Our Favorite Podcasts

Winemaker Dan Petroski On Some Of Our Favorite Wine Podcasts

Massican’s winemaker, Dan Petroski, has had the good fortune to spend time with a range of podcast hosts to talk about an even wider range of personal and business-related items about wine. Below is a short list of podcasts that Dan has participated in the past couple of years. There are links below to Apple’s podcast app, but please feel free to listen wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Straight Talk with Wine Spectator

Winemaker Dan Petroski made news when he sold his boutique California white wine brand Massican to Gallo late last year. But that was just the latest step on a wine journey that started ignominiously as a Columbia University football player and began in earnest a decade later after an eye-opening dinner at Le Bernardin in New York. Petroski went on to become cellarmaster at Larkmead, where he worked until 2021 while also building his own brand. “I started Massican because my mother couldn’t afford Larkmead,” Petroski tells host James Molesworth in the newest episode of Wine Spectator’s Straight Talk podcast. “I wanted to do something that would bring more people great wine.”

The Extradimensional Life with Hardy and Kate Wallace

In this episode, we are joined by visionary winemaker Dan Petroski of Massican Wines. Tune in to learn how he casts a wide net to embrace the full magic of what California wine has to offer.

The Wine Makers on Radio Misfits

This week The Wine Makers pod hosts sit down with Dan Petroski, a former journalist turned winemaker. He is an interesting, thoughtful, and very talented person who has created a niche in culinary, digital media, art, and wine. His past has shaped his future, and his Mediterranean white wines are “off the charts” delicious. We only scratched the surface of his endeavors. Buy the wines, check out his Instagram page, and enjoy the ride. 

Inside Winemaking with Napa’s Jim Duane

This episode features Dan Petroski, founder, winemaker, and creative director of Massican Wines. Dan jokes that Massican is the best “white wine’ winery in Napa Valley. Our conversation covers Dan’s background with magazines, a career in publishing, his ventures in Sicily, learning to make wine in California, Dan’s experiments focused on the elimination of additives, the pied du cuve at Larkmead Vineyards, Massican Blue in the Harvard University pigment library, Dan’s number one secret to success, salinity in white wines, saliva drivers, and his endeavors with Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. (1hr, 11 mins) Recorded 2023.

Grape Nation on the Heritage Radio Network with Sam Benrubi

This is the first Artificial Intelligence wine podcast with ChatGPT, and Sam used the platform to help conduct the interview with Dan Petroski. More about Dan: Brooklyn’s own Dan Petroski made his way west to settle in California. In between, he attended Columbia University and NYU Biz School, had a marketing, finance, and advertising career, spent time learning wine in Sicily, and more. Once in Napa, he made his way to Larkmead Vineyards in 2006. At one point, Dan was juggling two wine brands; He left Larkmead to focus on his Massican wines, a true devotion to Italian white wines made in California. (1hr, 25 mins) Recorded 2023.

The Masterclass on the US Wine Market with Juliana Colangelo

Juliana Colangelo hosts the Italian Wine Podcast, The Masterclass on the US Wine Market, and interviews winemaker Dan Petroski. Dan digs into his nearly 17-year career in wine coupled with his previous life in corporate America at the publisher of both Sports Illustrated and TIME magazines. Dan uses his varied experience to break down all things wine – from making it to selling it and its pending future. (39 mins) Recorded 2023.

Straight Talk with Wine Spectator

Napa Valley winemaking iconoclast and Massican winery founder Dan Petroski pulls no punches in this hard look at the wine industry’s newest obstacles and trends. Host James Molesworth and Wine Spectator contributing editor Suzanne Mustacich look at the 2020 Bordeaux vintage and speak with Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande director Nicolas Glumineau and CVBG president Mathieu Chadronnier. Plus, Dr. Vinny administers a Bordeaux booster and much more. (32 mins) Recorded 2023.

The Vint Podcast is for enthusiasts, collectors, and investors.

In this episode of the Vint Podcast, Brady and Billy hear from Dan Petroski, Founder and Winemaker at Massican Wines. Massican is Napa’s premier white wine-only producer and has been forging a path to make top-quality wines in a Mediterranean style (featuring many lesser-planted Italian varieties) since 2009. Dan began as an intern at Napa’s Larkmead Winery in 2006 and emerged as its Winemaker in 2012 before shifting his focus to Massican full-time only more recently. His keen eye for brand design, vineyard sourcing, winemaking quality, and the influence of a Mediterranean aesthetic and approach has landed his bottles in Michelin-starred restaurants across the country and some impressive scores from wine critics along the way. (1hr, 9 mins) Recorded 2023.

