This is the full transcript for Episode #272 of the Wild Business Growth Podcast featuring Haley Moore – Sommelier Entrepreneur, Founder of Acquire. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.
Haley Moore 0:00
If you feel like drinking something on a Tuesday, pull the cork do it. Enjoy
Max Branstetter 0:21
Hey-ley Moore. Welcome back to the Wild Business Growth Podcast. This is your place to hear from a new entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning who’s turning Wild ideas into Wild growth. I’m your host, Max Branstetter, Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting. And you can email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast. This is Episode 272, which backwards is 272. And today’s guest is Haley Moore. Haley is the founder of Acquire or Acquire Wine, the hospitality company that is creating connections through food and wine experiences through virtual events, corporate gifting and person events as well. And Haley previously served as a sommelier, which I’m not pronouncing correctly ever, at some of the top restaurants in San Francisco, including the Michelin starred Spruce, her work has been featured in Forbes, Food and Wine, Wine Enthusiast, Wine and Spirits, and Wine Spectator. And in this episode, we’re talking all things wine, all things going from somm for short to entrepreneur. And Haley’s best records and everything from grapes, to skiing and work-life balance. It is Haley Moore, enjoy Moore of the show.
All right, already. We are here with Hayley Moore, founder of acquire who has just acquired now sorry, I couldn’t resist but really, really cool company in the wine and food and wine and event space, and probably one of the most knowledgeable people about wine that you’ll ever hear from. Haley, thank you so much for joining How you doing today?
Haley Moore 2:10
Thanks. I’m great. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be here. Of course,
Max Branstetter 2:14
of course. And I’m just reading this because I hate wine. I hate all things alcohol, like I really don’t like fun at all. So we can sign off. No, but been very much looking forward to this conversation. And we’re gonna get all things acquire and in the whitespace. And on that note, I’m curious, just in general, when I say the word wine, not that you’ve ever heard it before. What does that bring to mind for you?
Haley Moore 2:39
Yeah, I mean, you know, wine is a really interesting thing for me, because I think it’s something that’s been in my life my whole life. I’m an only child, which means a lot of things to a lot of people. You know, for me, it basically just meant that I was drugged along to a lot of adult activities. And I grew up about 45 minutes from Napa. So my parents spent a lot of time you know, taking me to wineries, which doesn’t seem like a great place for kids. But I always tell people bring your children to wineries, there’s fruit to be picked, there is always at least one cat like, there’s vineyards to get lost in. That was my childhood kind of in a nutshell. So wine is something that’s always been around, it was never like, this taboo thing, or this thing that was out of reach, it was always on the table. And so I would say if you asked me 10 years ago, you know, like what wine meant to me it would be I loved being a sommelier and getting to taste amazing things. And now I would say it’s much more of a connector of people. I think we use wine today as a tool to sort of help people relax into a space and be ripe for connection. And so, so yeah, wine is a connecting force. It is history, its culture, its geography, its climate, all wrapped in one. And sure it’s an alcoholic beverage, too. But that’s sort of that comes after all of those other things for me.
Max Branstetter 3:51
And we have to stop right there. Because you said it was something that was always on the table. And I think he meant it figuratively, but literally always on the table around you as well. And now that just sounds like a beautiful upbringing. I’m all for it. I mean, you know, it’s the same thing in like, the brewery world. It’s like you go to breweries, and you see people bring their families and like kids there. And I think one if you’re an adult, if you’re a parent that saves you a babysitter, but there’s something really fun and inspiring about those environments. Whether you’re the one doing the drinking or not. And I think with wine, there’s some sort of aspect of that like, connection and family that you hinted that that’s just so strong, like so many winemakers have such a great heritage and it’s such a fun, like passionate space to be in. And you mentioned that you spent many years as a Psalm and I’m gonna say some because if I say the full word I’m gonna say it wrong. On the note what is the official pronunciation because I will butcher this the entire time I
Haley Moore 4:52
will Yeah, I know the French make it difficult right? We always say like with French you just ignore most of the letters and with Italian you over pronounce all That’s That’s my only guess. But every time I tried to speak French, the French can understand me. So it’s it’s a lost cause. So
Max Branstetter 5:07
some more sommelier
Haley Moore 5:10
sommelier,
Max Branstetter 5:12
Somm, Okay, so um, so So anyway, so So what was your I mean, you worked at some of the top restaurants in San Francisco and you know, in charge of making recommendations and making additions to their, you know, top wine lists. What What was the most impactful experience you had, from that phase of your life when you were like solely working in restaurants?
