Inside Napa Valley: Gus Kalaris on Wine Trends, Wine Myths & Building Axios

Check out all the great events Laurie has on the calendar in 2026 on her website at TheWineCoach.com/events including my wine comedy show Wine & Punchlines on 2/27 in Bridgeville, DE.

In this episode of The Sipping Point, Laurie sits down with Gus Kalaris—founder of Constantine Wines and the visionary behind Axios Napa Valley—to talk about what’s really happening in the wine world right now. From shifting wine trends to the myths that just won’t die, Gus brings decades of experience as an importer, distributor, and luxury wine brand founder to the table.

We dive into the evolution of premium wine, what consumers are getting right (and very wrong), and how Axios became one of Napa’s most respected luxury labels. Plus, we explore Gus’s passion for crafting a Pomerol-style red blend from his Calistoga estate and how heritage, philanthropy, and long-term vision shape his approach to wine.

If you love insider insights, myth-busting, and a great Napa story—this episode is for you. 🍷

Wines Tasted

Truth Alexander Valley Chardonnay

Truth Carneros Pinot Noir

Truth Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Check out https://www.axioswine.com/ to learn more about the winery or order any of the wines Gus & Laurie tasted!

Transcript

Laurie Forster (00:27)
This week on The Sipping Point, we're talking about Napa Valley and the state of the wine industry in 2026 with Gus Calaris, owner of Axios Wine. Just a quick reminder though, if you go to thewinecoachsecrets.com, you'll get my free video series where I teach you the secrets that professional sommeliers know about tasting, pairing, serving, and enjoying wine. Just go there, give me your email address, and you will get that

in addition to notifications on all my upcoming events, tours, and so much more. All right,

I'm very excited to bring in my friend, Gus Kolaris, founder of Constantin Wines, a powerhouse distributor known for premium wines since 1986, but Gus didn't stop there. He went on to create Axios in Napa Valley, a luxury brand that quickly earned a claim and sparked a portfolio, including Worthy Truth, Tellios and Kolaris Wines. A proud Greek American with deep philanthropic roots,

Gus blends heritage, heart, and high standards in everything he does. Now from his estate in Calistoga, he's crafting world-class pomerol-style reds that reflect the decades of vision and passion. Let's dive into his journey from Washington, DC to Napa Valley. All right, let's go ahead and bring him into the show.

Laurie Forster (01:49)
Gus, welcome to The Sipping Point.

GUS (01:52)
Hello, my dear, how are you?

Laurie Forster (01:54)
I'm great. I'm great. It's been a few years, but you've been on the show before. But I'm so glad that we're getting back together and revisiting everything Axios and all your other brands. But let's touch on some great wine topics along the way, because I know you you don't have opinions on anything.

GUS (02:10)
Well, I'll tell you, I listened to one of your recent shows. You had an importer, Mary Taylor on, she was really upset about the tariffs and how it's affecting her business. And well, it also affects the entire wine business and it does affect Napa Valley. All the ancillary stuff that we use to make wine, it's all imported. ⁓

Laurie Forster (02:36)
Mmm.

GUS (02:37)
Glass,

corks, tin, you know, all these things. so we immediately got surcharges on those things. Now they're saying the tariffs might be coming off. Well, they're supposed to come off. Supreme Court says it's done, but who the hell knows? And my initial indications are that people may be just kind of shifting their prices off.

You know, and there won't be a lot of effect at the, on the shelf. So I'm hoping that doesn't happen. ⁓ I also own a distribution company, so we would fight that tooth and nail.

Laurie Forster (03:08)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, well, that's a good point. I gave everybody your amazing background and bio leading into the show. But tell me a little bit, I don't even know if I know about this. I know you built your distributorship back in the mid ⁓ 80s, but how did you get the thought to even go into the wine business? Let's start there and then we'll circle back to the craziness that is 2026.

GUS (03:36)
Yeah, well, you know,

I've always been a very entrepreneurial type. And, you know, I'm not probably not good working for somebody. So, ⁓ of course, you know, you said I was opinionated. That's true. And and my dad was a Greek Orthodox priest and he'd get all these gifts from the from the funeral parlor.

Laurie Forster (03:47)
Same.

GUS (04:00)
and the Greek embassy, and it'd always be wine. So I started drinking at a pretty young age, and I just developed this love for wine, even at 10 years old, if you can imagine.

