Straight Talk Episode 22: James Hall on Buying Back Patz & Hall

Patz & Hall co-founder James Hall is still pinching himself: After selling the iconic California Chardonnay brand in 2016, Hall was able to buy it back earlier this year. He tells us how he did it, and then takes us all the way back to landing his first winery gig in Napa … by pretending he could speak Italian?!

Straight Talk host James Molesworth also welcomes Wine Spectator senior editors MaryAnn Worobiec and Mitch Frank to the newest episode. Dr. Vinny explains malolactic fermentation, James and Mitch take a hard look at the 2023 Bordeaux futures campaign, and much more, all in the newest episode of Wine Spectator‘s Straight Talk podcast.

Now available on Apple, Google, Spotify and more, including at WineSpectator.com/podcast, Straight Talk debuted in October 2022 and has attracted some of the wine industry’s biggest stars for honest, probing, revelatory and sometimes hilarious conversations.

Season 1 guests included winemakers Aubert de Villaine, Tim Mondavi, Tony Soter, Mark Aubert, Helen Keplinger, Thomas Rivers Brown, Greg Brewer and many more, as well as chefs Thomas Keller and Marcus Samuelsson, NBA Hall of Famer and winery investor Tony Parker and film, TV and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc star Sarah Jessica Parker.

“The Straight Talk podcast is a must-listen for anyone in the wine industry, and gives consumers a personal connection with our expert staff of tasters that no other format—or podcast—can offer,” said Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken, who himself made several guest appearances in Straight Talk‘s first season.

Wine Spectator‘s Straight Talk podcast is available for free on all major podcasting platforms, as well as at WineSpectator.com/podcast, and listeners can email their questions and comments to StraightTalk@WineSpectator.com.