Ep. 2277 Karla Ravagnolo interviews Striker Reese | Next Generation

The kind of question, like, everybody wants to know and whine is okay. How do we have any appeal to, like, gen z and millennials? Right? So I kinda grew up with anime. I kinda grew up with manga. I don't know how popular this. Particularly with that demographic. So I kinda just had this idea though. Okay. Well, I know it's popular already. I don't have to kind of do all this kinda teaching and kind of, you know, try really hard to kinda build a relationship. So It's a little bit of using what people are already like to kinda get them in the door. And then once I get you in the door, I'm gonna talk about line, basically. Welcome to another episode of the Italian wine podcast, the next generation series, where we aim to answer one simple question. What are the new generations up to when it comes to wine and food? My name is Katletta Berniello. Join me as we dive into the latest trends in Italian wine. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Italian one podcast. My name is Carveraviano. I'll be your host for this episode of the next generation series. So today, I'm pleased and very much excited to welcome Striker Reeves. He is the founder of anime and wine club, which we're gonna discuss in a few moments. So welcome, Striker. Tell us where do you come from? Where are you? What do you do? Tell us a little bit more. Okay. So I come from Columbia, South Carolina, actually. I moved to DC not too long ago where I kinda got in the wine there. And I've been everywhere in wine. I've worked at a wine marketing agency where I kinda got the market aligned from kind of all over the world, like New Zealand, France. We've had wine in Virginia. Got to market online for, The city act. The city at Philadelphia had this more like wine program. I got the market for them as well. Where I'm at now is actually a place called seller south, and they make, wine sellers for like, private clients and restaurant groups, and I kinda handle the marketing for them, right before I kinda started, you know, my own thing with this whole anime and line thing. Got it. But I know you majored in marketing. Am I correct? Management, actually. I got my master's in management from the Catholic University of America. So management and marketing, it kinda interrelated. It's all kinda dealing with people and structures and processes. So it it actually kinda helps So my question is from this type of major, how did you end up in wine? So funny enough. It was a podcast. I can't forget her name, but she was a marketer. And she talked about wine, and I just kinda fell in love with how challenging it sounded, like when you go into a wine store. It's typically thousands of bottles, like, come in front of you. So it's a real challenge to make one of them kinda stand out. Essentially because they all kind of look the same. So I kinda fell in love with the challenge of marketing wine before I actually fell in love with the product online. So if you have to share your first thoughts and direct your first reaction to wine labels and marketing and storytelling. What was the first thing that you noticed? That it's from my angle. It's a little boring. It's a it's a little boring because it's still speed didn't kind of tradition, which is fine, but it's nothing kind of new about it. So my whole thing is I'm trying to make it a little bit new, but my first thoughts were the wording, the copy writing, you know, even the marketing, it's it's very bland. So What do you remember to be the most challenging part about, oh, also even like finding courses or more on the educational side, like, about learning one? So from that educational side, it's not it's not very practical. Sometimes there's a focus on knowledge that. I don't think it actually helps sell wine. It just kinda helps teach you about the wine, but not to sell it. There's a lot of in courses. A lot of parts of the wine courses have nothing to do with how to make a better, you know, product that lends itself to consumers. So it'll be stuff like, oh, this this great variety grows this way and this grows this way over here, and this is the special method that we use to grow this kind of wine. And I say, that's great, but how does it actually help sell wine? It's great for people like me that kind of love the grapes and love the science behind it, but it doesn't help sell it. And I think that's Sometimes what a lot of the courses miss is the consumer side of it, how that looks, and the best ways that we can sell to, you know, actual consumers of wine. You also have experience in retail. What do you think is actually the information that consumers look forward when trying to decide which wine to buy, or in your experience, like, what was your technique, your best practice in order to sell the bottles that you wanted to sell? So it's definitely how it how it pairs with food first. That's kind of the way they they initially kinda wanna know. And then the foods need to be practical. Sometimes with, like, very fancy wine, they'll say, you know, it disappears well