Laurie Forster (04:04)
Mmm. ⁓

Right. Well, most people in Europe that are European do grow up having a little bit of wine at the dinner table. So that's not totally out of the realm.

GUS (04:21)
Yeah.

I mean, I always introduce it to my kids and then they didn't care. They didn't go out and get hammered, like I did. So yeah, a little wine I think is good for the soul, of course, for everyone.

Laurie Forster (04:33)
Right.

Mm-hmm. So you built this amazing distributorship here in Maryland, Constantine, and then one day you decided you wanted to have a winery in Napa Valley. How did that all come together?

GUS (04:52)
Well, you we started in 1986, Constantine wines. We're celebrating our 40th year in business, if you can believe it. It's a long time. you know, prior to 1999, when we started Axios now 27 years in business, you know, I just caught the bug really, you know, and I wanted to do it and I...

Laurie Forster (05:01)
Congrats.

GUS (05:20)
I had a lot of different ideas and names and, but then I really hunkered down and I had a lot of support from my suppliers, people like the legendary Robin Lail and the legendary Don Weaver, the executive director of Harlan. They gave me lot of tips and ideas and were very happy to...

Laurie Forster (05:39)
Wow.

GUS (05:44)
see me do it, you know, you don't know if your suppliers want you to actually have a wine in their space. But, it's been a long ride. It's been wonderful at times. It's been difficult at times. We've seen so many of the ups and downs in the industry. Now I pay a little more attention. Back in the day when I was younger, I didn't look at the news. didn't pay attention. All I did was work. And so...

Laurie Forster (05:50)
Right.

GUS (06:13)
I had my, maybe in a good way, had my head stuck in the sand.

Laurie Forster (06:18)
Mmm.

Well, you got to be a little crazy to embark on building a winery because the old saying and I, you know, it takes a large fortune to make a small fortune in the wine business because what people don't understand is it is a lot about the pride of what you create and the lifestyle and seeing people enjoy your product, but it's not probably the best use of your investment of your money if you were looking for profitability.

GUS (06:46)
Yeah,

I mean, a lot of people are, I mean, I'm in it as a business, even though wine is my passion, you I still have to make money doing it. A lot of people in Napa, it's, you know, I don't want to say it's all ego driven, but a lot of it is. so they've already made a lot of money and they're buying a lifestyle. And what's kind of bothered me over the years is the...

Laurie Forster (06:55)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

GUS (07:12)
pricing of Napa wine, you know, the average price of Napa cabs over $400. mean, mean, Bordeaux doesn't have those numbers, you know. It's crazy. It's a crazy statistic. And you know, it's no surprise that there's a glut of wine. There's a lot of wine out there. go to the consumer has a ton of choices. There's a lot of good wine, just as much bad.

Laurie Forster (07:20)
Wow.

Right. That is really insane.

Mm-hmm.

GUS (07:40)
You know, and not all of it has a home. My ethos with Axios, worthy truth, has always been value. So value is the most important thing to me. So even our highest price wine, Axios, is well less than half of the competitive set. So.

Laurie Forster (07:41)
Right.

Okay.

GUS (08:01)
And then of course we make Worthy, we make Truth, which we're going to talk about today. And they've always been, you know, great values over delivering. And that's kind of what I want to do. With Truth now, we're really nailing it down for the consumer and giving a lot of quality, which is something that they would be used to paying $60, $70 for is, you you can buy for

you know, for 1999 and 2999. So we really, yeah.

Laurie Forster (08:35)
Yeah, and I

think that's perfect for the time because people, you know, I know there's a lot of doom and gloom about people not drinking wine anymore, but there's plenty of people who are still drinking wine, but people are looking for value right now because all of the cost of everything has gone up. And so I do love that. Of course, Axios is your top of the line. And we didn't mention you're in Calisoga and I did have the pleasure of visiting your winery there. It's a beautiful location.

And what you're doing with Truth, I think is really for the moment, because people want great wine for a fair price. And so you sent me three that we're going to taste here right now. A Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, and a Cabernet. We'll start with your Chardonnay. And obviously, if you're looking for a special occasion, you definitely want to check out the Axios, because I've had the pleasure of having that, and it is quite an amazing wine.

But truth is something you could drink every day. And there is some that say in wine there is truth, right? So you're giving that to us. So tell me a little bit about what you're doing first starting with the Chardonnay, which I know is around $19 at your website, Axioswine.com.

