Wednesday Dec 10, 2025

Episode 23: Cabernet Franc Explained - East Coast Wine Exposed with Kathleen Smith DipWSET

đŸ· 4th Dec was Cabernet Franc Day 🍇 and we’re diving deep into the grape’s global future with Kathleen Smith DipWSET.

Kathleen is a Canadian-born, East Coast–based wine writer, judge, and brand specialist behind The Happy Vine. Fresh off the Franc & Franc Conference in Villány, Hungary, she brings insider insights into why Cabernet Franc is rising fast and what North America can learn from the world’s top Cab Franc specialists.

⏱ In this episode, we explore:
00:00 Kathleen’s journey in wine — from Canada to New York’s East Coast
19:11 Cabernet Franc’s future — why it’s becoming the cool-climate darling
27:23 Key discoveries from the Franc & Franc Conference in VillĂĄny
40:48 East Coast wine regions (Finger Lakes & Long Island) — strength, identity & the next chapter. Plus, how this links back to Canadian wine and our previous episode with Andrea Kaiser.
50:32 US tariffs — how they’re reshaping pricing, imports, and domestic opportunity.

If you’re interested in cool-climate wine, North American wine, Cabernet Franc, or wine business strategy, this episode is an absolute must-watch.

đŸŽ™ïž Guest: Kathleen Smith DipWSET
IG: @thehappyvineks
Website: thehappyvine.net

🎧 Listen to more episodes on FineWineToMe – the wine business podcast 👉 Subscribe, comment YOUR favourite Cab Franc, and share with a fellow wine pro!


𝐀 𝐛𝐱𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐹𝐼𝐭 𝐩𝐞 - 𝘞đ˜Ș𝘯𝘩 đ˜Ș𝘮 đ˜šđ˜”đ˜°đ˜łđ˜șđ˜”đ˜Šđ˜­đ˜­đ˜Ș𝘯𝘹 𝘣đ˜ș đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Š 𝘎𝘭𝘱𝘮𝘮⁣ ⁣ I am the founder of 𝐅𝐱𝐧𝐞đ—Ș𝐱𝐧𝐞𝐓𝐹𝐌𝐞.𝐜𝐹𝐩 - a London based đ—Ș𝐱𝐧𝐞 𝐁𝐼𝐬𝐱𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 đ‚đšđ§đŹđźđ„đ­đšđ§đœđČ with over a decade of experience in the UK and international wine trade.⁣ ⁣

"𝘞𝘩 đ˜©đ˜Šđ˜­đ˜± 𝘾đ˜Ș𝘯𝘩𝘳đ˜Ș𝘩𝘮 đ˜ąđ˜Żđ˜„ 𝘾đ˜Ș𝘯𝘩 đ˜Łđ˜¶đ˜Žđ˜Ș𝘯𝘩𝘮𝘮𝘩𝘮 𝘹𝘳𝘰𝘾 𝘣đ˜ș đ˜­đ˜Šđ˜·đ˜Šđ˜łđ˜ąđ˜šđ˜Ș𝘯𝘹 đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Š đ˜±đ˜°đ˜žđ˜Šđ˜ł 𝘰𝘧 𝘋đ˜Ș𝘹đ˜Șđ˜”đ˜ąđ˜­ đ˜”đ˜ąđ˜łđ˜Źđ˜Šđ˜”đ˜Ș𝘯𝘹, đ˜šđ˜”đ˜°đ˜łđ˜șđ˜”đ˜Šđ˜­đ˜­đ˜Ș𝘯𝘹 đ˜ąđ˜Żđ˜„ 𝘞đ˜Ș𝘯𝘩 đ˜›đ˜ąđ˜Žđ˜”đ˜Ș𝘯𝘹 đ˜Œđ˜·đ˜Šđ˜Żđ˜”đ˜Ž."⁣ ⁣

Our background and experience in wine marketing, product development, importing, sales, operations and event management creates our unique offering and provides value to our clients.⁣ ⁣

đ—Ș𝐞 đšđŸđŸđžđ« 𝐭𝐡𝐞 đŸđšđ„đ„đšđ°đąđ§đ  đŹđžđ«đŻđąđœđžđŹ 𝐭𝐹 đœđ„đąđžđ§đ­đŹ đ°đšđ«đ„đ-𝐰𝐱𝐝𝐞:⁣ ⁣

- Branding & Creative⁣
- Digital Marketing⁣
- Brand Management ⁣

đ…đšđ« đŠđšđ«đž đąđ§đŸđšđ«đŠđšđ­đąđšđ§ đ©đ„đžđšđŹđž đŸđžđžđ„ đŸđ«đžđž 𝐭𝐹 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐱𝐧 𝐭𝐹𝐼𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 https://www.finewinetome.com/pages/about ⁣
đ‹đąđ§đ€đžđđˆđ§ - https://www.linkedin.com/finewinetome
đˆđ§đŹđ­đšđ đ«đšđŠ - https://instagram.com/finewinetome⁣/
đ…đšđœđžđ›đšđšđ€ - https://www.facebook.com/finewinetome/
đ“đąđ€đ“đšđ€ - https://www.tiktok.com/@finewinetome