Haley Moore 5:34
It’s really interesting, because I just started writing recently, and I’ve been writing about the sort of like generous cast of characters that really built my story and restaurants. And I think the thing that I’m so grateful for from that time is just how many people I came in contact with, whether they were other restaurant professionals, regulars at the restaurant, winemakers, I mean, you name it, chefs, right? Like, just the people that I’ve had contact with that have sort of left this lasting impression. And of course, the wine and the food is always like the conduit for connection. I think today with a choir, that’s still what we do is we utilize, you know, the food and the wine as the tools to connect people. But that’s really what it’s been for me since the very beginning. You know, I am this strange breed of person that, um, you know, my mom’s from, like, rural Louisiana. And, you know, it was always about food. And like, every time I was in the south, like, people would just, you know, these old Southern women would like, just try to, like, put meat on my bones, you know, and it was just like, that was the way that they showed love. And like, so for me, you know, in restaurants, the way that I showed love was through using food and wine to create experiences. And so like, I felt like I was orchestrating the dining room every night where it was just like, Okay, what are we celebrating? You know, people come to restaurants to gather and to connect with each other and to celebrate milestones and to, you know, do business deals. I mean, you name it, like, restaurants were the cornerstone for so much beauty. And so for me, I think it was really about, like, how do I orchestrate that? And how do I sort of create long lasting impressions that people will remember? It was the best time for that. And then yeah, just I mean, there’s I’ve had so many incredible folks that like, from famous people to, you know, people that have just completely imprinted on my life mentors that have sort of helped me to, you know, see wine as, as the tool and as the path for me to take. So it’s, I’ve been pretty lucky in that regard. You don’t
Max Branstetter 7:28
have to go full blown, like half our story, but what’s a quick, famous person sighting that you’ve touched with your one? Oh,
Haley Moore 7:36
my gosh, well, you know, it’s funny, I, I just was thinking about this gentleman who was a regular of mine at Bakar, who Bakar was my first lonely position. I was 24 Jim Marshall, and he made that may be a special name to you might not but he was a really famous photographer. So he’s responsible for the photo of, you know, Johnny Cash flipping the bird at Folsom Prison. He’s responsible for the photo of like Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire, like, every famous photo you can think of practically from the 60s and 70s are his and so he’s like
Max Branstetter 8:06
the, the Forrest Gump of photographer like he was in every famous moment.
Haley Moore 8:09
He was literally everywhere at the same time. It’s like, unbelievable, but he had some stories, you know, and him and I became friends. And I went to his house one day in the Castro in San Francisco and sat on his floor and just flipped through hundreds of photos. And he just told me stories about the people in them, right. And like, Who are these people, and obviously, I’m looking at Coltrane and Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. And he’s like, telling me about who they are not how they presented themselves to the world. And it was just like, I’ll never forget that day he gave me he sold me three photos at cost, which is like, you know, nothing, and they’re literally still to this day, three of my most treasured possessions because he was just, you know, such a good person, but also just had the ability to like, capture humanity and people, you know, it was pretty, it was pretty profound. So but yeah, Michelle Pfeiffer Jerry Rice, I mean, Joe Montana. I know I’m probably supposed to say all those guys, those they’re all lovely people. By the way. That
Max Branstetter 9:04
was the script that I sent you in advance. Not
Haley Moore 9:06
great and drink well.
Max Branstetter 9:11
arguably more important. Since you acquired some very famous photographs, let’s get to acquired and I promise that’s the last part now I can’t I can never promise that but acquire so your wine company your you know, whether you call it a wine company, or hospitality company or whatever you want to call it. It’s really really cool what you’re doing and you’re somebody that, you know, grew up with wine became a some awesome experience in the restaurant. What was it that got you thinking? We can do some really cool things with wine and food outside of restaurants.