with, this dish and this dish, and you're like, the average person doesn't eat this kind of dish. So what you're pairing it with doesn't have any connection, not some, like, super fancy dessert, some, you know, dish that someone hasn't heard of. Like, how does it practice with, you know, burgers pizza sandwiches, cookies, like things like that. Things the average person actually eats more of. Is something I would really love to see embraced by one, like, the practicality of the drink. I feel like that's extremely important. The practicality also because we are so used to hearing extremely I don't wanna say, like, fine dining type of things, but at the same time, I mentioned this already a couple times. It's hard when a producer for example from Italy mentioned something like my wine pairs perfectly with some Pijun Raghuravioli, and I'm just like, nobody in New York City or South Carolina. We have those that type of, like, that type of recipe and that type of ingredients in their area. So you have to, like, cater and be sure that you offer a suggestion that people can actually replicate at home. Which is, I think, it's also one of the problems or one of the reasons why people think that wine may be a little snobbish and unapproachable, because, like, many times we suggest pairings that are kinda hard for people. So that's why they I understand when they say, oh, I'm scared about you know, the wrong pairing with for the wine. Yeah. And it's funny because I got a lot of that in retail. When someone would come into the store, they would be, like, afraid to ask me a question. And I would say, you know, why? Like, what's the what's the why are you afraid? And it'll be do they think that I know more than them, which I do online, but I don't take that to mean that I'm smarter than them on the subject. It's just I know more of it. So you know, it's really about kind of building a customer relationship to kinda get them to even open up about wine in the first place. Yeah. Totally true. Is if not that it's all that there is also a a sense of competition. But at the same time, it's kinda hard to share their honest opinion and feelings and thoughts maybe about the the wine. Like, you have to be knowledgeable. And and that's it. Do you think that in general, there is a lack of sense of community in in the wine industry? Definitely. And that's probably because it's, you know, wine kind of travels that luxury sense. So luxury and culture sometimes have a hard time mixing because luxury is all about kinda gatekeeping. It's all about exclusivity, but culture and community are all about inclusivity. So those two things can kind of disagree with each other. So it's about trying to find kind of the middle ground. Right? Like, how do you make something luxurious, but also make it feel like everybody's welcome while also maintaining a sense of, you know, I have this and you don't have this. Those ideas are kind of all conflicting with each other. So it's difficult, but it's it's possible. It's possible to get as possible to build community around something that still feels exclusive, but inclusive at the same time. I feel like and correct me if I'm wrong, but, like, I feel like the book bar formula that you mentioned to me in our previous conversation, it's one of the perfect formulas that managed to, you know, give you that feeling of exclusivity in a way because, you know, get some book or something, but there's still the wine part, so like the sharing moment, but it's also, you know, a sense of community because people gather, gather, they're not in front of a computer, they're not in front of a screen or something. Like, they gather to a place and share a moment and enjoy a moment together. Yes. Yes. So it's it's the book bar thing is books are kind of communal in general. Like, when people kinda read them, they wanna talk about it. They wanna be together. So pairing that with alcohol kinda works perfectly, and that's why they're becoming more popular. It's not the kind of overstimulated kind of high energy, kind of y'all on top of each other like a regular bar. It's a little bit more spaced out. You can kinda relax. You can kinda talk with people at your own pace. And so that's that's why I really love the kind of book bar, you know, concept. Totally. Totally. So, actually, focusing on your project, anime, wine. Would you like to tell us a little bit more about it and how did you get the idea? Yeah. So the kind of question, like, everybody wants to know and wine is okay. How do we have any appeal to like gen z and millennials? Right? So I kinda grew up with anime. I kinda grew up with manga. I don't know how popular it is, particularly with that demographic. So I kinda just had this idea though. Okay. Well, I know it's popular already. I don't have to kind of do all this kinda teaching and kind of, you know, try really hard to kinda build a relationship. So it's a little bit of using what people are already like to kinda get them in the door. And then once I get you in the door, I gotta talk about line, basically. My idea behind it was okay. I'm just