Episode #378 – The Chappellet Family Wines

The Unlikely Tale of a Student and Professor Reunited Through the Grapevine, meet Alexa Chappellet Flagler!

NOTE: This episode of Grape Encounters from earlier in the year was so popular that we had many requests to replay it, so here you are!

A few decades ago, a professor in his early 20s teaching at Pepperdine University’s breathtakingcampus in Malibu California had a student in his speech and debate class who was the daughter of one of the Napa Valley’s pioneering winemakers. The instructor, whose infatuation with fine wine was in its infancy, recognized the name of the student, but didn’t know enough about the wine industry at the time to realize how important the name was to the birth of the California wine industry.

Today, that professor, focuses virtually all of his energy on wine education. As a matter of fact, he is the host of this show. The student is Alexa Chappellet who, along with her siblings, now owns and operates the winery founded by her parents.

Thanks to Facebook’s uncanny ability to reestablish relationships that might have otherwise remained dormant, David Wilson, host of Grape Encounters, and Alexa Chappellet Flagler, had the opportunity to sit down together and catch up on what has transpired over the past 30 odd years.

It’s a delightful conversation that not only gives listeners a behind the scenes peak at the early days of modern Napa winemaking, but it also offers an up-close and personal look at just how far things have come in a relatively short period of time.

This week on Grape Encounters Radio, an aspiring student of public speaking takes to the microphone with her former teacher, and the teacher finds himself in the odd position of following in a student’s footsteps!

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