Ep. 2111 Jessica Dupuy interviews Yannick Benjamin | TexSom 2024

The age of nineteen, I had started taking wine classes at the international wine center. Probably I should not have been doing that because I was under twenty one. But they let you anyway. But they let me well, they I don't think they Like, if you wanna pay for the class, we'll take your money. But I don't think at that time, they were actually, like, who's under twenty one taking wine classes? So, you know, you they weren't really asking for ID. I don't know how that all worked. Chow y'all. I'm Jessica Duppuis, guest host for a special Texom series covering the twenty twenty four Texom wine Conference from Dallas, Texas. Join me in the heart of the lone star state as we delve into the experiences and insights of key speakers and attendees, exploring career paths, challenges, and the latest trends in the wine industry. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate our show wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I am joined today by my friend Yonic Benjamin. Welcome, Yonic. I'm so glad that you could join us today. Always a pleasure, and it's great to see you again. That's why I saw you was in verona. In verona. You know what? I'm so glad you brought this up right off the bat. So for five stars, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, and team eleven. Yes. Team eleven. Team awesome. Right? So quick shout outs to Nelson Parrie and Giuseppe Ventura. That was the best team. We had a great team. Oh, it was so much fun. Yeah. You're a leader. You're a great leader. I don't know about that. Well, I'm glad to have you. Obviously, I know you, but maybe you could tell us, tell the audience a little bit about who you are. Just kind of a little background and oh, you got to to be involved in the world of wine. Oh my gosh. Okay. Sure. My name is Yanic Benjamin, born and raised in New York City. My name Janek is actually pronounced Janique. My father's from Britney Okay. In the north of France. My mom is from Bordeaux. Okay. They actually both met in New York, and my mom was always involved in the world of hospitality, but more as a housekeeper. Okay. And then my dad always worked in restaurants along with his two brothers. And then I had a cousin that was a chef also for his entire career. So I was surrounded by hospitality. Wow. Yeah. I didn't know that. Absolutely. Actually, my dad got me my first job working in restaurants because, you know, from a very young age, I always wanted to work in restaurants and hospitality. But, of course, being, the generation following my fam my parents, Of course, you know, when you're you're the child of an immigrant, they want you to be in an air conditioned office. They're thinking, okay, doctor. Doctor. A lawyer. Exactly. And so they're just like, no, you've gotta do better than us. And I'm just like, you know, at school was in my thing, and I just loved hearing the stories on Sunday dinner with my uncles and my dad, and just seemed so fascinating. And it just something that just kinda stuck with me, and that's what I want. But they were very supportive. No doubt about it. And then, really, it wasn't until I worked at a restaurant that no longer exist in New York City, but was very influential. Lucerque, under Sierra Machcione, and they had they had this young, and this is back in the, you know, late nineties. And sort of Sommeliers were sort of coming about, but still very rare, you know, besides, you know, the typical names that I would mention, you know, the Kevin's A'raillies and the Danu Jonas' that was sort of it. Right? Sure. And, I saw this young Sommelier, and I God, he's got a great job. I I've gotta and so I just kinda followed him around, even though I was a food runner, and I started chasing all these great ones, and he was saving them aside for me. Really? And that's how it kind of happened. And then, by the age of nineteen. I had started taking white classes at the international wine center. Probably I should not have been doing that because I was under twenty one. But they let you anyway. But they let me. Well, they I don't think they Like, if you wanna pay for the class, we'll take your money. But I don't think at that time, they were actually, like, who's under twenty one taking wine classes? So, you know, they weren't really asking for ID. I don't know how that might work, but that was a clap. That was it. And, you know, also, I do remember, going to France, and I had the real privilege of doing so. And my mom is right in the heart of the Madoc, you know, And so I just remember going to these wine cellars back then. You could just knock on the chateau and you actually bought the wines, you know, and you just remember that smell of this sort of, you know, the white, the smell of the white mushrooms and the dust and the dustiness of the cell and the fermentation happening, and that was just such a