Freemark Abbey & the Judgment of Paris: Kristy Melton on the Winery That Changed American Wine

Check out all the great events Laurie has on the calendar in 2026 on her website at TheWineCoach.com/events including her comedic wine tasting Something to Wine About at The Room at Cedar Grove in Lewes, DE on July 10th at 6PM.

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the legendary Judgment of Paris approaches, we're raising a glass to one of the wineries that helped put California wine on the world stage.

In this episode of The Sipping Point, Laurie Forster sits down with Kristy Melton, acclaimed winemaker at Freemark Abbey, one of Napa Valley's most historic wineries. Together they explore the winery's remarkable legacy—from its founding in 1886 by trailblazing entrepreneur Josephine Tychson to its starring role in the 1976 Judgment of Paris, where Freemark Abbey was the only California winery represented with both a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Kristy also shares her fascinating journey from NIH research scientist to Napa Valley winemaker, how science and intuition work together in the cellar, and how she's guiding Freemark Abbey into its next chapter while honoring nearly 140 years of history.

Wines Tasted

Freemark Abbey Chardonnay $45

Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon $75

Freemark Abbey Cabernet Bosche $225

In this episode:

• The remarkable story of Josephine Tychson and the founding of Freemark Abbey
• Why the Judgment of Paris changed American wine forever
• Kristy's journey from scientist to award-winning winemaker
• What makes Freemark Abbey's Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon distinctive
• The history and significance of the iconic Bosché Vineyard
• Sustainability, innovation, and the future of Napa Valley winemaking
• Food pairings for Chardonnay, Napa Cabernet, and Bosché Vineyard Cabernet
• Common wine myths—including the truth about sulfites

Transcript

Laurie Forster (00:27)
This week on the sipping point, we're heading to Napa Valley to talk to a winery that was founded in the 1800s and by a woman. It's also a winery that had two wines at the Paris Tasting of 1976. Now we're in the 50th anniversary of that, but it basically put California wine on the world stage. I'll get to that in a minute, but I just want to remind you to go to thewinecoach.com, click on events.

On July 10th, I still have a few tickets left for my wine comedy show, Something to Wine About, in Lewis, Delaware. And I would love for you to come with me. Check it out on the website. You can get your tickets. We're gonna have comedy. We're gonna have games. We're gonna have wine tasting and great food and just a night to kick off a weekend at the beach. So check it out, thewinecoach.com. Click on events. All right, as we get ready here in the States to kick off the July 4th holiday.

And begin celebrating America's 250th anniversary, there's no better time to raise a glass to one of the wineries That helped put American wine on the world stage. On this episode of The Sipping Point, I'm joined by Christy Melton, the acclaimed winemaker at Fremark Abbey, one of Napa Valley's pioneering wineries.

Christy's path to wine was not a straight one. A Texas native with degrees in biology and animal science, she began her career as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health. Before a trip to Napa inspired her to trade the lab for the vineyard. She earned her master's in viticulture and analogy from the UC Davis and has spent more than a decade crafting wines known for elegance, structure, and age-worthiness.

Today, Christy is leading the next chapter of Fremark Abbey's remarkable story. We'll talk about the winery's historic role in the 1976 Judgment of Paris, the tasting that forever changed the world's perception of California wine, its unique legacy as a female founded winery, and how she's balancing nearly 140 years of tradition with a vision for the future.

Laurie Forster (02:33)
Kristy, welcome to The Sipping Point.

Kristy Melton (02:35)
Thank you so much, Lori. It's such a pleasure to be here.

Laurie Forster (02:38)
So excited and I love having my women winemakers on the show. I get to talk to so many great ones and you are one of those. And everyone really loves to hear the journey to wine because I don't know about you, I didn't grow up even drinking wine at my dinner table. And so to grow up to be the head winemaker at such a prestigious estate like Freemark Abbey, how did life take you to this place?

Kristy Melton (03:02)
I love that part of our stories that we share. Wine was definitely not part of my childhood. I think there might've been a box of something in the fridge from time to time. But I think my first memory of wine is my grandfather had been in World War II and every year for his birthday or Father's Day, we'd go out to some seafood restaurant. Questionable choice growing up in El Paso, Texas before we had a lot of quick shipping that we went out and ate seafood, but he would order a glass of white wine and that was just his thing. And I thought, wow, what a...

sophisticated, wonderful thing to do. And that was kind of the last I'd seen of wine for a while until I got into science. I grew up in West Texas. I was interested in animal science, but also medical research. And so I moved out to Washington, DC. I worked at the National Institutes of Health in immunology, but to pay rent, I also needed to do some bartending on the side. And I really fell in love with wine and food and the whole culture.

