Prepare for an extraordinary journey into the world of wine and cinema as we sit down with Jason Wise, the visionary director behind the renowned SOMM film series and the upcoming masterpiece, “Cup of Salvation.” In this captivating episode, we delve into the mind of a director who’s taken wine storytelling to new heights.
Key Moments in my interview with Jason Wise of SOMM Films on his latest movie Cup of Salvation
First, we explore Jason’s cinematic inspirations, including the timeless Michael Mann and his iconic film, “Heat.” Discover why Jason hadn’t featured Michael Mann on the SOMM podcast and dive into prospects for SOMM 5.
But that’s not all. We dig deep into the origins of Jason’s fascination with wine, inspired by the classic documentary “Pumping Iron.” Learn when this remarkable journey began and how it influenced the SOMM series.
Next, we explore an earlier documentary that saw Jason exploring the Lake of the Ozarks in pursuit of a vanishing snail species. Find out how this adventure for the snail caviar dish for “Sparklers.” Discover the harmony that unfolded among the cast members and the captivating story of how Jason convinced them to join the show.
The episode takes a dramatic turn as we discuss Brian McClintock and his journey from serving at Morton’s Steakhouse to pursuing a career in the world of wine. Jason shares insights into recognizing the right moment to change tracks while striving to achieve one’s goals.
The spotlight then shines on “Cup of Salvation,” an enthralling project that took an unexpected course. Jason shares the challenges and unique experiences of remote directing via WhatsApp video, including his collaboration with Vahe, a daring winemaker. Explore the intriguing connection with Mo Momtazi, and his quote: “Water separates people, and wine brings them together.”
As we peer into the future, we discuss the potential challenges Cup of Salvation might face from the Iranian government upon release.
But our journey doesn’t stop there. Jason provides an exclusive glimpse into “Life of Wine,” a project initiated before Cup of Salvation, offering a tantalizing preview of what’s to come.
The episode culminates in a heartwarming reflection on Jason’s 15-year milestone with his wife, Christina, exploring the secret sauce that keeps couples working together harmoniously.
We conclude with a poignant discussion on the legacy Jason hopes to leave for his two daughters. Join us for a profound and entertaining conversation that uncovers the man behind the lens and his extraordinary adventures in the world of wine and film.
Be sure to also checkout other winemaker interviews!
[00:00:00] A.J. Weinzettel: Cheers to another episode of the Wine Notes podcast. I’m your guide, AJ Winesuttle, on this journey of stories showcasing the people behind the wonderful world of wine, where we dive into conversations ranging from terroir, viticulture, to favorite music, superpowers and more. Please enjoy this episode of the Wine Notes podcast.Jason, thank you so much for taking the time to be on the podcast today. I really appreciate it.
[00:00:29] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Hey, it’s a, it’s an honor. I’m excited to talk. Yeah. [00:00:33] A.J. Weinzettel: Uh, you know, it was amazing to, to chat with you a little bit last month when you were here in Oregon to, uh, uh, you know, the Oregon premiere of cup of salvation.That was, that was an
[00:00:42] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: amazing film. That was a, that was a lot of fun, honestly, I had, uh, man to have hundreds of people in a room like that, where we actually filmed the movie was really special. [00:00:53] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, I, I can, I can only imagine, uh, later on, we’ll kind of circle back around for, you know, for Cup of Salvation, but the, one of the, like questions I’ve just been on the top of tip of my tongue, uh, I know Michael Mann is your favorite director.And you were super excited when he, uh, launched, um, Heat 2, you know, the, the book, right?
[00:01:18] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: I’m not going to lie to you. I’m so excited. You’re starting with Michael Mann. This is amazing. Okay. Yes. I was very pumped about that book. Yeah. This podcast just got even better. [00:01:27] A.J. Weinzettel: Awesome. I, I’m just curious. What did you think of the, of the book itself?Did it, did it do? Was it justice?
[00:01:35] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah. I thought it was fantastic. I, uh, pre ordered it the minute it was available and, uh. I thought it was great. I, uh, honestly, they could have released something 10th of the quality of what that was, and I’d have been happy. So the fact that it actually really was, you know, lived up, yeah.My first thought was, do you know how bad I want to see a sequel to Heat? And so, you know, apparently Michael Mann’s working on making the movie. And so my, the problem is I read the, I read the book thinking about how are they going to make this movie, considering a lot of the characters are too old, or You know, how they’re going to recast a young Macaulay or whatever.
So, but yeah, I loved it, man. Am I happy you’re talking about something like, uh, like, uh, the movie heat or the book heat,
[00:02:19] A.J. Weinzettel: you know, I, I, I love that movie. I, uh, there’s always, there’s a scene in the first, you know, in the, in the movie itself, you know, where they’re, you know, robbing the bank and it’s the, you know, it’s the gunfight at the end, you know, and when the characters grabs one, the little girls, I so want to create a character.Yes. I so want to create a story of like what happens to that little girl’s life from that point forward. I think that would be so amazing.
[00:02:47] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: This is a phenomenal idea. I love this. I, uh, I never, God, I never thought about that. I mean, that is like one of the most evil things in the film is when he takes that little girl as like a human body shield.And, uh, yeah, I mean, it’s not, not that Tom Sizemore’s character in the movie Heat was a upstanding human being, but that being said, uh, that was a pretty awful thing. Where, let me ask you to spoil your, uh, idea, where, where is this little girl now she’s in her, what should be 30s now.
[00:03:17] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah. So somewhere that, yeah, there about, I would, it would just be curious to like explore that avenue to see what, what happens to her. [00:03:25] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah. Well, it’d be interesting to, if Michael Mann, Michael Mann has a complicated thing with female characters in his film. So I’d love to see him direct a film about some, you know, young district attorney who is the girl. Picked up by Tom Sizemore during a giant shootout in downtown Los Angeles. I mean, look at, I’m telling you, put that in my veins right now.I’m in. Yeah.
[00:03:47] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, no, I, I would agree. Um, you know, so, you know, I, I talked a little bit with, uh, Philippe Andre and he’s like, Hey, are we ready to, to shoot some five, you know, and it would be like directors and far he’s getting champagne. [00:04:02] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah. Philippe Andre and his cars. I was actually texting him, uh, the other day, Philippe Andre is a, is a.Very, very wonderful guy based in Chicago who, who, uh, who reps at one of the great champagne companies. He, uh, he, I, I, to put him in a Ferrari. Doing anything with wine, I’m in. And he has certainly found a way to mix his cars with wine in a way that I’m very impressed. Yeah, he is, uh, he’s a good guy. He’s a good guy.