beautiful smell. And then really went full blast, you know, after the circuit just hopped around a lot of different great restaurants. And now I'm a proud owner, a partner with a restaurant called Contento, which is wine focused. Then I have a wine store along with my wife, Heidi, called Bo Pierre, and it's on six six four tenth Avenue, and it's in the same building I was born and raised in. That blows my mind. I remember you telling me that when we were in Verona. And I was like, how how more perfectly full circle could you come as a New Yorker and everything with that? That's pretty it's a pretty great story. Well, no. For sure. It's a it's a real I mean, it I'm so grateful. I mean, talk about being lucky and all that, you know, especially in a city like New York where there's gentrification that's constantly and change. I mean, just change. Forget about that. Yeah. And, you know, the the name of the wine store is called Bo Pierre because Bo Pierre means beautiful rock, right, because Pierre means rock. Well, my father's name is Pierre. So I think that's we named it after him. So it was really cool. I love that. My mom was right above. My sister is a building over. I see my nephew. So it's a real family affair. And, of course, my wife, she she's running the store. She's doing a great job. That's super cool. Yeah. But let's pause right there because I wanna know about first of all, I mean, opening a restaurant in New York City, I mean, Probably not an easy task. But tell me about Contento because that was the first thing you opened. Right? Right. What's behind that? What's kind of the what's Contento about and kind of as you built that plan to, you know, tell me about the successes challenges? So just to give you some optics. Right? I went on LinkedIn the other in my profile because I had to update it. Yeah. And it showed because I put the date of when I actually started the project of Contento. Okay. And that was in two thousand eighteen. Oh, wow. Okay. So between finding a location, then going through the whole construction permits, you name it, the whole and then COVID happening, the doors did not officially open until June tenth twenty twenty one. Oh my goodness. So I just realized that. I think it was yesterday, the day before, but that talk about LinkedIn. So holy crap, so this has been going on for about six and a half years of my life. Yeah. Which four of them now has been fully operational open. Right. But, yeah, I mean, it's it's really challenging. I mean, I'm not gonna and we're a small restaurant. I mean, it's a thirty five seat restaurant, then we have fifteen seats outside. Okay. Right. Yeah. It's not easy. It's really hard. And what's the, like, I've never been. So I will come. But, what's the concept? You know, what what can people expect when they go? Yeah. When you come there, I mean, first off, I think we really wanna try to keep it as intimate in sort of that one on one experience. Right? Oftentimes, you go to restaurants and you kinda don't have that anymore. Right? Of course, the feeling of the restaurant is certainly based on these restaurants that I've been to, in particular, in Europe, like, places like you and I have been to in Verona. Right? Yeah. It's very casual, but yet you just feel so good being there. Yeah. As far as the cuisine, we just brought on a new chef. She started about six months ago. Her name is Asia Shabaaz. She's born and raised in East Harlem. Okay. She grew up ten blocks away. So talk about real terroir. And she's completely inspired by, you know, obviously local ingredients, but more so also her cultural heritage, which is West Indian, along with some Latin flavors, but it's really that west Indian Caribbean kind of flavors that really come out. Along with a hint of these kind of like West African flavors. She's incredibly talented. I mean, for me, she's just a pleasure to work with. That's amazing. Yeah. So I'm curious as a restaurant owner, as a restaurant founder. Right? Some of this is your baby. Yes. Was it the food first or the wine first? Like, how did you I mean, because you're also you were a smelier. So how how did that which led which led the other or both? Or No. For sure. I mean, listen, I think ideally, I wanted to have the food kinda just be simple. Mhmm. But in a in the best possible way, for sure. So I didn't have, like, a cuisine in mind. Okay. But I wanted it to be one friendly. So listen. For sure the the wine came first. No doubt about that. Right? And I had, a concept of how I wanted the wine list to be. Okay. And I really wanted the first page to be focused on this page called the winds of social impact producers that are having some kind of social impact. And it could be, you know, farming, but also from a social standpoint, or they could simply be someone that doesn't look like me. Right? Like, we know that ninety percent of winemakers are are people that own wineries. They look