Haley Moore 9:48
The path to entrepreneurship as a sommelier is pretty limited. I think my you know, I always knew I wanted to work in restaurants. I got my first restaurant job when I was 15. I got a hospitality degree, which is basically a business degree I went to culinary school I worked in kitchens, you know, I, I took the long road, if you will, to what I always thought would be opening a restaurant. But I think the further I got along in my trajectory, the more I realized that a brick and mortar is a very challenging equation, especially when it comes to like running a business in a big city like San Francisco where God bless love San Francisco love with all of my heart, but it is a very challenging place for small business, especially for restaurants, and especially today. And so I think for me, I was thinking more about like, you know, how do I build something with the absence of brick and mortar, right? Because as a sommelier, what can you do, you can open a restaurant, you can open really beautiful retail shop, which thankfully, a lot of people that I respect and admire in this business are doing that you can have an online, you know, wine club type subscription, which removes brick and mortar. But, you know, the first thing I did acquire was started in 2013, as a seller management company, so we helped collectors curate really beautiful wine cellars. And for me, it was a little bit it was a side hustle, I did it on the weekends when I was still running five restaurant beverage programs in San Francisco before I had kids, so I needed something to do on the weekends. And I wanted to stay in like the fine wine game, which was beautiful. And then I actually sort of realized that there was a call for like, basically being a fractional beverage director. So since founding acquire, I’ve hired a fractional cmo in the past when I was trying to learn about marketing, right, so someone who gives you part of their time, you don’t pay them a full CMOS salary, but they’re giving you some some of that time and energy and knowledge. And so I was trying to apply that to restaurants. So in January of 2020, I had, like, 15 restaurants that I was going to be running remotely, which meant I would be able to do that from the comfort of my own home. But you know, managing remotely running the programs, and then educating the staff and such, obviously, you know, I don’t need to tell you what happened in March of 2020. We got that fateful phone call and all the restaurants closed. And so, you know, I jumped into the virtual space with acquire doing virtual wine events, really, as a byproduct of, you know, knowing that this this thing was going to last, this pandemic was going to last longer than two weeks, you know, our, we left the restaurants in March of 2020. And like all of our jackets, were still in the back of the chairs, like I mean, everything was still in place. Like we were coming back in two weeks. And like, I had this gut feeling that that wasn’t going to happen. So I started doing virtual wine events as really an answer to trying to connect people at a time of full isolation. And I think, yes, we were just meeting people online, we were sending them packages of wine and cheese and charcuterie, and talking about wine, but it was to me, it was so much more than that, because we were connecting people that were otherwise alone. And because I got busy enough, I was eventually able to hire a restaurant people that were out of work to help us ship packages and track packages and communicate with guests. And so, you know, the why for acquired during 2020 2021 was much bigger than just let’s get on online and talk about Chardonnay for an hour.
Max Branstetter 13:06
Which actually sounds great. I mean, it’s fun. I
Haley Moore 13:10
feel like I made up my job very often, you know?
Max Branstetter 13:14
Right? Yeah. You it’s a beautiful thing when you stumble into your dream job because you created it yourself. Yeah, just absolutely crazy times, obviously, you were really ahead of the curve with the whole virtual and like creating connection at home thing. So that’s a terrible gut feeling you had that you mentioned, but an accurate, terrible gut feeling. These days? What are the most types? What are the most types? What are the most types of events? What’s the most common type of event that you do with acquire these days,
Haley Moore 13:46
there’s really four main areas for acquire virtual events is still huge for us. You know, we’ve shifted the model, I think, gone are the days of like these social wine tastings where people we do I should not digress, I should say that, you know, we do do internal events where we are doing happy hours, which are much more social, but our main goal is to really provide value for our clients so that we can, you know, make their goals, our goals. So I have a virtual event later on today, for 55 people, we have a thought leader from the company who’s presenting market research, the wine is acting as a supporting element to his story and to what he has to say. And so we utilize the wine to sort of help people to relax into the space and be ready to receive his message. But above that we have you know, follow up video that we send so that they can continue to engage with these folks, because these are mostly clients and prospects. So we’re really trying to help our clients, you know, convert prospects into customers. And so you know, we’ve done that in restaurants our whole lives. And so my thought right and call me crazy is that you can do it on Zoom, right? We can do this on zoom in the comfort of our own homes really efficiently and in a really beautiful high touch way. We also send gifts so we do client gifting because we can send wine to all All 50 states, and during our virtual events, even we’ll take notes on people. So if you know Joe Smith says he was married at Silver oak in 1997, maybe that sales rep wants to send Joe a bottle of 9797, silver oak, as a, you know, follow up gift to sort of keep the conversation going. And again, trying to send things that are personalized, like we want our gifts like hospitality to make people feel something, it shouldn’t just be, here’s a bottle of wine, it should have some significance and personalizing is the way that we do that we do chef driven experiences as well, which is definitely more of a passion project. You know, we’re not looking to be a full scale caterer we do. We work with some of the best chefs and sommeliers in the world. And we do these really high level multicourse experiences at people’s private homes or event spaces, which has been really, you know, again, a lovely way for us, I love being in service, I love being in person creating experiences. And then sort of the final bucket is these sort of corporate events. So we have, a lot of our clients use this in conjunction with conferences as a way to sort of draw key decision makers out of the conference and to one of our wine events, you know, obviously, you’re setting the tone for that connection in a way that I think is just, rather than having a big happy hour with a lot of people at a convention, right, we have a more calm and like a nicer environment for people to actually network, which is why people go to conferences in the first place. And then a lot of our folks are using us as sort of a extension of their marketing and events, teams. And so we’re helping them to liaise with restaurants across the country, because our network of sommeliers and chefs runs really deep. That’s one of the beautiful things about the food and wine world is that, once you’ve been in this business for, you know, a few minutes, and you’ve worked some of these beautiful food and wine events, you have connections everywhere. So we’ll liaise with local restaurants in basically every major city in the US to create experiences that wouldn’t be available otherwise. And then we either fly there to host those events ourselves, or we have someone on site within those cities to be able to be an extension of our team to make sure that the event is you know, executed flawlessly, and at the highest level. So we do a lot of things. But you know, it’s fun, because it keeps us, keeps us engaged keeps us fresh. And I think at the end of the day, like I’ve spent my life being in service to others. That’s like, that’s what it is. It’s always like, How can I help? What can we do? You know, and saying yes, to the things that matters has been really rewarding, for sure.
