Ep. 46: Building a Family Business while Crafting Rhone Varietals in Napa Valley with Chuck McKahn

Welcome back to another episode of The Everyday Wine Aficionado Podcast, today let me introduce you to Chuck McKahn, Owner and Winemaker at McKahn Family Cellars

Chuck is a small town kid from Ripon in California's Central Valley.  He caught the wine bug very early at the age of 15 (supervised by his parents of course!) and after high school made his way to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Wine and Viticulture program.  In 2011 Chuck moved to the Napa Valley to work for Phillip Titus at Chappellet and has since moved onto winemaker posts at William Harrison and various smaller wine brands.  Chuck's family and he started McKahn Family Cellars in 2014 where he was fortunate enough to craft Rhone varietal wines, a personal passion of Chuck's. Chuck and his wife Brittany live in Napa and their favorite hobby is drinking Champagne.

Let’s dive into his wine story!

[00:01 – 10:11] Opening Segment

• Chuck shares his wine origin story
• Choosing Cal Poly because of its proximity to the beach, studying wine, and identifying his wine career path

[10:12 – 16:49] McKahn Family Cellar’s Humble Beginnings

• Chuck’s Biggest Takeaway from Chappellet
  • Know what you’re doing and know what you don’t know in a vineyard
  • Blending Must-Knows
• Talking about wine more deeply and sharing the knowledge through starting McKahn Family Cellars

[16:50 – 37:06] Building a Family Business while Crafting Rhone Varietals in Napa Valley

• Wine Evolutions at McKahn Family Cellars
• A Unique Charcuterie Aroma in Chuck’s Rhône WineVarieties
• The biggest challenge is because they are Rhône WineVarieties!
• Chuck talks about their wines

[37:07 – 42:59] Closing Segment

• Learn everything you need to grow your wine, business, or brand with Wine Business Bootcamp where I help other wine producers master the fundamentals of digital marketing, nail their customer experience, and convert more wine tasters into their wine clubs and other offers. Just send me a dm or email at [email protected]with the subject: Wine Business Bootcamp
• Favorite Wine
  • Sparkling wine
• Favorite go-to pairing
  • Desert wine and something salty
  • Sparkling wine and oysters
• Wine Resource
  • The Wine Bible
  • The Story of Wine

Connect with Chuck

Instagram: @mckahnfamilycellars, @chuck.mckahn.wine

Website: mckahnfamilycellars.com

Let’s continue the Everyday Wine Conversations and connect with me through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]. You can also check out my website at ​www.​klevywineco.com.

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Tweetable Quotes:

“Knowing what you’re doing and knowing what you don’t know in a vineyard are so important.”  - Chuck McKahn

“It takes time to be successful in the wine industry.”  - Chuck McKahn