Ep. 411 Jermaine Stone

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian wine podcast. My name is Monte Ward. My guest today is Germaine Stone of Crew Love Wine and the wine and hip hop. Podcast. Welcome. Montee, the pleasure's all mine. Thank you so much for having me on. We're thrilled. We are really excited about this one. I can tell you. The weight of expectation, Germaine, is on your shoulders, but I think you can handle I hope I can deliver. Yeah. So you, your entry into the wine world was was was sort of fortuitous. Wasn't it? How did that come about? Yeah. You know, I was, I'm from the Bronx. The Bronx, New York, and it is not very wine centric. So wine wasn't really something that I thought about. I was, looking for a job for college. To, to assist in paying for school. I found myself at a wine storage facility, which was connected to Zack's auction house. And, the rest is history. I really just worked my way up from, from the storage department, all the way up to logistics manager and, and later at Wallyie's becoming auction director. Well, okay. Well, that's quite a let's just let's just delve back a little bit on that from going to sort of, the humping boxes to, to that position. What just give us a little bit more detail about? You've been very modest about that. I mean, how did you how did you crack that ceiling? Yeah. Well, you know, it was I really, I focused on hard work and doing the things that other people were not willing to do. You know, Zachis was a great place to learn. Everyone was very passionate about wine, and also sharing wine culture. So I became interested in the cultural exchange of working there. You know, I was working with many different types of people that I didn't grow up with. And, they were curious about my experiences the same way that I was curious about theirs, and they would, teach me about wine. They I would travel the world with, with, some of our clients and some of my colleagues. So it just really, wine just opened the rest of the world up to me. So that was what grabbed me. But it was really just focusing on on hard work, dedication, and making sure that, I I felt like I wanted to make a name for myself from day one. Did you have a particular mentor that really gave you more help than anybody else in that period? I did. You know, I had a few mentors one of them is, one of my good friends. She's still a friend, Danielle Satani. She really helped me to grow in the administrative side of the business, and she was a great hands on manager. But my my biggest mentor is still my business partner, Michael Jensen, who, at the time, he was the auction director at Zachis. He also we've we've worked together at every phase of my career. And he's been a great friend, you know, really like a big brother and happy to call him my business partner now. So just tell us about your your business. I mean, obviously, you picked up a lot of information and know how from Zachis and adding to that, your own work ethic and your capacity to, to sort of build partnerships. Just tell us a bit about your your business then. Yes. Crew love is a a, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to blending wine and hip hop on the highest levels. I I really, set out to pay reverence to both cultures and everything that we do HIP Hop is a very powerful marketing tool. And, during the course of my career, I saw wine being interjected into rap lyrics more and more. And the context that they're actually rapping about this stuff They're not just saying, you know, drinking a bottle of red wine. They're saying, you know, they're talking about drinking Patrice and drinking lafitte. So it it I knew that there was something there very early on. Also hip hop is very aspirational. They, you know, a rap about a better life, rap about they, create visions of, luxury and, to, to inspire people. So I knew that there was something there. So I created crew love. We, we do a few things. We we blend wine hot, wine, and hip hop in a few ways. We created, wine, we create different wine labels and work in consultancy with different wine brands. We also have a media component to that, which is, wine and hip hop are podcast. Aside from that, there is also an event component. So you know, just to take to step back, we create the product, we create the conversation around the product, and we create the activation around the product. And that's really how I see us bringing these cultures together. You it's it's really a a three step thing, and we feel poised to to, be a part of every step of the way. