Last Updated on June 24, 2021 by
Drew Thomas Hendricks 9:23
how did you get your start in the food and beverage industry?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 9:26
Ah, that’s a great question. And I just want to say before I answer that, though, for me, being an entrepreneur is not about money or power. You know, so many people hear the word entrepreneur think, oh, you’re after big businesses and getting rich quick, you know, this sort of thing. It’s not that at all. I can pay my bills at the end of the month, I’m happy. But I also I just feel like entrepreneurship is about solving problems. And I think that’s what what you and I strive to do in the in the wine and spirits industry and every every move we make is how can we solve problems and make things easier for people you You know, and that’s what that’s what we’re all about here is, is coming to the table and finding good solutions. I’ve realized that, you know, being being blind in a sighted world, that’s what I’m doing all the time I’m, I’m solving problems. I’m figuring out ways to be successful in the world and shoot, if we can do the same thing in our entrepreneurial journeys, let’s let’s do it. Why not? Yeah. So that’s, that’s a big part of it. That’s a that’s a lot of fun there and a big a big part of what I what I love doing. And to answer your question about how did I get started in the food and beverage industry? It’s a great question. I grew up in Sonoma County. So born and raised in the town of Petaluma. And I’ve actually boomeranged right back into Petaluma, after doing my undergraduate and graduate work out in Davis, so where I’ve lived, and that sort of thing is really quite you know, Petaluma, Davis back to Petaluma Nexus, it’s not the most exciting of,
oh, wow, you’ve lived in all these different places. But, you know, the way that I got into food and beverage was at a very young age, my God, I didn’t realize I was doing this, but I was developing my palette, you know, smelling things, tasting things, thinking about flavor and aroma and texture and how flavor comes together to form you know, this language that we that we speak, that you know, have a flavor of food or wine, or any any of these things. And my parents would hire me actually to make large pots of soup for them to freeze and take to work as lunches. And I started doing this when I was about eight years old. So I’ve always been really fascinated by flavor, and how things come together to form interesting and quality, quality flavors. And, you know, one thing led to another and, and while in college, and by the way, living in wine country, my parents drink some wine, not a lot of wine, but I was able to able to taste things and kind of, you know, I always had this love for things that are hyper-local, right around me. So, you know, Oh, my gosh, grapes are basically being grown in almost in my backyard, and then, and then harvested and turned into wine, and sold as a premium good all around the world. But that was pretty cool. That was exciting. There’s something here in this industry, for me, I ended up taking because you know, Davis is a is a big wine school, I took a couple of wine appreciation courses at Davis, and a couple of intro to winemaking courses. And it wasn’t my focus at all. But I kind of fell in love with it and thought, you know, that would be really exciting to get an opportunity in the industry sometime. And actually, right, right at the point that I was finishing my undergraduate work and starting my graduate work, I got a call through a friend of a friend, I was introduced to Francis Ford Coppola, his wine team. And they, what Francis wanted was, for me to co-innovate with him a truly blindfolded Wine Experience, though, wine was really tasted in the dark without the distraction of eyesight. I’ve done a little bit of this work in other other areas. So it was just so inspiring to get into, into wine this way. And it was just like, wow, this is this is incredible. This is so much fun. And, you know, I innovated this experience for Coppola, and I assume went out and was was because my laptop is my laboratory as a computational chemist and I had an advisor who is really understanding, you know, I was able to travel with their sales team around the country, kind of as a wine educator and hosting really cool experiences. And we’ve taken the whole tasting in the dark concept sort of to the next level, you know, are working at that’s, that’s what we call it and we’re you know, we’ve taken it to various food and beverage industries and, and markets throughout the world. And we just love it. Because, you know, we find that when you’re not distracted by your eyesight, you’re able to experience so much more of a product and, and tell these amazing stories about product when people are actually paying attention, again, because they’re not fully distracted by by their lack of eyesight. So I love that I love that line of work and that way of thinking and that’s sort of what has dovetailed me into really working as a flavor strategist and helping people figure out okay, this is the status quo, the flavor that you’re, you know, of your product. And you know, this, what are the elements that you love about it that you want to keep? And what are the elements that you want to tweak in order for you to totally appreciate your product and be able to be super successful with it. And we pieced this together with them. So it’s like, let’s understand your product. That’s kind of our perceive, let’s figure out what we love about it and what we can change so that we can totally appreciate it. And then like, like you said, at the beginning, once we appreciate something, then we can be successful with it. So that’s our little motto. And that’s how I kind of my little journey in the food and beverage industry in a nutshell.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 14:33