And you know, after one snowstorm too many, digging my car out of the snow, I said, how can I take all these jobs and all these passions that I have and put them together in one thing? And that's how I found wine. And it's been such a beautiful combination of all the things I love in life.

Laurie Forster (04:10)
That is wonderful. And I talked to a lot of winemakers and female winemakers, and there are quite a few who come from medical backgrounds. So there's something, there's some string follow through here, and I love that story. So the winery itself was founded hundreds of years ago by a female founder, which was quite unique in the 1800s. Tell us a little bit about the history, because I find it...

Amazing that now there is finally a head female winemaker there, but it was founded by a female, which was very unique in those days.

Kristy Melton (04:45)
It really was. Our founder Josephine Tixon established the winery in 1886. She and her husband had moved to St. Helena and purchased some vineyard property and planted the vineyard, but he unfortunately passed away before they were able to see their dream to completion. And so she was widowed in her early thirties with two young children, but this dream was so important to her. She persevered, built a redwood barn and crushed her first grapes in 1886.

And I'll show you right here, there's a picture of her that's in my office every morning I walk in and I look at her and she's an inspiration for me to this very day. said, you know, when I have a hard day and I go home and open some wine and sit on the couch in an air conditioned house, she had no electricity, running water, forklifts, temperature control. So she could make it work. There's nothing we can't do with everything at our fingertips.

Laurie Forster (05:33)
That is true. mean, you know, widows in the wine industry are, especially in champagne, are such a big deal because, you know, way back then, I guess it was the 70s in the U.S. till women could have a checking account and a credit card. So it is crazy that there are so many women in the wine industry, widows from back in that day who are real trailblazers. And what does mean to you to sort of be taking that charge now and leading it into

the generations.

Kristy Melton (06:00)
It's an honor and a privilege that is not lost on me any single day. In our 140 years, we've only had eight head winemakers and I'm the first female since our first female. So there's a lot of respect for everyone that's come before me, everyone that's persevered and worked hard. And it is my responsibility to make sure that we honor not only our past, but we are sustainable from an environmental, a quality, a consistency standpoint.

We want, if you have faith in us and you buy a bottle of our wine, it's going to give you an amazing quality, a great value for what you're paying and we are consistent and reliable. And I promise that not only to you, but to our current owner who's a female and to our originally founding female of Josephine.

Laurie Forster (06:44)
Love that. And we have her on the wall to remember. So you send me a couple of wines that we're going to try. And the first one is the Napa Valley Chardonnay. And I love, feel like, and I don't know if you feel it too, that Chardonnay, you know, for a while, everybody was ABC, anything but Chardonnay, and sort of had this idea of, you know, we had to turn away from it. But now I see that people are coming back to Chardonnay if they left.

Kristy Melton (06:47)
We do.

Laurie Forster (07:09)
or people maybe that were a little scared to try are coming. And how do you see your style of Chardonnay for the modern wine, the modern wine drinker?

Kristy Melton (07:20)
Yeah, this is something that's a real passion project of mine. It was the first wine that they gave me when I started at Freemark Abbey to really make my own. you know, talking about family, my mom loves that old school big buttery Chardonnay style. know, the more it goes with popcorn, the better. I'm a white burgundy drinker. I like bright acid. I like beautiful fruit. I like minerality. And I said, how can I make a bottle of wine that we, the two of us could sit down over dinner and share together?

And I said, you know, I think there's a beautiful in-between there. And so what I did is I took a look at our grape sourcing. We've got amazing sources in Carneros and in Coombsville. And I found some really old chardonnay that was planted in 1978. That's very cool. And I said, I want all that richness of like vanilla and toast and baked apples in the nose. But then on the palate, I want it to be bright and refreshing.

