Bill Fitch, wine director of Vinegar Hill House and recently opened Hillside talks about his experiences in the wine industry. He discusses the trends of wine, especially in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn food and wine scene. Bill had to have surgery to gain a sense of smell, and upon gaining his sense of scent, was obsessed with smell which led him to wine. In Portland Oregon, he had his first wine related job in a wine cellar, learning all he could about wines. He came to NYC in 1998 and worked at Il Bucco. Soon after, he began putting together wine lists for various NYC restaurants. Currently, he splits his time between Paris and New York City. Today's show was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

I was a kindergarden teacher in the Waldorf and Montessori method... I The enthusiasm is learned and picked up by the children. I like that, everyone is in a certain stage of their wine education." [23:00]

--Bill Fitch on In the Drink

Ingredients of a Sustainable Business with guests: Paul Arenstam of Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, Cathy Whims of Nostrana in Portland, Sarah Barber of Frankies Spuntino and Prime Meats in Brooklyn, and Kate Sanzin of Balthazar in NYC

On this week's episode of Straight From the Source, host Clay Gordon is joined by Gino Dalla Gasperina, founder of Meridian Cacao, a brand new boutique cocoa brokerage firm created specifically to cater to the needs of startup hobbyist and smaller craft chocolate makers looking to source high-quality beans, but don't have the resources to buy tons at a time. Find out what motivated Gino to start the business and hear some of the challenges of direct sourcing cacao. Learn more about cacao production in Trinidad and Tobago and the differences between direct model and fairtrade and other certification models.This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

"There's so many different ways to alleviate yourself from poverty in Trinidad, but there is not too much incentive to be in the agriculture industry."

"Tobago 80 years ago was a thriving cacao producer and since then has become absent."

"The price of fine flavor cacao is so ambiguous. It cannot be pegged to a trader's commodity."

--Gino Dalla Gasperina, founder of Meridian Cacao on Straight From the Source