distributors, haunted wine walks through Marietta Square, and even Taco Bell pairing nights. Atlanta’s thriving wine scene brings bottles from California, Oregon, and beyond into reach, while their online community keeps the conversation flowing with virtual tastings, bottle notes, and recommendations for friends near and far.
Join us for the stories behind their favorite moments, tips for choosing wine confidently, seasonal picks, and ways to make tasting an experience, not just a pour. Whether you’re staring at a menu guessing or already a budding sommelier, this episode is your invitation to sip, learn, and connect, one shared glass at a time.
Follow them:
Instagram: @throughthegreatvineATL
Website: throughthegrapevineinc.com
Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your current go-to bottle, your pick might be the next pour.
- “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”
Hey y'all, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Coffee Tip Tech. But you know how we do it. Let's try out the coffee of the week that is going to be a fight gingerbread. So make sure you try wine. Today we are chatting with John Casey, members of Through the Great Vine, a wine club that's all about good mind, good vibes, and genuine connection. What started as two friends, Lauren Slay and Riley Barnett, best friends, wine lovers, but then over their love of wine, turn into something bigger. A space where people can come together, learn, laugh, and share stories over a glass of wine, or maybe two, inspired by Laurie's grandfather and his passion for wine. Through the Great Wine, it's really about building a community that celebrates life, friendship, and the joy found in every core. Welcome to Conference, ladies.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you so much. Excited to be here.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for having us. And I'm here, you guys. So let's get started here. What was that like aha moment when you decided, hey, let's be a part of this wine club? And both of you guys can answer, or one of you guys.
SPEAKER_03:Sure. Um, I'm happy to share. So for me, kind of the aha moment that made me say I want to be part of a wine club was knowing my personal love of wine. I had I had such a great experience with wine, but I didn't know a ton about it, right? And so I decided to go deeper in the education and say, this is the kind of wine I like, this is the varietal. Or maybe here's a new grape that I've never heard of that perhaps I love. Um the other part of it was the community factor. And so really you think about as a busy professional, how much of your time goes to other people, to your job, to those must-do things in your life. For me, stepping back and looking saying, I want to give back something to myself. I want to find something that really fills my cup, no pun intended, or maybe maybe said. And when the wine club opportunity presented itself, I thought, well, this is a really good marriage of things that I love, right? Wine, education, social, being together. And we see from all the studies and all the resources online how important it is to have that community connection. And so for me, it was a no-brainer when I when I saw the opportunity. I said, yes, I'm in.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, awesome. Did you want to share, Casey?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, my my story's a little bit different. It's also Joy who brought me into this. So uh my full wine journey brought me to this group. A couple years ago, we were up in Highlands, North Carolina. There is a wine shop there called Highlands Wine Shop. So if you're ever there, definitely check them out. Um and it's so cute. And it really inspired me to like try different types of wines, and they were very knowledgeable. And I was like, that's really cool. We come home and I was like, I just wish we had something like that close by. And a friend of mine said, you know, we could open a place like that. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I just never thought about like taking that next step into the wine world. So after a little bit of thought, and I started some education and you know, one-on-one classes, and I've worked with Joy's husband for 15 years, and I saw on her socials that she was in this wine club, and I told him, I said, I want to know more about this. Next thing I know, I'm at an event uh and I had a great time. It's such an awesome group of people, really, really into education on the wine, and I wanted in.
SPEAKER_02:That sounds awesome. I love it. You said Island, North Carolina. I think I might have felt through there before. Um I'm here in the Carolinas, but Brittany is in Atlanta. So okay, I'm gonna have to check it out. I I love trying out the different wineries and um the little shops. They like you say, they're so cute, most of them. So there are tons of wine clubs out there, but yours feels so personal and community driven. What makes through the grapevine different?
