Ep. 2276 Jessica Dupuy interviews Sandra Spalding | Barolo Barbaresco World Opening

Prestige of Nebula and I mean, for me, it's one of my favorite grapes. I love pinot noir, and I love Nebula. Those are my two go tos and not dissimilar in their, you know, elegance and the way they behave on the palette. So I think that it's been really interesting to watch that journey with the consumer. It's a little bit cost prohibitive. So certainly, certain people will shy away from that category unless they know what they're looking for. Right? You've got a great recommendation from someone you know from a Greg Randall, from one of our twin lickers employees who's well versed in that wine, and we get them there, you know, to experience the beauty. Hey, y'all. I'm Jessica Duppuis. Guest hosts for a special series on the Vurolo and Barbaresco World opening twenty twenty five presented by Landmarks. This fourth edition of BBWO will showcase the latest releases of twenty twenty one Barolo and twenty twenty two Barbarresco wines from Piedmont, and takes place in Austin, Texas on March twenty fifth. Join me in the heart of Texas as we delve into the experiences and insights about the terroir of the Longay region and its star grape variety, Nebulaola. We'll talk to Smalliers and retailers from the key markets of Austin, Dallas, Houston, and beyond about the alluring wines of the Barolo and barbaresco regions. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate our show wherever you rate your podcasts. Note. This series is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the podcast participants only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Okay. Well, Sandra Spalding, welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I am so happy to be able to catch up with you in this medium. It's great to see you. Great to see you as well, Jessica. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to have kind of your perspective on things today. I think it's gonna be a really good witch from kind of, you know, more like restaurant, sommelier kind of perspective, and I think it's an important piece. Of the puzzle when it comes to kind of understanding the Austin market, why don't we start with just you telling us a little bit about yourself, how long you've been in Austin, and then we'll kind of move into twin liquors. Yeah. So I've been in Austin since two thousand, moved here actually like, from the hospitality industry out of state. And so when I first moved to Austin, I told I thought I was gonna be in the restaurant or bar business. That's, like, where I was heading. But I just happened to walk into a twin lickers. I was looking for some stuff at TV and couldn't find it there. So then I ended up walking into a twin, and it was fortuitous because, like, that's where I really stumbled into, like, the second part of my career where I made that shift from hospitality restaurant into the retail side. And it was because I I walked into this little store and I was like, oh my gosh. Look at this single malt Scotch whiskey collection. Look at this Italian wine collection. Holy moly. I want to learn more about this. I'd I was pretty well versed in, like, California wines and and that sort of thing in bourbon. And but then, like, here we go. And so I started my journey at Twin in two thousand just with that hunger for knowledge. So right off the bat, you when you came to Austin, you came to twin lickers. That's amazing. I really did. Yeah. And it and like I said, it was really fortuitous, and it just kinda happened. You know, I was at an H EB, and there was twin lickers right next door. I just walked in. And I was like, oh, this is where I wanna be. And so I just, like, you know, like, I spent probably about seven ish years on the retail side at Twin, and it was just, like, hunger for knowledge and relationships and meeting lots of really great people too. I was out in the Lakeway area, so, like, the gateway to the hill country. So I got meet a lot of really neat people when I was working, you know, on the retail side before I transitioned to to corporate. So Okay. That's awesome. We'll kind of fill in the gaps on that, but I wanna make sure we give some good context here because this is interesting. You know, twin liquors, I'm gonna have you give a tiny bit of the history, but from my perspective, so I'm sort of a unicorn in that. I'm actually from Austin, grew up in Lake Travis, so the Lakeway area. And, you know, twin liquors obviously as a child, I was not aware of it, which is probably good. But getting into my adulthood and and kind of like career life, when liquors is a family owned and operated retail shop. So, obviously, Liquors is in it. So it's wine, and spirits, and beer, and probably other things in between. I don't I don't know your whole list, but but it's also a chain. So it's in multiple different places throughout the Austin area and and the extended area and has kind of this reputation for being, yes, a chain, so a business that runs in multiple locations, but also extremely authentic