like me, right, not white male. Right? This is the reality of things. Right? So really trying to, you know, elevate these individuals that so deserve it. Right? Yeah. And then right after that, the next page was focused on local wines. Right? And one of the reasons why I I wanted to focus on local wines, well, I'm I'm really proud to be from the Northeast. I'm I'm particularly proud to be from New York. And I think sometimes people kind of smirk When I talk about, yeah, there's some really good wine in New York. Or even in the Northeast. Right? Well, I mean, it's it's all a matter of, like, your perspective, but I I think Yeah. In the Northeast, we're making great wines. Yeah. There's a lot of diversity for sure. So I really wanted to put that. And where I had this revelation was during the pandemic where we could not travel, and I just thought, you know, there's a big contradiction. I'm I'm I'm I'm kind of gaslighting. What what I mean by that is that I can tell you how far Jevli Chantans from Shomba Musini. I can tell you vineyards and all that, but yet I can't tell you anything, by my own backyard. And yet I'm preaching about organic farming. Biodynamics, you know, carbon footprint. Right. But how can I not tell you about anything about my hundred mile radius? Yeah. So there's a problem. There isn't there. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I took the advantage of going up to Vermont seeing what they're doing out there doing some great work out there, hybrids, and all that. Yeah. And then in Virginia, beautiful wine country out there. So this was that that sort of exploration that I wanted. And then of course, you know, the rest of the world and all that kind of stuff and really kind of breaking it up that way. Yeah. I love that you did that. You know, shameless plug for Texan that, you know, we have Jesse Griffith and Austin who, James Beard Award winner, but he opened I Du Way and has, for most of his chef career, been a zealot for local seasonal. Like, if onions aren't in season and they aren't within twenty five miles, he's not buying them, you know? But he loves Italian wine. And that was his background. And he's like, I'm gonna open this restaurant. Course, I'm gonna put Italian wine on it. And then he kinda had this, like, personal crisis moment where he's like, I can't be true to who I am and authentic Right. If I'm actually not leading with Texas wine, because yes, FYI, we do have some of everybody. And some good. And so, yeah, so I I champ he championed that. It's a exclusively one hundred percent Texas mindless. That's amazing. I know. No. No competition for you, but I'm just saying, like, it's it's impressive because it does take, you know, Pablo Milich in Arizona doing the same thing. I think it's a really fun stand because it gives people an opportunity Sure. To discover something. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, tell me about, so so you have Bo Pierre. Right. And that is straight retail. Right? That's not a wine bar. Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's how it works in New York state. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And so you guys want you wanted to open that not only for the minimal sentimental reason that you could actually do something in the place where you grew up. Right. But also to give people in in New York a what? Well, listen, I think I have to be very honest with you. Working in restaurants is very exhausting. It's physically demanding, but most of all, it's mentally demanding. And my wife had always worked in restaurants, then the pandemic happened. And at the time, she before the pandemic happened, she had worked for, a wine spectator. It opened up this incredibly, you know, massive, like, private club. Called the WS. And that was down. It was a big project happening on the west side called the, the Hudsonyards. And then the pandemic happened and WS shut down. And she was, what do you wanna call it furloughed, whatever the case was. And I think, you know, she had sort of that kind of, I wouldn't say midlife crisis, but decided, like, hey, do I really wanna be, like, working the floor, you know, and keep doing this and all that? It's tough. Right? Yeah. And so I'm thinking, I I was very fortunate that I had all these projects when I was still working, and things were going well for me as well as they could consider, the moment that we were living at that time. And so I just said, gosh, I gotta figure out something because, you know, I want her to be happy. It's really important. Right? And the wine store I had always thought of, it was always sort of in the back of my mind. And one day, I went to go pick up my mom. I was waiting in front of the the building that I grew up in, And all of a sudden, I'm staring at, oh, wow. That old carpet store that became like a small little pilates studio is now closed. So I said, mom, what's happening with