The amazing that is absolutely amazing what some of it is. You went through this tour with with Coppola and you saw and so many people experienced this tasting in the dark. What was that aha moment that they experienced? I mean, there must have been some stories that came out of that
Dr. Hoby Wedler 14:48
amazing stories that came out of that people literally telling me I never knew I liked wine before. Before I did this. I never knew that I could I could really taste and understand And the different flavor components of wine, you know, people always talk about it. But now that you’ve taken away the distraction of my eyesight I can, I can focus on it. And even like that is what’s so much fun about it. I’ve done these for masters of wine and groups and master sommeliers. And people say, like, the most unique Wine Experience I’ve done, because they have not ever sat down and had the opportunity just to temporarily remove their eyesight, which is, for most people, the dominant sense, you know, for a little more than an hour and an experience something that when when we do the experience with olive oil and vinegar, or coffee, or you name it, that product sort of takes centre stage so that the real to be honest with you, the real advantage for clients and customers is that it really shapes things in a in a unique light for them to understand them. And it presents their products in a way that is compelling and highly unique to their to their customer base. And, you know, one of the takeaways that we got that I thought was so exciting is, Hey, I never realized I like Chardonnay. And now I taste this and I love it. And I’m gonna start buying Chardonnay now from this company, you know, so
Drew Thomas Hendricks 16:12
it’s amazing, there’s just finished, you’re really kind by saying the distraction of eyesight. And when it comes to wine, it might be the biggest prejudice
Dr. Hoby Wedler 16:19
and totally in you don’t have
Drew Thomas Hendricks 16:22
the color of the wine and you immediately have assumptions.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 16:25
There’s a drop-down menu that comes up in your head, okay, this is Pinot color, going to get some cherry cola, I’m going to get some cardamom and I’m going to get some baking spices, and all these things going in your mind. Actually, Tim Atkin, a master wine said the most amazing thing about the experience for him was if he didn’t have the drop-down menu, when he saw a glass of sauvignon blanc and knew that it was sauvignon blanc and then this whole drop-down of characteristic descriptors comes into your mind. Hmm.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 16:50
Yeah, that’s true.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 16:52
You know, and actually trademarking a phrase right now, which is it’s not, it’s not what it looks like. And I started at that from the, from the wine industry, you know, okay, if I, if I showed you a table with 10 glasses lined up with, you know, whites and reds and roses in different shades of white wine and different different, you know, levels of red wine, and, you know, roses of all colors and this sort of thing and said, okay, Drew, tell me about these wines, but but all you can do is look at it, that’s all you can do. You might be able to get somewhere, but there’s no way you’d be able to tell me about any of the intricacies of those wines. And I think the same thing is true for people, man, I think it’s like, we can’t judge someone by just what they look like and where we see them. If we really want to not judge, we need to get to know people and talk to them and understand who they are like we would when we’re getting to know a wine in a class, you know, and that’s, I think, what, what makes a more inclusive world? Absolutely.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 17:48
Yeah, that’s a great point, thinking about looking at 12 wines here. And then maybe assumptions that I would have, right, but you’ve been working in marketing and helping helping wineries and you’ve got a few few projects out there. What are some of the biggest tips right now that you’re giving wineries to help people embrace these other four senses and actually use that to for their brand.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 18:10