Max Branstetter 17:25
A shout out my friend and college roommate Tyreke, who used to say, when we were coming back from the groceries, and you know, you have like eight bags of groceries in your hands, he used it, pardon my language, but he used to say, sometimes he just got an octopus, that motherfucker. And that’s what you’re doing with your business, you have so many different tentacles to your business. And I think it is obviously come about and like a really natural way of, of like, well, we can help people in this way. Or like, oh, wait, here’s a whole separate, you know, line of business that we have, or ways that we can help big corporations, or here’s how we can help, you know, like small business owners. So it’s very versatile. And it goes back to your, your mantra that you know, wind connects people. Yes. How do you navigate that? Like that? So if you’re thinking of the octopus analogy, how do you keep it organized in focus. So it’s like you’re very clear on like, these are the type of clients we work with, like the here’s how we divide our time. Like, it sounds like a lot of fun, but also like a ton of organization involved.
Haley Moore 18:29
For better or worse, I may have like undiagnosed adult ADHD. So I love to have my hands on a lot of different things. And I like, like an octopus, I’m sorry, like, and I’m one of those people that has like 400 tabs open at all times, I always have a million projects going at once. And that’s just like how my mind works. I’m not a linear thinker, I don’t like complete a task and move on to the next one. So for better or worse, but I think, you know, we like to be like an extension of our clients teams. And I think because we have this sort of like Michelin restaurant lineage, like, there’s an attention to detail and that we have and that I you know, especially like some of the folks on my team are just so incredibly detail oriented. And and we’re looking to create those like beautiful wow moments for others so that we can help like, elevate people’s brands, make them be remembered. And so I think like that to us, like that’s the most important thing. So, so for us, I’m there people are coming to us and asking for this or that or like, Hey, we’re stretched, then I need, I need help executing this, you know, six city conference for these dinners that are happening. And it’s like, Absolutely, that’s our wheelhouse. We speak restaurant. We love to be able to sort of create beautiful moments for others. And so it all just sort of fits within the bucket. Keeping all the balls in the air is definitely the fun part for me, and it keeps me engaged. I think. If I didn’t have many different facets to my business, I would probably be bored and boredom is not it’s not a good look for me. Yeah,
Max Branstetter 19:57
exactly. You might end up drinking wine then What has been the biggest challenge that you’ve had? As a some turned like full time entrepreneur now,
Haley Moore 20:08
anyone who’s starting a business, I think it’s really easy to sort of be in this like scarcity mindset where you say yes to everything. And it’s like, I’ll take this, I’ll take that. And it’s like your, I think I was. So in the beginning, like, I was really in this space where I was like, oh, I want to grow this to a $5 million company in five years and a $10 million company in 10 years. And then I, you know, I do a lot of yoga, I started doing more like spiritual work. And I started going, like, Wait, who is that for? Because like, I live a pretty simple life. Like, I like to be in nature, I like to go skiing, like, I don’t really need all that. And so then it’s like, I think as I started to think more about the business, it was really like, being able to say yes to the things that really matter, and that have a big impact on other people. And then making sure that you’re not you’re more like an abundance mindset, where you’re not just grasping at straws, you’re not saying yes to every little thing and running yourself ragged. And I think, you know, the biggest growth opportunity for me that was a huge struggle in the beginning was learning how to like, look at my life as a whole picture and say, like, Okay, that’s all great. Having a five $10 million company, whatever the number is, you know, enter, fill in the blank, right? That’s lovely. But like, then what does my life look like, you know, I have two kids, they’re five and seven, two boys. They’re crazy. But they’re awesome. Like, I want to raise my own kids, I want to, I live by the Redwoods in Northern California, like, I was there this morning hiking, like, I want to get lost in the forest, like, five to six days a week, like, I want to ski every other week, if I can, like, you know, I mean, there’s these things are important to me. And I think like, that is the biggest opportunity where you say, Okay, how do I add value to other people’s lives, without stealing from the things that are important to me, ie, whatever it is, fill in the blank, I mean, for me, my kids, right, like, and so yeah, I think learning how to have that mindset of like, it’s all going to come, you know, and, you know, it’s not like sand slipping through your fingers. It’s like, just let it be what it is, and, and let it take its natural trajectory, be disciplined, be focused, but continue to like, to sort of allow yourself to grow in a natural way.