GUS (09:44)
So this is an Alexander Valley Chardonnay. So we wanted to offer like real pedigree in all these wines and it makes it even more of an exceptional value. So non-interventionalist mind making on these pretty much. We were able to go in and buy grapes at the end of the vintage where people

aren't, they're just not making as much wine and they need a place for their grapes to go. I the market's not there for them. So we're able to get advantageous pricing and we pass it on. You know, we make it just like all these wines. We make them just like we do the more expensive wine. I just think you're getting again, like a $60 wine for 19 bucks, you know.

Laurie Forster (10:27)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And I love that I know you aged us an oak, but only 25 % new, I believe, is what I saw on the tech specs, which I really appreciate because you do get the apple, maybe even grilled lemon, but you get that nice warmth that there's a little bit of creaminess there, but it's not overly done. And I really appreciate that. think it's a little...

More in tune with the Modern palette for Chardonnay.

GUS (11:05)
It actually reminds me of wines that I tasted in like the 80s, you know? Just like really balanced driven, not trying to make it too fat or too racy, just a beautifully balanced wine. It's gonna, you know, just goes with more things.

Laurie Forster (11:10)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely. could totally like with a fish with a cream sauce or a butter sauce or even, you know, like a basic chicken grilled chicken dinner. This is something that I would easily put with that. And there's still a lot of Chardonnay lovers out there, although, you know, I guess maybe Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio are on the rise. But I still have a lot of people that come to me looking for great Chardonnay. What are you seeing since you kind of have a pulse?

on the market from the distribution side as well.

GUS (11:58)
Yeah.

mean, Chardonnay, we've had brands on the distribution side, very large brands that used to be Merlot and Chardonnay were number one and two, back and forth. Now, I mean, Merlot's taken a big slide, which is, I'm really sad about because Merlot is great, you know, and

Laurie Forster (12:22)
Right.

GUS (12:23)
Bordeaux, you drink Merlot, you drink your right bank wine, St. Emilia, Pomera, all those things, you're drinking Merlot. ⁓ And so what we've done in Napa and other places in California, they blended into other things because it doesn't sell, you know? And it makes no sense to me really. mean, it deserves the same kind of hierarchy as Cabernet does. ⁓

Laurie Forster (12:31)
Mm-hmm.

For sure.

GUS (12:51)
You don't see a lot of wines over $30 that say Merlot on the label anymore.

Laurie Forster (12:56)
Yeah. And I know Palmerol is one of your inspirations for your red wines. I saw on your your bio that that's something you kind of aspire to that style.

GUS (13:07)
So with our estate vineyard, we make Worthy Reserve. So we thought we'd take the name Worthy, which has done so well for us. And it's been Spectator Top 100. And it's just done very, very well over the years. again, it represents a lot of value in the lower 40s price-wise. It always tastes like more.

Our friend Ben Giliberti he kind of set it off, if you recall way back, and he used to be a syndicated wine writer, but he would say, how do they stuff $100 worth of wine into this bottle? And so I still use that.

Laurie Forster (13:49)
Yes. And I recently

used that for a corporate tasting I was doing. It was a bar association of attorneys. And we did a blind tasting with like a $20 and the Worthy Reserve, which was 40. Worthy Cab. And that was the winner.

the most popular of all the reds that we tried. So it is an excellent wine. And I love that you have the tiers because you kind of have some price points for everyone. You know, your Axios is going, what's that going to retail for?

GUS (14:19)
It's about 185.

Laurie Forster (14:22)
Okay. And then you have the 40, you know, the $40 range. And then of course here with the truth line that we're tasting today, the first two here are, you know, $19, which is sort of the sweet spot in my mind. We're going to taste the Pinot Noir here in a second, but I mentioned the doom and gloom of people saying, you know, people aren't drinking wine anymore. And this is a crisis. What are your thoughts on that? I know you have

delved into the stats and all of that. What are your thoughts?

GUS (14:52)
Very much so.

I look at everything and read everything and the statistics aren't very good. mean, the wine industry is definitely going through a rebuilding stage that I think is going to last a decade. know, there's just too much of everything and there's not enough people drinking. It's simple as that. the younger folks that are coming in to

having alcohol, have so many ways to spend their income on their, you know, social buzz, so to speak. know, you have marijuana, have RTDs that are very popular now, you know, mixed cocktails in a can. ⁓ And so they try everything. There's not a lot of brand loyalty, I don't think, at

Laurie Forster (15:34)
Mm-hmm.

