A Toast To The Vine

Salvador Dalí once said, "A real connoisseur does not drink wine but tastes of its secrets." On this week's show, we sit down with wine experts and wine vintners to unlock those secrets and better understand the world of fermented grapes. And a bonus – they're all female! We begin with sommelier Kat Kyathfield. Along with her wife and partner Amber Allison, Kat runs Hooligan Juice Club, an underground wine club and pop-up series in New Orleans where members receive a bottle each month. All the wines are sustainably grown, independently made and hand-picked by Kat herself. Then, we speak with Braithe Gill, Corporate Beverage Director for the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group. Braithe was recently named a James Beard 2026 semifinalist for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service. Braithe talks about her role in rebuilding Brennan's celebrated cellar, which resulted in restaurant reclaiming the prestigious Wine Spectator Grand Award. Finally, we celebrate 40 years of the American Harvest Workshop, an annual confab hosted by iconic winery Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley. We bring you two highlights from our 2014 experience there: the day we spent hand-harvesting grapes and an oral history from Dolores Cakebread, one of the matriarchs of California's modern wine industry. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.