He is. You know, if you would have told me I was going to make a Psalm 3, let alone 4, I’d have told you there’s no chance. So, who knows? We have several films in production and one of them might end up being a Psalm film, so. You know, I don’t know if it’ll have Ferraris, but, well,
[00:04:44] A.J. Weinzettel: you know, well, we got to get the Philippe Andre on, you know, on that.I mean, he was, he was here at the IPNC here in Oregon, uh, not this past summer, but the previous and man, the energy he has is just phenomenal. He’s, he is an amazing guy.
[00:05:00] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, he really is. Yeah. Philips a good guy. Really good. Yeah. [00:05:05] A.J. Weinzettel: Uh, going back a little bit before heat. Uh, you know, you’ve, you’ve mentioned like, uh, a documentary that inspired you for some was pumping iron and.But, and I’m trying to do the math, right? Pumping Iron came out in 77. And when did you come about and even hear about Pumping Iron? I mean, you had to be like a wee little baby or something,
[00:05:32] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: right? Yeah, you know, I’m, I’m looking at the VHS, uh, of my father’s copy of Pumping Iron. So, Pumping Iron was a film my father was a very big fan of.And, uh, when I was young, probably five, six years old, I watched the film for the first time. And then I watched it again and again and again and again, and my dad bought a VHS of it back when VHS is cost. There were hundreds of, there were like 170, 160. This is like something that I don’t think young people could really fathom at the moment of like spending, you know, almost 200 on one movie back when 200 was a lot more money than it is now.
Um, I grew up with this film and I honestly think for a lot of purpose, Pumping Iron is one of the first documentaries that was meant to be. Entertaining, you know, it was not meant to be this film that was like here. You’re going to learn something. You’re going to see how a tribe in the Amazon lives.
You’re going to see, you know, X, Y, Z. There are, there are examples prior, but from a mainstream standpoint where you got introduced to characters that now obviously have aged very well, you have Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno and all of these people who have been very important. For so many, I watched Total Recall last night.
I mean, I think, I think that, that particular movie from a story standpoint, where you have real characters, they’re three dimensional, I mean, they might be idiots occasionally, and they might be vulgar and whatever else, but you get to follow it through in a kind of You know, sports, horse race type manner of who’s gonna win in the end.
But also, you get to live with these people in their houses, you get to watch them give each other shit. Um, I, I think it’s an unparalleled film. And still to this moment, I think it’s one of the funniest, most entertaining You know, it’s tough to even call it a documentary because it plays like a narrative.
I, I was introduced to it very young and bias aside, I still think it’s one of the great films of the medium. I love it very, very much. I watch it all the time. And without that film, I never would have made Psalm. There’s no chance when Psalm is directly modeled after that.
[00:07:36] A.J. Weinzettel: I, I can imagine. Your, your daughters, do they have any opinion on, on the movie Puppy Guy, Aaron? [00:07:43] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: You know, my oldest has definitely seen it. Um, it’s, you don’t realize how inappropriate a film is until you watch it with your Children. And it’s one of the movies where Schwarzenegger is definitely, uh, I mean, look, he had some fun to say the least. And, uh, you know, as we know of his personal life and everything else, but the seeds are all there in that film.And, you know, I did watch it with my daughter a couple of years ago, and her comment was like, So why do these guys want huge muscles? Like, what’s the reason? And I’m like, well, what do you mean? What’s the reason? The reason is to get huge muscles. And she’s like, yeah, but what’s the reason after that? And I’m like, Hmm, yeah, men are not men are men are interesting characters.
So I’m not entirely sure how to answer that question. But, um, her response was basically just. Why? Which I think is a valid, that’s a valid response to Pumping Iron, I think. I, you
[00:08:37] A.J. Weinzettel: know, I, I think so too. There’s, uh, I went to, so my daughter’s 15 and, you know, over Halloween, I was going to introduce her to, you know, you know, to some horror movies and, you know, brought up some classics and.Just, you know, this, the first scene of one movie, you know, was complete nudity and I’m like, what,
[00:08:58] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: which movie, which movie Halloween? Oh, Halloween itself. John Carpenters. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, you know, at that time, you kind of had to have nudity and if in order for a film to be legitimate in the horror space, you kind of had to have, I mean, that movie has some just like, why the hell is this person naked kind of moments in it, but right.Yeah. Yeah. At the same time, John Carpenter is probably one of my top five directors of all time. So, you know, and that film is a miraculous Thing. I don’t know that I would show it to my daughter. It’s pretty scary. Um, no, I watched it when I was probably seven. So I don’t
[00:09:36] A.J. Weinzettel: exactly right. I mean, it’s just different times, which is just crazy to reflect back onto that.That’s right. Um, you know, I, I, a couple years ago, I was interviewing Andy Lytle for the podcast. Sure. And he told me this amazing story. Yeah. Of how sparklers ended up happening at his property at the joy. And, uh, he proceeded to tell me that, you know, he was sending out bottles of Lidl, Barnett, uh, to, uh, you know, some San Francisco restaurants, uh, and, uh, Matt Koehner ended up getting the bottle and, you know, called Andy.
It’s like, this is fabulous. This is great. And then, you know, got to talking about, um, just having a conversation. And he’s like, okay, you need to be on your phone in like 10 minutes. And so pick up the, you know, that happened, pick it up the phone and you’re on the other end.
[00:10:35] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah. I think, uh, you know, first of all, Andy is, uh, Andy is a truly great person.Uh, the, the other amazing thing is he makes one of the best sparkling wines in easily in North America. I mean, Leno Barnett, and I got to give Matt Caner a tremendous amount of credit for this, Matt, Matt called me and he’s like, you need to try this wine. And so I was able to try it and I was blown away.
You know, I was truly blown away. This is it’s. I’m surprised that the wine is not. I know it’s well known, but it should be more well known. It’s really, really good. I mean, it has a, a character that you can only find in certain parts of champagne. You know, this very dry yeasty thing that is not common in the U.
S. What Andy has done with sparkling is truly magnificent. So, um Honestly, when I tasted it, I was like, can we get this wine in the episode? It was not even, it wasn’t like, uh, you’re lucky to be in our show. It was more like, how do we put you in the show? Because I, I honestly, when you have a wine that’s that good and you see it on screen, if you’ve watched sparklers, we were lucky that show was nominated for James Beard.
It did, you know, it did very well for some TV, but when you see the people tasting it in that thing, you realize like there’s no, there’s no bullshit here. This wine is truly great. Um, Andy is, uh, Yeah, they’re they’re doing doing the Lord’s work. I can’t we want to do a season two of sparklers. So that’s in the works at the moment.