SPEAKER_03:I think what makes our club different is the fact that, I mean, let's be honest. Sometimes when people hear wine club, they think it's not, right? Or they think, oh, it's somebody with such a caliber of wine knowledge that I just know I like sweet wines or red wines or white wines and can't tell really anything about the difference. And so I think what makes our club feel so personal and community driven is there is no knowledge level that needs to be had to join our wine club, right? We actually start most of our educations off with the five five S's, you know, C, Swirl, Sniff, Smell, all those type things, so that we kind of level set with the group of like, hey, you know, wine tasting is a very in-your-body experience, right? You're smelling it, you're tasting it, you're uh looking at different pairings, you're really thinking about when this wine would be good, you know, maybe in the year. We know those reds are great in winter, the roses really pop in the spring and summer. Um, so our wine club really just lowers that barrier. You don't you could be a wine novice, you could be a wine expert. And when you come to a TTG event, we literally have certified sommoliers who are there who do this professionally as their business, along with people who are a novice who say, I just got into wine, or I know that I like a certain kind of wine. So I think the fact that we have a very wide diversity of expertise in our wine club just makes it really uh welcoming and really fun. And the other thing I would say for our wine club too is we're all based on the experience of the attendee and we want you to be there and we want you to talk about. So whether you walk in knowing 10 people or you walk in not knowing a single person, you're gonna walk out feeling part of it and excited about the next event, I would say.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that sounds so much fun. And tell me those uh S's again. You said the five S's.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, the five S's of wine tasting. So it's C Swirl, Sniff, Smell, am I getting him right? C, swirl, sniff, sift, savor. My personal favorite one is the savor. So we kind of walked through. Obviously, we know what seeing the wine looks like, but learning about the color and what the variation in color can be, smelling. Um, I'll I'll share a quick story. When I first started coming to wine tasting, and they were like, Well, let's smell the wine. I just stuck my nose right on in the glass, right? And the person leading it said, Okay, now open your mouth a little. You're not gonna look cute, but it's gonna change the way that you receive the smell of the wine. And I did it. And I mean, Casey, I know you do that too. It it definitely changes the way that you smell the wine because now you're it's hitting your taste buds in your mouth as well as your nose. So you've seen it, you swirled it, you sniffed it, then it's time to sip it. And then, of course, the savor, you know, let it linger on your tongue, roll it around your mouth, like see how the flavor changes. And those are all things that I never knew before I went to a walking club. So the five S's are a great way to experience it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because I never would have uh known that. I we haven't heard that one about just open your mouth.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah, it's my favorite fact. I'm like, okay, here we go, guys. We're gonna open our mouths and we're gonna smell and nobody take a picture because we don't look cute, but it does cultivate the experience.
SPEAKER_00:It's a little weird at first. You have to kind of train your body to do that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because I'll be like, wait a minute, you said smell, right? Love it, love it. Now, how do you hope people feel when they come to one of your events or join the club?
SPEAKER_00:We really, really hope that they get a really strong sense of community. Um, we originally started as like an all-girls wine club, and we really leaned on womenhip. Uh we really um enjoyed that kind of networking aspect, and then recently in June, we decided to open up to everybody because we saw that there was a a lot of people that wanted to join in the social club. They wanted to learn more about wine, and everybody wanted to be a part of it. And we really wanted everybody that wanted to be there to be there. Um, and we've got different vendors and different community members all coming together, and I think it's such a fun experience, and I want everybody to leave feeling even more part of the community, not just the wine community, but Marietta, Atlanta. Um, and it's just such a fun thing to be a part of.
SPEAKER_03:Well, if I could add a little bit onto that, I would say everything Casey said, plus also confidence to try something new. Because when you go to wine club, we have I have learned so much about grapes that I've never heard of. And I'm gonna share a little little funny short story. We had a multipucciano wine that I had never heard of this before, right? An Italian red, and I fell in love with it, and I was saying it all the time, I was drinking it all the time, and I actually went to my husband's family's like Thanksgiving a few years ago at a restaurant, and um, they had our family dinner, excuse me, and they had multipucciano on the wine list, and I was like, I'm confident to order this bottle for the table because I know we're all gonna like it. But it had not been in wine club, I would have been like, I don't even know what that is. Let me just stick to this little knap salve over here. I'm gonna I'm gonna roll with that and be fine. But I would also think people leave our events feeling a little bit more bold to say, I'm gonna try a new wine. Or I know a few terms that I like, like I like an unknown. So let me go to the wine store and just tell the expert that, and they're gonna give me something that's gonna help me to have a great experience. So I think also they leave feeling kind of bold and excited to try something new.