that place? She said, well, unfortunately, you know, COVID hasn't been paying his bill. So he's out. He got evicted. And right away, I said, I'm gonna take it. I mean, really, I told him. I said, she said, are you gonna really I said, I wanna take it. I said, talk to Donna, who's the president of the board. Donna's also I grew up with her here. Like, I'm a shoo in. That was it. And then we started. The whole process, you know, going through the state, you know, the SLA, the state liquor authority, which is a whole process and doing the paperwork and going through community boards and all. It's not easy. It's a whole process. You know? Yeah. It is and, well, that seemed anyway. I told I said, we're gonna open up a once or say, really, I don't really think about retest. We'll just learn. I said, it'll be ours. And it's a beautiful thing because, you know, we don't have any outside investors. It it is purely ours, you know, so we don't have anyone to, like, ask permission for everything that we say or that we do belong to us. I love that. What a cool experience. Yeah. It's amazing. It's very I mean, it is what a blessing. We're so lucky. Yeah. To see both sides. Yep. Alright. One last project I wanna ask you about, because this is actually Yeah. This is in full swing right now, but tell me about wine on wheels and what that's all about. So wine on wheels have started officially on two thousand in two thousand twelve. Okay. For some of the people who can't see me right now, I'm a full time wheelchair user. I was in a car accident in two thousand three, okay, and they left me paralyzed from the waist down. So when I was in rehab and I was there for about, I don't know, four months, let's say. Right? I realized how lucky I was, even though I was going through this really difficult situation. Yeah. I was very fortunate that I had family. Every day, I had family and friends come visit me every single day. Yeah. And I noticed other people that were on the same floor with me that were, that also had suffered this injury or whatever kind of way whether it was an act of violence or a sporting accident or car accident, Man, no one coming going to visit them. Yeah. I was very lucky that the individual that was in my room with me, Alex Saligudin, still is my dear friend, my best friend. He also had the same situation as me, just tons of people, but tons of support. Right? Yeah. And so, obviously, after we both left, then you have to face the real world, and that's a whole another thing. But after a few months, maybe a year, things kind of settling down. I knew that I wanted to do something. And what selfishly I wanted to do something because I couldn't find anything out there as far as work. Ah, yes. Of course. You know, all of a sudden, I I all my life I worked The floor. The floor. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And all of a sudden, now I'm like, shit. I'm sorry. I got what am I gonna do? Like, this is really challenging. Right? Yeah. And, you know, I was at that time, you could still fax, you know, I'm faxing resumes, I'm emailing resumes. I'm calling around. And, you know, I think what it really came down to is that one, you know, you're in New York City, You know, restaurants are really tiny. There's steps, there's stairs, old buildings, you name it. And then also, like, there wasn't really a template. Like, no one had ever seen someone work the restaurant floor on a wheelchair. Right? So that And I get that. Right? You kinda, like, just wanna know how this kinda actually, how does how does this work. Right? But I knew that, like, god, like, if I don't figure out something, if I don't create something, if I don't create an identity for myself, I'm not gonna be relevant anymore. Right? Like, reputation, relevancy is everything in any industry, bottom line. Yeah. So Alex, who is also starting to do sort of like, you know, his own kind of work, mentorship, we had started coming to you. I said, listen, I still am connected to the world of one. I know some importers. I know some distributors and all that, and they possibly might wanna donate if we decide to do something and all that money that we raise we can do some outings, you know, take out newly injured patients to movies, do some fun activities. And that's how it really kind of started. Right? Yeah. So in one hand, this nonprofit was to provide a resource for other individuals. But at the same time, if anyone benefited it from the most was me, because it gave me a purpose. Yeah. And so I'm so grateful for it. Yeah. And that's really the story of mine on wheels. So what happens every year is there an annual fundraiser? So you're still beat you're in the community you're doing things. But then there's also Yeah. For sure. So, on Sunday, September eighth, we're doing our big annual one on wheels grant tasting, which will be at City winery. And, we have about forty different restaurants. And