You know, it’s really about thinking describing your wine to people in a way that isn’t just sort of your typical, oh, Blackberry on the nose, you know, cacao on on the mid palate finishes with a lot of, you know, really dark fruit, these sorts of have dropped down descriptors that we use to really get playful, and that’s where I had a really good time with, with the folks that I work with is we it’s not about getting playful, it’s about really getting down to business and really understanding the flavor and describing it in ways that other people aren’t describing their flavor. You know, I wrote notes for it for a gentleman a few years back, a wine producer out of Italy, actually called the old bag of Bondo. And we talked about the smell of his white wine, which is a blend of white grapes from around Europe actually, as you know, the flinty aroma that you get, like, like kind of petrichor you hear that word, wet, wet Earth, but it’s like the smell of a dried sandy beach with some seagrass with a wave just washes up, but it hadn’t been moistened for weeks beforehand, you know, it’s really getting in there and describing things in a way that just puts people in a place in their mind. Any other one, I actually represent a company based out of Australia called Tucker Creative, which is a wine and spirits branding and creative studio, creative and marketing studio, again, out of Adelaide, Australia, but I’m the sole representative of theirs currently in the United States market. And one of the things that I love doing with them is, is creating brands where the look matches the feel to the look and feel of the package on the outside matches the flavor that you’re going to get on the inside of the package. So really, not only like I think that we can’t brand anything until we taste it, and we get to know it, you know, and it has a personality behind it. Then we can design the brand based on not the persona of who’s, you know, what’s the ideal person that would be described by this brand? But what is this? What is this wine or spirit telling us, you know, what is who is this, you kind of get to know, whatever it is your branding. So like, I don’t, don’t matter how small or big of a producer you are, you’ll get to know your product as an individual as a as a child of yours, because, for lack of a better word, that’s what it is, you know, and we can, we can get up close and personal and, and really get to know get to know what it is that you know, that we’re talking about, that we’re that we’re working on. I think another suggestion is don’t be afraid to to do things virtually, you know, don’t be afraid to get out there in the digital world and, and do virtual tastings, it’s, it’s not necessarily it’s definitely not the same as having people in your tasting room. Right? Right with you, but it does accommodate, you know, it does get people thinking about your product and excited about it. But the biggest takeaway from from any marketing conversation that people have with me is focus on all the senses, make sure the flavor is right, and make sure you totally know your flavor, and that you’re excited about it. And that you literally can totally 100% appreciate the product in the bottle, because once you appreciate it, it’s gonna make it that much easier to sell. And that much easier to get good scores on from critics. And you know, for something like this is the sort of multisensory branding thing again, right. So like, something that I want to just open up by the side of the pool and drink and, or, you know, take on a picnic and enjoy with friends something, something that’s just like, easy-going easy drinking, there’s where I think a screw cap makes perfect sense. Like, it’s a total advantage. Absolutely. And I’m not trying to diss screw caps by any means. And that’s what I want to say that but like for, for certain models that are like occasion bottles, man, there’s just something about the sound of that cork, that is indescribable. And like you’re saying, he said something super interesting. When a cork comes out at the top of the bottle, you can hear it, and you can hear that, or that the kind of snap that you get when it when it doesn’t really pop out. You know, you can hear whether the cork has been, you know whether the bottle has been aged properly or not. And I can even though it’s really funny for me, because like if I, if I’m sitting in the room with a wine that’s being poured, that’s cork, I can tell you, it’s cork, I can smell that. It’s just such at that TCH smell for me. It’s so like, right there and so, so obvious
Drew Thomas Hendricks 22:32
if you know what I mean. I do I’ve been accused of I’ve got quite a nose for TCH, and it is one of the it’s one of those things that even in the press corps, like I can smell it.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 22:43
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I, you know, I smell it. It’s funny when I smell it in nature all the time. You know, it’s in forest. It’s all over. And it’s no better than the fourth. I think it smells like it’s more meant to be in the forest, or that earthy fungus. Yeah, not it’s definitely not meant to be in wine. But But you know, for me, it’s all about like, I just can’t reiterate enough. How much it’s about making wine. And I know a lot of people say this, but it’s about making wine and experience that people remember that people can live by and any way that you can, you know, I will not i’m not curing cancer, right. That’s what my colleagues who went on further for their PhDs in chemistry are doing, you know, they’re trying to cure cancer. I’m just trying to make life a little more fun. I’m trying to make Tuesday night a celebration, you know, and I love that. And if we can, if we can just have this positive attitude and move forward together attitude. That’s the beauty of this industry, you know, especially in the direct-to-consumer side, it’s like, how can we not be friends we have to we have to get along and know each other, you know, and work with each other and collaborate?