SPEAKER_02:I like that because, and then I heard you say vendors. So at your guys' club, you have different people who sell different uh types of wine. It's just not one particular vendor that comes to your meetings.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we have a couple local partnerships that we work with. So depending on the theme, we'll have different wine proprietors come through. Um, and we're always looking to work with you know new wineries around town. We've also got some vendors um who are in other states. You know, Atlanta is a big, big wine city. And I I read an article a couple weeks ago about the level of wineries and wine boutiques and wine store here, stores here. It's very impressive. And so, because of the wine presence in the city, we have lots of vendors who are coming, we're Casey, California and Oregon and other places like that who come to Atlanta and we get to see them, meet with them, try their wines, and then have this relationship of when you're in Atlanta, swing through. Or we want to share your link with our our membership because they tried your wine and they absolutely loved it. And you know, I've unfortunately never been to the state of Oregon, it's on my list for next year, but I've tried some really amazing Oregon wines because of vendor relationships we have coming through TGG. I love that.
SPEAKER_02:Because, like you say, if you're at a restaurant and sometimes you're looking at that wine list, and I know I'll be like, I have no idea. I'm just looking for sweet.
unknown:Exactly.
SPEAKER_02:But you know, going to the club and just kind of learning and listening and learning from others, it opens up opens up your knowledge base. And so when you're at that table, you can say, Hey, we should get this.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I felt very empowered, but I was like, I don't want a buttery shard may, I want something stainless steel and unoaked, please.
SPEAKER_01:You feel sounds hard. All right. I love that. That's how I want to be. So I'm gonna have to make make sure I come to one of you guys' meetings.
SPEAKER_02:So, what's been one of your favorite moments or memories from an event um so far?
SPEAKER_00:I've got a couple. Um so I believe it was our Italian wine night. Um, and our vendor that we're working for for this event, uh Ted Fields, his domain uh wine distributors.com. He's amazing. We've loved working with him, and his excitement and passion and about educating about the wine was so fun. He lit up the room, he was running around talking about the wine, he was so excited, and it was like palatable, palatable. You could like get really excited and pumped about wine with him. And I thought that was just so much fun. Um my second one was our recent Halloween trip uh that we did a haunted wine walk. So we hit a couple of different restaurants in Marietta Square. And um at Piastra, the chef named Greg came out and told us spooky stories about that location and the like ghosts they had seen. Um, and I just thought everyone was hanging on every word he said with that group, and I just thought that was so much fun.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I did wine walk. Okay. Was everybody still walking after the walking? Mostly.
SPEAKER_03:Just after the tour, after the after party, we won't tell, but yeah, that that that was a super fun event and and one of our most popular ones that sells out pretty quickly. Um, and kind of building on what Casey was sharing, yeah. Last year in the summertime, one of my favorite ones was we did a Taco Bell and wine pairing, right? And I mean, I love Taco Bell, I'm just gonna be real honest, love it. And when this event was thrown out, I was like, oh, I'm in. And the response from our members, I mean, Casey, do you remember like the people came out? I think that was one of your first events that you came to, right? Last year. And it was so much fun because everybody's got this secret love of Taco Bell, right? Nobody wants to own it. And you walk up and there's this whole giant, you know, six-foot table of a spread of Taco Bell and paired with wine. And the reason I love it is it's fun, it's silly, right? But it also shows how wine doesn't have to be a quote unquote fancy experience only. You don't have to drink wine with a steak in a fancy restaurant where somebody's valet parked your car. You know, you can have wine in an everyday experience and it pairs really, really nicely. Um, and that experience to me was the perfect example of TTG is fun, accessible. We're a little silly sometimes. We're always about education. And our members walked away that day going, Hey, I tried a new wine. And I know it pairs well with the bean burning go. And and I now have that fun experience, you know. So we've actually had members say, When are y'all gonna do that one again? Because that one was really fun.