how this works is we will contact. I have a great team I have Abe Zarate, who's this incredible sommelier. He's also the wine director at Contento at the restaurant. He's all he's involved with the budget things doing tremendous work along with his sister, Sophia Zarate, who's she's amazing as well. And then I have a ariani Ramirez who's been with me for a decade almost. So she's ongoing. She's also a paraplegic. Right? So, yeah, this really incredible network of, I mean, this team. So we've we've reached out to the Sommeliers or wine director, beverage directors, and we're like, would you like to participate? Of course, they always say, yes. People are just, you know, people in hospitality are just naturally giving. Right? That's who they are. Yeah. And they choose the wines. And I told we tell them. You choose the wines that best reflect who you are, what the represent represent, stands for, and that's it. Those are the ones you should port. So we have, like, this mixed bag. You know, you have some restaurants that are pouring very classic wines. Very natty wines. Whatever it is. Yeah. Thematically. And it's really cool. And then you have this mosaic of different people at this grand tasting. And I have people telling me all this all the time. Like, I've never been to a wine tasting where there's just it's like everyone's from different backgrounds. Yes. Because you're you're tasting with people that look like me, then you've got, you know, black brown Asian, but then you also have people with disabilities where they're having a good time. Yes. You rarely see at a grantee scene? That's exactly right. So it's it's in that in that sense, it's just a it's just a fun event. Well, and there's something about having a place to be seen, you know, and accepted for that. And I I think that's really beautiful. I I wonder if we could transition, based on that. You know, one of the things that, when we spent some time together in Verona, I found fascinating is kind of like your diligence with your own personal wellness, whether that's I won't give everyone your personal life, but like giving up early to exercise, always staying really, really strict with not strict in a negative way, but in a in a way to keep your head in the right place. And one of the things you'll be speaking on a panel about or that you're speaking on a panel at TexOM is about wellness in the wine industry. And I wonder if you could kind of talk about that. I mean, you're a resilient person, obviously a strong personality, which existed before your accident, but you've used it for good over the years. What what are kind of your thoughts? What what what did this panel kind of reveal? Well, for sure, I think, you know, I I'm so happy to see that we're we're talking more and more about wellness. Right? Yeah. In this industry. But I I do think that we're still lagging. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done on that. There's no doubt that I thought, you know, because of the pandemic that you were gonna completely deconstruct the hospitality industry. It's gonna fall apart. Right? Right. Yeah. But at the same time, things have stayed the same. Yeah. Things have not changed. Yeah. People are still working a lot. And people are still without, health care. Yes. And this is a big, big problem. And in in the United States, Let's be clear. Yeah. In the United States. Yeah. Where we struggle with that. Yeah. Well, and and you might have seen a couple of US Olympic athletes Yes. When they were in Paris, they were on social media going, like, I'm in free tell health care. Yeah. I think in order to to be able to keep the best and the most talented people in our industry, we're gonna have to figure out a bet a better safety net. Yeah. And we still don't have that. I can't tell you. I'm I'm forty six years old. I'm born in nineteen seventy eight. And there are a lot of people that I remember growing, like, coming through the ranks of the Sommelier industry, hospitality industry, where all of them, a lot of them have a lot of them have pivoted to completely different industries Right. Or they've taken what you would call, and I hate to say this, and I don't this is not meant to be insulting, but a safe job. Right. I don't know if that makes any sense. Where it has, you know, guaranteed benefits and all of that stuff because yeah. And so I think that that's that's the real big step Yeah. To really, you know, finding that wellness for individuals that are part of this hospitality industry. Yeah. Because eventually, and I think it is already happening. The system is broken. Yeah. There's no doubt. And I don't wanna sound negative. I think I'm not this is all trying to be constructive. Mhmm. And there's no doubt in my mind that there's a way to figure this out. Yeah. I mean, that the solutions are there. Yeah. It's just a matter of, like, are we willing to do so? And I think that the way