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting that you talk about, this the aspirational aspect of of wine. And also, in your case, the fact that you're, you're creating a sort of a community almost, based on, obviously, wine, and based on your passion of, of wrapping. And then that has to be unique, but I don't I don't know if anybody else is doing that. No. The they're they're I I've noticed it's funny. You know, I started doing this in two thousand and sixteen. And since that I've I've seen a lot more wine and music, pairings come together. You know, I see other, sommeliers and other personalities. Now, pairing wine and hip hop, So it's it's growing. And I feel very, very privileged to have been someone that was in in the front of that wave. So for you, it's basically a case of the more the merrier. It's not like, hey, this is my little baby, and I wanna keep it for myself. You're really happy that the community, the wine community community and the rapid community, are getting, you know, getting down on this. Yeah. Absolutely. You know, you can't you can't set out and say that you are trying to create a culture and then not want other people to contribute to the culture. So for me, I I truly believe in creating this one in hip hop culture and to see more and more people embracing it, it inspires me and and pushes me in you know, I reach out to these guys. I see where I can help them and, and vice versa. So it's it's really about community building and spreading the culture. Why is hip why has hip hop got that particular community aspect to them. And you could say they're heavy metal rock. Rockers there, you know, they have their bikes and they go on their weekends and stuff. Why is that the case? Why is it why is and it seems like you've built this community quite easily, but I'm sure it's not the case. Definitely. You know, when I started, I had people tell me that so many people told me that this was not going to work. You know, I had people tell me, you know, good on you for fighting the good fight. You know, those are the same people that I see trying to make, wine and music pairings right now. But, it, you know, hip hop is hip hop is black culture. You know, hip hop really stood out and put black culture on the map, and it helped, American culture and global culture really see black men and black culture in America, as as humans. It humanized these stories that that were these horrific stories that were happening in the hood sometimes, but also it talked about our celebration. So I think hip hop really tells our story And because our story is a story of struggle, you know, struggle always bands people together. And hip hop is really, an art form for the underdog. And when you can connect with someone in that way, when someone's feeling alone and you are the only one that you may feel like the only one that understands them, I think that goes a long way with with helping to, helping to spread hip hop music. I mean, if you are you, aware of any Italian wines that have links, to hip hops either in the names or anything, any links there, do you think? Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's funny. I mean, a lot of hip hop artists, talk about, well, hip, Who is this? Mary j Blah is just recently, she's a hip hop artist. She recently released an Italian wine, also, I believe Drake mentioned wine from Piedmont once, which which was, pretty interesting. So when when I hear those comparisons and those, crossovers, that always inspires me and gets me a little excited. But, no. I mean, there there's definitely an affinity for Italian wine and hip hop. Tell me about, rake one and the, liquor label. Yeah. Yeah. That was That's actually a really, really fun project. Ray and I, I I Ray and I connected, through his brother. And, you know, I found out that he was into wine. And he he loved wine. He he talked about it. He felt like that was something that was in his day to day lifestyle for where he was in his life. So he expressed interest in in creating a wine brand. And from there, We we went to Italy. We actually went to Vin Italy, together with a huge camera crew. And, we vetted as many Lambrusco producers as we possibly could and connected with Cantina Cetje, who is a, a, a great partner. They make amazing wines. My partner, Michael, he helped to create a a special blend other than their their regular Lambrusco, Rayquan designed the bottle. And, you know, the way that we all came together, it was truly an artist created product. And not a not, an artist putting his face on the bottle. You know, Rayquan is is very hands on and into the business and now integrating it into a lot of things that he's doing. So you know, that that this whole experience is just, has just been awesome. You know, being at Vin Italy, with Rayquan in itself was a life changing experience. You know, this guy, has been in the music business now for thirty years. And, I'm I'm in another country watching young people under that are, like, five years old coming up to him and asking for an autograph. And old people that are in their sixties coming up to him asking him for an autograph. So, you know, that was to go back to hip hop and whine, that is why I feel like it's such a great connection because it brings together almost every demographic, race, age, location. It doesn't matter. Like, everyone is connected to hip hop in in some way. And to be on the other side of the world and see this rapper embraced in this way. It's, you know, it it it's it proved everything that I was thinking about, rappers and, possibly having success in wine. So with, Wu tang being a global brand, Rayquan being, a big face, wu tang, and such an an influential member of the group, it was just such a