WINYL

In the final episode of our capsule collection with the wonderful folks at Sauced Wine Bar, Anthony sits down with one of his favorite Brooklyn musicians, Anand Wilder, co-founder of Yeasayer and a gifted multi instrumentalist singer-songwriter. The two discuss the dissolution of Yeasayer, Anand's incredible first solo record I Don't Know My Words, the heyday of 2000's Brooklyn, the hard to navigate popularity of natural wine and one of Anand's favorite records, Mellow Gold by Beck. We found a perfect pairing for the asynchronous funk of Beck's major label debut in Fallen Grape Wine Company's debut The Mother, a honey-colored blend of Grenache, Riesling and Semillon from a promising new label out of the Santa Ynez Valley in Central California.     Guest: Anand Wilder Album: Beck, Mellow Gold Wine: Fallen Grape Wine Co, The Mother

  In this episode, Anthony sits down with lyricist Bill Augustin, whose 2005 musical adaptation of the Y2K queer film classic But I'm a Cheerleader took London's West End by storm when it was revived in 2022. The two discuss the unparalleled brilliance of musical theater legend Stephen Sondheim and the beloved original cast recording of Into the Woods. The play has two very distinct acts, one ethereal and light and one menacing and crepuscular so it only seemed fitting to pair the album with two wines. The first is a rosé by Schrammel, an unfiltered pet-nat by the eponymous husband and wife micro-producer, and the second, Tzum Feis, a syrah-predominant Oregon field blend by winemaker Nate Ready of Hiyu wines.      Guest: Bill Augustin Album: Into the Woods, Original Cast Recording Wines: Schrammel rosé, Tzum Feis, Hiyu Wines

In the first installment of the Winyl x Sauced collaboration, Anthony sits down with an icon from the raw wine movement, the first female French Master of Wine Isabelle Legeron, to discuss the trials and tribulations of getting raw wine recognized and how far the industry has come. Over a lovely bottle of sparkling wine from Catalonia, Anthony and Isabelle discuss her very favorite band Pink Martini and her favorite song of theirs, "Lily."

For over a decade Jared Scharff was the lead guitarist for the Saturday Night Live Band, as he still was when we did this interview during the freewheeling, pre-pandemic Before Times. He has since left the show and relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a songwriter, a session musician, and a solo artist, releasing music under the name Pearl Lion. The move seems to have paid off: on his own and as part of the production team Queen Sixties, Scharff has been a part of four albums that debuted at Number 1 in the past two years, by a diverse range of artists from Da Baby to Machine Gun Kelly.   Jared joined Anthony to discuss Radiohead's iconic 1997 masterpiece Ok Computer. An album of this depth, magnitude, and detail required adequate and appropriate fortification, so Anthony chose two huge names in California Zinfandel, to reflect the album's moody grace and dead-serious themes:  a 2018 Ridge East Bench Zin and a 2015 Ravenswood Big River Zin. Two expressions of the same varietal were chosen to mirror both the album's ethereal, angelic harmonies and its gloomy, deep, and dour dissection of contemporary consumer culture.   Guest: Jared Scharff Album: Radiohead, Ok Computer Wine: Ridge, East Bench Zin 2018 and Ravenswood, Big River Zin, 2015

Alan Light is an insightful journalist who has been editor in chief of Vibe, Spin and Tracks. He is a consultant for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame whose writing has appeared in Rolling Stone and The New York Times. Alan has authored and co-authored a number of books including Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain, The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys and My Cross to Bear, with Gregg Allman. He is also the cohost of Debatable with Mark Goodman on Sirius XM Volume.    Alan dropped in to discuss the Beastie Boys' sophomore album, the 1989 classic Paul's Boutique, over a bottle of exquisite 2016 Leviathan. Recorded over two years, the album is a masterwork of layered samples, a freewheeling hip hop opus that dropped before sampling laws became an income stream for music publishing companies. According to a 2011 article in The Atlantic, if released that year, the album would cost Capitol Records $20 million in sampling clearance fees. Paul's Boutique established the Beasties as visionaries beyond the party boy antics of their debut, License to Ill. It seemed fitting to pair this layered and powerful hip hop classic with a wine that is a similar behemoth. Leviathan is a red blend curated by star winemaker Andy Erickson (Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Favia, Mayacamas and more) who, each year, coaxes the best of each varietal in the blend from notable vineyards throughout California, creating, essentially a sampled masterpiece.       Guest: Alan Light Album: Beastie Boys, Paul's Boutique Wine: 2016 Leviathan, Andy Erickson 

