SHARE THIS EPISODE ⤴
The over arching theme in this episode is how to be successful in the wine world. For André, it comes down to two things; showing up and working hard.
André has an amazing story of growing up as an Army brat, moving from place to place every few years to being inspired by the show Frazer to start exploring wine. Yes, the pompousness of Frazer and Niles describing wine lit a curiosity about wine in André’s mind. He tells us the stories behind working in restaurants since he was sixteen to being hired on at The French Laundry and helping to open Per Se in New York while being a minority in the high-end NYC restaurant scene.
The wealth of knowledge that André has about wines is phenomenal, but we don’t dive into the wine side so much as we dig into the interworking’s of life, philosophy, and work. How he started Mouton Noir Wines at, what some perceived as, the top of his wine career as a Wine Director in the Thomas Keller Group to having to hustle, balancing achieving his dreams and keeping money in the bank for his family.
I’m so excited that André is our last episode of 2016! For anyone listening at this time of year (or at any point in time ever), it is a perfect time to reflect on what we want out of life and to recalibrate. It’s also a time to plan for the future while working to become the master of our own time, something that André and I dig into as well.
Thank you to André for taking the time to come on the show and share all of his stories with us. Also, most importantly, thank you to you for listening to this podcast. I look forward to bringing you more amazing stories from the people behind wine in 2017.
In this episode we mention…
Mouton Noir Wines
Frazer
’61 Haut Brion
Per Se
Court of Master Sommeliers
The French Laundry
Paul Roberts MS
Café Annie
Chef Thomas Keller
Eater Magazine Article
André living in Lyon
Marcus Samuelsson
André’s YouTube channel
Gary Vaynerchuk
Wine Library
André’s Twitter
Michelin Guide
Guinness
Guinness Book of World Record
André’s culinary coloring book, Small Thyme Cooks
Oregon Pinot Camp
Casamia
Bubbledogs
Get Fraiche Cru
Seth Long
Morgen Long Chardonnay
Get Mouton Noir Wines here. André’s wine t-shirt designs here.
Follow him on social
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
FOLLOW CRU