GUS (15:42)
these kind of entry level age and the older people, like people my age that have been collecting wine for a long time, they're simply aging out. You know, I have so many wines in my collection as do most of the kind of Napa people, people that have been buying Napa, that, you know, you're in your 60s and 70s, you're done.

Laurie Forster (16:04)
Mm-hmm.

GUS (16:12)
You know, you're done. You know, you're actually trying to give some of your wine away at that point. ⁓

Laurie Forster (16:16)
Well, it's

interesting you say that because I will meet people and they'll, you know, of course want to tell me about their collection and their sellers. And they'll say, you know, I have so much wine, I couldn't possibly drink it all. And I'm like, that is so sad. That is the saddest thing I've ever heard because you need to have more parties. You need to be sharing your wine more because that wine is meant to be enjoyed and shared. And so that makes me sad that someone thinks, well,

I'll just die and never finish this collection.

GUS (16:47)
Well, know, that is, you know, their personal choice, but you know, how it affects the industry is really, is huge.

when you're trying to bring people into Napa wine or any category of wine, it's not easy. There's so much competition and so much competition, not just within the wine industry, but just all these things that are recreational and fun. And so, you know, what I aim to do is really just

Laurie Forster (17:07)
Mm-hmm.

GUS (17:19)
Bring people in, that's why I'm making wines like Truth. ⁓ Bring people in and keep them there and I wanna bring back people that left. And I think we're the right wine at the right time at the right price.

Laurie Forster (17:23)
Mm-hmm.

I agree. And I think we bonded way back when when we first met over the fact that we both believe that wine should be fun and down to earth and get rid of the snobbery or the whole intimidation factor that some people seem to hang on to. I don't know why. And I think that is a barrier. I know that's changed so much since I've been in the business 20...

20 years now and for you even much more so. There isn't as much gatekeeping and attitude and it's much more, a fun for most people, a fun kind of everyday life. But Pinot Noir is the next one here in the Truth line that you're giving us and yeah.

GUS (18:13)
To that point, socialization

is just, you know, it's not what it was. It's not what it was when I was, you know, 20, 30, 40, 50 even. know, people don't socialize the way they did. They don't get together. you know, actually there's dating statistics now that say, you know, like less than 70, less than 25 % of single people date.

You know, they just don't even date. You know, it's too expensive. it's, you know, they, they speak more over the internet and on, you know, social media than they do face to face. And, you know, we like face to face. mean, you know, you know, it's, it's all about the good times and laughing and hugging and seeing somebody and, know, it's, ⁓ I don't know how that's ever going to come back. You know, we're talking about robots entering our universe.

Laurie Forster (18:54)
Yes, I'm all about that.

Right.

Right, I know there's a restaurant in New York City that allows you to bring your date with you to dinner. It's insane. But hopefully.

GUS (19:16)
But we

do have a declining population now, which is first time in history. And I think it's going to really affect all business and all industry. It's going to hurt it.

Laurie Forster (19:22)
Yeah.

Yeah, hopefully, hopefully we'll see one of these generations kind of come back around and reject that. So, Carneros Pinot Noir is our next wine here. And I was excited to see a California Carneros Pinot Noir at $19. That's kind of unheard of.

GUS (19:47)
I think we're, I'm pretty sure we're the only ones, you know, again, you know, we made good deals, but we're also low margin on these, you know, we're not making a ton of money on it, but I was really certain where I wanted to be price wise. The Pinot Noir I'm very excited about because stylistically, it's just a glorious wine. It's kind of a

Laurie Forster (20:10)
Mm-hmm.

GUS (20:11)
hypothetical blend of burgundy and German Pinot Noir know, kind of light on your feet, but still has the richness, but it's just, you know, it.

Laurie Forster (20:18)
Uh-huh.

GUS (20:26)
I'm gonna watch you

Laurie Forster (20:28)
It is beautiful.

It's so bright and I love all the cherry and red fruit on the nose, but also there's some spice there too that is really, and you take a sip, it is what a pinot is supposed to be. Because there are some pinots on the market that tastes like Cabernets and it's crazy.