to this low localness of Austin. But maybe you could tell me more about it. How when did it get started? Tell me about, you know, the divorce, everything like that. Yeah. Absolutely. So, I mean, it really has been an innovative company. So in nineteen thirty seven, the company started a package store situation, you know, sixth street, Congress, Downtown Austin, And from there, you know, fast I'm gonna fast forward to the eighties because for a long time, it was Jabor's package store. There were two locations at at a certain time. And so in the eighties, in honor of their father, who was one of the twins, used to be called Jabor's package store, but then David Jabor and Margaret Jabor, the siblings decided in the eighties, we wanna continue the legacy of our family and really create something special. So they changed it to twin liquors in honor of their father. And so at that time, the store was on Seventh and Red River, so the little seven hundred square foot store. And really the idea was, like, food and wine pairings, elevate the industry, and Margaret, especially having come from the fashion industry was very bullish on making it a place where women felt comfortable coming to shop. You know? And so that's kinda how that whole thing just, you know, really started there, at the corner of Seventh and Red River And so from there, it just kind of expanded. And and it took about took about a year or so until all the wholesale accounts downtown started knocking on the door saying, hey, you're right here. Can you service us? You know? And so that wasn't really in the plan. And David and Margaret were like, well, you know, let's with their, uncle Gabe, who was part of the business, like, let's try to do this. And so that connectivity with what happened at Seventh Red River and the, you know, twin becoming twin, the the mission statement, so to speak, you know, of the business at that time. And then combined with that wholesale connectivity really was what sparked and ignited all of that. And so from there, about ten years later, the second location opened at Mason, Bicewood Springs, and then so on, and so on. And I know a lot of people, like, know that location, and then the Balcones location, which was really well known for Italian and French wine and single malt Scotch. And so just a lot of really nice nice things happened in that that kind of first ten years that really, like, laid the groundwork for where we were able to then just continue to expand. I think, you know, one of the words you used at the beginning of that story is innovative. And I think that's a really important piece to to make. So, I mean, everybody knows in the US, like New York and in the West Coast, LA, San Francisco, even Chicago, it's like, These are the places where wine has gotten to first, right, in terms of people understanding a global world of wine. Texas for so many years was like, yes, we have industry in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Austin, but it wasn't a wine capital, so to speak, in terms of being a middle state in the country, things like that. So for a family in the nineteen thirties, right, like in forties and moving on, to be thinking, like, we really need to have great wine and spirits here. And then fast forward to where we are now, Austin alone has grown in its kind of vibrancy and understanding of wine and demand for wine. And so I love that, you know, the divorce have been kind of there from the get go pushing that people would have an experience and an and a discovery of wines, such as Italian wines. You know what I mean? Maybe talk about kind of how you've seen that evolve yourself being here twenty four years ago, Austin was a very different city then. So maybe kind of talk about that. It's so exciting. I mean, I love where Austin is now, and it's so neat to be part of the fabric of the history, you know, or the short term history that we've seen this explosion in the in the wine community, and and as you have seen too, you know, back in two thousand, you know, and I was at on the retail side of Twin, really being able to say, like, I wanna get into this education component of it. And then personally, along with a few of my colleagues, our leadership team, studying through the WSCT program, which at the time, like, we chose that because it was more retail oriented as opposed to, like, you know, the Psalm journey, etcetera. And so we did that, and then we started to see this really great connect activity with, like, tasting groups and and different people that we were connecting with. Greg Randall, who runs who ran a good taste report, is a very good friend of ours, and he, you know, has hosted countless number of wine groups You know, I was thinking about it this morning, and what is, I think, really special about Austin and why it's grown the way it has is it's just like with the music. Like, we're a stop on everybody's journey through the United States. So, like, you can see every great band here because they wanna come here. Same thing with winemakers. It's all, like, this