Drew Thomas Hendricks 23:50
Absolutely. Your new business, Hoby’s, you got to tell me
Dr. Hoby Wedler 23:54
Hoby’s, I am so excited. So Hoby’s are products and I was able to build a brand around products and services. And it’s about bringing like like you said in the intro accelerating happiness by enhancing the moments that matter. So our first product line is actually launching at the end of next month. And it’s a lineup of spices and seasonings. Starting out with two skews what is it what we call Hoby’s essential seasoning blend and that’s just your big delicious cumin-y paprika, a little bit of salt a little bit of sweet onion garlic chili powder it’s just really nice for any meat I put it on grilled vegetables all the time I added to chili and you know beans that I’m boiling it’s just it’s essential you know it goes and everything and then the other one is Rosemary salt which is kind of so ecstatic about Rosemary salt because it’s this is really cool blend of of salt of course but but rosemary and other herbs and a little bit of lemon and we really get that sourness from the lemon and garlic and that just that transforms flavor man lifts, it lifts anything like your roasted potatoes, you typically put salt on, nail it with rosemary, salt, and they come to life. Anyway, the point is I’m not trying to talk about the products. But the point is, the products that this company comes out with now might be seasonings, but anything that the rules are anything food and drink related, or anything that makes food and drink better. So I’m designing a wineglass now that’ll be coming out in the next in the next year or so, you’re a few. And, you know, I have a goal of doing a wine brand. You know, I’ve been pinot and chard brands sometime in the next three to five years under Hoby’s as well. You’ve got a vodka and gin brand in the works, that I’m super excited about that, you know, the brand is built now I’m just securing capital for it, we’re gonna be we’re gonna be launching with it, but just ways to ways to accelerate happiness, you know, and then on the services side, kind of already described, but it’s some of our clients. Some of our funnest clients are wineries, and distilleries who just want to understand the flavor of their products better and who want to hand with the How can we know we’re doing fine, but how can we make this even better? That’s really sensory in flavor strategy. And I don’t, not a sensory scientist, I’m a chemist, but I, where I come in is as a support and someone who can really think outside the box and help strategize on what does this taste like? What what is causing the flavor to taste this way? And do we like it? Or do we want to make it even better, and then we kind of figure it out that way. But then Hoby’s also does all sorts of, you know, any sort of experience in the wine industry, whether it be a corporate tasting in the dark, or, you know, marketing or tasting experiences, just in general. Like, I’m all about the experience and just making people happy through one. That’s, that’s my dream. And when I’m doing that, and making my clients happy, man, that’s it just makes my makes it’s good. It’s food for my soul. That’s what I like to say. So that’s what we do with Hoby’s. And it’s it’s just, we’re here for a certain amount of time, man, let’s let’s make the best of it. And let’s enjoy it.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 26:59
Absolutely. That’s how I know you’re a big chef. What I’m a big fan in the kitchen. What have you been cooking lately?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 27:06
Oh, man, what have I been cooking I started got a really cool recipe that I’m that I’m working out for pulled pork I just did that. Did one of those for the family for Easter, and I think we’ve almost nailed it. It’s gonna go up on the website, the Hoby’s website, around the products very soon. So we’re excited about that. And the other thing that I’ve been working on through I know this sounds a little weird, and nerdy. I’ve been working on perfecting the perfectly roasted chicken. That to me, is like if you if you get that right, you know that is that is absolutely like such a delicious dish and such comfort food. And you might laugh because my roasted chicken is so simple, but I’m going to tell you how I do it. You ready?
