Wine Isn’t Booze | James Silver | Barrels and Roots

In this Barrels and Roots episode, I sit down with James Silver, a three-decade wine industry executive whose love for wine started by accident in Burgundy and never let go. We get into why wine hits different, not as an alcohol delivery system, but as an emotional experience, a lifestyle, and a ritual that pulls people together across generations.

We talk about wine as memory and time travel, how opening a bottle can instantly take you back to where you were when that vintage was born, and why sharing a bottle creates community in a way most drinks simply do not. Jim and I also dig into what’s been lost as the wine business has been pushed toward efficiency, sameness, and manufactured experiences, and why Napa can feel like a cartoon of itself now compared to the humanity it used to have. Along the way we connect wine to music, vinyl, film, and the idea of needing guides and human conversation again, the kind that helps people explore without feeling intimidated.

If you care about authenticity, small producers, and why slowing down matters in a world built for speed, this conversation is basically a love letter to what wine can still be.