we figured this out is that we we have to fully understand who everybody is. And what I mean by that is that we have to, like, get McDonald's Applebee's get the most nanny wine bar in the corner of Bedford to Austin or whatever Yeah. To all come into the same umbrella and go like, hey, we can all help each other. Yes. There's there's something to be said about that. Yeah. So the cool kid, not nanny wine bar in Brooklyn, not be so judgmental of the Applebee's people. And, like, how do we benefit each other? Yeah. And I think that's really one step in the right direction. And we have to, like, create almost this kind of alliance. Yes. I don't wanna say the word union because that's, like, that and I don't wanna look up. But even, like, yeah. I mean, I'm not gonna get in the insurance world. It it boggles my mind. And I apologize for everyone who doesn't have to worry about this. Just listening, but, it is a struggle. And, yeah, if you're in service that is in in the service industry, It would make sense that there would be some sort of umbrella plan or something like that that we could they could benefit from. Yeah. I mean, imagine you having to wake up every morning, right, knowing that you're gonna step into a place where there are steps they're the the floor is wet. It's slippery because drinks have dropped. There's knives. There's fire. There's there's oil. You know what I mean? Whatever. You name it. Yeah. And you're not covered. Yeah. It's pretty scary. Right? And you also know that there's a high turnover rate. Mhmm. You all we also know that restaurants sometimes just decide to shut down. When we talk about it's a miracle if a restaurant stays open after a year. Yeah. Those are anxieties that an employee or a person who works in the industry has naturally. Yeah. How do we get rid of that? Right. And that that's, like, we have to build a better community and a better alliance from New York to California to Seattle, to to to Austin to Tesla, Alabama, whatever. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. It it's an interesting it's an interesting, point. It seems like something that's hard to tackle, but I also feel like, you know, talk to me about the other people on the panel because it's like, you guys all, like, kind of are this brain, you know, brain power where it's like, okay, there are some really good ideas here. For sure. I mean, everyone that's on that panel, I think the one thing that they all have in common is that they're very disciplined with taking care of their mental health. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Because again, going back, we are constantly on. Right? I mean, it's not it's not unusual, right, to see someone that's in comedy. Or in the the world of the arts where they're on all the time. Right? And then they're relieving themselves by drinking or doing drugs. Right? They just need to, that escape. Right? And I think that myself, I I've not to, you know, sound righteous. I've never done drugs. You know what I mean? And and thank god. I mean, but I know that my escape is to find that moment of stillness. Right? Yeah. Mhmm. Because to me, that moment of stillness is my own personal kingdom of god. Yeah. And that place will never abandon you. Yeah. I love that. And I I just I just need that. And I think those individuals that are on the panel that are unbelievable, they're spectacular and very special. They may not say those same exact words. But I believe that they would agree with that. Kind of. Yeah. Honed in on that. Yeah. And I think we need we need that stillness. We need that silence. And that's at least one way to guard yourself from the constant chaos that if you work in a restaurant that you sit on the bike. Yeah. Yeah. The noise. The noise. And not just just the noise, but yeah. So let's segue that into the other panel you were on, which is about the state of the industry. So we've talked about health care and wellness in a way. So what is the state of the industry beyond that? You know, what are what are some of the key challenges or successes that you're seeing right now in twenty twenty four? Listen, I know that the number one topic that everybody's talking about, and I think even when I went to to Verota, and I did not state for Italy, but I state for operate. Right. Well, I love that that part of it. Yeah. Mhmm. But I'm in New York City, and we have an embarrassment of riches. Right? Right. Really, it's it's a special place. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I what I would say to all of that is that I think people are in panic mode about people drinking less or, you know, the whole sales are down and a lot kind of stuff. And, yeah, of course, it's something that we should really be aware of. I I would say the good news is that people are gonna continue to drink. It just doesn't disappear overnight for sure. You know what I mean? I do think that I think that's a good thing that people are drinking in moderation. Mhmm. For sure. Tizen to wellness. Tizen to wellness. I I mean, I I'm not gonna lie. I got off that plane, got to the hotel, and they gave me a beer. Well, I'm so good. It was very, like, you know, hi. This is exactly what I was like, no. But of course, you know, for sure. People are, I think, in general, are drinking better. Yeah. But they're drinking less. Yeah. I would say that we probably have an excess of too much wine out there. Maybe I might get myself into trouble for saying that. Mhmm. But there is quite a bit of it. Yeah. And if you think about it, there's eight billion people. I don't know how many people are actually of age to drink. But then you've also gotta include people that are actually quite religious who do not drink. Right? There's a good part of the world that does not. You know, I mean, I was in Qatar. You're not gonna find a job. That's gonna happen. Yep. So those are just things to be aware of. Am I am I freaking out? Not exactly. Mhmm. Am I optimistic? I always try to be optimistic for sure. As long as we're doing the hard work, I think that we have to continue to cultivate and not forget about the next generation, make them feel included. Mhmm. But not just the general all populations. Yeah. Yeah. This is the key to our success. Yeah. If not, if we we continue to just kinda like, you know, keep it to one particular population, then it's it's gonna be a failure for sure. There's no doubt about it. Yeah. And I feel like in the like in the US, in particular, and maybe like other places like the UK, it's like there is a challenge in that if there's not a culture of wine in the way that there are in a lot of some of the European countries where it's like it grew you grew up with it on the table because your grandfather made it kind of thing. You know, you walk into a retail environment, and it is the entire world of wine in front of your face. And if you don't know wine and you're intimidated by wine, you may not invest in a forty dollar bottle. You may stick with the twenty dollar bottle of gin that you can mix with something else. But you know what I mean? So as a journalist, I'm always like, how do we communicate, you know, to people that the there's a culture behind wine that involves history, heritage, you know, so many other things farming, all of that, and it it comes through people like you. This is where the hospitality part ties in, whether it's a restaurant or a retail shop like Bo Pierre, you know, to be able to have someone communicate to people. Everything evolves. Right? Yeah. Certainly, we didn't grow up with a wine culture, but wine always was around. And, unfortunately, I think prohibition definitely put a pause on that. But, you know, keep in mind. I mean, wine culture did not exist. In France known as, you know, goal. Right? I mean, it was there when it was goal. Yeah. That was brought by the Romans. By the Romans. And the Romans probably also got it from, you know, maybe the phoenicians. Right? Yes. Yes. And then you've also got wine that was started six you know, six thousand five hundred years ago. Yes. The caucus mountains, probably the oldest one. So And that's since it's relative. We forget our history. We forget our history. We forget what I but I do think I I'd like to think in general, we have a pretty good wine culture here in America. Yeah. Could it get better? Absolutely. Yeah. I just think that we have to focus on all the things that we actually are doing well. Yeah. And just build on that. Yeah. And not just go too much on panic mode. Right? I mean, I feel like, you know, especially now with politics or not. Everyone's on panic mode and I get that. Yeah. And what whatever side you're whether it's left or right, it doesn't, you know, the people on the right, they're freaking out because, you know, and then the same thing with the left. But at the end of the day, you know, it'll be fine. Yeah. It's a pendulum. It's a it's a one hundred percent is. And, listen, I I I I fully support people that wanna do silver, October, that they wanna do dry January. And that and honestly, there's I think it's a go. I mean, I know that when I take a little break from drinking for a couple of days. When I take that sip of wine, my my palates recalibrate again. Yes. Yes. It just it feels good. It tastes better. Right. So I think everything in temperance and why not? Yeah. Exactly. Well, Yaniq, I'm so glad you joined us today and got to share a little bit of your background, a little bit about kind of what's going on in the industry. I always come away learning something from you, so I really appreciate your time. My pleasure. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Hope to see you in verona again. I hope so too. It was on a play. Alright, Chow. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. 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