Um, yeah, I went back. I want to I want his rose in it. It’s really good.
[00:12:08] A.J. Weinzettel: It is. It is really good. And I, I have to say, I’m very much looking forward to, to season two of sparklers. [00:12:13] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, me too. Trust me. It’s uh, uh, the process of getting these things greenlit and moving through and having the time to do them.And you know, it’s a, it’s a process. And I know that there’s a lot of people who are like, where the hell are these shows you’ve promised, but we’re working on it. I swear.
[00:12:30] A.J. Weinzettel: Yes, I, I know that you are. And, uh, early, early on in your career, you were working on a documentary in the lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and it was on a snell that was going next.How did you know
[00:12:42] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: this? How did you know this? I do my research. You know, it’s funny. Anyways, go on. Go ahead. I was just going to say, yeah, that’s the first documentary film probably that I ever shot. And it’s never been edited. So believe it or not, I have all the stuff down here right below me in this cabinet.And I’ve been talking a lot recently about getting that together. I mean, this is a story about a man named Tom Ailey, who lives in a town called Proto, Missouri, and it’s in Karst country. So it’s like this limestone cavernous area, lots of caves. And under his house is a particular cave. And in this particular cave is a stream.
And in this particular stream. Is a snail that is averages the size of a grain of sand and it lives nowhere else in the world. And now it can get a little bigger. You can find it to be like the size of a gut. I’m trying to think like what a good example would be like a lentil, maybe, but like. For the most part, it’s very tiny and it lives nowhere else in the world.
Nowhere else in the world. Imagine the responsibility. You are a naturalist. He is Tom Ailey. And he discovers under his property is this snail that lives nowhere else in the world, serves no function to society. It doesn’t like produce energy. It doesn’t, you know, it doesn’t feed humans. It’s not a thing that.
People would want to save and yet there’s like a hundred of them in the world and they live only below his house. And so, you know, I, my career sort of started in nature documentaries and I went there to film the idea of what if this was part of something. I have a nature documentary series that I almost, it was going to happen at PBS.
And then for a number of reasons got shut down, uh, while I was in the Galapagos filming, believe it or not, but it’s called walking softly. And it’s about the concept of animal extinction. And. The idea of something being truly gone and what that means. It’s different when you have a single animal and it dies.
And, but it’s a completely different thing when a whole species goes away. And so this snail I find to be very fascinating because what’s its purpose to humans. And so this, that’s what this film is. I’m so curious how you knew that I even. Made this film. I’ve barely ever talked about it, or at least I’ve not edited the film, but shot the right,
[00:15:09] A.J. Weinzettel: right?No, I, I, you know, the, the, the internet is vast. That’s all I can say.
[00:15:16] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: The internet is fast. I gotta be careful. Yeah. Oh, we’re going to edit that. I mean, I, I am, I have been side eyeing the footage down there for a long time. And, uh, It’s an interesting film, one where I would have directed it in the very nascence of my career.And yet edit it when I have some experience under my belt, it’s going to be interesting to see what that turns out to be. Uh, so yeah,
[00:15:42] A.J. Weinzettel: yeah, incredible. Yeah, no, I, I’m curious to, to, if it comes out and you know, I was just, I was just wanting to, I was wanting to know if that, uh, you know, diving into, into that documentary and snails, if that kind of brought some inspiration to the, the snail caviar for that episode of, uh, sparklers. [00:16:01] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, I, God, maybe, maybe subconsciously, I think I, I like weird food very much. And the idea of snail caviar was one that I had had snail, I had had snail caviar. Maybe a decade ago, um, randomly I was in, I was in Europe filming a travel show, believe it or not, and this was offered as part of a dish and they brought it out as like this separate thing.And they were like, what do you think about this? And it blew me away. I was like eating. I know on sparklers. They didn’t love the taste of it. I disagree. I think it tastes like, uh, you know, to eat something that tastes like wet moss. But has an umami element to it, you know, mushroomy, wet moss, and you would think that those aren’t food characteristics, but paired with the right champagne, the right stuff, I think it really is.
And, uh, I thought it was fascinating. So I really wanted to find a way to put it in something or figure it out. I even thought about making an actual film on how people are breeding snails for their eggs. It’s a really intricate process, very expensive delicacy. And so. You know, fascinating, but it’s interesting that maybe subconsciously for sure.
I don’t know.
[00:17:16] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, I could only imagine the process to get snail caviar. I just, I can’t even, I can’t even get my head around that one at all. [00:17:26] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah. You gotta, you know, you put on some Marvin Gaye, you get the right snails in the right room, you know, have the right lighting. You know, it’s a, I think it’s a pain in the ass.They don’t lay a lot of eggs. Um, these, these snails. I think as far as I understand that the same snails you eat. You know, in a French bistro or something, you know, but, but that being said, uh, getting them to lay their eggs. And I think you have to harvest them really quickly. They have to be harvested immediately.
And so it’s pretty much all farmed. It’s, you know, you’re a crazy person to make this your career pretty much.
[00:18:00] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, that that would be way worse than wine. In my opinion, [00:18:04] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: documentary filmmaking is definitely, definitely, uh, as tough as snail egg farming. I think it’s pretty much the same, same concept. I think.It
[00:18:14] A.J. Weinzettel: could be, it could. Yes. Um, so I, I reached out to, to Matt Kainer and to, to Meg, you know, for a couple questions and Matt was just, he said, uh, so why, why did you move the, the kitchen outside, you know, after at, at the joy for the last couple of episodes? [00:18:35] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: You know, well, we, at the Joy, I mean, we had the kitchen outside, we moved to Sonoma, was when we had the kitchen outside mostly, um, and that really, you know, outside of the, at the Joy, we allowed people to cook outside for the first, what was it, six episodes, I believe, seven.And, uh, a lot of this comes down to just where visually it looks good to film and that’s, that’s interesting because at the joy is beautiful inside nice and quiet. It’s a, it’s a gorgeous property, but the weather was terrible when we were there. It was freezing at night. It was raining a lot. And so we didn’t do a lot outside there when we went to Sonoma.
Uh, we were able to, the weather was great, but the space inside was tough. So the kitchen was more of a staff kitchen. It was not like a kitchen you would use for camera. And so we brought in essentially much to the dismay of our contestants. We brought in these like outdoor grills, which were a pain in the ass in the wind and all this stuff, but they had to deal with it.
Um, but that’s why we went outside just visually because it looked better and it. Felt better. And there was more space because when you do these shows, one thing you don’t see on camera is how frankly dangerous it is for people to be running back and forth with knives in their hands. And you don’t, you can’t tell on camera, but a lot of these spaces are enclosed and, you know, this was a safer environment.