So when you have that first sip, it seems really rich and really creamy. And maybe if you don't like that style, you go, maybe this is too heavy for me. But there's a partial malolactic acidity. I do a partial fermentation there, so it keeps it really bright. Some of that natural acidity keeps it really fresh on the back end. And to me, that's what makes this wine exciting, is you get the best of both worlds. You get that creamy entry character, but then you get the brightness. It goes with all kinds of food. You can drink it just on its own.

Laurie Forster (08:10)
Mm-hmm.

Kristy Melton (08:35)
I love this with like a roast chicken and mashed potatoes on a Sunday when I'm too tired to cook. It goes with so many things. And that's the beauty of wine is it brings people together.

Laurie Forster (08:43)
I agree. And I recently had a winemaker, female winemaker from Oregon on the show, and she was inspired to make great Chardonnay because it was also her mother's favorite wine as well. And so there seems to be a lot of tie in with people's moms and Chardonnay, but kind of doing it in a modern way. And I just took a sip there. And I do love that you get all that creaminess.

on the nose and in the front of the palate, but that bright acidity that makes you want to take a bite of something that you know this is going to be a food wine, not an oak bomb, you know, maybe is the old thought process that people had. So I really appreciate that. Now, one of the things that's so unique about the history of Freemark Abbey is their participation in the Paris tasting in 1976, which those of us in the wine industry

who love California wine. It's a rallying point. it was the big tasting where California made its mark on fine wine and showed up the French a little bit. So tell us a little bit about how Freemark Abbey fits into that. We're coming up on the 50th anniversary of that tasting and you guys had not only one, but two wines at the tasting. So tell me a little bit more about that.

Kristy Melton (09:52)
Yeah, it's so wonderful to be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the judgment of Paris because it really did revolutionize the California wine industry. I think the people that were here making wine knew that we were making great wine, but we didn't have the Internet. We didn't have worldwide distribution like we do now. So people around the world didn't know what we were doing. And I love Stephen Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher's idea to do this. And I don't think that they thought it was going to shock the world the way it did. I think they just wanted to show the world that we were doing some nice things. And so

The story I heard was, Stephen Spurrier was out here in Napa and, you know, we didn't text somebody that we were coming by before we came by. He just dropped by the winery and walked in the tasting room and somebody in the tasting room said, I'll just call the winemaker. And he was up in his office. So he walked down and he spent a couple of hours with Stephen, just tasting, just talking, having no idea that these wines were going to be in any kind of competition. So Stephen left with both a red and a white. And we were so fortunate. We're the only winery that had two wines in that tasting.

And I think that really shows the history and the longevity and the pedigree of the winery. We've been making Chardonnay just as long as we've been making Cabernet. And that's not true for every winery here in Napa, but both are incredibly important and we're very passionate about them. And so we have Stephen and Patricia to thank so much for really bringing the world's attention to what we were doing. I don't think it changed the way we made wine, but it certainly changed the way people thought of us and perhaps the way we distributed wine to more places on the East Coast, which was really wonderful.

Laurie Forster (11:17)
Mm-hmm.

Kristy Melton (11:18)
We're so grateful for that and we're so happy to be celebrating that anniversary.

Laurie Forster (11:21)
I'm a big proponent of wine with food. That wine is really built for a meal. And it's, you know, one of the ways we can really share wine with other people is over a brunch, a lunch, a dinner, what have you. Maybe an occasional breakfast. I don't know. But tell me with this Chardonnay, it's so beautiful and it doesn't have to be anything fancy. What would be something on a random Wednesday night that you

Kristy Melton (11:37)
Thank

Laurie Forster (11:47)
would love to enjoy a meal, a snack with this Chardonnay.

Kristy Melton (11:51)
And that's one of the things I love about this wine is it is very food friendly. And what I tell people is my predecessors probably only thought about pairing wine with American food, French food, Italian food. Because that's all that we really had in our culture. But now we've got such an amazing diversity of flavors, whether they be from India or South America or anywhere. So there's so many cool things you can pair this wine with. And like I said, for me,

A long harvest day, go to the store, I get a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, do a fresh salad, call it good. But what I love pairing this wine with is really fun flavors. I wanna go to a South American restaurant and have some ceviche and some grilled fish tostadas with a little bit of salsa. This wine can handle a little bit of spice, a little bit of heat if you want, but it goes really great with anything fresh and seasonal.

I want to get some takeout from like the cool new Latin spot on the corner and see how this wine goes with it.

