The MHW Mark Podcast
Welcome to the MHW podcast, bringing you conversations with experts and leaders in the alcoholic beverage industry. Covering topics ranging from selling alcohol online, creating a new brand from scratch, and what you need to know when you start doing business internationally. Hosted by Jimmy Moreland and a rotating cast of cohosts from the folks at MHW.
The MHW Mark Podcast
Insights on 2024 - with the MHW Sales & Marketing team
For the final MHW Mark Podcast episode of 2024, we’ve assembled our largest group discussion ever. A dream team of MHW’s Sales and Marketing experts come together to share their insights on trends and data from this past year, and what we might expect in the industry as we look ahead into 2025.
Host Jimmy Moreland welcomes returning guests Cassidy Poe, Brigid McCabe, Michelle Street Beaudette, and Misha Monticciolo, as well as new friends Joe Nunnink and Brad Buchman.
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Welcome to the MHW Mark podcast, where we take deep dives into various aspects of the alcohol industry. My name is Jimmy Moreland. Mhw is a US and EU beverage alcohol importer, distributor and service provider. Today we have a very special end-of-year episode for you. We are bringing quality and quantity today with the largest team of experts we've ever had on the podcast. Courtesy of MHW's sales and marketing team, we have some familiar faces. Welcome back Cassidy Poe, bridget McCabe, michelle Street-Bodette and Misha Monticello.
Speaker 2:Thank you, jimmy. Thanks, jimmy, happy to be here. Thank you, jimmy.
Speaker 1:And we have some new friends. Can we get a quick introduction for each of you, joe and Brad?
Speaker 4:Joe, if you want to start, yeah, absolutely Good to be here, Jimmy. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, my name is Joe Nunnock. I work in business development with MHW, Been with the company for gosh three and a half years now, so happy to be on the pod.
Speaker 5:Great to have you here, brad, welcome, thank you. Thanks as well for having me on. I'm excited to be here. This is my first podcasting experience, so that's exciting. I've been with MHW now for about a year and four months, so still learning, but the training wheels have been taken off.
Speaker 1:I'm glad that we've got you on the podcast. We'll be gentle Now. Every podcast out there, regardless of category, they all handle the end of the year gap, if you will, a little differently. Some do a mailbag, some do like a clips episode. We have gathered the MHW sales and marketing brain trust here to share insights and takeaways from 2024. Now, as we all know, I am the industry outsider here, so I'll do my best to step out of the way and let this conversation take place naturally. So let's start with Michelle. Can you share your thoughts on trends and changes you observed in 2024?
Speaker 3:Sure, I would say the biggest trend I have seen has been the surge of additive-free tequilas. You know there's been a lot of tequila purists who have said that additive-free tequilas are. You know there's been a lot of tequila purists who have said that additive-free tequilas are the best tequilas out there. And there have been very, very you know popular brands such as Fortaleza Tequila, tequila Ocho. A newer brand is Lalo Tequila, which was founded by the grandson of Don Julio. So that's very exciting too and that brand has been really taking off. We also have two clients Humano Tequila, which launched this year, and then One With Life Tequila.
Speaker 3:So what makes these brands different from a lot of the other tequila brands out there is that they're made with fewer ingredients. Basically, it's just agave, water and yeast, versus having the added chemicals, flavorings, sweeteners, anything like that. There's so many brands out there that have these added ingredients in there that help with the taste, which I think allows it to be drank by a broader audience. However, people who really indulge in the taste of tequila love to really taste the true agave flavoring. So that's a big difference with the additive-free type tequilas and some would say it's a cleaner way of drinking, which a lot of consumers nowadays are looking for more of those cleaner options where they feel like not necessarily healthy, because you know, we can't necessarily say that when we talk about alcohol but maybe a healthier style of drinking, which, again, fewer ingredients, less additives. So that's something that I think that's been really cool that we're seeing with. You know some of these brands, especially since tequila is the hottest category out there.
Speaker 1:Is that the only category you're seeing, that sort of trend of sort of reducing the ingredient count?
Speaker 3:if you will. No, definitely. It spans across other categories and I know the group is going to be covering, you know, some of those other product types as well, so I think it's an overarching trend just across the beverage space in general.
Speaker 2:That's a great point, michelle. I'm going to hop in here because I feel like my trend builds off of hers very nicely. So, in addition to that additive free we're seeing the global organic wine market really increase in size. So in 2023, they were clocking at around 10.8 billion USD and the CAGR is expected to grow at least 10 points from 2024 to 2030. So this year we've really seen sort of like the apex of that, and it's only going to continue going.