To film outside. I’m sure. I know Matt had a lot of problems with the wind, but Matt did a, Matt did a great job on the show. He was really, really, really stupendous. Um, and he’s a really good cook and he didn’t, he didn’t expect to end up being a cook on the show. And he really rolled with the punches and did a great job on it,
[00:20:16] A.J. Weinzettel: you know?Yeah, no, he, he did. I, I think everybody did a fantastic job.
[00:20:21] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Well, it makes me so happy that you watch the show. It was, uh, I’m very proud ofit.
[00:20:25] A.J. Weinzettel: I was so excited. I was watching it every, every week. [00:20:29] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: No, it’ll be a lot of fun. Yes. [00:20:33] A.J. Weinzettel: Uh, and if there’s something that I can do on, on this end, or if you need any contestants or anything, you know, Hey, reach out, [00:20:38] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: I’ll, I’ll be definitely, we, uh, probably need all the help we can get knowing, knowing the way this stuff goes. [00:20:47] A.J. Weinzettel: Um, the question that Meg had was, uh, you know, the harmony with everyone in the show was absolutely spectacular, but how did you end up convincing everybody to be on the show? [00:21:00] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, I don’t know if that’s, uh, I’m good at that, um, I’m good at getting people to jump out of an airplane and then build the parachute on the way down.I think, you know, Meg was one that, you know, I have to say, like, the show wouldn’t have happened without Meg and, you know, I really wanted Claire in it too. The two of them were, and George, and Matt, I mean, it’s tough. All of them. We’re very handpicked, and it goes back to the way some happened when we did some one.
It was basically like these couple people are studying with each other and ancillary. They’re studying with somebody kind of far away occasionally, and it allowed us to sort of cast the right people in someone. Based on who they were kind of already working with, and we could sort of nudge them to work more with people, whereas with sparklers, I, I wanted a different environment.
I wanted an environment of, you know, competition, but where they support each other. There was a kind of element of like, people were not trying to upend others. People truly liked everybody there. And I know that sounds weird, but I really didn’t want the like animosity that a lot of these These cooking shows have, you know, at the end, a lot of people don’t talk to each other.
Not always, you know, but in some cases it can be contentious afterwards. And so the people were casted and obviously I had no backup plan. So anybody. They weren’t allowed to say no. I just, because what was I going to do if they said no? I mean, George is one of the kindest people in the world. Meg is exactly the same, but she doesn’t take shit from anybody.
Claire is one of the more innovative and think on her feet people I’ve ever met. Mariam Ahmed is very similar, but she is You know, she is a self starter, does not mess around with what her goals are in life. And when you get all of the, and then Kainer of course is, he’s a walking businessman. You know, he really cares deeply about everyone he works with, but he’s trying a lot of things and a lot of times.
And so it was like, if I were to put all these people in a situation who all know each other, who all like each other, um, how good would that be? And so I just didn’t want there to be a back out plan for anybody because honestly it was the middle of COVID. You know, we were sort of in a bubble filming this and I just didn’t want, you know, I just didn’t want to give them an out.
So the answer is I didn’t give a, I didn’t have a backup plan. I had to, they had to say yes or else I wouldn’t have had a show. So, you know, I pushed them into it, you know,
[00:23:26] A.J. Weinzettel: right. So, yeah, no, it’s, it’s very cool. And I, you know, it is amazing, you know, even after, you know, sparklers was done, how the, you know, the whole gang is, you know, they still are, you know, there’s a bond there that’s with [00:23:40] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: them forever.I think so too. Yeah. And that’s, that’s, that’s one of the great things with doing a show like this. I remember press asking us, various press would be like, you know, so tell me about, do they still talk to each other? I would assume they don’t like each other. And I’m like, based on what? And they were like, well, most, most competition shows, you have a lot of animosity coming out.
And I was like, you know, our producers were, you know, me, you know, I was producing it. Live and, you know, there were, you know, Christina is my wife was producing it and Jackson who shot it was producing it and we cared about these people. And so there was not like, not like a normal reality show where you’re writing or working to get people to have problems with each other.
Like we, we didn’t have that for our thing. It was more like. I knew these were competitive people, so that was going to work anyway. You know, they want to win, and they want to be good at what they’re doing, and some of them, there were various levels of cooking ability. Honestly, the fact that they are all still friends, and I know they really are, is truly, like, one of the great things that came out of that first season.
And second season, we’re going to bring in a lot more celebrity aspect. There are some pretty amazing people who have signed on. Joel McHale, uh, has signed on to be a judge, and others. And so You know, we have to work that in, but, you know, finding a cast that can equal what that previous cast was going to be tricky.
We’re going to have to work hard. It’s going to
[00:25:05] A.J. Weinzettel: be very tricky. I mean, when y’all went to the James Beard Awards, I mean, everyone was taking pictures of everybody. Felipe André came over to the table. I mean, it was, it was quite spectacular. [00:25:16] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: It was a lot of fun. It was really special. You know, I mean, unfortunately, some very tiny upstart show called Top Chef beat us, but that’s, uh, but that’s okay.You know, it was, uh, it was very special. And, you know, you look, I look back at that and it’s like, how lucky. It is to be able to do this at all. It’s really amazing.
[00:25:35] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, it is amazing. And when you, um, when you started to do Psalm itself, you were originally, you know, doing a world war one, uh, champagne movie and you’re at the Morton steakhouse and you know, there’s Brian McClintock, you know, and he was, you know, you’re talking to him, you know, he’s doing this master Psalm course and you know, you attended some of the master blind tastings that they were doing.And what grabbed you was not the, the blind tastings and how they’re calling it. It was just like, once you’re done with like the blind tasting, just giving each other all the shit and all the shit talking. That’s what kind of drew you in,
[00:26:18] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: right? Yeah. I mean, that goes back to pumping iron. I mean, the idea that, you know, I think in 2023, it’s like, and even then it was probably inappropriate to have a film about guys acting like guys with each other.It’s like. Immediately, everybody, when you, when you have something like that, there’s an element of like You know, is this okay? It’s not okay. It’s and understandably. I mean, it’s not like I’m, I’m saying that that should be okay. I’m just saying there was an element of like, but what I saw in the way they behaved was the way I had seen in sports when I played sports, what I had seen in, I mean, pumping iron is a perfect example when I saw, you know, you know, Pumping iron, they’re competitive, they sort of support each other, but they also really give each other a lot of shit.
And, you know, I think a lot of young men who grew up with other guys who are their friends, it’s, you sort of show you care by giving each other shit and whether that’s right or wrong, I’m not here to say, but that’s what I grew up with. And those friends are still my best friends now that I grew up with.
