6 episodes

Welcome to The UrbanVino Podcast hosted by Jena Domingue.

The UrbanVino Podcast Salescast

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 4 Ratings

Welcome to The UrbanVino Podcast hosted by Jena Domingue.

    Rosé—The Wine for All Occasions with Anani Lawson

    Rosé—The Wine for All Occasions with Anani Lawson

    This episode of The Urban Vino Podcast with Jena Domingue features resident sommelier Anani Lawson. Rosé is a highly popular wine and there is a world of information on its origins and the different ways you can enjoy it.

    Anani breaks down the profile of rosé, where it comes from, as well as its expected fresh flavors and characteristics. He also discusses the various ways you can enjoy rosé like making it sweeter or using it as a vehicle for cocktails like a mimosa.

    He discusses some recommended pairings, reasonable price points, and more exotic bottle recommendations. Anani also talks about the vintage of rosé and how, unlike other wines, the preferred rosé is younger to exude its rose and citrus notes.

    SHOW NOTES

    HIGHLIGHTS

    The ideal grapes to create rosé
    Personalize your rosé: Make it sweet or a cocktail
    Pair your rosé with light and heavy flavors
    Expected price points and bottle recommendations

    QUOTES

    Anani: "Ironically, the younger the wine, the better because we're seeking a wine that exudes a lot of freshness, a wine that's lively. Those characters we're talking about, the freshness, the liveliness, the rose petal essences, the strawberry notes, the citrus notes would be more pronounced."

    Reach out to Anani in the links below:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananilawson/
    Email: ananiwine@gmail.com
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/ananisays

    Connect with Jena by checking out these links:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
    Website: https://urbanvino.com/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanvino/

    • 19 min
    Wine for a Cause: Creating a Diabetes-Free World with Greg Vaughn

    Wine for a Cause: Creating a Diabetes-Free World with Greg Vaughn

    This episode of The UrbanVino Podcast with Jena Domingue features Greg Vaughn, 4-time MLB All-Star and Founder of Vaughn's Valley Foundation. There is a trend of former professional athletes reinventing themselves in the wine industry.

    Greg shares his introduction to wine and his decision, informed by his own evolving palate, to enter the business. He also talks about the roots of Vaughn's Valley, his advocacy for child diabetes, and how all proceeds of the wine go back to his foundation.


    HIGHLIGHTS

    Greg's journey from MLB All-Star to winemaker
    Embracing change and evolving to sit at executive tables
    Vaughn's Village: Sharing his blessings and fighting diabetes
    Greg's personal style and having no excuses to do better

    QUOTES

    Greg: "I've been to the harvest. I've been to the label people. The cork. I went through the whole process. I know it from top to bottom. I know how it's made. I know how it's harvest. I know what I like. I know what we put in it."

    Greg: "I think my palate and my choice of beverages have changed and I think more African-American young males are drinking wine now. I think we're in that business realm, so to speak, and we're executives, we're sitting in different tables and different spaces and we evolved."

    Greg: "Change is good and I think we have grown and I think we're thinking different now. We're thinking about the larger picture. We're thinking about, it's not just let's get rich and have our posse and this and that. We're trying to make executive and business decisions now on our own stuff."

    Greg: "There was no excuses at my house and she didn't want to hear it. Play better. Do better. But do not, do not, do not come here with any excuses or attitudes. Check all that at the door."

    Reach out to Greg in the links below:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregvaughn23/
    Website (Vaughn's Valley): https://vaughnsvalley.org/
    Website (23 Wines): https://23wines.com/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregvaughn23/
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregvaughn23

    Connect with Jena by checking out these links:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
    Website: https://urbanvino.com/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanvino/

    • 34 min
    Beauty and Brains: Miss USA Enters Herbal Wine with Nana Meriwether

    Beauty and Brains: Miss USA Enters Herbal Wine with Nana Meriwether

    This episode of The Urban Vino Podcast with Jena Domingue features Nana Meriwether, former Miss USA and Founder of Navina, an herbal wine brand that continues an age-old tradition dating as far back as ancient Rome, Greece, China, and Egypt. Their first releases include Hibiscus Wine and Marigold Flower Wine.

    Nana shares her amazing journey, how she founded Navina, and her roots in athleticism (she trained for the Olympics!) and pageantry. She also talks about her internship at Harper's Bazaar and living the Devil Wears Prada life for 3 years.