Speaker 2:There is something that we're doing more this year, which is we have our organic wine certification. So previously, it was only necessary for the vineyards and the winery that produced and bottled that wine to be certified as organic. However, there are new rules under the Strengthening Organic Enforcement Regulations, which we call the SOE, which were first announced in January 2023. They gave us about six months grace period and all importers to basically have this requirement apply to importers ourselves. So, even though we're not handling in the wine or bottling it ourselves, we need to ensure that we're meeting the standards that the actual wine producers face themselves. And the reason that the USDA did this was to really protect organic businesses and consumers, to prevent fraud, to create a level playing field, make sure that we're all kind of operating under the same regulations, and so these went into hard regulation September 19th after a six-month grace period, and it's, you know, I think it's something that all importers now have to. There's a lot more paperwork that goes into it and a lot more, you know, certifying and process with our organic wine producers.
Speaker 2:But it's also been welcome in the space too, because it's keeping up with the standard of how the organic wine category is really accelerating.
Speaker 2:And, to Michelle's point, we're really seeing that in wine too, it's not just, you know, additive-free tequilas, but there's also additive-free wines like lower sulfate, or sulfate wines are a big one, and I think a lot of times you're seeing the two kind of coupled together.
Speaker 2:If something's produced as organic with the regulations of the USDA, a lot of times they're also taking a look at like what they're including from like a sulfate and additive perspective as well, so that we're only going to continue to see grow. And I know, you know, the wine categories had a tough go of it the last decade or so, but this is one area within wine that we're seeing absolutely just double within the last five years. So all in all, it's been a really encouraging time for wine and I think that you know, even though the category itself has had some downwinds over the last decade, we're seeing areas of wine pick up, and that includes organic wine. I know Brad has also had some ideas that he was going to talk through about what he's seen in the wine space, so I'll go ahead and pass that over to you.
Speaker 5:Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, bridget. So I've spoken to a few potentials, and obviously the big thing is following some of the health trends that have been mentioned, and one in particular that I'm actually talking to thoroughly right now is a wine brand that's found a way to make it completely truly zero sugar. It's based out of the UK and some of their requirements around saying zero sugar, have you know, require that there's no added sugars, no artificial sweeteners, anything like that, and so they're trying to come into the, you know, into the US market now, following that trend, and actually a lot of their focus was surrounding the diabetic rate in the UK and noting that I think it was around 7.4 and that in the US it's significantly higher than that, and so therefore, that's part of their solution and their competitive edge in going into that side of things.
Speaker 1:So that's great, covering the health conscious front. I am a well-known I don't want to say hater, non-enjoyer of agave-based spirits, but is there any other news out there for the people out there who, despite what their taste buds tell them, they do somehow enjoy agave-based spirits?
Speaker 4:Well, jimmy, I love all things agave spirits. I'm a big mezcal on the rocks guy. But what's interesting is a trend that I've seen this year is that category kind of expanding past tequila and mezcal and just incorporating a lot of other agave spirits I think are coming into the US right now, things like ricea sotol and then just inventive things. We had a client who signed with MHW recently called Lunoir, and they don't want to think of their product as a tequila or a mezcal or even an agave spirit, which is what it is at its base, but they want to think of it as Lunoir. So thinking of brands, just getting really into the brand identity and less about the spirit category and just getting very inventive. So you know what they did.
Speaker 4:That's different is it's basically a botanical agave spirit, so they're looking at it as more like a gin and I got a chance to try it. It's amazing. It's got a lot of you know, got a bit of a spice to it but a sweetness as well. But I'm seeing that a lot more brands, you know, thinking less about the category and when you do that you don't have to worry so much about you know, tequila needs to be made in Mexico, for example, but in this case you can import agave spirits perhaps they're finished within the US formulated here and bottled domestically. You don't have to worry about putting tequila on the label. We can call it, you know, just getting behind the name of the brand. So I've seen that as kind of a trend, and a lot of these things are really amazing, products that are coming to market too, and things that I haven't really tasted before. So I think that's exciting.