gonna do it. It's odd. I know the concept is odd. It's out there. But people really love anime. And that kind of passion is what I want and why. So that's what I'm hoping to do. Kind of, you know, interconnect those two things and then kind of tell a story through it. I really like the idea also because anime and manga can become somewhat of a tool to wine and vice versa, you know, wine can also become a tool right together, anime, and manga, what I really like about this project also is the sense of community that we were just talking quickly because it's a community. You mentioned at the beginning, like, in our previous conversation, you mentioned it's a community for outcasters in a way because, you know, We talked also about the fact that many black people, are not seen when it comes to wine consumption and also to anime. So I really feel like also your project pushes the boundaries in some of the, I don't wanna say most conservative industry, but at the same time, Jukpan and Anime are known for being somewhat conservative. There's a lot of gatekeeping, again, also in this industry and same for, the wine industry. Have you had any type of experience about it? Yeah. So sometimes they'll ask me what it is, and I'll explain it to them. And I can kind of instantly see their face kinda scrunched out when they see the graphics because they, like, they associate the kind of imagery with cartoons. So it's a very western idea that cartoons equal kids. But that kind of thinking doesn't really exist other places because they know cartoons and animation is just a medium. So it's just another storytelling method. But here, particularly in the west, it's very If I see a cartoon, it's for kids. And of course, if it's for kids, alcohol had to stay far away from it naturally. So it's a little bit of trying to break down those barriers, trying to get people to understand that, you know, cartoons, animation. It's a storytelling medium, and it can be for adults just as much as, you know, children, teens, or whatever. Yeah. No. I I totally disagree with whoever says that. Yeah. Anyways work. Anyways not for you you better watch like cowboy beep up and then tell me if that if that anime is for Yeah. Is for kids or something. On on another on another topic, on another hand, I also wanna touch quickly on your drawings because the striker also draws his own drawings, his own graphic to the for Instagram and for his website and for his educational sketches and blogs. There is one specifically that I love that is the one where he explains Court's Dane. Would you like to tell us a little bit more about it? Yeah. So Court's saying, of course, if, you know, you're in the line, you already know what that is, but As a concept, it's it would be pretty boring for someone who's not in doing to understand or even care what Cortain is. So I basically took it, and I made him a literal monster in this comic. And the monsters kinda terrorizing the city and terrorizing the city because, you know, fourteen, of course, terrorizes the wine. Alright. So I'm taking a story element and I'm kind of making it a visual and funny. You know, some people may hear. It may think I'm that means I'm taking it less serious, but I'm not. From my point of view, everything's better if you can kinda laugh. Right? So just making it something that's kind of humorous and making it laugh helps to teach it a lot easier. People will remember it now. So that's kind of my thing. Taking an element of it, making it humorous, and then making it a visual in order to teach you about it. I love the fact that there's that emotional connection or relation, you know, like, I left about the cork stain, but then I remember about the cork stain, basically. And I remember the image So there's also it's also easier, for visual learners. I feel like this is a great strategy to to study and to learn and to connect with wine. So another question I have for you is you know how wine is somewhat very schematic, meaning that there is red wine, white wines, sparkling, and there's the subcategories. I don't know, like sweet wine, fortified wine, what I've Is it possible to create somewhat of an association with anime categories? And if yes, how? Yeah. So definitely. There are categories in So it's like shown in. Sometimes they're romance, animates, there's mecha enemies, you know, mecha enemies being like the enemies that talk about, like, big robots and everything like that. So they each have their own unique kind of storytelling avenue, and some people like some, and some people don't like others. So it's really kind of up to me to kind of, you know, put those two things together. Like, I'll say shown in is like off dry wine because it's shown in anime is like the entry point in anime. It's the entry point that it's the most popular series are usually the shown in the or action heavy, the more, you know, beat them up style of anime. So I'll say that and I'll connect it to something like off dry wine because it's the entry point for most people. It's the most approachable part of wine. So I'll kinda use that to