The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast

Maba Ba — founder of Flying Whale Wine, based in New York; originally from Dakar, Senegal; serial entrepreneur, filmmaker, WNBA enthusiast. 

The Flying Whale name is rooted in the Dogon people of West Africa, whose ancient cosmology centered on the Sirius star system — they believed an amphibian being called the Nommo flew to Earth in a whale-like ship to deliver the first humans

Maba grew up in Dakar — a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic, the westernmost point of Africa — with a lifelong connection to the ocean and whales breaching

His whale philosophy: "They keep trying to get out of the ocean and fall back in — so I gave them wings"

 The wine partnership began in June 2022 at a Miami lunch meeting; by August 2022 he was in Perpignan, south of France, meeting winemaker DJ Rodriguez (flies into Barcelona, drives to meet him)

 Flying Whale Gold (Red) — 2023 vintage Grenache Noir/Syrah blend; inspired by big California Cabs but crafted silkier, rounder, less tannic; meant to be enjoyed slightly chilled or with a meal; soft launched at Aspen Food & Wine, June 2025; fully launched August 2025

 Flying Whale Rosé — Grenache/Syrah; fuller body, dry, strawberry/peach with citrus balance; designed as an "all season" rosé — equally at home by the fireplace or poolside

 Flying Whale White Gold (in development) — a Viognier that drinks like a Chardonnay; floral nose and finish of Viognier + buttery/greasy mouthfeel of Chardonnay; inspiration struck at Miami Vine Expo

 Maba's creative process: ideas come at 4–5am; keeps notebooks everywhere including bedside

 Bottle design philosophy: "striking simplicity" — the medallion/coin aesthetic was designed to feel like a collector's item and a gift

 Writing the tasting notes was harder than the visual design — references the Pascal quote about not having time to write a short letter

 Partnership dynamic: Maba brings a beginner's mind and bigger dreams.

 flyingwhalewine.com

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What you’ll learn: Why Shared Spirits is built as a progressive web app (PWA)

How saving it to your home screen makes it behave like a native app

Why wineries and tasting rooms could use this tech to drive foot traffic

How drink gifting works during wine tours, proposals, and special events

Why digital gifting is now normal thanks to Amazon, Starbucks, DoorDash, and Uber Eats

How Shared Spirits uses digital signage, social media, and marketing partners

How wineries, distributors, and restaurants can reach out and get involved

The revenue model: free for consumers and restaurants, funded by supplier campaigns

How restaurants can deploy drink credits to influencers, ambassadors, and VIP patrons

The surprising stat: one bar customer spent $22,000 in a single year

Key takeaway: Shared Spirits isn’t just a drink‑gifting app — it’s a flexible hospitality tool that can expand into wineries, tasting rooms, and any venue that sells bottles or glasses.

Guest: Sherman Mohr — Co‑founder of Shared Spirits.

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In this Wine Wednesday Back Label Story, we take you to the Caucasus Mountains of the country of Georgia — home to what may be the oldest evidence of wine on earth. Clay jars called qvevri, buried in the ground and stained with 8,000-year-old grape residue, tell the story of a human relationship with wine that predates the pyramids and the Roman Empire.

But the real twist comes from the Greeks and Romans themselves. Despite building entire cultures around wine — complete with gods, poetry, and legendary philosophical drinking parties — they considered drinking wine straight a sign of barbarism. Every symposium, every gathering, every social occasion ran on wine cut with two or three parts water. Drinking it undiluted? That was something the Scythians did. Barbarians. The people you never wanted to be compared to.

So the next time you reach for a glass of water alongside your Cabernet, raise it. You're not being cautious. You're being civilized — exactly the way the ancients intended.

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The Flying Whale rosé is a Grenache/Syrah blend — fuller body than a typical rosé, dry, with strawberry and peach fruit balanced by citrus, finished with that signature silky texture. Maba's word for his entire wine lineup so far: "silky" — it's the through-line he's chasing across every bottle. He rejects the idea of "rosé season" — he designed this wine to work year-round, from poolside in summer to fireside in winter; he calls it the "all season" wine. The third wine (White Gold) is a Viognier — inspiration struck at Miami Vine Expo after Napa tastings had him leaning toward Chardonnay. His goal: a Viognier with the floral nose and finish of a classic Viognier but the buttery, almost greasy mouthfeel of a Chardonnay — a challenge his winemaker partner initially resisted. 

The partnership dynamic: Maba brings a beginner's mind and bigger dreams; his French-trained winemaker partner DJ brings deep Old World tradition — the tension is productive and fun

 Maba notes that long experience can sometimes mean thinking inside a very rich box — his outside perspective is what keeps the collaboration exciting.

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What you’ll learn:

How Nashville’s bachelorette scene inspired the “Party Pack” model

Why Shared Spirits struggled pre‑COVID — and why everything changed afterward

How QR codes, Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats trained customers for mobile transactions

Why people now trust text‑based drink gifting

How the app notifies recipients, customizes messages, and handles number masking

Why mobile‑first behavior made “buying someone a drink” digitally feel normal

How the backend logistics evolved to support campaigns, gifting, and redemption

Key takeaway: COVID didn’t just change restaurants — it changed customer behavior, paving the way for Shared Spirits to thrive.

Guest: Sherman Mohr — Co‑founder of Shared Spirits.

@thebestwinepod
Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network:
Wine Podcast
Music Podcast
Travel Podcast

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.