Q&A and Playlist: Jermaine Stone, the Wolf of Wine

For someone who ended up in the world of wine “completely by accident,” as he describes it, Jermaine Stone has created a niche in the market that is both inclusive and one-of-a-kind. His podcast, The Original Wine & Hip Hop, has been airing for 10 years, and his series Tasting Notes from the Streets, earned him James Beard and Emmy nominations. The show also inspired the now annual Vin et Hip Hop event in Burgundy, Pop et Hip Hop in Champagne, and the newest iteration which landed stateside in LA this March.

We sat down for a chat with Stone about his evolution in the world of wine, the new events, and how wine and hip-hop have more in common than you might think. Scroll to the end for a custom playlist curated by the Wolf of Wine himself. “For me, it’s always about balance. It’s feel-good music, but it still has layers,” says Stone, who would personally open a bottle of 2018 Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru from Domaine des Comtes Lafon while listening. “It’s rich, it’s open, it feels good right away, but it’s still a serious wine with structure behind it—that’s this playlist. Easy to get into, but still intentional.” 

What drew you to the world of wine?

I grew up in the Bronx, very entrenched in hip-hop culture. Like, I was the guy that was supposed to go pro. My parents didn’t even care that I didn’t take my SATs. It was just a given that I was going to get a record deal. But a lot of stuff started changing around me. People started getting in trouble, and my parents were just like, look, you at least need a plan B. So I put myself through business school at night, and my nine-to-five happened to be Zachys Wine Auctions. I was working on the fulfillment side, but I just worked my way up. My first job at Zachys was shipping clerk, and my last job was logistics director. 

Then I moved over to Wally’s and I became an auction director. This was in 2004 and the wine auction house was very young. I kept working my way up and I just fell in love with the people. I became a fixer for any logistical problems. You’re dealing with some of the wealthiest people in the world. So there’s no margin for error when they’re trying to sell a collection or purchase stuff. That’s how my “Wolf of Wine” persona was created, because I was like The Wolf from Pulp Fiction. I was a fixer.

How did you end up launching your consultancy Cru Love and the Wine and Hip Hop podcast in 2016?

After my time at auction, I began consulting for those same high-end collectors, and I knew all these winemakers overseas. But to market yourself in that space is really expensive because you need to be at auctions, and you have to mix and mingle with the super wealthy clients.

At the time, my mom was sick with stage 4 cancer and living with me. So I needed to find a way to make money and still have the flexibility to be home. It was actually [former sommelier and podcaster] Levi Dalton who convinced me to do a wine and hip-hop thing. He was just like, be the wine and hip-hop guy. People know you, people like you, so focus on making that more of your persona. But I didn’t quite know what to do with it, so that’s why I started the podcast.

I could market myself with my fine wine clients, but at the same time, embrace a bit more of who I was—be unique to me and just be comfortable in my own skin. I’d interview rappers and people that are in wine and just show the dichotomy of the kinds of people that I’m able to bring into that space, from Saskia de Rothschild [chairwoman of Château Lafite Rothschild] to [rapper] Styles P from The LOX.

Looking back now on more than 100 episodes of the podcast, do you think it evolved in ways you didn’t expect?

Oh, 100 percent. For me, the initial reason for the guest format was because I was uncomfortable just speaking alone, I didn’t know what to say. But I’ve become a lot more comfortable doing solo episodes where I’m really diving in and trying to tell compelling stories because that’s what both wine and hip-hop do. I knew that I wanted to change wine culture. My mission statement has always been to change the perception of Black men in America. I felt like by showing people how integrated these spaces can be, and how much wine changed me, I could bring more people into wine. And at the same time, it can help other cultures feel more comfortable around people like me just being themselves. Because that’s what wine is about—it’s about sharing, it’s about connection. I say all the time, my whole job is just being myself.

Your show, Tasting Notes from the Streets, started the chain of events that led to the now-annual Vin et Hip Hop event. How did that come together?

It started because I linked with Jeremy Seysses [winemaker and co-owner at Domaine Dujac] to do an episode of Tasting Notes in Burgundy. We stayed in touch and I could see that we shared a mindset of what we thought the wine industry was capable of. I also met his colleague, Milena Berman, who is one of the co-founders of Haute Côtes, which is the agency that ultimately created Vin et Hip Hop.

I happened to be coming back to France in September of that year, 2022. So I reached out to Milena to see if anyone was interested in an event. And she said we’d love to have an end-of-harvest party. So that first event wasn’t even called anything, and there were maybe 150 people. But Dominique Lafon was at the party. And he said it would be cool to do it at Clos de Vougeot, and we had a laugh. I didn’t really think anything of it. But a week or two later, Milena hits me up and said that Clos de Vougeot is into it. So we started planning it for the following year.

And it just keeps getting bigger; last year we had 700 people. Now we have three events this year: the Vin et Hip Hop in LA was in March, Champagne is in June, and then Burgundy again in October. I just feel like this event is a true testimony to what wine is and the capability it has of reaching people. When I’m there on stage as emcee, the look in people’s eyes—they’re just happy to be there. And we’re not bringing out, like, Drake or any multimillion-selling artists. We’re bringing out people that mean something to a specific era in time. And you’re just excited because of the juxtaposition of it. You’re not expecting to see Kool G Rap performing at this thousand-year-old castle. Just thinking about the impact that it’s made has been one of the best things that I’ve seen in my life and career.

You’ve spoken about how both wine and hip-hop are forms of art. What makes it feel like such an organic crossover for you?

We’re all products of our environment. Hip-hop is very much a product of its environment. As a person that’s a hip-hop connoisseur, I can listen to a song and tell if it’s an artist from Memphis. In the same way we have terroir-driven wine, you have terroir-driven songs—how it speaks to the people of where it’s from. Think of a wine region like Sardinia, for example. It’s seaside, and so many of their wines complement seafood, because this was the lifestyle of the people that influenced the wine.

When you have people that have a passion about something, ultimately, hobbies can go across demographics, they can go across every different way that you can categorize people. I look at hip-hop as something that has done that for a long time. And wine is also something that does that. The intention of wine is to be shared. And when you’re at a concert, you’re having that experience with other people, with this thing that can change your perception.