He’s the man behind some of the most prestigious names in wine, including Bordeaux’s Pichon Baron and Portugal’s Quinta do Noval, and now AXA Millésimes managing director Christian Seely is opening up with host James Molesworth in the newest episode of Wine Spectator‘s Straight Talk podcast.
Seely shares memories of growing up with his wine writer father, the bottle they shared that sparked Seely’s passion, and many more highlights—and insights—from his long and accomplished career in wine.
“People do not drink Château Pichon because they’re trying to get the alcohol content,” Seely tells Molesworth. “There are a lot cheaper ways of doing that. They drink these wines because they love them. And we have to make sure that the wines we are making give people something to discover, so that magical moment really means something.”
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.
Guests have 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 [email protected].