The Four Top with Katherine Cole and Martin Reyes MW

The Four Top is a “Three Top” this week as Martin and Katherine chat with a crypto-curious, VR-visionary wine personality. In Ep. 115, we ask what Web 3.0 is, exactly, and why wine businesses should be planning for it now. Our seer this week is Dan Petroski, a digital futurist and the founder and winemaker of Massican Winery. (49 mins) Recorded 2022.

Wine Access with Amanda McCrossin and Vanessa Conlin MW

Many consider Chardonnay “the winemaker’s grape,” but how much does winemaking really affect the outcome? Our friend, Dan Petroski of Massican, joins us to discuss the many paths to Chardonnay. How does terroir, harvest, and picking date impact the outcome? What is malolactic fermentation? Should all Chardonnay be oaked? What can you look for on a label to determine how the Chardonnay will taste? And Vanessa reveals a surprising truth about Chablis. (1hr, 11 mins) Recorded 2022.

Uncorked with Polly Hammond

Welcome to Uncorked on the Italian Wine Podcast network hosted by Polly Hammond. This week, Polly welcomes one of the true free-thinkers in wine: Dan Petroski, founder and winemaker at Massican. Anyone following wine media will know of Dan – a renowned innovator, self-taught winemaker, and consummate storyteller. Today, we talk about taking chances, tackling big issues, and the myriad of possibilities for tomorrow’s wine marketing. More about today’s guest: Dan Petroski is the founder and winemaker at Massican, Napa Valley’s only white wine winery. Before embarking on his wine journey, he spent ten years working in sales, marketing, and finance at TIME magazine, during which time he earned his MBA from NYU. And there he might have remained, but for the inspiration to leave the publishing life, fly off to Sicily, and intern at Valle dell’Acate. By 2006, he was settled at Napa’s iconic Larkmead; by 2009, he had launched his own Mediterranean-inspired Massican. Dan was named the SF Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year in 2017 and one of Food & Wine’s Drinks Innovators of 2022. (1hr, 10 mins) Recorded 2022.

Wine in Web3 with Kelly Vero

Dan Petroski of Massican joins Kelly Vero to discuss how wine brands can exist in the Metaverse. Dan lends his insights into how the Metaverse and Web3 can enhance brand engagement, deliver quality experiences, and enhance customer value. Join us for a fascinating chat with Dan! (50 mins) Recorded 2022.

The Wine Conversation with Elin McCoy

Dan Petroski of Massican Winery talks to Elin McCoy about how he left the world of magazines in New York to become a celebrated Napa Valley winemaker, first at Larkmead Vineyards and now at his own winery, Massican, where he produces white wines inspired by Italy and Mediterranean white wines. They talk about Napa beyond Cabernet, engaging the new consumer, and much more. (1hr, 12 mins) Recorded 2022.

The Black Wine Guy Experience with MJ Towler

MJ’s guest is a winemaker and the founder of Massican Wines, Dan Petroski. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where he went on to play football at Columbia and then on to work for Time Inc. while studying for his MBA at NYU, both ingredients for a promising future in magazine publishing. Dan began his wine education, literally wine-ing and dining clients around Manhattan’s best restaurants. He set off for Sicily, where he interned at Valle dell’Acate for a year. Dan originally intended to return to NYC to sell wine but later received a harvest invitation in 2006 in California. Not long after that, Petroski was hired as cellar master of Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley, ultimately claiming the winemaker title in 2012. In 2009, Dan launched his winery, Massican, which specializes in Italian-inspired white wines. Massican is a one-man operation where Dan manages all winemaking, sales, and marketing. In July 2020, Dan went back to his digital media roots launching Massican Magazine online. Petroski’s approach and ability to craft wines as diverse as Cabernet Sauvignon and Tocai Friulano earned him the recognition as San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year in 2017. On this episode, MJ and Dan enjoy a beautiful bottle of Fiorano Boncampagni Ludovisi while discussing Dan’s unlikely start to a decorated and fulfilling career in wine, his once-in-a-lifetime winemaking education in Sicily, his time at Larkmead, starting his own business at Massican, and fighting climate change on the front lines. Period. Cheers! (1hr, 32 mins) Recorded 2021.

Wow, this guy talks a lot!

But seriously, if you are interested in some older pods of Dan talking about wine, we can track back to Dan’s 2016 chat with Levi Dalton on his pod-that-started-all-wine podcasts; I’ll Drink to That!