And so for me, I kind of come at it from that angle. And I saw a bit of a sports film here. You know, and I saw, like I said, how much I loved pumping iron, I saw that possible template and of course some took years and years and we had no money to make it. It was a whole process, but that being said, it’s, uh, God, it’s crazy that that film did what it did and worked and actually happened.
But yeah, Brian McClintock was the in, but it was Ian Cobble who made the film. You know what it was. I mean, somebody who was willing to get in a warm bathtub and open up their veins to pass the pass exam, similar to how I felt about making my first film. I mean, I would have done anything to do this. So it was great.
You know, to have a subject like that is really rare. I think it’s once every. You know, 5, 10, 20 years, you get somebody who is that dedicated to anything in life, let alone, you know, my film is he would have done that anyway. So it’s one thing to look at the movie and, you know, you think those people exist for the film, but they would have done that anyway.
So it’s really special to have that kind of dedication. I think it is.
[00:28:33] A.J. Weinzettel: And, you know, you’re saying that, you know, to have you. know, something happened and meet somebody to like, really kind of change, you know, the, the course that you were on. I mean, that’s kind of what happened with cup of salvation as well. [00:28:49] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah. To, uh, even more, you know, a bigger degree. Um, I mean, look, cup of salvation is, uh, A very special film. It’s a movie that, uh, I’ve wanted to make for my entire life, you know, when I walked into this, I think there’s this moment. I don’t remember when it happened for sure. It’s not like I stood in front of a mirror and said, I will be a filmmaker, but there was a moment where I was like, I’m going to throw everything I have at this because if you don’t, you will not be a filmmaker.It is literally, you know, in my life and I can only speak of speak to what I’ve done. It’s the hardest. It’s the hardest thing in the world. Nobody wants you to make a film. Nobody wants you to do it. Nobody wants to give you money. Nobody wants to wait as long as it takes to do it right. Nobody wants to give you the spontaneous things that are needed.
You know, um, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s an impossible task if you have a backup plan. So you cannot have any backup plan, but since the beginning Even before Sun. I mean, I’ve loved history. I love, um, I love the idea of how history repeats itself. I love the idea of You know, humans having an ultimate goal of hope, and I really, really, really wanted to make a film like Cup of Salvation well before I ever made a movie.
And so, the opportunity to make this film was, I mean, it’s the greatest opportunity I’ve ever had. I don’t know how the film will do, I don’t know if it’s going to make its money back, you never, this stuff is like, if you go into a film where you’re making a film like this, you will, Fail. If you think about that stuff, it’s impossible.
But with this, I set out to make a film about the origin of wine and religion. And we were accomplishing that. I lobbied the Vatican for a long time. We filmed the secret archives. We filmed in Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, Dominican Republic, Argentina, all these places. And, you know, some of the most beautiful stuff we’ve ever shot, probably the most beautiful stuff we’ve ever shot.
But when I got to Armenia, which was just supposed to be the beginning and the end of this movie, Not the whole movie. It was gonna be just the beginning of the end and I met Vahe Koshgarian I met his daughter Amy and the whole film flipped on its head I mean we we I realized quickly this was a person much like Ian But in a very different vein who was going to do something no matter what anybody told him was possible and on top of that You know, he was faced with truly serious things.
I mean life, you know life affecting things like You know, wars and geopolitics that go back to deep religious fervor and things. And so, yeah, I mean, that’s a long answer to your, to your statement. But yeah, it’s um, Cup of Salvation is something that I will, I will be proud of to my grave that it actually saw the light of day because nobody wanted to see a film.
Or knew they wanted to see a film, but Armenian wine history or Persian wine history, or, you know, geopolitics in wine. And it’s not up to me whether it succeeded or not. It’s up to you and audiences, but yeah, yeah. Long answer.
[00:32:06] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, no, it’s a great answer. I, I can’t even imagine, you know, when, when you were doing your, your first, very first film and bill failure, uh, gave you a check for 3, 000 when you only asked for two, um, that I can never, when you did that.Like the idea of casting or directing a movie and people are actually having to wear a bulletproof vest that that ever even like even went through your head like that. Like, I’ll never do it. I’ll never have to worry about somebody’s safety of that nature. But with this film, there is just so many things going on.
[00:32:52] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, it’s, you know, I think this film, it’s funny, I’ve been living it now for so long that it feels like it’s been going for a long period and most people haven’t seen it yet. I mean, unless you were at a screening. Unless you were in New York or L. A. or in Philadelphia or some place that you could be at that one place for that one night, very few people have seen it.And as we record, I have to make a very difficult decision on how we’re going to release it digitally. Because on one side, we can actually make money. On the other side, a lot of people will see it and those often, those two Venn diagrams, they don’t often overlap and so literally when we’re done recording, I have to make one of the most difficult decisions for this film, but I think when it comes to the nuts and bolts of people’s lives being in danger, you know, the, um, you know, the bulletproof vests and the, uh, what’s the Iranian government going to do?
And all of these little things, They’re why I wanted to be a filmmaker. The fact that we have these conundrums and have to figure it out. It’s the reason, I mean, it’s the reason you want to walk into this because look, what Amy and Vahe were doing and what, you know, Mo Mumtazi over at Maysara and what.
You know, his family is doing, it was already as important as it was before the movie. The movie just gets to show people how important or at least a fraction of kind of how important what they’re doing actually is. And so I, you know, did I expect to do this? Yeah, sure. I mean, I almost died making a film about sea urchin divers, you know, when I was filming underwater, I’ve always been.
Stupid when it comes to putting my body and my life at risk. I just don’t want to put my subjects at risk. And so this was the first film where I’ve been very worried about the people in it. You know, in Psalm one, it’s like, you know, look, if you don’t become a master sommelier. You can get a job in something else.
You’re going to be fine, you know, you might get divorced because you know of the process or something, but like you’re going to live. This film has like repercussions that are much deeper and much more serious. And that’s good film should have that. Uh, I just hope that enough people see it so that it’s justified for what we went through.
[00:35:11] A.J. Weinzettel: We’ll see how that goes. Yeah, I, I’m right there with you. I know that you were when they, uh, you know, were actually in Iran, you were doing, you know, remote directing via WhatsApp. And, you know, there was times where, you know, he didn’t have any reception or anything. I can only imagine what, like what you, what your nerves are doing at that point.I mean, that’s just, that had to been hard,
[00:35:35] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: very scary. Um, you know, I mean, remote directing sounds like a total You know, conundrum of like, how do you remote direct? But to be honest with you, directing, especially a documentary, but anything is, there’s a lot of people on narrative feature films who direct from behind a bunch of screens, the room over, you know, that’s like commonplace for like a Marvel film or something like that.So there’s really no difference. There’s really no difference between that and what I did, except for what I did had, you know, real nervous. Energy for what was going to happen for the people on camera. Now, Vahe is no, Vahe is not like someone who needs my, my worry. He is a strong guy and knows what he’s doing and can speak several languages.