SPEAKER_02:That that sounds fun. I mean, that's very interesting. That you wouldn't even really think to put wine in Taco Bell in the same sentence, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_03:It works, and and it did that night, and it was it was so fun. And so when Casey shared that when she started coming, she's like, I've had a really good time. And I'm like, You should come back next month. Oh we're very happy that she did.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that sounds so awesome. And it sounds like you're really focused on creating community beyond just the wine. How do these events help people connect? I mean, you kind of answered that a few minutes ago, but I just want to chime in a little bit. Yeah, can you see what's here?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's it's almost networking level of different people coming from different parts of the city, different jobs, um, and just connecting and educating each other about different shops, different areas. And I think it really expands everybody's knowledge on what's out there. Um and you know, there's so many interesting conversations when you're sitting down with a glass of wine at a table uh about people's lives and different things going on in the community, different events, and we can spread that word and really build on that.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, I think that's a great answer. And and you know, the connection piece is so important. Um, one thing we do, we we really think through all the different parts of our events, even down to the seating, right? To make sure that people feel included when they walk in, they're able to meet new people. And the structure is really based on you know the couple of hours together to learn and grow and connect. And we, as the the leadership team kind of putting things on, we really focus in on what I would call that user experience to make sure that you're connecting with people and you're feeling like you're you know you're part of it. Um, and the other piece too is just the way our members share and connect. So you have people all living in Marietta who maybe have never been to a certain wine store or a watchbron or a different location. And so by having those shared experiences, it also helps people connect quicker. I've never been here, or I've never, you know, had this kind of wine or gone to this particular wine store. So we work really hard to help create that sense of connection and community some shared experiences. I love that.
SPEAKER_02:All over a glass of refreshing wine. It it just seems like you know, you guys have a great time just from your explaining the different events. Is it monthly or how many times the uh month we meet?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we're we're mostly monthly. We do take the month of January off and one of the summer months just as people are kind of on the run. Okay. Um but we've started really expanding beyond just our monthly events. We offer things that we call off the line, which are where we go support local wine events in the community. So we'll see different wine tastings and experiences, and we'll say, you know, hey, we have a little um kind of like a group meeting where all of our members can join and get wine recommendations. We encourage you. Hey, if it's Thursday night and you crack a bottle at home, post a picture of it in the group and let's make recommendations. Or hey, if you're at a wine store and you want a recommendation from your people, pop it into group me and see see what everyone else says. Um, and it's been really great. I've gotten some good recommendations from people of like, I particularly love a really bright poppy prosecco. And so I'm like, tell me what prosecco you're loving right now. And and you get really, really great recommendations.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. That's awesome. I think Atlanta, um, you guys have that big wine festival, right? Is it all? Okay. I thought because I know my girlfriend, a couple of um other friends, they attended one, they they really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. And just as this upcoming Saturday, Casey and I will be going to um like a I would call it a mini wine festival. I don't know what you what you think, Casey, but yeah, like a little mini-hour wine festival on websided.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Okay, so for someone who wants to join in but isn't local, can they still be a part of it through the Great Vine experience, maybe through a newsletter or virtual taste ends or Facebook groups?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Casey, do you want to take this one?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh, you can visit us on our websites through thegrepevineinc.com. We also are on Facebook and Instagram. Um, we have lots of links to our events on our website, and we're usually talking about different types of wine on our Insta and our Facebook. So we'd love for you to give us a like and a shout out and join the conversation. We'd love to learn about wine from you and teach you a little bit.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, awesome. That's good stuff. Good to know. I'm gonna go do all of that as well. And of course, I have to ask you guys, what's each of your go-to wines right now?
SPEAKER_03:That's a really good question. So for me, I'm gonna go back to my multipucciano. I really love that one. But I will say the other wine that I've been kind of obsessed with, and it's because of through the grapevine, is an Alvarino. And that is a white wine that's grown in um Spain. I think it's northwest Spain, and I know Portugal. But it is just the it's refreshing, it's zesty, it's got acidity, it's got citrus. Um, and it's one of those wines that I tried because of Wine Club. And now when I go places, I'm like, I'll have an Alberino. And I was at um, we were at the beach this past Labor Day, and my stepdad loves wine, but doesn't really know a lot about it. And so we were at dinner, and I was like, I'm gonna order a glass of Alberino because they have it and it pairs well with seafood. Took a sip of it and he's like, We're gonna get a bottle of that. That's that's good stuff. Multipucciano, my reds, that's nice by the fire. Stay warm, but I'm really digging that Alberino right now.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, awesome. And what about you, Casey?
