Italian Wine Podcast Returns to TEXSOM for Exclusive 2026 Interview Series

Hosted by wine journalist and author Jessica Dupuy, the series will feature conversations with professionals working across wine, hospitality, education, retail, and communications.

VERONA, Italy, Aug. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TEXSOM and Italian Wine Podcast have renewed their media partnership for a third consecutive year. The interview series will coincide with TEXSOM 2026, taking place August 23–25 at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.

Hosted by Texas-based wine journalist and author Jessica Dupuy DipWSET, the series will feature conversations with educators, buyers, writers, sommeliers, business leaders, and other professionals attending the annual beverage-industry conference.

Confirmed guests include James Tidwell MS, co-founder of TEXSOM and producer of the TEXSOM Awards; Chris Martin MW, Director of Education at Wine Scholar Guild; sommelier and educator Chris Struck; Debbie Zachareas, owner and managing partner of Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant and Oxbow Cheese & Wine Merchant; and Samantha Cole-Johnson, Senior Editor US for JancisRobinson.com. Additional guests will be announced during the series.

"TEXSOM brings together some of the most thoughtful and accomplished people working in wine, but many of the richest conversations extend beyond the seminar room," said Dupuy. "This series gives us the opportunity to slow those conversations down, explore the experiences behind the expertise, and share the ideas shaping wine, hospitality, education, and communication with listeners around the world."

The interviews will address topics including education, leadership, service, retail, communication, professional development, changing consumer behaviour, and the future of the wine business. Guests will also discuss their career paths, including the decisions, challenges, mentors, and experiences that have influenced their work.

"TEXSOM is where the wine industry comes to learn, debate, reconnect and, occasionally, challenge its own assumptions," said Stevie Kim, founder of the Italian Wine Podcast. "Returning for a third year gives us the chance to capture those conversations while they are still fresh and share them with a much wider audience. Through Jessica's interviews, listeners can hear directly from the people influencing how wine is taught, sold, communicated, and experienced in the United States, and what that means for Italian wine."

Founded as the Texas Sommelier Conference, TEXSOM brings beverage professionals together for seminars, tastings, discussions, and networking. The Italian Wine Podcast series will also make selected conversations from the conference available to an international audience.

The partnership also supports the broader editorial scope of Italian Wine Podcast. While the programme remains focused on Italian wine, it also covers subjects affecting the international wine sector, including hospitality, distribution, education, sustainability, communication, and market development.

Episodes from the TEXSOM 2026 series will be released through the Italian Wine Podcast website and major podcast platforms. The complete schedule and additional guest announcements will be shared through the podcast's digital channels.

About TEXSOM

Founded in 2005 as the Texas Sommelier Conference, TEXSOM has grown into a leading educational conference for wine, beverage, food, and hospitality professionals. What began as an initiative to advance professional wine-service standards and beverage education has developed into an international forum for learning, mentorship, networking, and the exchange of ideas.

Through its annual conference, awards program, educational initiatives, and professional community, TEXSOM brings together sommeliers, buyers, producers, educators, writers, judges, and beverage leaders from around the world. Its mission is to move the beverage industry forward through inclusiveness, camaraderie, education, mentorship, and informed discussion of the opportunities and challenges affecting the field.

About the Italian Wine Podcast: Cin Cin with Italian Wine People! launched in 2017 as a project dedicated exclusively to the Italian wine world. The program uncovers the unique world of Italian wine in conversation with some of its key protagonists. Under the umbrella brand of Mamma Jumbo Shrimp, Italian Wine Podcast aims to inform, educate, and entertain listeners with content for wine professionals and casual listeners alike. The only daily wine podcast in the world, content includes wine business, food & travel, diversity and inclusion, wine producers, science, and marketing and communication. Italian Wine Podcast is available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, XimalayaFM (for China), and on the official website. It now boasts over 2700 recorded episodes with a growing online following of nearly 7 million listens. Donations to the show are welcomed and help fund a portion of the show's equipment, production, and publication costs. To advertise in the show, please request a prospectus and/or customized advertising plan from [email protected]. Cin Cin!

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SOURCE Italian Wine Podcast