Drew Thomas Hendricks 27:49
I’m ready. I’m taking notes.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 27:51
So a good quality chicken like the flavor of what you produce is all about the quality of ingredients so you want to buy a good chicken. I use a lot of Rocky chicken. Rosie is good. Those are Petaluma brands right around me Mary’s is also amazing. The first big tip to getting the perfectly roasted chicken is making sure the skin is completely dry. So I literally will open my chicken you know the bag that it comes in and then dry it very thoroughly with a paper towel. Let it sit in the refrigerator for about six hours and I rotate it you know kind of midway through so we get both the back and the breast nice and dry. The air in your fridge is going to be even drier than the air at the ambient air so it works really well for for drying that skin out. And then I literally and this is how stupid simple it is take olive oil, like be generous here like a quarter of a cup you know or as much as you dare and just rub it all over the bird. And then I take my Rosemary salt you know just or any any salt you want. I obviously use use Rosemary salt, rub that and a nice amount you know like a tablespoon of it or two so you get a nice coating of that some fresh cracked black pepper just over the top and rub all that really massage it into the bird inside and out into a 450 degree oven for an hour and 10 minutes pull it out. Let it rest for 10 minutes and that is a delicious skin crispy skin ease you know pork if you cook pork the right way that has the skin on it gets crackly that’s exactly what we get with this chicken. It is such good wine food. Oh my god.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 29:25
Oh man, what would you recommend serving with that?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 29:27
Okay, so that’s a really good question. You know, I’ve been doing a lot of chickens and ducks lately and I’ve been drinking a ton of Pinot with with those so I’m a big fan my good friends small producer But dear dear friends up at Windsor Oaks back. Excuse me up at pardon me up at Dutton Estate do some really there in Sebastopol do some really, really stunning pinot, we’ve been we’ve been exploring lately. So yeah, I don’t know chicken and duck and Pinot Noir work really? Well.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 29:55
That’s some great advice. I love a good Pinot Noir.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 29:57
Yeah, what are some wines you’ve been drinking? Lately,
Drew Thomas Hendricks 30:01
I have also been on a Pinot Noir kick lately we got a bunch of state we belong to a few wine clubs up in Oregon and we just got our Beaux Frères shipment couple hours. Yeah, and I’ve been dipping into those a little early.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 30:12
Oh, that’s awesome. I you know, I love what’s happening in the Willamette Valley with pinot
Drew Thomas Hendricks 30:15
It reminds me a lot of the pinots of France. Yes,
Dr. Hoby Wedler 30:18
me too.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 30:19
It has to definitely has that burgundy quality that it’s I find it hard for Napa and Sonoma to imitate or not, it’s harder to replicate or be similar to I think it’s
Dr. Hoby Wedler 30:29
what I love about but what I love about about Russian River and Sonoma coast pinots is they’re not they’re not attempting to do that. And they’re amazing in their own right.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 30:37
Absolutely. You said
Dr. Hoby Wedler 30:40
from Oregon, and you read Antica Terra No, I haven’t checked them out. That’s an amazing producer. Antica Terra. I’m
Drew Thomas Hendricks 30:46
writing it down.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 30:47
Yeah. I I would butcher it if I tried to spell it but I’ll send you a link.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 30:52
Thanks. Now that sounds good. The other thing I’ve been really enjoying a lot lately is my Tablas Creek. I really like they’re, they’re just regular speed tablets
Dr. Hoby Wedler 31:02
and Tablas Creek, isn’t it?
Drew Thomas Hendricks 31:04
Yeah. Tablas Creek. They’re a Paso Robles producer
Dr. Hoby Wedler 31:07
there. Oh man.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 31:08
They were co-owned by Chateau de Beaucastel. From the French Chateauneuf family. Okay, that I like about them is they don’t like a lot of the passwordless ones which I love, like super high alcohol. Again, they keep it in the game 14% range.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 31:25
That’s amazing. Tablas Creek off to check him out I love I’ve been loving Paschal wines lately. That is a total up and coming region that I think is that I would love to work more and I haven’t done much done much in Paso and I’m just eager to get out there and work with some Paso producers is that’s that’s really cool.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 31:44
Yeah, they’ve got another good one that we like is McPrice. Myers.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 31:48
McPrice Myers,
Drew Thomas Hendricks 31:49
McPrice Myers they really deep rich, like unctuous type of sarong for nosh
Dr. Hoby Wedler 31:56
gone? Yeah, no, it sounds sounds really delicious. I do want to talk a little bit, if you don’t mind, you still have this concept of sensory literacy and how we bring it to the wine industry. Sensory literacy for me is literally about being able to take in information from all five senses, think about it in your mind. And then, and then make some good sense of it and make logical deductions based on that. So, you know, we use our eyesight, this might surprise you for 85 to 90% of the information we obtained from our surroundings, that’s crazy, that’s 85 to 90% of information comes in through one sense, which means we have four additional perfectly good senses that we only use to take in 10 to 15% of the world. And I’m like, okay, that’s fine, but that’s not enough. Like we’re not, we’re not utilizing our other senses as much as we could be, you know, and as someone who’s who’s been blind since birth, like, for me, it’s all about paying attention to the other senses. And, you know, did I have this in a talk that I gave that people can find a line, where I was standing on it on a hilltop or a hillside, you know, big green rolling hillside in Sonoma County, and early spring back several years ago with a group of friends and they were trying to describe the colors to me and, and how it how it looked. And they were not noticing