Speaker 2:Definitely, and I think there are some too that are new to the US but may have like a long history line in the country of production. So, like Bacanora was one that I had the opportunity to work on. Kalinga is the brand that brought it into the US. Land meets the sea on the west coast and they actually were like a very christian community. So bacanora got outlawed. There was like a prohibition in that area for a very long time and it wasn't until the 90s where bacanora was, like you know, able to be made again and so all these folks that had kind of kept the family mystery and kept the recipe, kept allowing these uh plants to to grow in their backyard and things like that. It really enabled them to come to market and come back with Bacanora, which people had thought had been like wiped from the history map. So Kalingo was another really exciting one coming out of Sonora and I'm excited to see. I think it's going to usher in a few more Bacanoras as well.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think people are always excited to try something new. I think there's like a real thirst for, like novel. You know, peanut butter agave spirit, right, like that's not something that we've seen, the peanut butter bourbon, but that's. You know, there's always going to be a market for those new kind of niche products.
Speaker 1:Generally speaking. I know this is a little bit off the retrospective topic here, but I'm interested in this idea of the tension, if you will, between innovation and this sort of traditional and sort of I don't want to call it hard line, but like. There's a definition where, like, if you are making this spirit or this beer or this wine, it must adhere to this definition and if you're innovating, well, that goes against this definition and therefore we're not going to allow it to be labeled as X, y or Z or to be sold as X, y or Z. You know, I'm sure this debate, this argument, is literally hundreds of years old. What's the current sense of that tension? Does it vary by industry and company and person to person Like? What's that sense?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think it definitely varies. I talk to folks who are very, you know, very adamant that it still says tequila on the bottle. You know that could be a huge thing for them. Even though they might have some, they're trying to do something a little bit differently and that could, you know. Maybe that's going to be a potential challenge for them. But then there's other folks who that's the least of their concern, you know, maybe that's going to be a potential challenge for them. But then there's other folks who that's the least of their concern, you know, and it's really much more about, like that, brand name recognition rather than having that classification still be in place. But I think there's always going to be people who want to have great tequila, great scotch, whatever it is. So there's always going to be. You know, that market's always going to exist for just the very traditional old-school categories. But then there's also a completely different market for peanut butter, whatever you know, and just the crazy inventive stuff.
Speaker 7:I'm definitely seeing the same thing Lots of people wanting to stand out, be unique, be different, to get vision from others to be seen. I'm seeing a lot of that Also. I'm seeing this is not going to be a surprise to anyone, but still a ton of RTDs, a lot of packaging designs changing the category, I think everything from vodka-based, wine-based, just. Everyone's still making these to-go kind of containers to bring to the market. So that's been a big trend and even a lot of the current clients who were bottling in 750s are now looking for alternative ways to get into that space.
Speaker 1:I've got perhaps a dumb outsider question Are there special concerns for brands looking to do RTDs sort of state by state? I recall this was years ago going into a gas station in Oklahoma and if your beverage was cold there was a different limit on the ABV versus if your beverage was warm, sort of out in the middle on the aisle Same beverage, same can or whatever. But they would actually formulate and ship two different versions of basically the same beverage, two different ABVs. One was destined for the fridge and one was destined for the shelf out in the middle of the aisle there. Are these the kinds of things that brands have to worry about with RTDs, based on the 50 different markets that we have here in the United States?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's exactly right, jimmy. I think that highlights the value of MHW and our compliance team, because even after COVID hit, the RTD regulations were changing. It seemed month to month, I think two years ago. Ohio is now allowing RTDs to be sold in gas stations and areas where previously they weren't allowed. So with this wave of innovation within the space comes new regulator conversations and new laws that are passed every day, and so MHW's compliance team, and especially you mentioned some control states.
Speaker 2:We have to stay on top of that and that's something that you know. If a client is developing a new SKU or maybe they come in as an RTD, they need to understand what markets make sense to launch in. What needs to happen in terms of, as you mentioned, like refrigeration, is a key point in that state. So those are all areas where, as brands are developing this, it's kind of good to talk to your service provider and importer in advance so that you can understand where you're carving out a market for them. And we try, cassidy and I, on the end of the newsletter we're always sending up updates in terms of what states have approved what in terms of RTDs and legislation there. So even if you're not a client, it'd definitely be beneficial to sign up for the MHW Mark newsletter so you can kind of get access to all of that.
Speaker 1:We'll drop a link to the newsletter in the show notes.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Thanks, jareen. Just one thing I wanted to add too, something Misha was covering, about the different bases of RTDs, because I think a lot of times people think of RTDs as one category and the base of it whether it's spirit, wine or malt dictates where you can sell those products by state. So, like a great example is New York, where most of us are based, in order to sell a spirit-based product, no matter what the ABV is, it has to be sold in a liquor store. So you'll never be able currently unless there are regulations that change be able to sell a spirit-based RTD, even if it's for 5% alcohol, at a convenience store, grocery store, gas station. It must be malt-based, like a beer, in order for you to sell it in those types of stores.