In our latest Bonus episode, we sit down with Elle Rodriguez a native Los Angeleno wine influencer who goes by the Instagram handle @themodernpour. Anthony and Elle discuss their mutual love and appreciation of indie rock darling Jenny Lewis, pairing her 2019 album On the Line with a complex, aromatic and acidic bottle of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc by Francois Chidaine,. As a Mexican-American, Elle is unique in the wine world, representing women of color in a predominantly white (and blonde and female) subset of the wine related social media universe. Elle has worked long and hard to carve out a niche for other women of color to learn about wine and hopes to bring this experience to the next level through a branded wine club. Elle feels a real kinship with Jenny Lewis, as a fellow L.A. native, a fellow former actress, and an artist who blazed her own trail in the male dominated world of indie rock.   Guest: Elle Rodriguez a.k.a. The Modern Pour Album: Jenny Lewis, On the Line Wine: Les Tuffeaux Montlouis Sur Loire, Francois Chidaine 2017

Alex Skolnick has been a guitar hero since the age of fifteen when he became lead guitarist for the Berkley, CA thrash metal institution Testament. It's no wonder: his teacher was none other than virtuoso Joe Satriani who, in his years as an instructor, also taught Steve Vai, Charlie Hunter, and Metallica's Kirk Hammett. Skolnick has also been a member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and was named one of the greatest guitarists of all time as well as one of the fastest guitarists of all time by Guitar World Magazine. Skolnick also plays world music and jazz that ranges far afield from what he writes with Testament. Since 2000, he has recorded five records of nimble and engaging original work with The Alex Skolnick Trio which is simply fantastic. Skolnick dropped in to discuss his storied career with Testament, taking the leap into jazz as a metalhead, the cosmic era of Miles Davis, and the jazz group and record that changed his life: Esbjörn Svensson Trio's Seven Days of Falling. EST was a piano-double bass-drums trio formed in 1993 that blurred genres, merging classical, rock, pop, and techno into an inimitable sound that broke the conventional boundaries of what modern jazz can be. Seven Days of Falling, recorded in 2003, is considered the group's most artful work, charting simultaneously on the pop and jazz charts in Sweden, a milestone for an instrumental album. We paired this singular, beautiful, moody masterpiece with a stark wine like no other: Recaredo Terrers, Brut Nature Cava 2017. This Spanish sparkling wine has been produced in the traditional hands-on manner since 1924, from organic grapes aged five years on the lees (spent yeast cells used in fermentation), giving the wine sumptuous depth. Typically this imbues sparkling wine with yeast and cream flavors but this wine has none of that. Brut Nature indeed, this zero dosage cava (no further wine/sweetening added in the fermentation process) is crisp, clean, and biting, like a white wine razor across the palette. Guest: Guitarist Alex Skolnick (Testament, The Alex Skolnick Trio) Album: Essbjörn Svensson Trio, Seven Days of Falling Wine: Recaredo Terrers, Brut Nature Cava 2017

Doug Quint is the co-founder of Big Gay Ice Cream, a why-not idea that began as a food truck in 2009 and is now a chain in NYC and Philly as well as widely available in retail stores like CVS and Vons across the country. Doug discusses his former life as a professional bassoon player, his deep love of INXS, his dear friend Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's, and how he  fit the Big Gay aesthetic and flavor into pints fit for big-box retail life. We paired Doug's life-changing record, Duran Duran, Rio with a sumptuous bottle of brut rosé champagne by Billecart-Salmon, a flagship of the two-hundred-year-old house's roster since 1970

Producer and songwriter Josh Carter of the band Phantogram stops by to discuss It's A Wonderful Life (2001) by multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous who recorded as Sparklehorse. We paired the album with a bottle of 2017 Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes by Daniel Bouland, a real superstar in the production of Beaujolais. Carter discusses the delicacy in Sparklehorse's music, recalling how he was inspired by Mark Linkous while growing up in rural upstate New York. He has always looked at the singular imperfections in Sparklehorse's music as its greatest asset. Kyle Meyer thinks Daniel Bouland is a wine genius.

Punk and New Wave icon Jerry Harrison of The Modern Lovers and The Talking Heads visits Anthony in Brooklyn to discuss the eponymous debut by prog-rock pioneers The Soft Machine (1968) which we paired with a bottle of equally unique wine, Raul Perez Ultreia St. Jacques 2016, made from Mencia grapes in the Bierzo region of Northwest Spain. Jerry Harrison holds court on a fascinating variety of subjects, from his former roadie stealing Graham Parson's corpse to a nighttime visit from Charles Manson's thugs, to the architecture of prisons, the art of record production and why he likes it when keyboards sound as tough as guitars. Kyle Meyer loves Raul Perez and Mencia. The Soft Machine, not so much.

Teri Genderbender, the creative force behind the art-punk band Le Butcherettes stops by to sip some 2015 Domaine du Gour de Chaule Gigondas and discuss The Talking Heads, Fear of Music (1979). Teri talks about her father's influence on her musical journey, why she listens to this album nearly every day and how she used severed pig's heads to address gender politics. Kyle Meyer loves Gigondas and David Byrne. And he should!    