personal reason that they wanna come to Austin and just spend some time. So we've had so many amazing people come to us. You know, like, I mean, yes, it's great. Like, you and I have had the, you know, luxury to be able to travel for our jobs and go to these amazing beautiful places and see the wine made there. But, wow, how lucky are we that they come to us consistently And I think with that, you know, it's really created this culture of, like, hospitality, conviviality that's tied, you know, that ties to wine. I mean, it's a tactile thing. Right? So I I do. I think, you know, I I think that's the that's the core piece of what we really why we've experienced what we've experienced here. I I hope that answers your question. No. It does. I'm not gonna go into numbers. This is not a a city report, but, you know, certainly explosion in population over the past twenty years, and and certainly within the past five years, that's grown even more exponentially. And I think, you know, me being from here, you being here for as long as you have, it's it you're right. Like, sometimes I take for granted. It is a beautiful city. It's very outdoor recreational friendly, but the community that's grown here is a community of just really exciting people, the culture itself. And so music has me hooked because that's what I grew up on live music here. But to see people really appreciate that from all over and wanna come is a really it's a really great point that that I think, yeah, I take for when you're from here, you kinda take it all for granted, but it's very true. I wonder kind of moving back to Twin, you guys have a reputation for being so outward focused towards the consumer. And I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the outreach that you guys have in terms of wine education. You mentioned like Greg Randall doing taste things years ago. Maybe he still does. I don't know, but Greg is awesome. But tell me just a little bit about kind of how you guys try to reach the consumer to bring them in online and give them more of an appreciation for it. You know, it's been a journey for sure. I think, you know, I'd mentioned earlier our colleagues, we did the WSTT program. We really quickly realized that educating our staff was a hugely important thing for us. And so We brought the wine and spirit twinlickers wine and spirits Academy, an in house education program based on WSTT to where we've put through, like, seven hundred students that are all twinlickers employees. I know it's cray it's staggering to me. Wow. Look at that number. You know, very focused on, like, level one wine, level one spirits. But we've done level twos, and we have quite a few level threes. We've got a diploma now too, who's we've got an educator team of, like, I think it's seven or eight of us. And it's just it's wild to think. Yeah. And all through the WSTT. I say that because it starts with your foundation. Right? And so with that, then our employees are able to have meaningful conversations with our customers. We're not sales people. We're just building relationships. And I do think that, you know, again, back to hospitality, back to, like, sharing a bottle, sitting, taste. I think, like, is this, like, bold thing to say that the systematic approach to tasting it's kind of romantic because it makes you sit down with another person and calibrate your palette with them. Right? And but it's in doing that. You're you're exchanging, like, words and thoughts and emotions that are unique to you, but, like, trying to get that other people to see your perspective. It transcends, like, you know, gender color race, all of that. You know? And it's just it's a really beautiful thing, and I think that's, like, what brings us back to wine, you know, and wine and food, anything tactile to taste, you know? Yeah. It's a really good point. I love the word exchange. Right? It's a romantic exchange. No. I think that's really good. And speaking of romantic exchange, I think, you know, perhaps one of the regions in the world that's most heralded as having that romanticism, right? Like, great segue. Certainly Italian wine, and today we're speaking specifically about Barolo and barbaresco. And I wonder if you could kind of talk about that in terms of the retail side of things. Kind of what is the demand or interest for Italian wine and then specifically kind of these these iconic wine regions, Barillo, and Barbara. You know, for a lot of folks, I mean, everybody knows Tuscany, right, just because of travel and media, and so that romantic notion of, like, Tuscany it's a word. I mean, even people who don't understand one are able to connect with that because, you know, because of the the region itself. And so, I mean, when I started, you know, at twin back in two thousand, definitely, like Tus skin, Supertusgens, like, were the word, But as people start to evolve in their Italian journey, they start to find things like right now, like a huge excitement for Southern Italian wines. There's value there, you know, unique flavor profiles, all