Laurie Forster (12:43)
Yum, I love that idea. All right, so next we're gonna taste your Napa Sauvignon and everyone thinks they know what Napa Cab is, but what do you think about your specific style of Cabernet or even Napa Cabernet in general that people overlook or misunderstand about Napa Cabernet?

Kristy Melton (13:04)
Yeah, I think that's a great point. There's a real misconception that all Napa Cabernet is like big and high alcohol and tons of oak. And there's a ton of diversity of styles in Napa Cabernet and it's getting more diverse by the day. And it's really about, you know, where your grapes are grown, what style you're going for. And what we've always done at Freemark Abbey is really strive for really classic balanced timeless wines.

What I don't want is any one particular element of the wine to stick out. So I don't want you to taste it and go, it's all fruit or it's all oak or it's all savory minerals. I want all of those to play together in equal proportions. And we source from a variety of appellations and elevations to make sure we have all of that complexity because, know, Rutherford has a little bit more dusty savory notes. Oakville has a little more black fruit. You know, the higher elevation sites we get.

richer, more refined tannins. So it's really important for us to have that ability to blend. And I put a little bit of Merlot, Cab Franc, Petite Verdot in there to have some complexity as well. So this wine will always be timeless. It will always pair well with food. You don't have to have it with food if you don't want. I try to make it really drinkable now. If you go to the store and buy a bottle, it's going to be delicious. If you like to lay your wines down in the cellar for a while, it'll also do really well there.

Laurie Forster (14:03)
Nice.

Kristy Melton (14:16)
And I know that's like, you can't have it all, but we're women, we wanna have it all. That's what life is about, right? I want it good now, I want it good later, I want it good with food and without food. So you're gonna find fruit, you're gonna find cool spice from the barrel component. There'll be some vanilla, there'll be some savory earthy characters that comes from the cool thing. We have terroir around here where the wines are grown. It spends about 19 months in barrel that gets all of those textural elements really refined and just really integrated, really complete.

Laurie Forster (14:24)
Right?

Kristy Melton (14:44)
really classic and that's what we've always done.

Laurie Forster (14:46)
It really is and lots of dark fruit or black fruit if you wanna call that for sure. And then the baking spices that vanilla note is there. But what's so nice is it's so elegant on the palate. There's tan in there, but it's not, some people think it's gonna be this big hit, this big astringent sort of.

but it really is so well integrated with the texture because it's sort of velvety. And so you have that little bit, you know, if you have a piece of cheese or a piece of meat, you know, it's gonna smooth that right out, but it really is lovely just all on its own. It's not like, gosh, I need to have something to eat, which there are cabs that I've tasted where I'm like, whoa, I don't know, just sitting on my own if I can have that alone.

Kristy Melton (15:27)
Right. Yeah. And I think that's super important in wine. You know, I want it to be really balanced. It's not a big like, my gosh, if I don't have a big steak, this wine is going to be overpowering. That's not what I want in wine. And that doesn't make wine ageable. I want it to be really approachable, really friendly. It's like a conversation. Wine's a dinner guest at your table, just like everybody else. So I want it to be interesting and be able to get along well with others and the food.

Laurie Forster (15:45)
Yes.

Now, earlier we talked a little bit about the fact that science kind of brought you to wine and your sort of interest in animal science and medicine. How do you think that background in science and that love of science informs the winemaker that you are? Is it a focus? Did you have to learn the softer artsy side or how does that all roll into?

how you've learned to become such an amazing winemaker.

Kristy Melton (16:16)
Well, thank you. I really feel like each of those parts is important. I already loved agriculture. I was into animals and I liked making something with my hands. But science was also equally important to me. So with wine, you have to have an understanding of nature. You have to be patient. You have to be understanding of climate conditions. You also have to kind of have some intuitive sense about how the wines are maturing and developing.

Laurie Forster (16:30)
Are you still there?

Kristy Melton (16:43)
But science is super important. I don't use it as the only factor in making decisions. feel like science and numbers can't tell you everything. It's kind of like art or music. There's a tactile aspect to it as well. And so you have to play with all of those kinds of things. So science is very helpful for making decisions, but it isn't the only thing I use to make decisions.