Speaker 3:So that's what's very interesting when you have a brand that is in the development phase and we provide this consultation not just with our team, but we also have a program called Brand Arc that we help brands with developing their products, whether it be from concept to commercialization or procurement, whatever it might be.
Speaker 3:But we'll go over their options out there based on what their strategy is when do they want to sell these products, what's the ultimate goal and also what is the price point they're looking to hit, because a really big piece that they should be thinking about, too, is taxes. There is a very big difference between the three different categories in taxes and, you know, a spirit-based RTD is definitely going to be more expensive than like a malt-based RTD. So just all like really important things for people to be thinking about, and that's something that our team, our BrandArc team, will help, you know, clients in those early stages and then, as Bridget had said, our compliance team is very close to all the regulations state by state, so we're able to help current clients navigate, you know, as they start expanding into different markets.
Speaker 6:I think this ties a lot into innovation, like we were talking about before, obviously, with our BrandAr Dark programs. That's what they do. They help people innovate and create products that they maybe didn't think they could, or something that was a distant dream recently about certain new types of ingredients that people want to include in their products that maybe aren't approved by the FDA or need certain compliance help that our team is also capable of helping them do as well. So I know Bridget has been looking into that a lot recently. I don't know if you had anything.
Speaker 2:That's such a good point, cassidy, and I think just having a conversation with our executive vice president, I'm going to give a shout out to Scott Saul here. He was one of the first to introduce Absinthe into the US. I mean, we were the first importer service provider to bring the first Absinthe here. We have worked with many clients that have needed to get something on the FDA generally recognized as safe list, which they call GRAS, g-r-a-s, so that could be. You know we've had something distilled from pine cones before that wasn't currently on the GRAS list, that our compliance team helped get on there, and then even things like Kachasa. You know Kachasas are so widely distributed now in the US but MHW and Scott was one of the first to bring Kachasa in and really like carve that niche out.
Speaker 2:So you know that's, of course, past and we're talking about sort of where we're up to with innovation.
Speaker 2:But we experienced this all the time where we get contacted. I think there was, you know, a brand that we spoke with at Barcom in Berlin that I think it's called like Pandong and it's made from a Thai herb, and so that I don't know if that's currently on there yet, but we're constantly looking into this as we're talking with potentials, and I always say, like if there's a mystery or a problem that you have that you need to solve, mhw is going to be there to kind of help you solve it, and you know there's a lot of great FDA attorneys out there as well that can help you get something. On the GRAS list there's a lot of like testing and you know formulas that you need to provide for that, but innovation is something that the US consumer is always looking for. They want to know that they're the first to try something. They want to know that there, you know, there's nothing else like that in the category, and so we love seeing brands kind of push the label as it relates to that.
Speaker 6:I think in such a crowded market too, that's what's making people stand out. And this kind of leads into my trend from the past year marketing related, of course. I have seen a lot of a kind of a bigger focus on community building as a marketing tactic, which we've talked about on the podcast before, but it's come up so often that I think it was important to touch upon. We've seen a lot of brands kind of using their customers and their like most loyal fans as brand ambassadors and kind of turning away from influencer marketing, which is still big too. But one of the examples we've talked about before was Juliet Wine. They had a great program that they did, basically, like I said, bringing their customers in, hosting events and like encouraging them to post on social media, and that's also a way that them and other brands have gotten content to post on their own social media or repost from other people's stuff, which makes it a lot easier to kind of be consistent with that kind of marketing.
Speaker 6:And then, in general, I think brands are recognizing the importance of marketing overall, but also making sure that they kind of niche down to the types of marketing that would work best for their brand. So I mean, we've talked about all the different types. Some brands find popping up at events is really important to them. Some finds like we talked to Spencer from Gaywater this year on the podcast about organic social media marketing. So I think people are kind of realizing that marketing, the marketing world, is always changing in customers because this is such a crowded industry, they want to see new things and you have to figure out what's going to work best for you.
Speaker 1:I know that we're supposed to be doing a retrospective of 2024, but given the tone of your comments just there, cassidy, do we have any? I don't want to say predictions, but what are we looking forward to in 2025?
Speaker 7:I think, like the story behind things is becoming a big, a really big part of kind of what Cassidy was just talking about with Juliet, but also just in community, New Dawn, Distill. I mean the way these brands are telling their story and making that. What it's all about, I think, is another way to find uniqueness. Instead of being just another one in the market. They are standing out or finding ways to stand out from the others. That story is becoming a big part of the emerging brands.