GUS (20:45)
It's amazing how what people have

come to think Pinot is, and it's not. You're not supposed to blend anything into Pinot. mean, never. I mean, it's like grape that you don't throw, you know, cab or Syrah or whatever people do, which they do. ⁓ They just want these kind of over the top, cloying wines. And I think people mistakenly believe that

Laurie Forster (20:51)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

GUS (21:12)
just because a wine is like just monolithic that somehow it's better. You know, it's not, it's not what it's supposed to be. So we would like to make, you know, really correct wines and delicious wines and balanced wines.

Laurie Forster (21:19)
Right.

Absolutely, I love the balance of the fruit and the acidity. And like you said, even though has that bright acidity there, there is some great texture to it as well. If you love Pinot Noir, that drinks like a Pinot Noir for $19 out of Carneros, that's crazy. I'm excited to have this on my list now.

tell me a little bit more of your thoughts about what's going on now in the wine industry. Any thoughts? know tariffs bad. People need to start drinking more wine. What else do see in the market that might be encouraging maybe?

GUS (22:03)
Well, you know, I think there's going to be a rather long period of correction. And I think that the consumer will definitely benefit from that because it's going to drive prices down. Unless you're one of the people aforementioned about, we spoke about that are, you know, in the lifestyle business and, you know, they think their wine should be $500. Why?

Laurie Forster (22:18)
Mm-hmm.

GUS (22:32)
because they can. But I promise you, most of those wineries, they have wine everywhere that's in a warehouse. mean, they're not selling it. I want to sell wine. I'm here to sell wine and share wine and enjoy what it brings the people. So I'm not doom and gloom. mean, I'm still in this. I'm not retiring or anything.

Laurie Forster (22:34)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

GUS (22:58)
I love it and I love the pivot. You know, I'm happy to pivot and in my distribution company as well, we've made huge pivots and I've kind of explained to some of our suppliers why. And once you have that really good dialogue and someone's, you know, backs your play. And so we're, we've taken a bunch of wines that were previously like $25, $30 on the shelf and work with our suppliers.

to make them 1999. Because once you get past that, I mean, that's the threshold for any kind of real volume. And so I understand that. And one of the things that benefits me is I've owned the distributorship for 40 years. I know start to finish how wine is made to how it's sold. And I also...

Laurie Forster (23:36)
It is.

GUS (23:54)
see so many anecdotal things that I can share that most winery people don't or can't.

Laurie Forster (24:02)
Right. Yeah, I mean, everybody kind of knows their piece of the journey, but they don't always know what the next in the three step process, you know, what's going on. If you're at the winery, you don't maybe necessarily the challenges of the distributor and the restaurant or wine store versus the distributor, but you've kind of seen it all along the way.

I feel like I'm doing a couple of wine tours this year. I'm taking people to Bordeaux in June, and then I'm taking people to Tuscany in October. I got a great response. I was shocked at what a great response I got to, yeah, the trips that people want to go. And I think of all these different options you're seeing that people have, the ready to drinks.

GUS (24:29)
Wow.

Laurie Forster (24:46)
cocktails, the THC infused beer, all these different things. Wine is one of the things that really leads itself to experiences. And I feel like people are craving that. And I mean, what are you going to go to a White Claw, you know, manufacturer? That's not going to be that charming. No offense, White Claw. They're great by the pool. the whole idea that wine has something I feel like if done right, you know, that

You can create a fun experience with comedy. You can go to a winery and see how it's made, have it with food pairings and play with that. I feel like it has a quality that none of those other things have.

GUS (25:30)
traveling and introducing food and wine with travel really hits all the buttons because people want experiences and people have shifted to like, want a new car to, I want to go to Spain or I want to go to Italy. And I think that's for the better, it's better for your soul. New car makes you happy for a couple of weeks.

Laurie Forster (25:34)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

GUS (25:58)
Trade in value goes in half.

Laurie Forster (26:00)
Yes, I know. And there's a lot of talk. I know, I don't believe you are doing a tasting room at this time at the winery. But of course, there's lots of wineries in California with tasting rooms, but it's actually gotten pretty expensive. I want to say this starts at like $75 to do a basic tasting. mean, you kind of pricing people out. Do you see any of that rolling back? Are people trying to do something different?

GUS (26:17)
I'm into it.

I think I was all by design, you know, I really do. you know, I, you know, I think one way I don't want to get into politics, but you know, I think, you know, everything should have access to everyone. But I'll stop there. But, you know, when, when I first started the industry, you could go to these wineries, it was free. The tastings were free. They were just,

Laurie Forster (26:39)
Mm-hmm.

