Ep 572: Karen MacNeil, Wine Icon, Author of 'The Wine Bible', Co-Creator of Come Over October

Wine for Normal People

Alcohol, Lifestyle, Arts, Education, Food, Wine, Dining, Grapes

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode I'm joined by author and American wine icon, Karen MacNeil. We discuss her amazing career trajectory in wine from food stamps to international fame, and her new initiative, Come Over October, which is having enormous success in encouraging people to get together over a bottle of wine!

Karen is one of the foremost wine experts in the United States. She's the author of the award-winning book, "The Wine Bible," which has been recognized as "the most comprehensive and authoritative book on wine written by an American author."

Karen is the only American to have won every major wine award given in the English language -- the James Beard award for Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year, the Louis Roederer award for Best Consumer Wine Writing, and the International Wine and Spirits award as the Global Wine Communicator of the Year.

Recently, Karen teamed up with public relations and communications veterans Gino Colangelo and Kimberly Charles (the three are pictured above) to begin a program called Come Over October. Troubled by the disconnect in society due to the faster pace of life and the dominance of technology, these three saw a role for wine. They created Come Over October to encourage friends, family, and colleagues to “come over” during the month of October and share some wine and a personal connection.

The show is mainly about Karen's road to success, and then we wrap with the concept of Come Over October , which I fully support!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Wine for Normal People, the podcast for people who like wine, but not the snobbery that goes with it.
0:15.9	I'm your host, Elizabeth Schneider, author of the Wine for Normal People book, and Certified Wine Dork.
0:21.8	Join me as I hit record on this conversation with a friend in the wine industry.
0:26.2	This and all shows with guests are informal that educational discussions between passionate
0:30.9	wine friends. All guests are personal friends or friends of friends in wine, not strangers.
0:36.2	And like any conversation between friends, we're going to talk back and forth, interrupt
0:40.4	each other, laugh, have fun, debate, tough questions, voice opinions.
0:45.0	Most of all, enjoy sharing our time together and with you.
0:48.1	If you're in, pour yourself a glass, pull up a chair, and join us for this great chat.
0:54.6	Do you want to travel through vineyards across France, Italy, Argentina, and beyond without
0:59.2	leaving your couch? You can do just that by traveling through your glass.
1:03.4	Wines from all over the world are available on wine access and you can do some armchair
1:07.0	travel through your glass. Try wines from classic regions and up and coming areas by
1:11.4	shopping the site or check up my exclusive wine club where I select each bottle based on wine
1:16.0	quality, not label or shelf appeal. Get small production wines from independent producers and
1:20.8	interesting wines. You can't access from bigger producers. Wine access.com slash normal. Listen in
1:27.0	in the middle of the show for more details.
1:29.9	Karen McNeil is one of the foremost wine experts in the United States. She is the author of the
1:35.9	award-winning, hugely famous book of the Wine Bible, recognized as the most comprehensive
1:42.0	and authoritative book on wine written by an American author.
1:46.5	Karen's articles on wine and food have been published in more than 50 magazines and newspapers,
1:51.4	including the New York Times, food and wine, L, town and country, and so much more.
	...

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