Laurie Forster (16:51)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's great. when I visited, because I guess in a way you can consider this a Bordeaux blend since you are using, you know, the key varietals there. But when I was visiting Bordeaux, a lot of the winemakers would say, you know, I can test the brix which is that measure of sugar where you see how ripe the grapes are. But the way I know the grapes are ready to be harvested is by tasting it. And I can actually take a berry, a grape and taste it and know from

the taste of the grape and the seed and the whole thing, how it's coming together. Do you do that as well? I mean, how much is out in the vineyard versus the technology that you have?

Kristy Melton (17:42)
Absolutely. mean, the things that we measure are sugar and acid, and that doesn't tell you how anything tastes. So when I teach my assistants, I actually take them out to the vineyard and I say, you know, the numbers will simply confirm what we already think. But tasting the grapes is super important because they have so much sugar, though they sometimes mask the full picture. So I actually say, you look at the vine, the vine will tell me when it's ripe. The leaves on the bottom nearest the clusters will start to yellow.

Laurie Forster (17:49)
Mm-hmm.

Kristy Melton (18:10)
That's saying that the vine is now shifting into its final stage of ripening. So if there's no yellow leaves on the vines, I say, I don't care what the sugar number is, it's not ready. It hasn't told me that it's ripening immature. We look at the seed color as well. The seeds start out very green and then they turn brown. And so that's another important component. And then we take a sample of the berries and we crush them and we analyze them in the lab. But the cool thing that I tell them, as I said, look at the juice in the container after we crush it. If you've ever had like a fresh

orange juice or something, you know, from a restaurant, you'll see that the kind of pulpy bit settles to the bottom. I said the faster that pulpy bit in a grape sample settles to the bottom, the less ripe it is. It stays in suspension more when it's ripe. So there's all these different cues that you can use to figure out when is the best time to pick. And then it depends on what style you're going for. We kind of like middle ripeness. Some people like less, some people like more. So it's a judgment call at that point.

Laurie Forster (19:03)
Yeah, absolutely. What do you think are your major things you are focusing on for the next 50 years at FreeMark Abbey? As far as, you we're talking about the Paris 50 years, but the next 50 years, what are you really striving for? Is it, you know, total organics, biodynamics? What is your focus?

Kristy Melton (19:25)
You know, honestly, the 50 years is a long time, right? It doesn't seem like it's been that long and it goes faster the older we get, but it is quite a significant amount of time. So first and foremost, we want to make sure that we're here in every way, in a business sense, in an environmental sense. So we're starting with the vineyard and the environment. We have gone to all organic farming with our estate vineyards. We work with some growers and we're working with them on that.

And organic is great, but it's also important to be really resilient and adaptable as the environment changes vintage to vintage. We're just seeing bigger differences than we used to. So some years are hotter, some years are colder. And it's important to always adapt to that. We can't do the same exact thing every year. So just because it's certified organic doesn't mean like we've stopped there. We have to continue to keep innovating. We use technology to kind of help us with how much.

Water does the vine need? How is it ripening? How much crop is out there? So that's all very important, how we're integrating technology very slowly, not to make decisions for us in any way, just to give us more information so that we can make the best decisions possible. We're also very interested in all of the people that work with us to make wine. Everybody in the vineyard, everybody in the cellar, it's important that they maintain their ability to live here and to work and to enjoy the job they do. So we invest in them a lot.

And then it's about making sure that we're making wine that people want to drink. And we love doing that. And Cabernet and Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are all very popular. But that doesn't mean that's all we'll do for the entirety of time. I mean, we've made all kinds of things here. We've made Chenin. We've made Syrah. We've made Zinfandel. So if something is better for the environment as it moves forward, that's not out of the question for us to consider. We haven't done that yet because we feel like

we're doing enough in the vineyard to really make us resilient. we'll see how the world changes. I don't think any of us can predict where we're gonna be in 50 years, but we're gonna give it our best shot to still be here doing what we love and giving people wines that they love sharing with their friends and family.

Laurie Forster (21:21)
You just made me think of a question. was told once that whenever you're visiting a winery, you should ask the winemaker, what is the little side project you have going on that maybe isn't even for sale? Is there anything really crazy, interesting you're working on outside of, you know, what might be on the website for sale that you're just testing?