Max Branstetter 22:16
And natural, you couldn’t have picked a better word. Because redwoods, you know, skiing out there in the mountains. Like I think that sense of freedom and like ability to choose your own hours and take time to enjoy yourself outside. Like, I think that’s something that so many entrepreneurs think about when they are starting a business of like, look like I want to be able to take vacations with my family, or like I want to go out and do outdoor yoga, or, you know, chill out in the, in the redwoods, or you know, it’s a little far from where I live right now. But typically, I think that that sense of freedom is is just awesome. And it’s, it’s really nice and inspiring to hear that like, yes, like, of course you want to, like, achieve financial goals, of course, you want to do well from like a traditional business sense. But also, like, at some point, it really clicked for you of like, I want to make sure that my life feels, you know, fulfilled and complete, you know, just on the daily not like, you know, just head down no sleep for 12 years, or whatever it takes to get whatever goal you set.
Haley Moore 23:19
Well, and then the restaurant world, you know, the grind is so glorified, because there’s no choice and like, The grind is I get it like I mean, I spent the majority of the beginning of my career 15 years working 90 hours a week, you know, six days a week, like, I get it, you know, and when we have a deadline or when something comes up with five, I mean, the holidays, for example, December like q4 is all we do almost two thirds of our business in q4. I mean, we are nuts, you know, and my kids know, like, I’m here, but I’m, I’m head down, I’m doing the work, you know, so there’s a time in place. But I think understanding you know, every July, for example, like all of our clients are traveling, it’s a very quiet time for us. So like, I took my kids last summer to Japan, and we backpacked for 20 days, this summer, we’re gonna be gone for a whole month we’re gonna do like Albania and Malta and Sicily and England. And, you know, it’s like, so I think, you know, doing these things and being like, okay, so what am I actually working for? And for me, it’s like, I want to build a life that I don’t need to escape from, and I want to give my kids really cool experiences. And so like, what do I need, you know, in order to be able to do that, and that’s, and then I want the people on my team to be healthy and to be able to feel empowered to take time off and go outside and also live a life that they don’t have to escape from, you know, I mean, that’s, that’s the goal, right? So, as long as everyone’s doing that, and we’re providing value for our clients like, then, I mean, it’s all a win, you know,
Max Branstetter 24:47
how does that look like from a work standpoint? Like if you’re taking a month off with your kids and going through, you know, European or Asian countries? Are you fully unplugged? Or are you do you find yourself working quite a bit there.
Haley Moore 25:02
I mean, I’m always that’s the thing. I’m always working because I like to work and I think like, well working on the whitespace natural I know which is so funny. It’s like and I actually see I shouldn’t tell anyone this I actually don’t drink that much anymore. It’s like I I love wine and I love the people behind it. And I love the history and I love telling stories. But most nights I’m actually drinking like tea or water, which is so not on brand. And so how
Max Branstetter 25:25
dare you? No, no, no, I definitely know. I could definitely feel how it could be a bit overwhelming every day. Yeah, no, it’s you could you could start a tea company after this. So
Haley Moore 25:34
yeah, I mean, I drank enough for like, for like a small country in my 20s and 30s. So now I’m like, Okay, I gotta pump the brakes a little bit here. But yeah, I would say you know, with the travel piece, it’s like, it’s funny because we, you know, I backpacked through Europe for like, six months after I was in culinary school and I had like, a Lonely Planet guidebook. No cell phone, it was 2005. Right? makes you sound like a dinosaur. Nope, no cell phone, but like,
Max Branstetter 25:58
okay, dinosaur’s quite the stretch there. But it makes it makes you sound like an adult,
Haley Moore 26:03
let’s say. Can you imagine you’re like traveling without a cell phone?
Max Branstetter 26:06
What do you mean? Sounds really nice, actually.