And you know, is a, is a. Much smarter person than I am. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t worry about him and still don’t. And, you know, especially Amy, who I think is a long line of very talented women who get put into a lot of shit because of men who want to do crazy stuff. But Amy is somebody who I think in 10 years, we’ll be talking about her as one of the most talented winemakers in the world, let alone.
In a country that deserves the credit. So yeah, it’s a weird process to go through, but I am still nervous for everybody because the minute I take my guard down and I’m working on other movies is when something weird could happen with this film. You just get the right person with the wrong. Perspective on what it was about and you just don’t know but I will say this the film itself is a very hopeful movie I think that it’s a great father daughter story.
At least I hope it is And you know, yeah, it’s a weird process to go to go through especially the Iran thing If I could have been in Iran, I’d have been there. I mean, there’s not I would stand with a camera in my hand for any film I ever shoot, any shot, anything, but I’d still be in Iran if I had done that.
I’d be probably in jail. So it’s a certain point you gotta weigh your, uh, you gotta weigh that stuff.
[00:37:38] A.J. Weinzettel: Yes. Yes. Yes, you do. Um, you know, you’re talking about, you know, a father daughter story and in, uh, you know, I asked the, the question at the Oregon premiere, you know, of how you made the connection with Mo Mantazi and, um, if you don’t mind, can you kind of retell the story of, you know, when you met with, uh, Mo and his daughter on zoom and you’re like, okay, yeah. [00:38:06] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, for sure. Well, we were, I was looking for somebody who is of Persian descent, who has been, you know, directly impacted by the religious revolution in 79. And there’s really only two major options in wine. Dariusha Napa, who is a wonderful human. I mean, just want to hug him, just saying his name and. The Mumtazis at Maesara in Oregon, but the interesting thing is Darius is very well known in the valley and he was who I expected to go to.But a woman named Laura Brown, who reps Maysara, um, based in Nashville, very, very smart, very talented woman. Um, I was working with her to try to do an episode on SOM TV, a blind tasting sessions. She, she, uh, speaks American sign language and, and is a deaf interpreter and other things like that, as well as being in the wine field.
And I wanted to do a blind tasting sessions because there’s a very prominent, um, deaf Somali in Nashville. And I want to do blind tasting sessions with. Two people speaking sign language instead of I just thought it would be interesting challenging to film Interesting in the way it was communicated.
And so we were talking about that. I still want to do that But during the process of that I happen to mention the film we were doing to her and I don’t know why But she said look, you know, I rep this I rep this winery and they’re Persian and you have to meet Mo they’re the sweetest people, but they’re also really, really, really dedicated to making people understand what they’ve been through.
And so I got on the zoom with Mo and his daughter, Nassim, who I believe is like the president of sales or, and he has three daughters and each one of them do something very interesting. One does events. One does one is the winemaker there. Um. And one is Nassim and so Nassim and him got on the zoom and I was asking them questions and Moe would go to answer and Nassim would cut him off.
And she would do the thing that I think a lot of daughters do with fathers where it’s like, you know, you’re misremembering, let me tell you how it really happened. And it’s like this kind of like daughter explaining, which I find very, very adorable, but also really, really interesting. And to see a woman.
Like the seam who’s so strong and so interesting and so fascinating. And then Moe, who’s this guy who’s seen more life than I will ever in five lifetimes, he’s done more and been through more hell and, you know, got one of the most beautiful families. I was looking at this and I’m like, this guy. And the way he interacts with his children and the way he is patient with them, and I have daughters, they talk to me the same way.
You know, they dad, you’re wrong. Here’s what happened. You didn’t, you know, and to see this kind of mirror was when I realized this is a real, this is a father daughter film. It’s not just a wine film. It’s not a geopolitical thing. It’s a story about daughters who are going to be taking over. And doing a better job at what their father did.
And so, I think it changed the whole movie again for me where I realized really what we were making. And so that’s kind of how Maysara came in, and it helps that they make just an incredible wine. I mean, they make many incredible wines, but their Pinot is fantastic. And, you know, to have the wine in the film live up to how rich the story is, is a rarity, honestly.
I mean, it’s very tough. And so, yeah, that’s kind of how it happened. Yeah, that
[00:41:45] A.J. Weinzettel: I, I absolutely love that, that story. And then, you know, there’s also, [00:41:48] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: I love those guys. They’re, they’re insane. They’re insane in the best way. I mean, I really mean it. Mo is, uh, Mo Mo is, uh, yeah, he’s, he, he probably looks 10 years older because of those daughters, but that’s, uh, that’s, that’s, that’s okay.We’re all there. Yes.
[00:42:07] A.J. Weinzettel: Yes, we are. And there, there’s a quote that Mo says, you know, in the movie that water separates people and wine brings them together. That’s, that was, I mean, that was such a heartfelt moment. [00:42:22] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Yeah, it’s a, it’s a truly interesting thing because one, it’s a catchy phrase, but if you’re somebody who has been expelled from your country or can’t go back or whatever, it has meaning that is so much deeper than just, You know how interesting the statement is for him, you know, that’s a very deep deep statement That means a lot cares a lot of weight frankly, and so yeah, I love that. [00:42:49] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, it’s a great quote You know you talked about having two daughters and trying to manage those Not manage, but you know live with [00:42:57] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: they manage me I think is more More, uh, I wouldn’t trade anything being in a being in a house of all women and myself is definitely the I wouldn’t change a thing It’s uh stuff actually gets done that way [00:43:12] A.J. Weinzettel: Yes, oh You know for me going around to Oregon, you know, I interview a lot of husband and wife teams I bet.And, and I’m sure that, you know, you have seen that as well. And one of the questions that I always like to, to ask is, you know, what do you think the, the secret sauce, you know, is, you know, to working with your significant other and not killing them on a daily basis? It’s
[00:43:38] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: a better question for my wife who probably wants to kill me on a daily basis.Um, Yeah, I, I think that it’s really, really, really important to And I don’t do that. I don’t do a good enough job of this is to reflect on what you’re putting the other through and it’s really important to know sometimes when you’re demanding something of the other and I think it’s mostly comes from me to my wife to realize I put her in the situation.