Kristy Melton (21:43)
You know that we've been pretty busy lately. What we're always doing is looking for the next best site that we haven't found yet. So I'm always out in the community talking to growers. I found some cool Cabernet in Coombsville, which is a cooler appellation that I made it into our Napa blend.

I think what I'm really excited about that people might not know because it's only available to our wine club is we make a Viognier as well. And I love Viognier. It's so floral, it's so bright. It goes with all those really interesting flavors that we've been talking about with food. So, know, winemakers, we're creatures of experimentation. We live out in nature and in the cellar. And so we're always kind of looking for something to play with.

Laurie Forster (22:22)
Exactly. Fun with wine. Fun with wine. So you sent me another single vineyard cabernet from Rutherford area, the Bosche Vineyard, if I'm saying that correctly. And so this is fun. We have two different cabs here, one from a broader region, one from a single vineyard. And I know you have other vineyards, so there are other choices also available on your website. But tell me a little bit. This is a pretty iconic vineyard for you. Tell me.

Kristy Melton (22:24)
Exactly.

That's correct. Well done.

Laurie Forster (22:49)
about this vineyard and how the Cabernet produces differently than say the Napa Valley Appalachian.

Kristy Melton (22:55)
Yeah, this is a really special wine for us. It's one of the oldest single vineyard Cabernets made in Napa Valley. We started working with the fruit in 1968 and we produced the very first single vineyard bottling from this vineyard in 1970. So that's quite some time that we've been working with it. It's only 22 acres right in the heart of Rutherford. And so the difference you can think of in an Appalachian wine like a Napa Valley wine versus a very specific single vineyard wine.

Laurie Forster (23:10)
Mm-hmm.

Kristy Melton (23:22)
is it's got really unique characteristics. With the Napa Valley, we try to make it kind of all encompassing a definition of Napa. When we drill down into smaller areas, we want to give you a more distinct look at that area. So Rutherford has these really dusty, tannin characters. This has a little bit of Merlot blended into it as well, and 22 was a warm vintage. So.

you're gonna get a lot of fruit character. The Beaucha vignere typically also has like a really cool black olive note that's in there, like some cool savoriness. It's got nice bright acidity, but it's really round. It's really supple, really well-defined tannins. And so that varies. You don't quite get like all those spices that the Napa has, but it's a more powerful, more structured wine. And that's very indicative of where it's grown.

Laurie Forster (23:51)
Mm-hmm.

Kristy Melton (24:07)
like I said, very small area. only make a thousand or so cases of this wine as compared to 10 or 15,000 cases of our Napa Valley. So it's kind of like looking at art, right? You could see something in the store that they've made thousands of prints of, and it's a very beautiful piece of art and a lot of people love it. And then you can go into like the more niche markets and the more kind of specific paintings that might not have

the crowd appeal, they're very cool. They're very intellectual. They're very defining of a region, and we love that about these single vineyard wines.

Laurie Forster (24:34)
Mm-hmm.

And with either of these cabs, what is something that you think pairs beautifully with either or both, if you will? Tell us what you're eating there out in Napa with your cabs.

Kristy Melton (24:51)
You know,

I know everybody thinks steak and Cabernet and that will always be a very timeless, very classic thing. But you know, I think it's fun to pair other stuff with these wines. I really, it's a nerdy Napa thing. I just bought a lamb that has been grazing out in the vineyard for sale. So we're gonna have a non-living lamb at our house, but I can't wait to make like a leg of lamb.

with that Napa Cabernet. I love using all the spices like those Moroccan spices, all the, I can't pronounce half of them, but they're so complex and so interesting. And I think that would go really well with that spice character in the Napa Valley. ⁓ And with both, just like it's rich and savory, but it's got all kinds of cool stuff. With the Bosche again, those tannins are bigger, they're more precise, but I love playing with vegetables. I love mushrooms with Cabernet. I think it's so beautiful.

Laurie Forster (25:20)
Yes.

Yes.

Kristy Melton (25:41)
I bought those mushroom filled raviolis from Whole Foods the other day and I want to make like a mushroom reduction with like a little bit of beef stock and a ton of Parmesan with that Bosche, I think is going to be really, really delicious. So it doesn't always have to be steak. Steaks are fantastic. But you know, if you get like a really cool pizza.

that's got some mushrooms and some olives and some sausage on it, that's gonna go great with the Napa Cab too. So they're really versatile wines and they're really fun to pair with. And like I said, go outside the box. Like go get some Indian food that has some really cool spices and pair that with Cabernet and see how that goes. Like life's about experimenting and having fun and exploring flavors.