natural fit. Know what I find interesting about the choice of Lambrusco? It's a it's a wine that everybody will often talks talks bad about, but it it is the everyday wine and the classic historical everyday wine of, you're hardworking people in Italy with not much money and, I think it's, a very clever style of wine to have picked. I think it's a very Yeah. Great democratic style. And it's it's very approachable. You know, we wanted to attract, entry level drinkers as well as please people with seasoned palettes. And like you mentioned, everyone loves Lambrusco. And this style of Lambrusco, you know, it's richer. It's a deep purple. It it blends well with cocktails. It's just I feel like we really knocked it out of the park. Yeah. Good for you. Okay. So, tell me about your show. I think you have, you have a guest who selects a hip happ artist and you pair a wine with the with the with the music. Is that correct? Yes. Yes. And, you know, now with COVID, we've actually, dealt a bit more into pairing wine concepts with our guests. But, you know, on each episode, we invite either an we invite an influencer from either wine or hip hop, and we ask them to, to pick a selective song or a bottle of wine that's special to them in and I pick a pairing which we'll discuss on the show. And that is how I learned about wine. You know, it it it creates a very organic conversation about wine and hip hop. And generally when I would sit down with clients and winemakers and and other colleagues, I was the hip hop aficionado. So we would always get into these conversations. So I really wanted to recreate that experience and hope that I could bring people along to rediscover my journey into wine. What about COVID? Does that place any limitations on, on, on your show on recording it or interacting with guests? You know, COVID has had a few different effects. It it definitely made, recording more difficult. And when I when when COVID first hit, I was just like, okay. What am I gonna do? Every show is based on me drinking with these guests. So, you know, I thought about sending them bottles and then pairing them, but, there was so much logistics around that. It just seemed like we wouldn't be focusing on the show. So it has helped me to connect with people that I would not have been able to connect with until I came to their cities. So for example, one of our more popular shows with, Baxter Holmes, who's a sports writer for ESPN, I well, he and I have been talking for months. And, you know, when I'm in LA, I may be there for just a day or so. And when he's in New York, it's the same thing. So we had been talking about this interview and hadn't been able to connect. But Zoom really became the status quo for news shows for late night TV for almost everything. So with that becoming the status quo, I felt a little bit more comfortable to do more zoom interviews. But, my primary focus with every episode is making sure that the listener can walk away loving and knowing a little bit more about both wine and hip hop. So I try to now pull that out of my guests, in the example of Baxter, we we spoke about his journey into wine and also the NDAs, new love for wine. So, you know, just by talking about those stories, you can educate a crowd so much. So in your podcast, you mentioned getting turned on to London Grime, hip hop whilst filming a TV show in the UK, who should we know about or seek out to listen to? Oh, man. So many. So many. My favorite artist is, a lesser known guy. Well, he he's on the come up. He's on the come up, but it's a guy named Digdat. And he's a very, very sharp lyricist the lyrics are a little rough at times, but, I mean, you can listen to the way this guy is putting together metaphors and and using word play, that he is so intelligent. And that's what is interesting to me about hip hop is that you can have a you can walk away from a conversation with someone and have no idea how deep they are. But, you know, this guy's making reference. He's making metaphors based on, you know, countries like, war places like warsaw, you know, just mentioning things like that and his reps, it that's different for me from a US artist because just a guy coming from the hood, his world, his global view is not as big as a lot of the artists, that are coming out of the UK. And so that that's very interesting to me. But more than anything else, it's it's fun to rediscover, a culture. And the in England, it looks like the, a flipped version of New York. You know, it's just New York with accents and different cultural nuances. So for me, it's just very interesting getting to know those things that I'm familiar with on one end, but can be completely different on the other side of the world. I mean, it's interesting that you've got this passion both for wine and and obviously, for music, but it was music that first was your first love, wasn't it? Definitely. Definitely. Music music came natural to me very early. When I was probably about six years old, I would memorize songs really quickly. And this was before the days when you could look up a song on the internet, you know, maybe you might get lucky and your favorite artists