Ep. 2447 TEXSOM Special with Jessica Dupuy and Stevie Kim | TEXSOM 2025

But one of the things that I commonly hear and the people that I've been talking to about this year is we need to remember why we got into wine to begin with and the story that we've wanted to tell from the very beginning. And this is something that we do. I, like, I don't work the floor as a sommelier, but these are a lot of wine professionals who do. And something like TexOM is what brings people together to kind of remind us. Okay. We've got some evangelism to do. So to speak. Right? Like, we've got some stories to tell, and we've got some things to really bring people back to why we gather around the table. Channel y'all. I'm Jessica Duppui, guest host for a special Texom series on the Italian wine podcast, covering the twenty twenty five Texxon Conference in Dallas, Texas. Join me in the heart of the lone star state as we dive into conversations with key speakers and attendees, exploring career paths, challenges, and the latest trend shaping the wine industry today. This series is proudly sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture' Uncourt Texas wines program, which celebrates Texas wine culture by promoting local wineries and grape growers, both in state and around the world, building a vibrant community around the Texas made wine. Be sure to subscribe and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts. And don't miss our Texas wine tidbit in every episode. A fun little fact insight or story that highlights the people and places behind this exciting wine scene. Alright. So welcome everybody. And, we're here today to discuss about our Two year, year two of our Italian Line Podcast partnership with Texum. Chow Jessica. How are you? I'm great. And so you're practicing your Italian? Yeah. A little bit. I'm Yeah. I'm better at listening than I am at speaking. At least I need a couple glasses of wine to feel more comfortable. Yeah. So I'm very excited because, this is our year two. Podcast partnership with Texom, and this is one of the most, of course, exciting gatherings in the wine world. And you are our host local hosts because you are true Texan, Yes. So tell us tell us a little bit about what we're supposed to expect. So first of all, for those who are less familiar, tell us a little bit about yourself. Of course, you're a proud texan or winning, wine writer, and someone who knows techsom better than anybody else, I suppose. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, with techsom, you know, we consider it or it's often called, like, the most wonderful time of the year, which in the wine world. So at least, in the US. And so so I'm a Texas based wine journalist, have been in the wine industry for a number of years, and I actually owe it to Texom. I was in food writing beforehand, and the first time I went to Texon was nearly twenty years ago. It is a wine conference in the dead of August. So super hot in Dallas, Texas. And the whole idea behind it was to gather wine professionals. So sommeliers, importers, distributors, etcetera, into one place, mainly for education and also for networking. And if you can remember, or I don't know, if you can understand that, over twenty years ago, really The wine markets, the biggest wine markets in the US were on in New York, on the East Coast and California, West Coast. Right? So this was kind of an innovative idea to say, hey, y'all, you know, there's some major wine markets, not only in tech but really throughout the Midwest. So what that conference did was bring together this idea that the central part of the US actually has a lot to talk about and a lot to do in terms of wine purchasing and wine education. So over the past couple of decades, this conference has grown to become one of the, like, big time gatherings, if you will, not only for education, but also for networking sales, discussing what's going on in the industry, that sort of thing. So how old is techs? This is actually its twentieth year. This has been yeah. So is it kind of a big anniversary? It is. Yeah. It is an anniversary, and it's, you know, we've seen a lot happen in the US in terms of the wine industry over the past couple of decades. So it's kind of exciting to really come together again and really get to discuss that. So what's new or different about Tuxom this year that you've were able to understand? You know? Because you already interviewed James Tidwell. Right? Yes. Who's the founder? Correct. So James Tidwell, he's a master of Sommelier and certified wine educator. He is the founder, one of the co founders of the entire conference and runs the whole thing. And it's interesting. I did get to interview him for kind of our kickoff interview for this, podcast series. And, you know, at first, tax song was really about education. How do we get people in the hospitality industry to have a place where they can come and really ask the questions that they need in order to grow within their careers. It's evolved over the years to a number of different things and to include topics and areas of discussion that were important. But this year, James, like to talk about things for the agenda in terms of kind of going back to the basics, you know. What does it mean to be in hospitality? And that's not just from, nuts and bolts, like here's how you pour or decants an old bottle of wine, But what's the philosophy behind why we're doing what we're doing? Why, you know, can people walk away from an evening out and have that comments in the back of their minds? Like, that was such an amazing experience. And it's because the people who were serving me were thinking way far ahead before I even got here. So answering questions like that, but also, you know, if you're trying to do certifications, what are the elements that you need to understand whether it's from blind tasting to how to just pride wines. So that's in bolts, but actually foundational for for kind of, you know, if this is your path in the wine industry. So who are some of your stand out guests that you'll be interviewing or you have already interviewed for the Italian Line podcast? So I like to approach Texom from the idea that it's education as we've kind of covered discovery, but then also connection. Right? So in terms of education, as I've mentioned, there's gonna be Tim Gazer, who's a master Sommelier going specifically over blind tasting and kind of, you know, the elements of blind tasting that really tend to intimidate people or scare people and how to get past that. Right? But then there's discovery. So I'm really excited because there's a master of wine based in Texas named Gillette Kainer and she is, she's Turkish. I've never met her. She's fantastic and, is in, she does wine education, but she's also getting to bring and introduce an entire seminar on Turkish wines. And for me, like, I'm a little bit geeky. I was a history major. I love the anthropology and history of of what's behind wine. So for me, I'm actually looking forward to learning what she has to say and tasting the wines in conjunction with that. So she's bringing a lot of stuff that doesn't actually usually hit the US and is gonna be talking about that. I'll be interviewing her next week so that will air on the Italian Y podcast pretty soon. But then also connections. So, you know, Networking we let's talk networking. Right? Like, you know, when there's in between, you know, in the hallways or in between seminars or at the little tasting sessions that are happening in between the seminars, you know, you're meeting and greeting and shaking hands. But there's a lot more to it than that. There are people, like, for me as a journalist, you know, I'm always looking for new stories, new trends, things that are happening. And this is a place that's kind of like the family reunion of the wine industry people that I don't get to see more than once a year, I know I'm gonna see them here. And so you pick up on conversations you had a year ago, and it's like nothing ever, no time ever passed. So I can't necessarily capture those on the Itali