Laurie Forster (26:17)
Yeah.

It and it's right because when I was first learning about wine way back when I thought there was just going to be a big chart and I was going to memorize this goes with this and that's the end of it and then you're done. But it's not that simple. In fact, I was interviewing some winemakers last week and they're all about their Chardonnay with a steak and they're like, come on people, you can experiment. You can think outside the box on these pairings. I mean, you

have to really try to do something that's horrible. So ⁓ it's gonna work, it's gonna work. So I love to ask people like yourself, winemakers, about wine myths, because I do a lot of wine dinners and wine education, and I think there's a lot of misinformation out there about wine that maybe keeps people from trying things or makes them intimidated. What do you...

Kristy Melton (26:50)
Yeah.

Laurie Forster (27:11)
find is a myth that you would love to dispel for my listeners today.

Kristy Melton (27:16)
Well, I have one quick and simple one and then I've got one slightly more intellectual. So first and foremost is drink what you like. Don't drink what someone tells you you should pair with something or what someone says is like the most popular thing. If you like it, drink it, please. Life is short, enjoy it. So that's the quick and easy one. The second one is we get asked a lot about sulfur and sulfur in wine. And I want to make that really quick and easy. One, very few people are allergic.

Laurie Forster (27:31)
Mm-hmm.

Kristy Melton (27:40)
to sulfur in wine. you have some sort of reaction, it's probably due to histamine, which yeast produced naturally during fermentation. They also produce it in all kinds of other fermented products. If it bothers you taking antihistamine, that would actually probably help you out just fine. If you consume any kind of juice in a bottle, any kind of soup that's been pre-made in a container, orange juice, you're consuming many, many more times of sulfur than what we have in wine. The amount in wine is super, super tiny.

Please don't be afraid of sulfur and wine. You're consuming it in all of your everyday products already at much higher levels. So again, if you get red or you have a headache or something, try a Claritin or a Benadryl and you'll be in good shape.

Laurie Forster (28:16)
And that is a very persistent myth that people seem to think that European wines don't have sulfites and American wines do, and it's just not true. And I'm always always fighting the good fight, Kristy but it seems to be out there. I don't know if when people go to Europe, the winemakers over there are saying it or where they're getting it from. But we have to definitely eradicate that for sure. OK, one more fun question.

Kristy Melton (28:26)
Not true.

I don't know.

Laurie Forster (28:42)
If I were to find you on a random Wednesday night like tonight, enjoying a great glass of wine and it wasn't your own wine, what kind of wine would I find you enjoying?

Kristy Melton (28:53)
You know, it depends on the season, but I'll just tell you what wine I'm having tonight. I'm seeing my best friend for happy hour and we're going to go drink some bubbles. So some, some probably some Schramsberg have a few oysters and enjoy this beautiful weather we're having here now.

Laurie Forster (29:07)
Love that. And Schramsberg, one of my favorite visits out there as well, just like you guys. An amazing history and amazing wines. Well, Kristy I have so enjoyed talking with you about your background, about the Freemark Abbey history and the upcoming anniversary of the 50th of the Paris Tasting of 76. If people want to find out more about the wines or get info to come visit you out there, what's the best place for them to go?

Kristy Melton (29:33)
Very simple, freemarkabbey.com. You can find everything you need.

Laurie Forster (29:36)
That's great. I just want to say thank you so much for coming on The Sipping Point and cheers.

Kristy Melton (29:42)
Thanks, cheers to you.

Laurie Forster (29:43)
I hope you enjoyed this interview with Christy Melton. I will post a link to the Fremark Abbey website as well as the three wines we tasted. If you're in the States and you're gearing up to celebrate our 250th anniversary, I hope you're gonna do it with some great American wine. All right, just a reminder: check out thewinecoach.com, sign up for my email newsletter where you'll get all the information on my upcoming events, tours, the podcasts, and so much more.

And hit up the events page if you want to join me for the July 10th wine comedy show. As always, I'm so grateful for you tuning into the show. If you know another wine lover who might enjoy it, pass it along. All right, until next time, cheers.