I also founded 𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝đČ đ—Ș𝐱𝐧𝐞 đ‚đ„đźđ›, 𝐚 đ’đźđŹđ­đšđąđ§đšđ›đ„đž 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐱𝐹𝐧 đđ«đšđ§đ đŸđšđ« đ—Ș𝐱𝐧𝐞 đ‹đšđŻđžđ«đŹ. ⁣

Please check out www.daddywine.club if you love comfy hoodies, t-shirts and jumpers and if you also care about the environment. ⁣ ⁣

Sustainability is important: 𝘱𝘭𝘭 đ˜‹đ˜ąđ˜„đ˜„đ˜ș 𝘞đ˜Ș𝘯𝘩 đ˜Šđ˜­đ˜¶đ˜Ł đ˜€đ˜­đ˜°đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Ș𝘯𝘹 đ˜Ș𝘮 đ˜źđ˜ąđ˜„đ˜Š 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘼 đŸ·đŸ¶đŸ¶% đ˜€đ˜Šđ˜łđ˜”đ˜Ș𝘧đ˜Șđ˜Šđ˜„ 𝘰𝘳𝘹𝘱𝘯đ˜Șđ˜€ đ˜€đ˜°đ˜”đ˜”đ˜°đ˜Ż đ˜Ș𝘯 𝘱 đ˜§đ˜ąđ˜€đ˜”đ˜°đ˜łđ˜ș đ˜žđ˜©đ˜Șđ˜€đ˜© đ˜¶đ˜Žđ˜Šđ˜Ž 𝘳𝘩𝘯𝘩𝘾𝘱𝘣𝘭𝘩 𝘩𝘯𝘩𝘳𝘹đ˜ș. 𝘞𝘩 đ˜Žđ˜©đ˜Șđ˜± đ˜”đ˜° đ˜źđ˜°đ˜Žđ˜” đ˜€đ˜°đ˜¶đ˜Żđ˜”đ˜łđ˜Ș𝘩𝘮 đ˜Ș𝘯 đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Š đ˜žđ˜°đ˜łđ˜­đ˜„ đ˜ąđ˜Żđ˜„ 𝘾𝘩 đ˜„đ˜° đ˜Șđ˜” đ˜Ș𝘯 đ˜±đ˜­đ˜ąđ˜Žđ˜”đ˜Șđ˜€-𝘧𝘳𝘩𝘩 đ˜±đ˜ąđ˜€đ˜Źđ˜ąđ˜šđ˜Ș𝘯𝘹. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 đ˜€đ˜­đ˜°đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Šđ˜Ž đ˜€đ˜ąđ˜Ż 𝘣𝘩 đ˜Žđ˜Šđ˜Żđ˜” đ˜Łđ˜ąđ˜€đ˜Ź đ˜”đ˜° 𝘣𝘩 𝘳𝘩-𝘼đ˜Șđ˜­đ˜­đ˜Šđ˜„ đ˜°đ˜Żđ˜€đ˜Š đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Šđ˜ș 𝘾𝘰𝘳𝘯 đ˜°đ˜¶đ˜” đ˜ąđ˜Żđ˜„ đ˜Ș𝘯 đ˜łđ˜Šđ˜”đ˜¶đ˜łđ˜Ż 𝘾𝘩 𝘹đ˜Șđ˜·đ˜Š đ˜șđ˜°đ˜¶ đ˜Žđ˜”đ˜°đ˜łđ˜Š đ˜€đ˜łđ˜Šđ˜„đ˜Șđ˜” đ˜”đ˜° đ˜šđ˜Šđ˜” 𝘯𝘩𝘾 𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘮. đ˜Œđ˜·đ˜Šđ˜łđ˜șđ˜”đ˜©đ˜Ș𝘯𝘹 đ˜Ș𝘮 đ˜źđ˜ąđ˜„đ˜Š đ˜”đ˜° đ˜°đ˜łđ˜„đ˜Šđ˜ł, 𝘮𝘰 đ˜”đ˜©đ˜Šđ˜łđ˜Š đ˜Ș𝘮 𝘯𝘰 đ˜žđ˜ąđ˜Žđ˜”đ˜Š.

#CabernetFranc #CabernetFrancDay #FrancAndFranc #VillanyWine #HungarianWine #EastCoastWine #FingerLakesWine #LongIslandWine #CanadianWine #CoolClimateWine #WinePodcast #WineIndustry #WineBusiness #WineJudge #FineWineToMe

Comment (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to say something!

Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Version: 20241125