The Restaurant Guys' Regulars
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The Restaurant Guys is one of the original food and wine podcasts, launched in 2005 by restaurateurs Mark Pascal and Francis Schott.
With roots as a daily radio show, the podcast features in-depth conversations with chefs, bartenders, winemakers, authors, and hospitality professionals—offering the inside track on food, cocktails, wine, and restaurant culture.
New episodes and vintage conversations because the best stories, like the best bottles, age well. Expect insightful, opinionated, and entertaining conversations about food, wine, and the finer things in life.
Contact: TheGuys@RestaurantGuysPodcast.com
The Restaurant Guys' Regulars
How Do We Get a New Generation Into Wine? | Tony Margiotta
This episode is only available to subscribers.
The Restaurant Guys' Regulars
Exclusive access to bonus episodes!Why This Episode Matters
- Why wine may not be losing younger drinkers so much as failing to introduce itself to them well
- How small, independent producers can offer something industrial wine cannot: place, history and story
- Why wine education works better through tasting, comparison and discovery than scores and intimidation
- How restaurants, retailers and wine lovers can make wine more approachable to people just beginning to explore it
Banter
Francis returns from the Russian River Valley with a deeper appreciation for Pinot Noir and plenty to say about what he learned. The Guys talk about how tasting wines side by side reveals the differences between vineyards, soils and winemaking choices, why visiting wine country can teach you what books can not and the considerable injustice of Francis losing a toga contest to a baby.
The Conversation
Tony Margiotta, founder of Gladiator Wine Distribution, joins Mark and Francis to talk about wine as culture, place and connection not just what's in the glass.
Tony traces his path from Italian-American family dinners and summers in Molise to discovering small Italian producers whose wines rarely made it to the U.S. That curiosity eventually became Gladiator Wines and a mission to tell the stories behind independent producers.
The conversation then turns to Tony's book Wine in Your 20s and the challenge of bringing a new generation into wine. Tony argues that wine hasn't necessarily lost younger drinkers: it hasn't introduced itself to them well. He and The Guys explore how approachable wines, tastings, good storytelling and less intimidation can help new drinkers discover wine on their own terms.
Guest Bio
Tony Margiotta is the founder of Gladiator Wine Distribution, specializing in independent Italian wine producers with a strong connection to place, culture and tradition. He is also the creator of Gladiator Wine TV and the author of Hidden Gems of Italy and Wine in Your 20s.
Timestamps
00:00 — Russian River Pinot Noir, side-by-side tasting and learning wine through experience
05:00 — Francis buys a real toga—and loses the contest to a baby
09:00 — Tony Margiotta and the philosophy behind Gladiator Wines
11:30 — Growing up with wine, Italian-American family dinners and Molise
17:00 — Why wine seems to taste better in Italy
20:30 — Discovering Italy's small producers and creating Gladiator Wines
22:00 — “Real wine tastes like a place”: story, context and terroir
28:00 — Learning to love wine in your 20s
32:00 — Why younger generations aren't connecting with wine
40:30 — How to introduce new drinkers: approachable wines, tastings and low-risk discovery
44:00 — Backyard vineyards, homemade wine and keeping traditions alive
Info
Tony Margiotta / Gladiator Wine Distribution
Gladiator Wine TV https://www.youtube.com/@GladiatorWineTV
Wine in Your 20s
Hidden Gems of Italy
Stage Left Wine Shop
stageleftwineshop.com
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Our Places
Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/
Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/
Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/
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