    Using flowers for wine is steeped in tradition and Nana's goal is to bring it to the mainstream, especially in the USA where wine tradition is ripe for adoption. She empowers women to enter winemaking and hopes her story inspires others to follow suit too.



    HIGHLIGHTS

    Navina: A play on words and starting American herbal wine culture
    Growing up an athlete and becoming Miss USA
    Internship at Harper's Bazaar and entering tech
    Product development for Navina and making herbal wine mainstream

    QUOTES

    Nana: "I started product development in 2020 and I had been apprenticing with this distiller, she also does wine on the North Fork of New York in 2019 and then I told her I wanted to build a business around this and so, she agreed to help me."

    Nana: "In 5 years, I am hoping to be a mainstream wine brand. And what that means is that when someone purchases my product, they're not just buying the wine of flowers, they're buying into a lifestyle and into the storytelling that I'm hoping to really put out there."

    Nana: "Winemaking itself was a tradition of women. We were mostly the ones making wine and now over 90% of winemakers, and thank you for existing, our men, so I'm hoping through my work and through my storytelling to empower women to winemaking."

    Nana: "Find community within the space that you're building. I've learned that, just from day-to-day, business-building is very much an exercise in personal development that you're not really fighting a market or trying to find your way in market, it's really in your mind. All fear on business-building stems from the founder."

    Reach out to Nana, Navina, and Nana’s foundation in the links below:

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-meriwether-6176a184/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinknavina/
    Website (Navina): https://www.drinknavina.com/
    Website (Meriwether Foundation): https://www.meriwetherfdtn.org/

    Connect with Jena by following the links below:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
    Website: https://urbanvino.com/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanvino/

    • 40 min
    Emulate Success—The Sommelier's Journey with Anani Lawson

    Emulate Success—The Sommelier's Journey with Anani Lawson

    This episode of The Urban Vino Podcast with Jena Domingue features Anani Lawson, Sommelier. Anani shares his inspiring story to become a sommelier starting with his roots in Togo, West Africa.

    Anani talks about mentorship and gaining wine wisdom by emulating the success of others. Now exploring teaching, he also discusses how he will use video to share his knowledge with a global audience via YouTube and LinkedIn.


    HIGHLIGHTS

    Meeting a Master Sommelier and learning from him
    Joining the US Peace Corps in Togo
    Mentorship to level up your wine career

    QUOTES

    Anani: "Everybody else around them, around, is probably as talented and, more likely, more talented than you are and so, at that point, you have one realistic option is to find inside yourself the motivation to emulate and learn from them."

    Anani: "While you may have one idea to do certain thing, there could other options available."

    Anani: "There's a lot that can be self-taught and then there comes to be a stage where you may take it to the next level where you may need more expert knowledge and expert input."

    Reach out to Anani in the links below:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananilawson/
    Email: ananiwine@gmail.com
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/ananisays

    Connect with Jena by following the links below:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxebuytheglas/

    • 21 min
    Experience the Little Luxuries of Life

    Experience the Little Luxuries of Life

    On this episode of the I am Jena Podcast, guest host Chris Decker explores what motivates Jena and her love for wine and fashion. She shares that, being a single mom, she learned to embrace the little luxuries in life and her mission is to bring this experience to others too.

    For Jena, it all comes together when you pair your mood with your fashion with your wine. These experiences provide fulfillment and Jena stresses that luxury does not always have to be expensive either. When you care for your mood, you get to slow down and appreciate the smaller things in life that make it all worthwhile

    • 21 min
    Get to Know Your Host

    Get to Know Your Host

    This is the inaugural episode of the I am Jena Podcast with guest host Chris Decker. Jena Domingue is the Senior Vice President for Client Success and Head of Talent and Culture at WineDirect. Today she peels back the layers of the person behind the title and her vision for her show.

    Aside from a deep appreciation for wine and beauty, Jena shares that empowering women is what drives her. She recalls the profound impact Oprah had in her formative years in teaching her how to be a professional woman of color enjoying massive success.

    Jena also talks about changing your mindset and how "losing your mind" is sometimes what you need to do to reach your goals. She shares the guiding role of God in her life and leaves a time capsule for her future self to look back on.

    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
4 Ratings

4 Ratings

Top Podcasts In Business

The Ramsey Show
Ramsey Network
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
Money News Network
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
NerdWallet Personal Finance
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
DOAC
Planet Money
NPR
The Money Mondays
Dan Fleyshman