Haley Moore 26:09
Yeah, you like you open yourself up to like the sort of, I don’t know, just the goodness of humanity when you travel like that. So like, we were in Japan, I made my kids take like a bus at six stops to get to one of our destinations. It was like literally like a city bus. You know, like, because I don’t you know, we’re not taking taxis. We’re not doing fancy travel, like we’re backpacking. That said, like, there’s certain things like I need to have, I need to have home wherever I am. So I have to have laundry, I have to be able to cook. I like to go to the market. And so with when I have home like that, then my laptop is with me, I wake up, I write, you know, I check email, I reach out to clients. I mean, there’s always something going on. And then I will kind of plan those work days accordingly. So it’s not just a month long vacation. It’s really like, you know, the travel is kind of work in and of itself. Because you know, especially when my kids were tiny, you know, traveling with two small kids. It’s like, oh, it’s a job. But it’s like a job that I’m so happy to have. Because I’m like, Oh man, you know, like, I want them to have rich experiences. So it’s obviously well worth it. But yeah, I think unplugging completely would be really hard. But I will do it for I mean, I’m actually surprised at myself sometimes how well I can check out when it’s my own gig. You know, like if I go skiing, I’m like, checking my email on the chairlift, but I’ll wait till the next day to respond, you know?
Max Branstetter 27:29
Right, that’s what’s important. Yeah. I totally feel you’re on the home and the laundry aspect. We got a while this is terrible word that came to mind. But a big whiff of that was my wife Dana and I went on our honeymoon we did Italy last summer. And it was obviously like amazing like trip of our life like we did it like bigger than we’ve ever done before. And the more you get away from doing like actual laundry, you realize how much you appreciate laundry. And so like my shirts were like, by the end, we’re like, oh, my, my shirt just smells like sweat. After like, I can’t like I’m running out a shirt even though we we brought like little you know, laundry things to do like detergent to deal with the sink. It was like, All right, at a certain point, like, actual home starts calling you more and more. So I’m definitely yeah,
Haley Moore 28:14
and there’s ways to trick yourself into feeling like you’re at home and you’re gone for a long time. I mean, we did Spain and Iceland last summer, or two summers ago. And we did Iceland first which was you know, not cold. It was 50s. So it was, you know, like winter in California, right. And then we went to Spain where it was like as hot as the sun. And we had two backpacks for four people, two adults, two kids. And so obviously, like I got to Spain, I had a washer and dryer. And I was like oh, I mean, you don’t have dryers in Europe. And I was like we’ve hit the mother lode I live here now. And there was this beautiful market that had like a spot show for like two euro and like beautiful fish and incredible produce. And I was like and I actually cancelled her I had to switch the trip app, I cancelled part of the trip and stayed in this apartment for like four days longer. Because I was like, this is the best place I’ve ever been. I’m so happy. And it’s mostly because there’s a dryer and a really good market. So,
Max Branstetter 29:11
so silly. If you are looking for a newsletter that is so silly to add to your already silly inbox and just trying to see how many times they can say silly, then you will love the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. It is where podcasting meets entrepreneurship and – you guessed it – silly puns. You can sign up at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Now have a silly day. No, I’m just kidding. Now, let’s get to more of the best of the best in the wine world. So speaking of the best place you’ve ever been, let’s wrap up with the best rapid fire questions about wine that you’ve ever been asked. And that’s the official name that you see on all the billboards and everything so you’re ready for it.
Haley Moore 29:53
I’m ready. All right,
Max Branstetter 29:54
Let’s get Wild. This best question you’ve ever asked. Wow, I really hype this one up. What’s your favorite color? A lot of wine to drink. Oh
Haley Moore 30:02
God see, I’m the worst at this because I always say it depends on what I’m eating and who I’m with. But I do love champagne. I think champagne isn’t any time of day beverage. My favorite pairing in the entire world is champagne and french fries.
Max Branstetter 30:14
You stole my next question.
Haley Moore 30:16
Yeah, champagne is like it can be daytime, it can be evening. It’s always my go to. I
Max Branstetter 30:22
was really curious, your best food pairing. So I’m still going to ask it but it just gonna throw a wrinkle in it. If it’s not champagne, so let’s say you’re drinking a Kiante which my wife taught me how to pronounce that isn’t long story there. Or a cab like a dark, a dark or dark ish read. What’s your go to food pairing for that?
Haley Moore 30:46
Well, so I mean, I think wines that are like fuller bodied, higher and tannin we tend to pair with like steak, right? So meat fat. What you can’t say meat fat on a fancy restaurant floor. People don’t like that. But you can say it here.