Speaker 1:Misha, do you think the founder has to be a key part of telling that story, or can they find a way to take a back seat and let someone else, who perhaps is more eloquent, tell that story?
Speaker 7:I think it's a combination of both. I've seen it successful both ways, but definitely having the founder there is just kind of touches a person, I think, when they hear the story coming straight from the founder's mouth per se. But I definitely see trends where they're utilizing the broader market.
Speaker 3:Consumers definitely care about the story and wanting to know how a brand was founded, even if maybe they didn't meet the founder themselves. I even find myself nowadays I'll be ordering clothes and, while I'm on the website, if there is an About Us section, I want to know what the story is and if there are, you know, charitable, you know organizations that you know that brand is involved with, it makes me feel good, too, that I'm now, you know, not just supporting this brand but also supporting another organization. So these are very important things that brands are definitely thinking about nowadays because they know just people are looking for, you know, those types of stories and information.
Speaker 6:At the end of the day, people like to feel like they're a part of something, and I think that ties back into the community point I was making. But if they're a part of making a difference by purchasing this brand or they're just a part of a community that a brand creates themselves, that's kind of one of the big things that's going to drive what consumers are more drawn to in the store.
Speaker 2:I am personally excited for more low alcohol products.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's so many out there already, but it is something that, as our lifestyle shifts, as we get older, you know the ultra premium aspect of it is never going to go away.
Speaker 2:I don't think people love investing in a, you know, nice bottle, but I think that having the lower ABV, consumers are more aware of what ABV is. They're more aware of the ingredients and kind of what goes into it from a production perspective. And I think you know people want to be able to enjoy a glass or two of something or a cocktail without feeling like, okay, this is my one, that I'm going to have. You know, and I can speak from experience, just having had a baby earlier this year, I want to be able to, you know, still have a glass of something with dinner, but I need necessarily to have something high proof. So it just gives, you know, consumers who are looking for that different alternative, other options where they don't feel like, you know, I don't want to have to trade down to, like, a soda or a seltzer or something like that, but I still want that lower ABV.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more, bridget. It's so great to go to so many restaurants where they have a zero proof or a non-alcoholic cocktail menu, and it's just really cool to see how creative these restaurants are making these drinks and it's not just like, like you had said, like soda or juice, you know, it's something that like, no matter what a person's like situation is like, if they just don't want to drink that night or they can't drink, they still feel like they are part of the community. It goes back to literally what Cassie had said At the end of the day, people want to feel like they're part of something and it doesn't mean that they have to indulge in exactly the same thing as what someone else is drinking. But it's like really great to see, like you know, what brands are putting out in the market. You know, when we were at Barcom in Berlin, we were able to see a lot of those brands. One in particular our client, casa Lumbre.
Speaker 3:They launched this year Al Malve Agave Spirit and they have to call it Agave Non-alcoholic spirit too, because it is not tequila. Like, going back to what you had asked before, jimmy, a lot of these particular categories, whether they be tequila or mezcal or scotch whiskey or champagne in the wine category, they're all protected by the governments in the particular countries where they're from. So it's not just about like someone wanting or not wanting to call it a particular. You know, call it tequila or whatever. It has to fit certain requirements and be approved by that government in order to do so.
Speaker 3:So, using this one as an example, al Mave, while it's made from agave, it doesn't have alcohol, which is a requirement for tequila. So that's why you know it's called a agave spirit and it's non-alcoholic. But you know, that product is amazing. It's incredible, and I actually have the two bottles out on my bar over there. They have a Blanco and a Reposado but it really captures the flavor of agave for someone who still likes to enjoy a margarita, or maybe they just want to pour it on the rocks, but without having the alcohol in it. So no matter like what occasion you're using it for, it's just great to have something that's like just as premium as actually having a alcohol-based type spirit.
Speaker 1:Shout out to all my fellow socially awkward introverts where, if you're at a bar and you want a drink in your hand, but you don't necessarily want that alcohol, it's great to have that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you can't tell a difference. Some you know, these times, like my husband, didn't realize he was drinking. Um, we had a holiday party this past weekend and, uh, what was it? It was the Stella, uh, non-alcoholic beer, and I think he was like three or four in and someone walked up to him and they're like, oh, how do you like non-alcoholic beer? Cause they saw him with it and he was like, oh, I would never drink that and I was like laughing later because I was like Joe, do you realize that you're drinking non-alcoholic Stella?