that kind of stuff that's happening. So that's drawing people in And then I think, you know, like, the prestige of Nebula and I mean, for me, it's one of my favorite grapes. I love Pinot noir, and I love Nebula. Those are my two go tos and not dissimilar in their, you know, elegance and the way they behave on the palate. So I think that it's been really interesting to watch that journey with the consumer. It's a little bit cost prohibitive. So certainly, certain people will shy away from that category unless they know what they're looking for. Right? You've got a great recommendation from someone you know, from a Greg Randall, from one of our twin lickers employees who's well versed in that wine, and we get them there, you know, to experience the beauty. So Yeah. No. I think that's a really important point. And I mean, you know, Barolo and barbaresco both being kind of situated in this beautiful region of Pemonte, I think, you know, we've had a couple of different people talk about how, you know, your gateway into Pemonte is maybe, you know, longue Nabiolo or some Gatsunara. And I think that that is a way kind of build on to where you go next, which is where you know, these particular regions, Barillo and Barbara, both have such unique soil, such unique climates, micro climates, and so their ability to take Nebula and into a whole different stratosphere, if you will. It's pretty fantastic. And I feel like you're not alone in saying, like, I love Nebula. I, you know, that's my favorite grape. You know, when I talk to different people, whether it's soccer moms with my kids, friends, you know, or other people in the industry, ultimately, they've maybe experienced that in some degree, whether it's a fine barolo or, you know, like a Gaia BarBaresco or something like that, and then they wanna figure out how do I bring more of that into my life? You know? That's so cool. I love hearing that from you. Yeah. Yeah. And selfishly, I mean, like, it's definitely my top grade. It's always between San Jose and Nebulaolo for me. So Pino noir is actually not in the top three for me, but that's okay. I mean, everybody's different. Everybody is different. Positions on these things. So, you know, if somebody is looking to discover, right, for, you know, they're coming in, you've got this educated staff. When you start to go into talking about these regions, It is a jump if you haven't purchased wine at that level before, but despite, like, the price tag, right, you could argue that because of the quality that the value is still there. Right? So how do you guys kinda go about explaining, you know, This is what's compelling about these wines, and this is why if you can financially give it a shot, this is why it's worth giving it that shot. You know, I mean, obviously starting them like you said with if it's totally new to the category, just starting with, like, a longue nebbiolo. Like, the yes. A hundred percent. That is great advice. Something like a Vieti is a great place to start to, like and what's nice is I always try to tell people, like, maybe even start by finding a restaurant that's pouring something really great that you can have by that glass. I mean, we have so many cool bars and restaurants in town now. I would daydreamer, you know, pouring a bar, pouring, like, crew wines, you know, and it's like, that's so cool. So you can, like, kinda keep an eye out for some of that as well. But as far as, like, the retail journey, you know, just being able to, you know, do a little research on some good vintages. Of course, we can always help guide with that. Recent vintages, like, twenty eighteen. You know, not to get, like, too granular, but, you know, we can help guide to to what you wanna do there if you're liking the, you know, flavor of the grape. Right? So we'll start you with something like that. Okay. You're gonna come back. And then for us, again, it's about, like, the story that's in the bottle. Right? And just being able to take a journey almost and really talk about think I always tell people, think about the place. I mean, if you've never been there, that's kind of hard, but, like, think about the place think about the climate, the sunshine, the fog, the soil, whatever it may be, you can start to to taste these things in the line. Some people might look at you like you're crazy, but I think most people are into it. They're like, yes. I mean, okay. So Like, I'm currently, like, in this existential crisis right now about, like, what chat, GPT is doing, like, to everything in the world. Right? But, like, it can't take away my, you know, it can't take away the physicality of tasting things, you know, and and sharing all of that. So it's like, to me, that's what's so exciting about food and drink, because that will always be a thing that's just like unique to you that nothing is gonna be able to take away from you. So I go off on a tangent with that, but it is relevant because I think when you can instill that excitement, make someone realize, like, oh, this is where I can go with this journey. You can