Anthony meets L.A. sommelier and winemaker Matt Kaner in Hollywood to discuss how the National's Alligator got him off the sad bastard music and into the wine world while tasting an amazing 1971 Beaulieu Vineyards Pinot Noir and one of Matt's wines, a 2008 AM/FM Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine Exchange's Kyle Meyer weighs in later in the episode. Matt discusses his L.A. establishments Augustine, Bar Covell, and Good Measure, his quest to make vintage wine accessible and how somms are your friends - and when it comes to wine, everybody needs a friend. Kyle Meyer digs Matt's mojo and pounding '71 BV Pinot. 

Alt-rock trio Potty Mouth visit Anthony in Brooklyn to discuss their love for Shirley Manson and Garbage's eponymous 1995 debut album while sampling a deliciously sweet and spicy bottle of Tablas Creek's 2015 Esprit de Tablas. While her bandmates kick back after a long day, bassist Ally Einbinder discusses Manson's ongoing legacy as an iconic female in rock and how she inspired her own musical journey. She hails Longmont Potion Castle the king of prank phone calls. Our wine guru Kyle Meyer likes Tablas Creek and Garbage, but not nearly as much as Chateau Beaucastel and Nirvana.

Anthony sits down with his dear friend, iconic hard rock drummer Tommy Lee, to discuss Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, how John Bonham changed his life and playing "Smoke on the Water" on accordion. They sample two wines, a 2017 La Dame Rousee by Domaine de la Mordoree and 2015 Vino Di Sasso Robola de Celaphonie while reminiscing on the year they spent living together while writing Lee's New York Times Bestselling autobiography, Tommyland. Wine expert Kyle Meyer would rather listen to Led Zeppelin IV.     

New Zealand rock singer Kelsy Karter sits down with Anthony to discuss how James Brown inspires her life and career while drinking some spicy and earthy 2015 Barbaresco Basarin by Marco and Vittorio Adriano. Kelsy discusses her musical family, confesses a soft spot for boys with long hair and how her backing band is entirely comprised of boys with long hair. She talks about defying expectations by becoming a rock singer, which will allow her to die happy one day. Wine expert Kyle Meyer thinks doesn't get Barbaresco and James Brown and would rather drink a boatload of champagne while listening to the Godfather of Soul.      

Multiplatinum and multifaceted music producer and songwriter Sam Hollander (Fitz and the Tantrums, Panic at the Disco!, Carole King, Weezer, Train, Arrested Development, and many more) sits down with Anthony one evening in Los Angeles to discuss Donald Fagen's sonically perfect solo album The Nightfly over an equally smooth and luxurious bottle of Lady Luck sake. They discuss the making of this landmark album, Sam's career, the role of nostalgia and memory in music appreciation and how a New Yorker may leave the city, but the city never leaves his heart. Winyl's wine expert Kyle Meyer of Wine Exchange salutes Anthony for a truly perfect wine and music pairing, and wonders why he doesn't drink more sake and eat more Indian food.   

California winemaker Jeff Cohn sits down with Anthony at the Vintage House in Napa to discuss his career in wine and two of his favorite albums, Steely Dan's Aja and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, paired with Jeff's 2016 Domaine De Chirats Syrah (a collaboration with Rhone Valley winemaker Yves Cuilleron) and his 2016 Marsanne. Winyl wine expert Kyle Meyer of Wine Exchange gives some background on Jeff's contribution to California wine history as well as his take on the pairings.  Recorded during the 2018 harvest season, Jeff discusses the winemaker's life during this critical time, as well as his unlikely path from a job on a Caribbean cruise ship to a career in California wine. We learn that he and Yves Cuilleron might be perfectionists on par with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and that Marsanne is the only wine as mesmerizing and electrifying as Amy Winehouse's singular voice. Also, since life is short, Jeff doesn't think you should wait to drink your good wine. Don't worry, they'll make more.     

Some background on our host, Anthony Bozza, and an explanation of what WINYL is all about. 

Drum n' bass DJ Dieselboy (Damian Higgins) joins Anthony to discuss British shoegaze band Slowdive's masterpiece, Souvlaki while sipping Inconnu Wines' 2017 Lalalou Cabernet Franc and Julian Haart's 2017 1000L Riesling. Winyl wine expert Kyle Meyer weighs in on the transcendence of Slowdive's new (2017) album and Julian Haart's wunderkind career.  Dieselboy justifiably gripes about the art of DJing in modern times, then goes deep into a cave while discussing Dungeons and Dragons and Death Saves, a sci-fi/fantasy streetwear brand he created with actor Joe Manganiello.