Nice. Yep.

GUS (26:52)
delighted to have you. And then, then they started charging a little bit, which I think is good, you know, but they were charged like 10 or 15 bucks or maybe even 20 bucks, but you would, they would take that off the sale. So fair. I think if you're not going to buy anything and you're just there to drink, well, okay, go ahead and drink and you know, charge you 10 bucks for the privilege.

Laurie Forster (26:55)
Mm-hmm.

right?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

GUS (27:17)
And, you know, maybe they'll come back and be a customer down the road. But, you know, it's definitely not inclusionary. These escapes that wineries provide, it's for the 1 % of 1%. And we're not going to get too far if we just keep having that mentality.

Laurie Forster (27:17)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I agree. And I got to go to the Finger Lakes a couple years ago. And I was pleasantly surprised that $15 was the basic tasting at most of the wineries, unless you're doing like a food pairing or something that was a little more upscale. But it was really nice that you could go in and you could taste. then obviously, if you purchased, they were taking that off of yours. But if you didn't feel motivated to purchase, they were covering their costs and you still

got that great experience. I'd love to see some of these regions have options, where it is a little bit more affordable. And, it's a whole depending on where you are, you know, what's the hotel going to be? What are the restaurants? You know, that's all of that is rolled into, you know, where you're going to go.

GUS (28:25)
Napa is are very

expensive, even a weekend is very expensive, thousands of dollars. Finger Lakes, not so much so, but I'll tell you, I sell a wine called Ravines in my district. It's stunning. mean, just man, you know, I don't care where it's from. It's fantastic. As a matter of fact, I think it's best Riesling made in America, you know, which is pretty.

Laurie Forster (28:31)
Yeah.

Yes, I got to go there. It really is.

Wow,

that is really good. Well, we've talked so much about Napa and of course I hear maybe this is changing a little bit, but Cabernet Sauvignon is king in the Napa Valley. I hear Cab Francs nipping at the toes there, but I was super impressed. I did a little preview tasting of this before we got on here of your truth, Cabernet Sauvignon, it is a Napa Valley.

for $29, I believe on your site. And wow, this tastes like a $60 cab. I was so impressed. Tell me a little bit about what you did with this one.

GUS (29:19)
Yeah.

Well, again, you know, we, I kind of saw things coming a little before it started getting reported because, I'm on the ground floor. And with the, with this 23 in particular, we really declassified some of our, you know, more expensive wines. And it's a blend of, Coombsville and Stag's leap. And it's a hundred percent cab. I mean, it really over delivers and, ⁓

Laurie Forster (29:50)
It really

does.

GUS (29:51)
and you know, it's got a lot of You know, we're going to be able to continue it, you know, now that we're making some different deals with vineyards that will do it. Some people are still like, I want my $12,000 a ton and, you know, we'll do that for the long-term vineyards we have with OXEOS, but the rest of it, it's a negotiation, you know.

Laurie Forster (30:16)
Mm-hmm. And how does that work? know, so basically what's happening is you have some of these wineries that have lots of grapes that they are not going to be able to make into wine because they won't be able to sell it. But their wine might be a $200 wine or a $300 wine. Then they sell some of that grapes to you. Is there like an NDA that you don't say like, hey, this came from such and such?

GUS (30:41)
lot of times they don't

want you to, if the price is a certain price, they don't want you to mention the, like these guys don't want you to mention the vineyards But, you know, and I don't think that matters so much. I mean, it's just what's in the bottle.

Laurie Forster (30:48)
Okay.

GUS (30:59)
forward, I mean, like in 2025, people couldn't sell their grapes, period. I mean, it already started at 24. I got some great deals. You know, I bought at the end of harvest. So the grapes were just right. you know, we weren't buying something that wasn't perfect. We were buying something that was perfect that they didn't want to turn into wine and have that on their books. And so where, you know, you're buying

you know, grapes for $2,000 a ton that were eight, you know, literally. mean, that's, that's anecdotal, you know, that happened. Um, and, uh, and, you know, my Stag's Leap Vineyard moving forward. mean, really this Cabernet is pretty much a loss leader, but now I know I can repeat, keep repeating it. So I'm very happy about that. And, uh, and so.

Laurie Forster (31:33)
Wow.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

GUS (31:57)
that like literally have negotiated in 2025 a lot of deals, I just said. it costs, you know, costs $700 an acre to pick a vineyard, you know? I it's not cheap, you know? It's not cheap.

