Christina Turley is the second-generation proprietor of Turley Wine Cellars in Napa, California. Her father, Larry Turley, started the winery with a mission to protect and celebrate old-vine Zinfandel. Today, Turley is known for their world-class Zinfandels that represent the broad range of California's diverse terroirs.

Christopher Loewen is the 33-year-old phenom at the helm of Weingut Carl Loewen, one of the Mosel’s smallest and most impressive estates. Christopher, along with his father Karl-Josef and just one other employee, farms some of the oldest ungrafted Riesling vines in the world from a fabled parcel planted in 1896 by the Schmitt-Wagner estate. By embracing traditional, low-intervention viticulture and “letting the wine decide” when it finds its balance, Christopher crafts Rieslings of astonishing depth, concentration, and energy. His wines aren’t about chasing numbers or trends—they’re about listening to the vines and responding to their needs like an attentive parent. 

Giorgio Rivetti is the man behind the estates of La Spinetta and Contratto in Piedmont,  Casanova della Spinetta in Tuscany, and his own import company based in the US, Indigenous Selections, which imports cult favorites such as Chiara Boschis and Ciacci Piccolomini. He grew up farming and making wine with his family in Northern Italy and rose to international prominence as one of the Barolo Boys who revolutionized the wines of Piedmont. Giorgio is still heavily involved in the farming at his estates and is preparing the next generation of Rivettis to continue the family legacy of crafting world-class wines.

Jamie Schwartz is an American Wine Specialist based in New York City. He has a decade of experience as a sommelier at Eleven Madison Park and The Modern, where he loved sharing American wines with the international clientele. In addition to his high-end restaurant experience, Jamie worked the 2020 harvest at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa, as well as brief internship at Domaine de la Côte during the 2019 vintage. He has been with Skurnik Wines & Spirits since 2022.

Mark Fornatale is the Director of the Italian Portfolio for Skurnik Wines & Spirits. He started at Skurnik in 2004 as the Italian Portfolio Manager after having worked for Morrell & Company for three years. Mark is driven by a deep love for Italy and its many expressions of culture; he sees the Bel Paese as a fascinating jumble of contradictions that never cease to amaze and captivate. In his spare time, when not talking about how incredible Italian wine is, Mark enjoys skiing with his family and riding his bicycle wherever it can take him. 

Matt Wolfe is an Iberian Wine Specialist based in New York City. He has 15 years of experience as a sommelier and beverage director at award-winning restaurants in New York and Philadelphia. His resume boasts names like The Four Horsemen, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Oceana, and the family of Basque restaurants that includes Txikito, La Vara, and Saint Julivert. The "ah-ha" bottle that made him fall in love with the wines of Spain and Portugal was a 2002 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Blanco. He joined Skurnik Wines & Spirits in 2024. 

Michael Lykens heads the Austrian and German wine portfolio at Skurnik Wines & Spirits. Before joining the Skurnik team, Michael was a finance student while working in fine dining at one of the country’s top luxury resorts, the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. It was there that he fell in love with German wines with a bottle of 2006 Hermannshöhle Spätlese. He became a certified sommelier before he finished his degree and spent the next 12 years working in fine dining. He joined Skurnik in 2017.

Michael Skurnik is the founder of Skurnik Wines & Spirits, a leading importer and distributor of fine terroir-driven wines and spirits crafted at a human scale. With nearly 40 years of business under his belt, Michael has built strong relationships with other family businesses around the world and turned the Skurnik name into a symbol synonymous with quality.

Pepe Raventós is the 21-generation of the famed Raventós winemaking family, the oldest, documented winemaking family in Europe. He runs Raventós i Blanc, Can Sumoi, and Mas del Serral.

In 1872, Josep Raventós Fatjó visited Champagne and returned with a plan to make the first champagne method sparkling wine with indigenous Spanish grape varieties, inventing Cava. Though the family dominated production for generations and set the rules for the Cava DO, Pepe decided to leave the appellation in 2016 and is working to form a new one, Conca del Riu Anoia. This new appellation will be focused on elevating Xarel-lo and Sumoi to the highest level of quality and making clean, mineral driven wines with the most respectful farming practices. Pepe's mission is most visible with Can Sumoi, his remote mountaintop project that he says is all about "giving the protagonism back to the farmers" who have been underappreciated and underpaid by the industrial Cava producers.

Champagne Pierre Paillard traces its roots to the early 18th century, when the family settled in Bouzy. The Paillards’ story in wine began when Antoine Paillard acquired several parcels of vines in Bouzy, establishing the family’s legacy as viticulturists.

Today, brothers Antoine and Quentin Paillard represent the eighth generation to lead the domaine, having taken over from their father in the eartly 2010s. In this episode, Quentin and Skurnik’s Chief French Officer, David Hinkle, talk about the decisions and their efforts that propelled Paillard to become one of the top growers in Champagne.