Show Notes
Jeb Dunnuck's journey to becoming a globally recognized wine critic took an unexpected path, starting in Indiana farmland, where he grew up, then through an early career as an engineer for NASA, working on high-profile projects such as the Kepler Space Telescope.
Along the way though, he fell in love with the wines of the Rhône Valley and putting his engineering skills to work built a website and newsletter called The Rhône Report, focused on wines produced from Rhône grape varieties around the world. Within a few years Jeb earned a lot of attention for his work, including the notice of legendary critic Robert Parker, who invited Jeb to come work with him at The Wine Advocate.
Today, Jeb heads one of the most successful online sources for wine criticism and reporting at JebDunnuck.com. We had a great time getting to know more about Jeb's story and learn his approach to evaluating hundreds of wine each year.
Be sure to check out Jeb's site at JebDunnuck.com and get a glimpse of his work with NASA with the celebrated Kepler's First Light: https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/keplers-first-light/
More from The Taste with Doug Shafer – a Podcast About Wine, Food, and Friends
Todd Ricard's one-of-a-kind journey to Napa Valley winemaking started in rural Ohio and took him through a stint as an Army satellite operator in Japan. He discovered wine while later stationed near Paso Robles. What started as a way to celebrate weekends quickly turned into a vision for a career.
Davie Piña grew up in a long Napa Valley tradition of vineyards and winemaking. He and his brothers ran one of the Valley's first vineyard management companies, helping to drive the enormous changes in Napa's reputation from the 1960s to today. They eventually launched their own family winery, Piña Napa Valley.
Meghan Zobeck grew up in a Colorado cow town, graduated valedictorian of her senior class, studied for a career in medicine, and after college pivoted to a high-energy job with the Denver Broncos, negotiating player contracts — not your average pathway to Napa Valley winemaking.
It's hard to believe that we recently lost Tom Rinaldi. He had a big impact on Napa wine and beyond that was a great friend and a fantastic human being.
Long before Joe Czerwinski reviewed Napa Valley wines for Robert Parker Wine Advocate, he spent two hours a day reading about wine, visiting local wine shops, and making decades-long friendships on first-generation wine forums in the early 2000s.