Max Branstetter 30:57
That sounds like it sounds like a restaurant in Portland, Maine, but go for
Haley Moore 31:01
Oregon. Really? Portland, Oregon would definitely have a restaurant called meat fat. But yeah, so you know me fat and Tannen love each other. Because that tannin that thing that grippy component in the wine really cuts through the richness. But personally, I mean, I drink a lot of lighter bodied higher acid, red wines like Pinot Noir Gamay that are a little bit more like lifted and aromatic. And I am not afraid. I mean, I like to eat red meat too. I’m not afraid to pair something like that with with a richer steak. Because I think you know, again, you have acidity, which also cuts through richness and you don’t have heavy on heavy so I always think the food and the wine should support each other and the wine should make you want to eat more and the food should make you want to drink more. And so, you know, it should be this symbiotic relationship and sometimes if I’m going like big, heavy Cabernet and big ribeye I just like want to take a nap so
Max Branstetter 31:52
yeah, well that’s a wonderful problem to have of making you want to eat more and making you want to drink more that’s that was really like our honeymoon in a nutshell. So thank you. Yeah, we did. Yeah, we started in Florence and then did Kiante and like county classic, you know, like the heart of it was awesome. And then we then we did room and then we did a Amalfi Coast after that. So we kind of got some of everything. Really slumming it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And that’s why last year was so expensive. Actually, speaking of expensive things, what it and I know you’re gonna have a million come to mind. This is not like your favorite of all time. This is just an example of one. Disclaimer, disclaimer. What is like an incredibly like one of the most bang for the buck wines out there?
Haley Moore 32:41
Oh, god, that’s so tough. I’ll give you a category because I think, you know, crew Beaujolais so I think sorry, how do you crew Beaujolais Beaujolais as a category so Beaujolais
Max Branstetter 32:52
played baseball with him. I know right?
Haley Moore 32:55
So Pinot Noir is something that like got really famous with the movie Sideways in 2004. Right Pinot Noir, especially from California. Really versatile. Goes with a lot of different things. It’s a sommeliers best friend because of course if you have like salmon and chicken and pork on the table, Pinot Noir goes with all of those things. Really easy red wine to pair with fish, right? Gam A is kind of like this little brother, if you will of Pinot Noir that sort of got poo pooed I don’t remember which king but there was a king back in the day that was like gamma is garbage. And so they they moved it out of Burgundy, which is where Pinot Noir originally comes from, and, and basically shut it all down into Beaujolais. And so that’s where you see a lot of gamma coming from but DMA as a varietals can be very similar to Pinot Noir in the sense that it’s also aromatic. It’s also light and body. It also has really beautiful acidity. And we’re not talking Beaujolais Nouveau. Here we’re talking boat crew Beaujolais so Beaujolais from one of the sub regions of Beaujolais that is made in the same way as Pinot Noir, meaning that it’s harvested, fermented and then aged in barrel for a year ish and change and then bottle. So, you know, some of the great producers are like Marcel Lapierre or for yard there are some really beautiful examples of Cru Beaujolais and you know, in Burgundy, for example, which is only a 45 minute drive ish North Pinot Noir from Burgundy can be 1000s of dollars a bottle, Cru Beaujolais, you know, you can still find retail for like 3035 bucks. And obviously, you’re talking about two very different climates two very different terroirs, two very different grapes. But stylistically, I’ve interchanged those four guests and they’ve had really good experiences, which
Max Branstetter 34:36
begs the question, what is the most barmy? This is fitting actually, I might not edit that out because I’m wondering what’s the most difficult wine region to pronounce? Oh,
Haley Moore 34:51
that’s a good question. For me, it’s like all the Portuguese I feel like the Portuguese grapes. There’s a lot of consonants and I know I get them wrong all all the time. German can also be a little bit tricky for sure, depending upon like, you know, the vineyard. I mean if you see like Chaka Lena, right or chocolaty, it’s spelled with a T and an x. So you probably wouldn’t guess that, by me saying chocolaty, is that that’s Portuguese, that is Spanish, it is sort of like a lightly effervescent Spanish wine from just outside of San Sebastian. We’re
Max Branstetter 35:20
in the midst of planning our trip to Spain and Portugal. And one of the things that we heard was that because like we both took Spanish growing up, like our basic Spanish is, like, I’m sure enough to get by also, everybody speaking speaks English. But everybody was like, Portuguese is like, so different. Like, oh, yeah, like, you’re not going to be prepared for that. 100% What is the most breathtaking vineyard anywhere in the world that you’ve ever stepped foot on?
Haley Moore 35:47
Burgundy is a place that as a sommelier, it’s like one of the last regions that you learn about, because it’s incredibly complicated. They used to be underwater during during the Jurassic period. So you have like, all these different types of
Max Branstetter 35:59
things are gonna say, during Jurassic Park, I was like, why.