Speaker 2:And he's like, oh, I didn't even realize. So they're getting very good in terms of giving you that full experience and the full flavor profiles that you know. If you are looking to not drink alcohol anymore, you could still get almost the same experience.
Speaker 7:Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. I'm seeing such an improvement in that category over the course of the year probably just more to come.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely, it'll be exciting for 2025. Like Jimmy, as you said, as we look forward, I think that category is going, or we're not going to slow down for sure. That is something that I think is going to start taking a bigger share of the beverage space.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, it's now time for our favorite closing question. Now, four of you have certainly answered this question before, but if your answer has changed, feel free to chime in. But we certainly want to hear from Joe and Brad, and that question is what is your favorite adult beverage? And Brad will let you go first.
Speaker 5:I'm more of a dark liquor person myself, so I will enjoy a good glass of cognac, whether it be Hennessy, Conjure or, if you want to go up a little bit and go to, like you know, Courvoisier. But if I'm looking to mix it with something, there's nothing wrong with a little KCT and throwing some Sprite and lemon or lime in with the Hennessy.
Speaker 1:Very good Joe.
Speaker 4:I've been on a Mezcal kick lately. I have Mezcal on the rocks is like my go-to right now. As far as cocktails go, I love like a French 75. Something about the little sparkling wine in with the gin. That is like my all-time favorite cocktail.
Speaker 1:Very fancy.
Speaker 3:What about mezcal old-fashioned Joe if you're on a mezcal kick?
Speaker 4:Probably mezcal old-fashioned.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's a trending cocktail right now.
Speaker 4:Yeah, a little too much sugar. That tends to give me a headache, you know. So I can do like one, but I feel like I can sip mezcal, you know, and it doesn't, you know, affect me the same way that having like a higher sugary cocktail tends to affect me.
Speaker 7:I did not get to answer this last time, so I will.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, misha, please.
Speaker 2:I haven't either, even though I've been on so many podcasts.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, well, okay, well, I have so many. I'm not going to rerecord the question, but we'll just. Let's get answers from Misha and Bridget. Let's go.
Speaker 7:I have so many here, but I mean with my meals. I do like a really good glass of wine of different varieties, but my cocktail to go would be probably a Negroni is my go-to cocktail. I love good gins and I usually will ask the bartender to give me their recommendation on a gin. I don't want just the standard one, I want something special.
Speaker 1:Bridget.
Speaker 2:My favorite cocktail has remained the same for many, many years. It is purity vodka, martini, blue cheese stuffed olives, ideally served with a bed of oysters raw.
Speaker 3:That sounds incredible.
Speaker 2:That is my all-time favorite. That's what I love to get when I'm out at dinner, and then I'll say when I am hankering for a glass of wine. Our former CEO, gabe Barkley, actually turned me on to Barnett Vineyard, so I am a club member and I love their cab, their rattlesnake edition, so that is what I will do with dinner if I'm sitting down at home addition.
Speaker 1:So that is what I will do with dinner if I'm I'm sitting down at home a glass of wine. So many high class refined palates show up on this podcast. It's so rare that someone's just like I. Just like a beer. We've had a couple.
Speaker 3:I do just like it that was my husband well, it's great and non-alcohol beer and not even realizing it and he was like I would never drink a non-alcoholic beer and not even realizing it, and he was like I would never drink a non-alcoholic beer, as he's holding one.
Speaker 1:Well, it's great.
Speaker 3:That actually should be an advertisement for them, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, good answers all around. I'm glad that we finally got answers from Misha and Bridget. I apologize for leaving you all out, but listeners out there, you let us know what are you drinking these days and, as we move into January, are you going to be on that low, no-alcohol kick as well? Let us know. There'll be some nice links for us in the show notes, but we want to say thank you to the whole grand panel for stopping by and sharing your insights for 2024. And we look forward to having you folks back here, maybe all together or maybe piecemeal in 2025 and beyond. And thank you, listeners, for joining us on the MHW Mark podcast and thanks for stopping by. If you have a question for the team, we'll drop a contact link in the show notes.
Speaker 1:This podcast is produced by me, jimmy Moreland, with booking and planning support from Cassidy Poe and Bridget McCabe. It's presented by MHW. Find out more at mhwltdcom or connect with MHW on LinkedIn. Lend us a hand by subscribing, rating and reviewing this podcast wherever you listen. We look forward to another year of great conversations and we hope you have a safe and happy holiday break. We'll be back in your feed in two weeks. Cheers and Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Happy New Year.