travel. Yeah. I'm tasting wine. Yeah. The cultural experience that comes along with it, you know. It's funny. In some ways, it's perhaps a good idea to start a business where it's like, we're a wine retail shop and also a travel agency. So let me take you to Barolo. Let me show you the hills of Barbara Resco. I think that would be really but that's a side note. So let me ask you this. In March, we've got the Barolo and barbaresco world open coming, and this is a really great opportunity for these two regions to really show themselves to not only Austinites, but Texans because we've got a lot of Texans coming from Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and everywhere in between. It's a big state. And so I'm just curious, you know, these two regions in particular kind of have a reputation for being collector's wines, right? Like, or you can find a lot of wines in here that are collector worthy. So how does an event like this where you can have consumers come, walk around, taste these wines? How does that make this approachable to enthusiasts who may not be at collector level or, you know, may just need a little taste, so to speak. Pardon the fun on that. How does it become approachable for them? I think so first of all, while what an opportunity is what I've been telling people, you will not in your lifetime probably ever get an opportunity like this. And this goes back to what we were talking about before. They all wanna come to Austin. They're coming to you. So, like, the heavy lifting of all the travel and all of that is taken out of it. Find out who the producers are that are gonna be there is my number one advice. You know, make a list, talk to somebody that you know that understands wine and get their advice on, like, hit here are the top ten to prioritize tasting, you know, as you and I know, palate fatigue is a real thing. For professionals, we can get through it, but for people who are not, you know, beware, taste and spit, all that good stuff, But I I would say, like, find someone you're comfortable with to give you some advice on who to prioritize. Right? And then, like, looking at, you know, some stuff that's approachable, try to taste some stuff that while you'll never, you know, these amazing, maybe someone might have a older vintage open at their table. You know, and really, really get in on that and ask questions for sure. Like, there are no dumb questions, and it is intimidating. It's so intimidating, but don't let it be. You know? I mean, you right, Jessica, you and I, we we're approachable. Like, ask questions. Yeah. I'm and I'll be I'll be there. So you'll be there. So, yeah, come find us. We'll walk you through a few things. That's actually a really good point though. The kind of the tips you're giving to help navigate something like this because yes, definitely spit. We're not gonna be judgy or tell you what to do, but it's Nebula. This is not, like, it's not Cabernet sauvignon. These are some serious wines that are gonna be available there. So it does help if you wanna get the best out of it to be able to taste as many wines, which means don't drink them all, maybe just taste a bit. But, you know, one of the things that I think of, like, as an opportunity for a retailer like yourself is, I'm quite sure. Maybe I'm wrong, but, like, if you were to take the entire list that of producers that are gonna be there from both Barbara and Barolo, it's possible that that Twin may not have them all, right, on the shelf. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I'd say like more than half. Yeah. Yeah. So what I love about this and, you know, as Austin community, it's like if consumers come and experience a wine that blows them away, that they weren't expecting to find, and this is a discovery for them. They can come to a twin and say, I I tasted this at BBWO. How can I get it? Like, do y'all have the relationships with the distributors and the wholesalers? And that's the part of I think consumers don't realize that they have that opportunity to request to say, can you please get this somehow to Austin? You know? Yeah. How often do are y'all fielding those types of of requests? We we do, and we have, you know, we have a lot of folks that do special order. We white glove futures for folks, you know. I mean, there are some stores that are a little bit more versed in it than others, you know, our store in Westlake, the store at the Bellcone's location, but We've got stores in Dallas that where we have, like, that clientele that's already shopping and the team is versed in being able to, like, handle those types of requests. As long as it comes through a distributor, we can get it. And if it doesn't, we can look into how to get it. You know? Right? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So the I mean, that's kind of my thing for the enthusiasts to kind of be like, walk into this as an opportunity, not just to taste some cool wines that you've already heard of, but to try to discover something that, you know, if you're able to get it to Austin chances are, you know, Twin's gonna stock more than just one bottle. So you're gonna be able to expose other people to to that producer as well, which is pretty fun. I'm trying to think of other things that I like to tell people when navigating. I mean, I'm a journalist and by nature, curious, and talk to people with all sorts of questions, sometimes ad nauseam, sometimes it's annoying, but I would come with two or three questions just kind of in your pocket that you wanna, like, repeat as you go to from producer to producer, just so that you're, like, gathering good information, not just like, oh, what do you want me to taste today? You know? And I love that you said at the beginning, like, oh my gosh. You got all these producers, and they're all excited to come to Austin which actually does put a burden on us as Austinites and his Texans to show them a good time. Right? Like, we want them to show us the good wines, but we should also show them that, like, we're excited about them being here, but also like, hey, make sure you go to this restaurant spot or make sure you go check out, you know, this bar while you're in town, that kind of thing. Yes. We are. You know, that's so funny, bring that up because I talk to people. I, you know, as part of my job, I deal with, the community outreach side of Twisto, not just marketing and education, but community outreach. And so I deal with a lot of nonprofits. I also meet lots of folks who've just moved to Austin. And continually, you know, I I sit on a board, David Margaret, they sit on different boards. You know, we're very philanthropically focused twin liquors is on our community, but I'm always telling people, like, you are now in us tonight, is your duty here to, like, continue to add to the community and make it a great place for everybody here and visiting. And so I love that you said that because, like, I'm always very like, what it every time my my question is when people come to visit us, I was like, where'd you stay last night? Where'd you eat? Like, what are y'all doing? You know, like, I need to know these things. Did you go see a band? What's happening? Like, wanna make sure that they're, like, doing all the right things they should be to having the best experience possible? And, Yeah. No. I think it's a good point. And, yes, it's in our nature for sure, but I think it's just more of a rally for everyone who's involved that, like, this is an exchange. Right? You know, you can get as much out of it as you want to. And I've been to different Italian based expos or tastings like this, and I love the warmth and, like, conviviality of the Italian general personality, which I realize is an overgeneralization, but Generally, everyone's very excited to be able to tell you about their story, tell you about their wines. I mean, so it's always such a good time. And I think that's actually what I'm looking forward to most is the wine's gonna be great, but, you know, the stories are gonna be, even better. I'm so excited. I have to share with you too, like, you know, growing up, my friends always used to tease me. They're like, oh, you're like old Italian man trapped in a young Armenian girl's body. And I was like, It's all that's always been in me. And then I was listening to one of your podcasts, like, just random on it about the Italianality, I think. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I was like, this is incredible. I'm I'm excited for the book, by the way. Like, that's good. Yeah. Super excited to read the book, but it's true. There is just something so, like, joyful, right, about Italy. And then I heard the word, oh my god, how have we not thought of this before, but chowdy. And I was like, My head was just exploding with all this excitement. So not to disparage, you know, other wine regions, but there is something so special about Italy, and we all feel it. Right? Absa Absolutely. Absolutely. Shout out to Jeff Porter for coining Chowdy as the his his word of choice, a former central market tech text Austin, Austin night person for a short time, but we miss him. Well, Sandra, thank you so much for joining us for kind of this discussion and, you know, giving us an understanding of more of what's exciting from the retail side for Barolo and barbaresco. I think that, you know, the selection at Twin is fantastic. And as as we've talked about, like, if you don't see something there that you really wanna try to see the openness to try to bring things into our community is fantastic. So thanks for kind of talking with us about that. And I will see you at BBWO. Yes. In just a few weeks. Exciting. Alright. Take care. Thank you. Thanks for listening to this special series on the Barolo and BarBaresco World opening twenty twenty five. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and rate us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Special note, this series is funded by the European Union. View and opinions expressed are however those of the podcast participants only, and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.