SPEAKER_00:So when it comes to wine, uh my very favorite white is the Sauvignon Blanc from Marble, New Zealand. Um, that's kind of the basic right now. I think everyone loves a glass of that crisp white wine. Um, but this more of a summer wine as it gets colder. I'm one of the people that kind of switch from the whites to the reds because you wanted something a little cozier, maybe a little oaky. Um so my favorite red is a Spanish Temperanio. Um it's light, it's generally not too oaky, um, and it's it's it's delicious. I definitely recommend if you like a Pinot Noir or even a cab, I would check out a Temper Neo.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, awesome. Love it, love it. Now, and it's so interesting that you guys are are naming the wines or whatever, because sometimes when you're at the restaurant, you know you see the names like New Zealand, Mailbek, uh, Argentina. And I think that is so cool. So you guys in your club, you kind of explain to people the different types of wine and maybe the country that they are from.
SPEAKER_03:Can we talk about region? So we'll we'll zero in on town of the country, the region, what makes the wine standard the way it is, whether it's the amount of sun it gets, the acidity of the soil, you know, just enough facts so you feel like you understand like the difference in the different kinds of wine. And also also what makes one bottle taste different from another bottle of the exact same kind, you know, and there's so many factors that go into the wine. One time we had two bottles of wine from two different years. And on the outside, they look exactly the same. But when you tasted them, there was a little bit of a taste difference. And the wine person is like, well, the year this one was bottled, they received twice as much rain as they historically would in this country, and it changed the taste of the wine. So it was a really interesting experiment to have that kind of side-by-side comparison. But it has made me a lot more confident to your point, Paula, about going to a restaurant and saying, Hey, I know, I know I like like Casey with her um um uh cab stats, like looking at them and saying, I know I like this kind of wine. So if I'm in this side of a wine menu and I have a few things to help me narrow down, then I can pick out something that I think I'll like, right? It helps make that wine menu less overwhelming because you can zero into a section and kind of know what you like and don't like.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right. Well, my favorite little wine store, I'll tell you real quick, I went to Napa Ballet and I had a chance to go to the Housley winery, you to Mira Housley and her husband Adam. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That was awesome.
SPEAKER_02:The name of it, it was a white wine and it was very, very good.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So and I've learned too through wine club, start, you know, follow something, whether it's the Vino or another kind of wine app, or even open the notes up on your phone and start writing down the wines, you know, that you like. And that way when you're out doing place going places and doing things, you have some ideas of what you like when you're having those tastings too.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I'm gonna start writing it so I can remember. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:And that gives you a little bit more education to like talk to the psalm or the wine expert at the restaurant if you're not sure, or at the wine store and you're just not sure, you can give them those notes, like, yes, I like this, I like oaky or unoaked, and they can point you in a direction that you're probably gonna like what they pick out for you.
SPEAKER_03:And I will share a quick tip too. Your cabin, um, your Sav Blanc made me think of this, Casey. But um, talking about like the wine for the upcoming holidays, I know like Sauvignon Blanc is a very popular wine to bring when you are having like a Thanksgiving meal or a um any sort of like holiday get together. It's a great table wine because it's kind of crisp, it's dry. Um, and so that was a recommendation. If you're not quite sure what to bring, that's usually a pretty, pretty popular um wine to bring a Sauvignon Blanc.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. It's gonna pair really nice with your your turkey and your dressing and your green berries.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, two days chip chatters and the Savion Blanc. Awesome, awesome. Now, how can the chit-chatters and our listeners follow you guys?
SPEAKER_03:Well, we're all over Instagram. We'd love to see you on our website um through the greatvine Atlanta and drop a note and connect with us there. Instagram is really where we shine because we have a very um active Instagram page. It's always sharing tips and different things like that. So we encourage you guys to follow us on Instagram. It is through the Great Vine ATL. Um, so just follow us there, subscribe. We post quite a bit on that, and that's how we share about upcoming events. We have had a few virtual events in the past, and it's something that we want to do more of. Um we can connect with people who aren't maybe here in the local Atlanta footprint. So we'd love to see you guys on Instagram. That's a great way to get in touch with us.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, and we put that on our social media sites so they'll know how to follow up.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Well, thanks for joining us on Coffee Chit Chat. The call of the week is when friendship and passion meet. Something beautiful is always on court. Join us next week for another exciting episode.