Laurie Forster (32:12)
Wow.

Yeah, this

has an intensity of the fruit and then just the tannins are so velvety, know, it's just really smooth. So it drinks great right now, but definitely could probably lay it down if you wanted for a couple of years in addition, but.

GUS (32:30)
We're talking about balance.

You know, we're talking about balance. You know, that's the key.

Laurie Forster (32:33)
Yes.

And yeah, you know, you could easily blind taste this and think it was a $60 Cabernet. So I appreciate you sharing that with me. I often ask people on the sipping point here, if you're not drinking your own wine, and I get to see some of what you enjoy because we're friends on social media, but what can we catch?

GUS (32:52)
Mmm.

Well, now this is gonna be

embarrassing because, you know, I've been collecting wine for 40 years, more than 40 years. And so.

Laurie Forster (33:06)
Yes, and

if you guys are watching this on YouTube or social media in the background, we see his amazing wine cellar there or the white wine cellar, you said. What can I be catching you drinking if you're not drinking your own?

GUS (33:13)
Yeah, this is why I keep my whites. My whites.

it, you know, depends on the craving. I really like, old Barolo, old Nebbiolo. think it's just always a, just a experience. You know, when you're like, I've had my birth year wine several times, you know, like, you know, dozens of times and it's. Well, 58 happens to be this, you know, monumental vintage. So I got lucky there. ⁓

Laurie Forster (33:38)
I've had my own birth year Barolo as well, one time. Yeah.

Nice.

GUS (33:49)
You know, while I'm not really purchasing wine any longer, you know, I've got a pretty good war chest downstairs and I'll open it for anybody, you know, any friend that comes over, we open. It's nice to present somebody with the birth year wine, you know, and open it and make a deal around it. you know, one of the greatest wines I've had recently is Angelus. 2000 Angelus was, I think my

Laurie Forster (34:06)
Yes, that's awesome.

wow.

GUS (34:19)
Favorite wine of all last year. It's hard to pick a favorite. I have a ton of favorites. love Gigi Riesling, the dry Grand Cru Riesling from Germany. I love that kind of stuff. I'm all over the place.

Laurie Forster (34:21)
That's great. Yes, I know.

Yeah, no, I love that about you. do really, I know you like your champagne as well, because I've enjoyed some great champagne with you. But that is great that you, you know, try so many different kinds of wines. And I guess in your business, you kind of have to because you guys represent so many different brands from all over the world. And that's what makes it exciting. ⁓

GUS (34:51)
I probably

taste 100 wines a month pretty much for business. I mean, I'm not drinking them, I taste about 100, 100 a month.

Laurie Forster (34:56)
Absolutely.

That's great. What do you think is one wine myth that you would like to dispel that drives you crazy that for some reason people keep believing?

GUS (35:13)
This the softball you threw me. It's price. Just because it's more money doesn't mean it's better. No question. I mean, that is without question. know, when you're big corporate dude and you want to make sure everybody knows what you spend, you buy, you know, Opus One because everybody knows that and they know it's whatever, $500,000, whatever it is.

Laurie Forster (35:15)
Why not?

Okay.

GUS (35:39)
And or you buy, you know, crystal or Dom Perignon, you know, so so people recognize that and know they're having a luxury experience. But prices should never be your main objective is to pay more because you don't have you don't have to.

Laurie Forster (35:55)
I agree. Yeah,

that's awesome. Well, Gus, I really appreciate you. And that myth busting ties in with the whole episode because I appreciate this line of truth wines that you're putting out there for us for, you know, everything's under $30, our first two under 20, and they taste like a lot more. So I feel like that's what people are looking for, wines that over deliver.

And I appreciate you bringing those to us and joining me on The Sipping Point.

GUS (36:26)
Laurie, thanks so

Laurie Forster (36:27)
Cheers, Gus.

GUS (36:29)
Cheers!

Laurie Forster (36:29)
I hope you guys enjoyed having Gus on the show as much as I did. Definitely check out his Truth Lines of wines. They over-deliver for the money. And I know we are all looking for that these days. Just a reminder, go to thewinecoach.com and you click on events. You can see all of my upcoming events. And there's even a click for podcasts. So you can listen to this and any of my previous podcasts from my website.

If you enjoy the show, I just ask you one favor, pass it on to another wine lover you know. I appreciate you and until next week, cheers.