I am the one who is asking her to do something and she’s not the one asking me and I think it’s really important to know who you’re asking help from instead of thinking that. They deserve to just have to do this for you. And I, and I know in winemaking, it’s very similar. Um, John Adams who did the sound and, and so much more, I mean, on this film and his wife, Meg, they make wine in Oregon.
Wild sound vineyards. And I, and I’ve watched them work together and seeing the way films are made and wine is made. It’s done in a sort of long process. It’s different if you own a convenience store and you work with your wife and one of you is going to be in there at a certain time, and that, that is probably equally as hard.
But it happens, you know, in a measured thing with films and wine. You just, it’s this like, what do they say about combat? It’s 90 percent boredom and 10 percent utter terror. And I think that this is a similar process. You know, when you’re harvesting, when you’re shoot thinning, when you’re, when you’re doing the things that require, you know, you’re dropping fruit and you’re managing the vineyard all yourself or whatever you’re doing.
It requires a patience that you either are born with, you know, or not. And when it comes to your spouse, I look at, this is going to be terrible analogies, but like, if you’re in jail and your spouse comes and visits you, you better be nice to them because they don’t have to come back. And so I look at it when you’re doing something like you’re making wine or you’re making a film, and it’s Every film we make, somebody cares more about it, whether it’s Christina or myself, and it, this can oscillate from different times, but it was always somebody’s idea and whoever’s idea was bears the responsibility of being the more patient one, because when you go through the process of, this was my idea.
You better be nice to the person who is supporting that idea. And I think when it comes to being married to somebody, it’s easy to think this is a job, but it’s not, you know, this is like, you have to look back and go when I was at community college, trying to be a filmmaker and get into film school, I dreamt of being able to do this.
And so when you’re there and you’re under the stress and the pressure of actually doing it. You have to think, it’s not fair to put the pressure on the person who is doing the most to help you realize your goal. And so, you know, I think that the question you asked is a minute by minute, you have to always be re evaluating.
Because. There is no, you don’t get to have the take, take this person for granted thing that you might be able to, if you’re a plumber or work in heating and cooling or something where it’s like, I come home and for just this Tuesday, I just like to have a beer and I’d like to watch my show and I’d like to be left alone.
You don’t really get that when you’re making a film or you’re making wine. It’s a relentless pursuit. And so you have to find the. The calm, which I’m not sure that I ever have, honestly, it’s you, I’m working through it, but I can tell you about my wife who I make films with. And, um, also Jackson Myers, who’s our partner who makes the films with us.
It, they are the reason the film’s good. So I stand up there and I do these Q and A’s, and yes, I was on set for the whole thing, and yes, in a lot of cases, they were my ideas originally, but those two people are the reason the film makes sense, the reason it looks good, the reason that it’s received well is not because of, I had an idea four years ago, it’s because these people put it in implementation, they actually made it work, and in the case of Christina, you know, Her story work is the reason it’s a movie.
So, you know, it’s, it’s how you deal with the stress in between. I don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I, you can tell, you can tell us something that I deal with, you know, it’s,
[00:48:05] A.J. Weinzettel: it’s always. You know, good insight to, to share that information. And that, that’s why I asked. And, you know, you, you, you brought up the, the jail question, you know, and normally I only ask this when both partners are in, you know, in the same room.So, you know, if, if you get a call in the middle, in the middle of the night and it’s Christina saying, Hey, uh, I’m in jail. What crime has she committed?
[00:48:33] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Oh, that’s a good question. Um, well, she’s probably calling someone else ’cause she’s killed me. But the, uh, no, I, what crime has she committed? I dunno, she can’t see very well at night, so maybe she drove into a mailbox.I don’t know. She’s not a, she’s not a, uh, that’s a really good question. Um, you know, I don’t know. I’m a, I’m a big, uh, Cleveland Browns fan. I hope that she, uh. Spray painted over like a Pittsburgh Steelers sign that would be like my, my, my hope for her. I don’t know. She’s not a very crime. Uh, she’s, she’s safer than I am in life.
So I’m not sure, but I’ll tell you right now, I’ll be the first there to bail her out. Um, yeah,
[00:49:17] A.J. Weinzettel: yeah, yes. And, you know, it’s just a great [00:49:19] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: question. I would hope I would hope I, you know, hopefully nothing huge. But also I hope it’s a good story, whatever it is, [00:49:28] A.J. Weinzettel: I’m sure. And, you know, and congratulations a couple of days ago on your 15 year milestone of asking her to be your, uh, to marry you. [00:49:38] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: That’s right. Yeah. It’s, uh, yeah, that went by fast. [00:49:43] A.J. Weinzettel: Yeah, it does. It does. Um, you know, with your two girls, have you given any thought to like legacy? And, and I will tell you the reason that I asked this question is because of Andy Lytle, you know, he has quite a, a play and a set in his mind, you know, everything that he’s doing is, you know, creating the legacy, you know, for.For, you know, for his kids and so it just, it just
[00:50:11] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: gets to make wine. Does he, does he want them to take over the business or have you talked to him about that? Uh, [00:50:17] A.J. Weinzettel: not very specifically, but I mean, uh, I know his older daughter is definitely involved in, uh, Lytle Barnett and Obain, you know, and I, you know, I think [00:50:29] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: it’s, it’s a hope.Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I, I wouldn’t wish, I don’t, I don’t want this to sound pessimistic at all, but I wouldn’t wish my worst enemy to make films. I mean, I’m being very serious. It is excruciatingly difficult. It is not, um, the rewards are not where you think they come from. Um, I feel like this is a profession you have to do because you have to do it.
I would honestly, if my daughter wanted to make films, I would tell her, please, God, do not do it. And maybe that’s just the tough place I’m in right now with trying to figure out how to get projects done, you know, doing some TV, but honestly, Jesus, there’s got to be so many better things that are, um, everyone talks about like recession proof jobs.
You’re like. All right, like heating and cooling, recession proof, you know, this, you could go into this, you could be, do this filmmaking is there’s not a, it’s not even week by week proof. I mean, like, there’s everything that can go wrong will go wrong. And on top of it, nobody, until it works, nobody wants to, nobody wants to help you.
And I don’t mean to say that I haven’t gotten the only reason I’m here is because of all the help I’ve gotten, but I’m more mean, like, it’s not like you go to somebody and say, hey, I want to make a film. Their first response is like. Good. Have fun. I can’t wait to see it. And then, but there’s not like, it’s a very different process.
Now, if you’re built for it, and production is its own thing. If your production is a relentless, wonderful, I couldn’t do anything else. You work 16 hours a day, you have long meals, you I have to come up with a, you know, solutions on your feet that are always like, if you pick the wrong decision, you could be completely ruined.