any of the aroma, which is a beautiful sort of symphony of manure and, and redwood and Bay and fresh-cut grass, and the sound of birds chirping in the trees and cows moving off in the distance, and just how the foggy air felt. So I was like on sensory overload with no eyesight at all. And all they were describing to me was the was the visual and when I described to them, you know, what I sort of understood and took in from that place. They were like, well, that’s how did you like we were, we were all busy with the visual, did those things really exist? It’s like, Hey, you know, we, we have to focus on them sometimes. And, and that’s what I think I like to do in the industry is just apply sensory literacy, to properties to wines themselves to, you know, any anything and just really understand them that way and create that, that amazing customer experience that way. So sensory literacy is all about just just paying attention. And you know, people use it as a way to lead calm their minds down to it, I know I do. It’s like, just open up the window or go outside Better yet, smell the air. Just let your guard down, let your shoulders relax and just experience that, that place where you are. And when you’re driving, you just open the windows and smell the air. As you as you move through and just just get that experience, you know, ingrained in your mind. It’s a it’s a very special thing. And I think that when we’re literate in our senses, this is also about like people relations, right? allows us to listen to people rather than just hearing them talk, we listen and we pay attention to what they’re saying. And how not just creates creates a heightened sense of being aware Which I think leads to be more inclusive, you know of people and wine and everything. Absolutely. Yeah.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 35:08
Yeah. It’s fun. It’s so nice. It’s hard to believe 90% of is a for a sighted person is what we take in. And it’s only that 10% that we haven’t even honed. And then that’s that power of smell that can take you back to a place far quicker than sight for me at least. Like if I smell something or taste something, especially with wine, I can remember for years. Yeah,
Dr. Hoby Wedler 35:29
yes. And you remember where you were? You know, it’s funny, because smell is actually. So just a quick discussion of how these senses work, when you look at something that literally your optic nerve is, you know, your retinas taking it in, then it has to go through several 100 million neuron bridges to get from your optic nerve to your cerebral cortex for you to process it. And even when it gets there, your brain has to artificially flip the image over to your brains actually working really hard subconsciously, when you smell or when you look at things, and it takes, it might feel instantaneous, but it takes several milliseconds for your brain to be able to, you know, for your eyes to your eyes to see something and actually, what you’re doing is you’re converting a molecule called transcript now into CES right now, which is a higher energy form of it, your brain is picking up how that’s happening exactly how much and how quickly that reaction is happening. And that’s what delivers the visual information. So it’s actually a really complicated process when we see only smell things but little olfactory bulb, which is just above the bridge in your nose has about 8000 little nerve endings, and they look like little hairs attached to it. And when we smell something that’s basically tapped in that’ll factory robots tap directly into the cerebral cortex of our mind to smells become much more primitive and also much more telling of what we’re experiencing.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 36:56
Very it is that direct, visceral just experience when you smell.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 37:02
Can you tell me about a wine that you smell kind of recently? That was like, yeah, it brought you back?
Drew Thomas Hendricks 37:06
You know, I can, I can, it was actually a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and it had that minerality Yeah, and that. And even though it’s from New Zealand, that minerality just screamed and reminded me of a time when I was in Rioja, I don’t know if there was some white wines in real hot, but I remember the field that I was in, and my mind went right back to it to an aroma smelled in that field in Rioja. With that,
Dr. Hoby Wedler 37:29
I love that so much. Because anywhere I’m sure you were able to like you could see the field and you can see who was with you and
Drew Thomas Hendricks 37:35
everything. Absolutely. And the other thing was I had a sweet wine the other day, and for some reason, sweet wines always smell like a slip and slide. To me. It’s that there’s a little bit of like a wet plastic, wet swimming pool. And it immediately brought me back to my childhood being on a slip inside.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 37:51
Oh my gosh. I love that. That is amazing
Drew Thomas Hendricks 37:52
I mean no no winemaker once said your wine smells like a slip and slide. But for me, it was a very
Dr. Hoby Wedler 38:02
I totally get it. And sometimes that new shower curtain smell is exactly what I’m looking for.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 38:07
Mm hmm. Absolutely.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 38:09
You know, it’s, it’s so rare that I meet someone who can who can talk about these things and just viscerally remember the things that they experience in wine just just by by being an existing I love that. And if we can help other people actually get that sort of appreciation.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 38:28
I think we might make the world a better place.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 38:30
I think so too, man. I think we can do it. I think we’re going to one bottle at a time. I think we’re going to change the world.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 38:35
Let’s do it.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 38:36
And Drew I can’t wait to work with you, man. I can’t wait to do some projects together.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 38:41
Yeah, no, I see a lot of what a lot of ways we can work together.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 38:45
Yeah, go ahead. No, no, go. I just can I ask you like, What? I’m so curious to get to know this about people. What got you into the industry? Like what what was it made? You say? Yeah, why was it just life experience?