kinda create these threads that connect it so you can learn a little bit more about both and kinda build community around finding these two odd things that do mix. You just gotta find you know, the mixing point, basically. Interesting. If I may, this is an additional question. I'm sorry. This is kind of a freestyle. But do you remember your first anime and your first bottle of wine? I do both actually. First one is, of course, dragon ball z. That is, you know, one of the most popular anime in the entire world. That was probably my first anime. First wine. It was just I don't wanna say the name. It was a really terrible cab. And I remember drinking it, and I remember just instantly having this feeling of This is terrible. Like, why do people like wine? Right? Like, this is awful. But I remember hap yeah. I remember having that opinion with us. And of course, I didn't learn the later that caps can be, like, really good when like, aged right and, you know, things like that. But this was like this cheap grocery store cab. That was just awful. Yeah. So I remember it. I I remember vividly, actually, because I remember tasting a big cab, like, years later, I'm going like, This is, you know, if I were to taste it this first, I probably woulda liked wine like a lot sooner. How does it look like the wine consumption in South Carolina among younger consumers? Are people actually into wine? They are. It's it's funny. They like it low, like, low alcohol, white wines seem to be like the trend that I'm noticing. And it makes sense. Right? Because so many people are drinking a little less. They want alcohol that's kind of low and, you know, low in alcohol, smooth. It can kinda go with their dish. It's not, like, overwhelming. So that's the trend I'm noticing things that are easy to drink. They can kinda drink it and kinda go on about a day and not be too overwhelmed, not be too drunk or anything like that. That's the trend. I'm noticing. Interesting. If you had to think about One is, the wine industry biggest misconception about younger consumers? What would that be? Definitely that that the younger consumers don't want luxury. Every time this I see this often. They wanna appeal to gen z or millennials, the first thing they do is to kinda get rid of all the luxury branding, and they, you know, bright, and they make it kinda like, you know, bright colors, slaying, things like that, and it just kinda wipes out the luxury part. And I've seen consistently in spaces with younger people, they want the luxury. Like, they want the fancy words. They want the lingo. They want all of that. They just want it where they feel like they're included in it. And I feel like that's the part that wine just kinda misses, you know, it's kinda the phrase throwing the baby out with the bathwater is a phrase. You know, you don't have to get rid of it all. You just have to change parts of it. Do you think that also this inclusivity should be somewhat improved, throughout communication? An educational special, like, in social media or something? Yeah. Definitely. So with, you know, wine branding, it's a lot of pictures of grapes, pictures of vineyards, you know, the same kind of person kind of everywhere, and that appeals more to wine people. Like, I get why you would like the color of that grape, but you have to think, to an average consumer, they're all purple, green, grapes. Like, there it's no difference to the average consumer. So you have to make the difference by building your communication around things that are different. Right? Like, events where, you know, you can see people actually drinking the wine, not the stock photography where it's like the models, and they're all kinda drinking the wine. Like, no, show me real people drinking the wine. Show them, you know, reading a book, reading a comic book, like, it starts with the visuals. You have to really show how wine can be different. I feel like wine has all the the characteristics in order to win, win over the the younger customer. We just need to figure out how to communicate it better, you know, to be like, hey, you can grab this bottle. And no matter if you know what cabernet sauvignon is, no matter if you know where I don't know, burgundy is. You can just, like, drink it, have fun, open it with some fries or a burger or something, and that's it. You can just, like, have a moment to decompress. Yeah. So a good example, I'm I've told people is to look at how coffee shops are kinda evolving. You know, coffee shops are going from, just selling you coffee to, like, third spaces. So now you go into a coffee shop coffee shop. They want you to sit down. They want you to linger. They want you to kind of build a community around it. So the coffee shops I have, you know, community events kinda weekly. And I know coffee shop owners now, they're telling me where they're not even making most of their money on the coffee anymore. It's you know, it's demerge. It's the events because they're turning from just a coffee shop into, like, a third space. So that's the direction I wanna see a wine kinda evolve in and go more