might print the lyrics to their words on the inside cover of the tape or CD. And I was just always obsessed with reading the credits, reading, looking the lyrics up, and I would memorize lyrics. So I started to write lyrics for songs for people that wanted to have those lyrics and charging them, in school. So that was my my first entry in into rap at about six And from there, you know, that natural ability to memorize the, other people's raps, you just kind of automatically start thinking of your own, and it was like autopilot for me. Are you so I mean, are you are you glad you're not starting out in music right at this time? Yeah. You you know, I I'd walked the I'd actually walked away from music because, just, like, practically the music is is a great hobby, but the job of music is is completely different. And I think I I left it because I loved it too much. And I felt like when the business got involved with music. That was when I fell out of love with it. But coincidentally, I was passionate about business and in school for business. So that is coincidentally what a attracted me to the wine business, just seeing how many outlets there were, for opportunities, working in wine auction. I had to service pretty much every kind of wine client that you can think of, clients that had wine and storage clients that purchased from retail. We worked with, on the consignment side. So with with collectors, with, distributors, with restaurants, you know, every side of we worked with every side of the wine industry. So it really opened up my view And after after seeing that I could, like, travel the world and have fun doing it, it it made rap less enticing because I would have to travel and be away from my family and, you know, you'd be out late clubbing every night. I wanted to go to work and come home every day. So that was that was pretty much why I stopped wrapping. Yeah. That's kind of your best with your business head, isn't it? And also your kind of social head on the family, the family born. I mean, when Europeans visit New York City, they obviously normally focus on classic landmarks, around Haten. How, how would you entice somebody to to to do something slightly unusual and get to know and love the Bronx Well, the Bronx has a place called Arthur Avenue, with a very authentic Italian food. So, you know, coming from Italy, would definitely suggest coming to pay a visit to Arthur Avenue. A lot of the, early immigrants into New York, went to that section of the Bronx. So it's very, very authentic. Amazing food. I mean, like, some of the best food that you will find in New York is in the Bronx on Arthur Avenue. But aside from that, you know, who wouldn't want to come to the birthplace of hip hop to just see it one time and experience it and understand what it looks like. So, you know, hopefully that will get more people here, but come to Arthur Avenue. Okay. News media here in Europe have probably given, a lot of attention to demonstrations in Portland and Minneapolis, while similar demonstrations happening all over the country. Can you can you just give us an an in into the tone in New York at the moment about what everything that's going on, in the country and also, particularly with the Black Lives Matter movement. Yeah. Well, in New York, specifically, the tone, it it's One, we're we're dealing we're handling COVID very well in New York City. Our infection rate is below one percent, which is awesome. And, but people are sticking to the rules that wear masks COVID has been very, very politicized. And, you know, you find you'll you'll hear that from time to time. There are people that we call non maskers And they that are refusing to wear a mask. So little silly things like that happen. But it's tough. You know, we have a president in office that likes to stoke racial tensions. And, people feel it. And, you know, it's a little scary to feel like they're manipulating the government in such a way that this man could remain in power. So it it it's a little scary, and it's definitely something that we speak about very often. But, you know, New York is an extremely resilient city. You know, just like Italy, you know, think about the way that Italy has handled the the COVID, you know, right now, one of the best in the world, New New York is a very resilient city in that way. And, we know that and we have that confidence. And so, the tone, when when when the protests first started in, ah, Minneapolis and Portland, there were protests everywhere. Protests happened in in across almost every state, but there were protests and riots in New York as well. Almost every borough was touched. But it was a it was short lived and, you know, it it thankfully passed, but it was very, very scary. You know, thankfully, there was nothing too close to my home, but, you know, you would see demonstrations go past, like, a couple streets away. So the the mood is is a little, it's a little scary. People are concerned and we're really not happy with the racial tensions, but there are also a lot of good things coming out of this. Like, I really like the wine industry's response to diversity in the Black Lives Matter