Drew Thomas Hendricks 38:59
It was while I graduated with a degree in philosophy and ancient Greek and wound up as a stock boy at a wine store waiting to go get my Ph.D. in philosophy. And then there were all these books there. And I started reading them in the stories in the history of it, and I started tasting wine. it you know, and then suddenly that just, it seems so much more expansive, so much more real and so much more present than everything else that I’d been doing. Yeah, I never I caught the bug and never left.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 39:25
I love it. I just love it. Yeah, man.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 39:28
This is great. Thank you, Hoby. Where can people find you?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 39:32
Oh, man. My website right now is hobywedler.com. That’s hobywedler.com. Anyone can schedule a schedule a chat with me reach out to me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. I’m at Hoby Wedler. I’m also on Clubhouse a lot. So during the food and beverage on Clubhouse, by all means, hit me up. I would love to love to know about you and don’t be strangers. You know, this is to me every part of being successful and being Happy, he’s about mindset and I live in an abundance mindset, I, nobody’s a stranger to me, I’m gonna get to know I don’t care what it is you do want to get to know you and talk to you and, and break bread with you and really, really learn from you because there’s so much that we all have to learn from each other and back to that it’s not what it looks like thing. You know, I just think it’s so important to, to get to know each other and and figure out where we where we mesh and where we jive.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 40:29
That’s fantastic.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 40:30
You mentioned you were going to your want to you might talk about about influences in the walk like people in the wine industry. Oh
Drew Thomas Hendricks 40:36
man. Oh my gosh, Hey, thank you. I always like I’m so bad about. You should have my show notes. Yeah, I always love to talk about it. Was that SEO guy earlier? No, I always like to talk about gratitude. And who are some of the people you admire most right now in the wine industry?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 40:54
I want to mention a couple of people very specifically, sir Corey Beck is the CEO of the family Coppola. And back in 2011, when I started, you know, working on his tasting in the dark with them. Corey just took me under his wing and he has been the most amazing mentor to me. And he’s just such a such a great person such a such a personality in the industry. And just just wants the best for people so Corey Beck is definitely someone I want to I want to give a major shout out to thank you for everything you’ve done. And the other person is, is a woman by the name of Philana Bouvier, who is that was big in the in the in the distributor world that had formerly Young’s now RNDC. And I think she’s, she’s now just just taking a job in a supplier industry. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say about that. So I don’t want to I don’t want to say too much but she just she’s actually a co-founder of a movement called Be the Change and and she and I had a little article in Forbes online about our, our desire and work to make the wine industry more inclusive. And she just, she inspires me and motivates me in all of her amazing work that she does. So I really do. I really do care a lot about her and I want to give her a shout out to for just working to make that make the wine industry the more inclusive and better place every every step of the way. So awesome. People you know, yes, that question. Such a great question. Drew. I could go on man. This industry is full of amazingly awesome people.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 42:20
It really is
Dr. Hoby Wedler 42:22
like yourself.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 42:23
Thank you. Is there anything else we should we need to discuss? Because I think, man, this has been such a great interview. Thank you. So much.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 42:31
I love this. I love this. You know, I just want to give a shout out to Jeremy Weisz for introducing us from from, from Rise25. You know, I’m gonna reach out to him as soon as we’re done. And just say thank you, but a huge shout out to Jeremy for, for bringing bringing us together and, and I know this is just the beginning Drew, and I want to remind everybody, be your best self and be happy doing it. And then life will be good.
Drew Thomas Hendricks 42:56
Thank you so much, Hoby.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 42:58
Drew. It’s an absolute honor. Thank you. And let’s let’s let’s do some work together and make this world a better place. Absolutely. Cheers.
Outro 43:12
Thanks for listening to the Legends Behind the Craft podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.