Haley Moore 36:04
But it’s like, you know, because of the soil types because of the vineyards. Because of all the different ground crews, Premier crews, all the different producers, the Napoleonic law, where like when somebody passes away, they split it up to all their children. So like, there can be 20 people that own one vineyard and make the wine all in a different way. Plus, there’s a lot of, you know, vintage variation. I mean, burgundy is like, very complex, and so, but it’s something that I the first time I visited, I was absolutely blown away by just the people that I met there and just sort of like, you know, these are the most expensive and highly sought after wines in the world. And these were the most genuine, open hearted kind people I ever met. So, you know, Romany Conte is like it’s almost like mecca for sommeliers, it’s like ground crew invulnerable and a it’s a monopole, which means it’s only made by one producer Domaine de la Romanee Conti. It has a you know, the cross above the the walled vineyard. And so I mean, you know, you’re standing in this sort of like, it didn’t even feel like you know, when you’re just looking at it, it doesn’t you put so much energy and pressure on this like moment, and you get there and you’re like, well, it’s just it’s just right here like this is it but of course I got emotional and I I’ve cried into a glass of wine twice. And both times were at Domaine de la Romanee Conti in the in the cellar, because you know, they open all these old bottles that are like, we call them unicorn wines. Like you can’t get a hold of them. They don’t exist in nature. And, you know, I just like felt, you know, the bridge of my nose start to get hot and I was like, Oh, and here I am like weeping into my wineglass. But you know, I mean, that was definitely like, it’s special because of the history. You know, it’s like the monks in the monasteries during Cistercian times that were originally making wine grapes from these vineyards into wine. And it’s like, you know, it just it was it felt very overwhelming.
Max Branstetter 37:52
That’s a goal to shoot for is is crying into a wine glass. I
Haley Moore 37:56
think I recommend it. Yeah, it’s a good luck.
Max Branstetter 37:59
The quick way you see it in like, rom coms is by going through a breakup, but I think it’s much more it’s much more fun if you’re just awed by the beauty of whatever you’re experiencing. All right. And last one, so I know that you know, you’re not exactly setting the world record for BAC these days. But back into your we’ll call it your party era, and
Haley Moore 38:23
I got a degree in that. So yeah, there you go.
Max Branstetter 38:25
That’s so funny. What would you say? Is your favorite hangover cure?
Haley Moore 38:32
Champagne? Going right back to the first question because like such a California answer, but taco truck burritos, taco truck? Yeah, absolutely. burritos and champagne together. Delicious.
Max Branstetter 38:46
That’s a new combo to try. I still think as time goes on, I said this in a previous episode about burgers and how much I love burgers, but I’m the same way with burritos like burritos just always hit that there’s just something clearly like I’m attracted to like handheld large chunks of food. But there’s just something that
Haley Moore 39:04
forearm I’m like this is the this is makes a great breakfast and also Yeah, I can’t live anywhere but California because there’s the Mexican food is it’s not the same like anywhere else. And here it’s and there’s a difference between Northern California and Southern California. Very different styles. Very different hot sauce. I’m kind of an expert on taco trucks. I might know as much about taco trucks as I do about wine. But um, yeah, I love love me a good burrito, especially for breakfast. Perfect.
Max Branstetter 39:34
Well, watch out guy for Yeti because Haley more is coming for you. Haley, thank you so much. This has just been an absolute blast. I know we’re kind of tongue in cheek about like, you just don’t want to sit there and like talk about Chardonnay for an hour but like I could talk about wine and like everything you’re up to for hours on hours. So thank you so much for coming on. Where is the best place for people to learn more about acquire and then connect with you in any way online? Yeah,
Haley Moore 40:00
absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having me. This has been a pleasure. Our website is Acquire-Wine.com. You can find us on LinkedIn as well, Haley Moore. Instagram @HaleyGMoore or @AcquireWine.
Max Branstetter 40:14
Perfect. And at the end of this episode, we wrap up with final thoughts. What’s just kind of words to live by, or advice for drinking wine, whatever you want just a final line to to send us home here or send us off into the vineyard. Yeah,
Haley Moore 40:27
I would say drink what you like. And also don’t wait for a special occasion to open those special bottles. Life is too short. If you feel like drinking something on a Tuesday, pull the cork, do it. Enjoy it.
Max Branstetter 40:43
Very intriguing and delicious advice from Haley on any day, as well. Thank you so much, Haley for coming on and sharing your wine wisdom, your entrepreneurship wisdom, your wisdom on lots of things. And thank you, Wild Listeners, for tuning into another episode. If you want to hear more Wild stories like this one, make sure to follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast on your favorite app and tell a friend about it. And try some wine with them. What a perfect way to crack open the next episode of the Wild Business Growth Podcast and some wine as well. You can also find us on Goodpods, where there are good podcast recommendations and people, and for any help with podcast production, you can learn more at MaxPodcasting.com and sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. That is at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Until next wine, let your business Run Wild…Bring on the Bongos!!