And, um, we should think that in the time and then you realize later, you know, it’s not that dire, but, but I would, I would certainly tell my daughters, I want you to come up with 50 other jobs. Before you’re going to do this. And of course I’d be eating my own words because this is not how I operated and not how I did it.
And so I think if somebody comes to you and says, I want to be a filmmaker. Oh God. I mean, it’s not, it’s not a legacy business outside of whatever people call like nepotism or something like that. But in the end, filmmaking still is in a lot of ways, like an athlete where you kind of have to do it if you’re not good at it and you’re not.
You don’t have the stomach for it, you know, it’s you might have a door opened and that’s a huge part It might be 75 percent of it, but that 25 percent is hard earned. So I don’t know. I mean, honestly Yeah, I’d be so incredibly proud if one of my daughters wanted to go into filmmaking But I would also try my best to make them understand what it actually is they’re getting into and truly they shouldn’t listen if that’s what they want to do.
They should go, you know, because whatever, as I said before, filmmaking is one of these things that changes every 10 minutes, so whatever they’re going to do is going to be completely different than what I’m doing now. So it’s, uh, they shouldn’t listen to my negativity on that. Yeah, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, that’s, that’s fair.
I’m gonna plant a vineyard. Tell ’em to be a winemaker. Even though that’s a , that’s a harder, that might be a harder profession. I don’t know.
[00:53:59] A.J. Weinzettel: I, uh, anyways, I, I don’t [00:54:00] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: know. Uh, okay. I hope you’re okay with my tangents. I apologize. I was kinda Oh no, it’s, uh. Using you as my therapy board here. It’s kind of nice.I love it.
[00:54:10] A.J. Weinzettel: That’s great. How when are you gonna get Michael Mann on like some TV [00:54:19] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: you’re talking like a dream I would kill to have him on You know, I’m I don’t know that Michael Mann’s a wine drinker, but I I will pursue this right now Immediately. I’m, uh, God, I watched the insider three nights ago. It’s, uh, Michael Mann is, uh, a very good filmmaker and everyone, if anybody from my team is listening to this, they’re going to be laughing so hard that I’m talking about Michael Mann because I always do it in our production meetings.But the, uh, but yeah, let’s get Michael Mann on. I’m in. I think, uh, Chicago guy, he might be more of a beer guy, but we’ll see where we’ll, we’ll see where he’s at. Well, we’ll see if we can get
[00:54:53] A.J. Weinzettel: philippe andre to help or something, you [00:54:55] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: know, that’d be great if it turns out philippe andre I mean, you know, he’s making the ferrari film.You never know. I mean I know it’s coming out. That’s an interesting you may have hit on something there. Yeah
[00:55:07] A.J. Weinzettel: Well, I got some rapid fire questions and then i’ll [00:55:09] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: let you go. Sure Okay, I’m ready. You can tell I’m good at short answers. No, it’s all [00:55:14] A.J. Weinzettel: good. Um, normally I ask this question as favorite artists to listen to during Harvest.But like, when you’re like doing post production or something, another where you can like listen to music. Who do you, who do you have cranking?
[00:55:32] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Well, there’s two, there’s two kinds. One is often when I’m doing post production, I’m trying to find music that I want to temp stuff with. Um, and in that case. You know, Dave Brubeck, probably a jazz musician for sure.Uh, yeah, that’d be the answer for sure. Uh, your favorite indulgent food. I love dumplings so much of any kind, any ethnicity, any place, but Taiwanese dumplings, probably topping the charts. That would be amazing
[00:56:03] A.J. Weinzettel: if you could choose, if you. If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? [00:56:09] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Um, if I could choose a superpower, what would it be?It would probably be, um,
geez, any superpower of all superpowers. It would probably be,
man, I’ll turn water into wine. I suppose I’m going with Jesus’s superpower. There we go.
[00:56:33] A.J. Weinzettel: I like it. . And, and finally, the, the last [00:56:37] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: book you read, the last book I read, does it count if I reread a book? Yeah. Okay. I reread, uh uh, man. This is like a, I reread Blood Meridian by Corman McCarthy. Oh, I just, just finished it a couple nights ago.Um, that was the, that’s that’s a bloodbath. Yeah, it’s, uh, I’ve read it many times, but it’s one of these weird, strange. We could do a whole podcast on plug meridian, but, um, before that I read, uh, Stephen King’s on writing his, his book on book on book on writing and dealing with writing in life. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:57:17] A.J. Weinzettel: That’s, that’s a good book too. Well, yeah. And that’s, that’s all the questions that I have. I really appreciate you taking the time. It’s been [00:57:24] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: fabulous. It’s my pleasure. Thanks for listening to me ramble and thanks everybody for listening to me ramble. [00:57:31] A.J. Weinzettel: Well, I’m very much looking forward to a cup to salvation when it, you know, comes out on digital and, uh, it will be amazing to rewatch again.I’m looking forward to that.
[00:57:41] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: Oh, I can’t wait. We have, we have hours and hours of, it’s not bonus features. These are. Original pieces of content, documentaries that are going to be supplementary stuff that we were not allowed to put in the film, but we can kind of sneak through in different areas. There’s a lot coming, um, from, from all different aspects of that film.You wouldn’t believe it’s the best, it’s the best ancillary content we’ve ever had for a movie. By far.
[00:58:05] A.J. Weinzettel: Wow. Well, I, I can’t wait. I’ve been to some TV subscriber for years and, you know, constantly, constantly seeing what’s new. So I can’t [00:58:13] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: wait. Thank you. Really, really does mean a lot. Seriously. No. [00:58:19] A.J. Weinzettel: Thank [00:58:19] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: you so much.Thank you.
Thank you for joining
[00:58:25] A.J. Weinzettel: me on this flavorful voyage through the world of wine on The Wine Notes Podcast. I’ve been your host and guide, A. J. Weinzettel, and it’s been an absolute pleasure sharing these captivating stories with you. But alas, might the last sip of a fine vintage our time together lusted.Don’t fret, my wine loving friend. The cellar doors of The Wine Notes Podcast will always remain open. Waiting for you to return and explore new conversations, stories, and musings
[00:58:53] Jason Wise from SOMM TV: from the captivating [00:58:54] A.J. Weinzettel: people behind the magical world of wine. Before you go, hit that subscribe button on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, and don’t forget to leave a sparkling five star review to help spread the word.And to our glasses clink again, remember to savor life’s moment and let the spirit of wine and camaraderie linger on your palate. Cheers, and as always, may your wine glass be full, your heart be light, and your journey.
