The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast

Maryse Chevriere's illustrations — a little figure she simply calls "my little dude." He's intentionally universal, someone anyone can see themselves in, though she'll add a ponytail, a bow tie, or a mustache when a drawing calls for it. Forrest zeroes in on a favorite: a "greets you with… but hits you in the face" illustration featuring the character at a microphone under a spotlight, arms up as if shielding himself. Maryse explains the improv-style thinking behind it — "greets you with" is the chill, gentle version of describing a wine's notes, while "hits you in the face" is the version where lemon, lime, and green bell pepper smack you so hard you can't miss it. The whole thing is built around a punchy Sauvignon Blanc (or, in Forrest's Boston translation, a "Savvy B").

Then the practical heart of the episode: who is the book for? Maryse describes it as ideal for newer wine appreciators looking to level up, or anyone who wants a fun, flip-through companion for a glass of wine — originally imagined as a coffee-table book. It's rich with 101-level information, but polished enough that professionals will recognize their own wine-speak and chuckle. Above all, it's a wine book that doesn't feel like a textbook, and a great gift for anyone who loves wine.

Maryse takes the open mic to acknowledge the people behind the book: her mom, aunt, and in-laws (who bought and promoted copies), her publishers who finally saw a vision she'd carried for years, her friends Annie, Jess, and Laura, and especially her husband, who held her together while she wrote and illustrated the book through her pregnancy. There's a warm, funny riff about family members enthusiastically promoting her at local wine shops — her mom being the biggest cheerleader of all — and even getting her book and drawings into a charity silent auction.

She closes with where to find everything: Instagram at Freshcutgardenhose, prints and custom work at fcghstudio.com, and the book at Amazon, local bookshops, and Barnes & Noble — or search "How to Sound Wine Smart" at SimonandSchuster.com for every retailer. A warm, generous send-off to a standout series.

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Every great business has a moment when the founder walks into a stranger's establishment and has to sell the dream from scratch. For Gino Santos, that pitch had three parts: increase your margins, keep your customers coming back, and make your wait staff more money — all with just a beer and wine license.

In this final installment of the Premium Blend series, Forrest gets the full story:

Why Premium Blend launched in plastic bottles — a practical shipping decision when you're self-distributing across Florida with almost no capital

Why plastic has actually become a selling point for bars and restaurants where dropped bottles are a real cost

The three-part sales pitch Gino used to walk cold into venues: higher profit margins, increased customer retention, and bigger tips for waitstaff

How Premium Blend sales presentations work — Henry and Gino would show up with bags of product like they were moving in, letting everyone taste everything

Blind taste tests against actual rum, tequila, and more — and why the cocktails are indistinguishable

Pricing breakdown: roughly $8–$10 per liter depending on state alcohol tax

The philosophy behind the business: owning a company, not just having a job

A moving tribute to their late father, Orestes Santos — the Cuban musician who said "we didn't come here to take, we came here to give" — and what he would think seeing his sons build something that employs people and sustains small businesses across the country

Learn more at premiumblend.com

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The series wraps by going back to the beginning. Maryse Chevriere opens with the closure debate and dismantles an old-school myth: you absolutely can have great wine under a screwcap — some of the world's best Rieslings are sealed that way. She gets the confusion, since screwcaps are also a cheaper closure found on inexpensive bottles, but her position is simple: if the wine is good, she doesn't care how it's sealed. Corkscrews have more flair, sure, and she offers a pro tip on the trickier wax-topped bottles — drive the corkscrew straight in rather than trying to peel all the wax off first.

Then a quiz question with real teaching value: when an expert calls a wine "approachable," they mean it's easy to drink and enjoyable right now — friendly, no curveballs. Not a polite way of saying cheap, though your greatest Barolo, Bordeaux, or Champagne probably isn't "approachable" in the same way. Think Tuesday-night wine rather than Friday date-night bottle.

Maryse also shares the human side: the close-minded customer she'd love to secretly test with a box wine, her genuine modesty about calling herself an illustrator ("I like to draw... it was a hobby"), and the James Beard Award she won in the humor category for the media awards — standing out as an illustrator among writers.

The payoff is the full-circle reveal. Forrest plays a mystery voice, and Maryse immediately identifies Master Sommelier Ian Cauble. It turns out her whole project traces back to him. While studying for her certified sommelier exam and clicking around Instagram, she was struck by how visually evocative — and delightfully silly — wine language can be. Coming to wine a little later herself and not always feeling like she fit in with the somm crowd, she found her own way to contribute. And Ian's iconic line — that a wine tastes like fresh cut garden hose — was so perfect it named the whole thing.

A fitting finale for the Wine-Curious: proof that the most memorable wine language comes from having fun with it.

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In Part 1, Keith laughs through a surprise call to a bed-and-breakfast in his hometown of Caboolture, Australia (where the locals are more sure about the Crocodile Hunter than the future superstar), talks about flying his mum and dad over for the CMAs, and admits the Aussie beers he still misses back in the States. He opens up about the Farmhand drought-relief broadcast beamed to Australia via satellite, his love of Farm Aid and Willie Nelson, and where his best song ideas tend to strike — the shower. Plus a caller phones in about the Somebody Like You video with Niki Taylor. A warm, funny, genuine snapshot of Keith Urban on the rise.

Show notes (timestamped highlights)

The montage intro and the "urban legend" welcome

The surprise call home to Caboolture — and Gloria's Crocodile Hunter mix-up

Bringing mum and dad over for the CMAs

The Aussie beers Keith misses: VB and Coopers (and a shot at Fosters)

Anaheim House of Blues and the Farmhand drought-relief satellite broadcast

Farm Aid, Willie Nelson, and why helping farmers touches everyone

Songwriting in the shower — and the "wet trail to the tape deck"

A caller rings in about the Somebody Like You video with Niki Taylor

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What started as a workaround for the cocktail licensing gap has evolved into something much bigger. Premium Blend's Agave Wine Collection isn't just a tequila substitute anymore — California restaurants are doing bottle service with it, customers are taking shots, and people are drinking it straight because at 48 proof, it's smoother with none of the burn.

In this episode, Gino Santos walks Forrest through:

The philosophy behind product development — Gino won't sell something he doesn't believe in himself

The full Agave Wine Collection lineup: Tequesta and Ginete (blanco-style), Guitarron (reposado-style), Guitarron Classico, Zapotec (mezcal-style), and El Guitarron Cristalino

Why the products are made from 100% blue agave sourced in Jalisco, Mexico — the same region as the world's finest tequilas

The evolution from masking the product in cocktails to serving it straight — and why that shift matters

How "wine snobs" remain a persistent challenge, and why the term "wine-based liquor" is a deliberate positioning decision

What Gino's day actually looks like as president: strategic, legal, and financial vision — thinking about next year, not today

A telling detail: Forrest signed up on the Premium Blend website and had samples at his door within 24 hours

The product has come a long way since the trade show days of convincing skeptics one sip at a time.

Learn more at premiumblend.com

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