towards building, you know, community around the product. Yeah. I totally also because I feel like I never heard anybody saying like, oh, this coffee taste is like this isn't you know, they just they just appreciate the coffee. And that that's fine. That's perfectly fine. This is we don't wanna we don't wanna, like, overwork our brain or over that. I think we're here to have fun and enjoy life, I think. This is the sense. Yeah. Another question I have for you, since I asked you, what is the biggest misconception about young people? I wanna ask you the reverse question. What is the biggest misconception young people have about wine or the wine industry? Probably that they're just there's no one to really understand them. I see this a lot in the wine store. Right? Like, I'll go into a wine store. And they'll kinda look around, and they'll never assume that I'm the one working in the wine store because, you know, I'm a little younger because I'm black. So they assume automatically that it's like the dough, the white guy. He's the one that's working in the wine. He's the one that kinda knows about the line. And, you know, there'll be times where people will say, oh, you know, you can x him. He knows about it, and they'll and you'll see their face kind of perk up because, okay, now I have someone here that looks a little bit more like me. I can kinda speak to them in more, you know, language times. I can kinda I can kinda talk to them a little bit. I can kinda relate to them a little bit better. So it's usually that there's just no voices out there, but there are plenty out there. I love how both in the wine industry, so like retail, hospitality, restaurants, bars, etcetera. But also in anime, I'm slowly seeing more and more black people represented, which I find it's extremely interesting. How do you see this evolve? Or how have you witnessed this evolve in the past years? Yeah. So I think it is is I think it's an like, something like anime is becoming kind of more popular, more, a little Americanized. So to speak, you're having more diverse audiences find it, and then naturally a business is going to go more towards what's working. Alright? So they're starting to kind of pick up on the fact that more diverse audiences are liking this thing, you know, you have people like Megan and, you know, Michael b Jordan and these huge actors that also love anime. So it's really opening the door for other people to see that, okay, I can look at this and I can be fine with it. I can, you know, I can interact with it because, you know, a thing with people of color that sometimes, you know, we have this mind to kind of offer one kind of thing. So if we like it, we have to have feel like we have to have approval within our community to really engage in something. So now that we're seeing people in our community like it more, you're gonna see more people kinda wanna be involved in it, basically. Got it. One last question before we end this interview. What is your favorite Comfort food, wine, and anime appearing. Like, the one you're safe place. When you get home, you're just like, ah, I wanna have this moment for myself now. Okay. So this is recent, but I've really started loving like brick oven pizza. I think it's a texture thing. I think it's, you know, like, the pizza here from, like, fast food chains can be, like, really doughy and chewy, and I don't like that. So brick oven pizzas are kind of They're kind of hard, but it's a texture thing, and I love to drink it with, like, a a riesling. I think they kind of, yeah, I think they complement each other pretty well, as I've gotten older. I have to ask you, what is your topping? Your go to topping on the pizza? Because, like, that changes. That changes a lot. I like, like, a, like, a savory kind of meat on top of it. Something like like a pepperoni or like a sausage or like an Italian sausage or something like something that kind of interacts with, like, the pasta sauce really well. I feel like it it's pretty it goes really well for, like, that touches sweetness and the reason. So those two things that anime would probably pair it with. Mhmm. There's one called Tinchy muyo, daughter of darkness that I really like. Tinchy muyo is kind of a funny story. And it's What is it about? Tenty Munoz about this story where this guy who's basically it's kind of a funny story. He's surrounded by these kind of like aliens kind of like people. So it's funny. It's he's and he's also in high school. So he's basically just trying to figure out life. Meanwhile, these aliens are kind of around. They kinda get in the hijinks with each other. And of course, it's anime. So, like, the aliens are attractive women because that's a story element in a lot of anime. So it's kind of funny. It's it's a funny little odd story there. Like, I think it's more of a comfort anime for me because I discovered Tenty New Year when I was, like, nine years old. So it's that thing I can yeah. It's that thing I'll kinda watch when, you know, I don't wanna feel like picking up watching that new show. Got it. Got it. Got it. Sounds lovely. Sounds