Movement. There are several nonprofit organizations popping up that are offering scholarships and opportunities to people of color And, I think the wine industry really, took a hard look at itself and said, hey, we had some things that we need to change, and they are doing the work in in changing those things. Yeah. For sure. I mean, it it is a particularly, white history. And, I think it's a legacy from, you know, it says some kind of legacy of the history of, of wine, I suppose, and, and hopefully we'll see some change. And as you say, encouraging, particularly younger people to, to see wine as a as a potentially successful career. And, obviously, you're a fantastic role model for that, and, the way that you handle yourself and you articulately. And you, and you're a fun guy as well. So, you know, you have a great, You're a great leader. So just tell us a little bit more. Just plug a little bit more your business crew love line dot com. And your and your podcast, of, of course. Yeah. You know, I'm I'm very fortunate you know, I I I was having a conversation with my mentor, Michael, who told me, you know, what, Germaine, you're living your dreams. He's known me since the beginning of my career. So he knows how influential hip hop is to my DNA. And, he's been a great friend and someone that inspired me to approach the business in this way. But, you know, taking a a step back and looking at this from a bird's eye view, I really started this company to change the perception of black men in America. You know, I noticed how, how differently I'd be treated at, at wine auctions after someone realized that I knew what I was talking about, it almost made people take me more seriously, you know, immediately. I was I made sure I was dressed well. I knew what I was talking about, and I was passionate about something that they were passionate about. And that is what connects people. You know, I can't I can't think of many other things that you can sit down and immediately have a passionate conversation with someone that you just met, you know, about the same thing. You know, you can do that with wine, and you can do that with hip hop. So I just feel very fortunate to be in this position and, help to push these cultures forward and and actually see traction. You know, we are aside from aside from our podcast, we have developed several different, TV shows, which we're pushing and we're deciding the the outlets that we wanna put them out on But, you know, for us to have a wine brand out, for us to have successful media out and, amazing events in the works, I truly do feel like I'm living my dream, and I'm seeing other people connect with that and feel like this matches their dreams. So, I just feel very fortunate. Do you have any I mean, you don't sound a a political animal, but would would you consider, a political career you know, because you're very gauging and you're incredibly articulate. And you you seem that you you have a fair minded way of viewing the world. But but whatever you talk about, you got this sort of, very balanced view, would that interest you? You know, you're both, you know, you've got your wine community, you've got your music community, you've got the people that listen to your community, and, so you're someone that, you know, you've got that power to to unite people It's funny that you mentioned that there were a few years ago. I was very involved in my old neighborhood in the Bronx's community board, and I wanted to become the, a city councilman for my district. A while back. And I'm the type of person that if I if an idea gets in my head, I'm gonna study it. I wanna learn everything about it. And, I was very passionate about uplifting my community and helping them see all the things that I saw, you know, bringing I I had ideas about bringing more commerce into the neighborhoods, you know, you look around and you can tell a neighborhood that people are investing in because there's a there would be a ton of banks. You know, in in the neighborhood that I grew up in, there's just a ton of grocery stores, you know, what we call corner stores. So I definitely thought about that. But honestly, I feel that, this business route that I've taken, I have, a better opportunity to influence people and support, a lot of the political policies that that I like as well. Cool. Okay. Well, listen, we wish you every success in your various endeavors. And, you got your own ideas, man, and you've got some great ideas, and they've been very successful for you. And, we wish you, continue to to continued success, both with, your wine and hip hop dot com, with your podcast and crew wine dot com. I I appreciate it. You know, and and thank you guys for having me. This is a great honor. It's a great honor. Well, we hope to see you in Italy. Yeah. I'm doing everything I can. You know, I'm really looking forward to coming to, to wine, to wine. And, yeah, it's it's gonna be a lot of fun. Cool. I'll see you Alright. Thanks, Germaine. Thank you very much. Thank you. Take care. And you too. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italianline podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.