like a great night. I'm not gonna lie. And I may start it. I may start. Is it on Netflix or something? Yeah. It's on Netflix. A lot of the mood, the older movies are actually on YouTube too, because They just kinda I guess they're so old that, you know, there's no copyright claims on them. You can actually find a lot of great anime on, on YouTube, like the older ones in particular. In general, are you more of, I don't wanna say traditional because I feel like that's not the right word, but, like, in terms of, like, wine and anime, do you prefer the older style, the older animals and wines, or are you more into, like, experimenting new styles, innovation. Yeah. I I would kind of prefer the new ones a little bit because what I feel like is happening is that the newer ones have more of a a budget because anime is pop more popular now so you can tell they're putting a lot of resources behind it. If you watch some of those older ones, like the dubbing, if you watch the dub, it's just it's bad because there wasn't a lot of resources at the time because anime was this really underground thing. Like, I tell people I love, the show, new show, Dan De Dan. Like, I I love that show because it's so odd and it's so far out there. That, you know, I love that kind of weird storytelling, like, bright colors and great fight scenes. Like, I love that. So I probably would lean more into, like, the newer stuff, actually. Got it. May I dare to ask you if you had to associate a wine to Dan Dan to Dan. A lot of people have mentioned it to me, so I feel like it's very popular right now. If you had to, like, pair one wine with that show, what would you're appearing? I would practice a champagne. I say champagne. I say it because a lot of people don't know, but we all know, of course. Like, champagne is usually a mix of, you know, three different grapes. Still, and I feel like Danadette is a mix of a lot of different genres. Kind of all into one to kind of create this cohesive story. So I would pair that with champagne. The champagne is a mix of, you know, usually three different grapes and kind of one cohesive product. So that's how I would kinda pair. And I love when you can take, like, different grapes and kind of pair them together, and you can kinda get hints and notes of all three grapes. In the product. So I really I really love that. I really love the science behind it, you know, like when a wine maker can take all these different grapes and kinda put his stamp on and you can kinda get different notes and It's really lively, and I kind of like that mix. I just love the pairing and the association you did. I feel like this is extremely genius. You make it sound very easy because you're knowledgeable about both worlds. But for example, Avnet, I don't know what Dan Dan is about. But, like, as soon as you mentioned Champagne, I'm just like, oh, okay. And, like, as as you went on reasoning, I was just like, this makes a lot of sense. Like, I kinda got already the idea of what Danda Dan is about and the style and everything. So I really wish you the best of luck with this project. I know that Anime and wine club also hosts events. So what are these events about? What do people do? So how I like to do it is it basically make it a an informal kind of hangout. I feel like wine tastings can be really formal and kind of stuffy. So I kinda invite people out. I'll give them, like, slips of paper where I show you visually, like, what we may be talking about. I'll play music, put on anime, and I'll just encourage people to just kinda bring their friends and just hang out, like, super informal, very, low key, a vibe kinda deal. And that's how I like to do my events. Like, I want you to feel something just as much as I'm teaching you something. Got it. Are they usually themed based? Yeah. So I'll take a a wine and I'll make a theme around it that connects to the anime. So, just to kinda teach you about the anime and the wine aspect. So I do that basically so I can invite both unique audiences. So I tell people, you don't even have to like anime. You don't even have to like wine. You can just kind of come there and just kinda stoke in what's happening, basically. I really wish you the best of luck with this project. If people are in South Carolina, everywhere, I could work, you know, follow him. Yeah. You can find me on anna may and wine dot com, on Instagram at anime and wine. So you can find me there. You can reach out to me on LinkedIn. It was just my first name, striker wreath, Oh, I do have this thing on the website where you can kind of email me. Like, if you know any great lines, just kinda email me because I'm always on the lookout for, like, really great kind of underrated lines. So If you know any, like, send them to me. So thank you so much, Striker, for this lovely interview and conversation. I hope to see you soon in person and to join you for some pairing Michelle. Thank you so much for joining us today. Let us know your thoughts on our social media at Italian wine podcast and follow us to keep up with the next generation of Italian wine people, tears.