Ray Walker being interviewed on Grape Radio - Questions Needed!

[Chris_Blum]

I don’t have high hopes for much sunshine but I find the idea compelling. Jay, you don’t need it, but you have my blessing.

[Jay_Selman]

@Anton D

After you’ve seen his ‘work,’ and as a Berserker, your choice to promote this guy remains incomprehensible. Then, to promote yourself here for this despicable guy, even more so.

Maybe you can get Erin Andrews to do a promotional appearance at a Marriott.

[Andrew_Christiansen]

What is your relationship to Stephane Hebert: alter ego, imaginary friend, investor etc. Have you and Stephane ever been in the same room?

[Freek_S_u_i_j_v_e_r]

Why did you repeatedly tell many people of wines that “were dropped off at the post office”, then later told them that the wines “would be shipped today”, then later told them that “bottling was finished”, then later that “bottling was in progress”, then later that “bottling would start soon”? Also: why did you ship my wines unannounced to an address from two years ago, even though I repeatedly told you that I had long since moved? Finally: do you think that you have done enough to re-earn my trust?

(and yes: I can back this all up with his e-mails to me)

[George_Chadwick]

People I have a request in advance. Please lay off Jay. He is not your hired attorney and he did not have to post this. Unless Jay implicitly or expressly vouches for Ray’s character or endorses Ray’s version of things, he does not owe you anything and he is being nothing but courteous. Jay you might have to go on the air after your interview to tell the listeners there is a lot of controversy about Ray’s alleged procrastination, disorganization, and dishonesty in order not to be implicitly endorsing Ray’s alleged lies by giving him a forum without rebuttal but Jay is under no obligation to confront Ray with anything during the interview itself. Jay if I were you I would do just that, finish the interview and then solo bring up whatever controversies you could not bring up during the interview without turning it into an ambush. But I predict Ray cancels when he realizes that while Jay is under no obligation to give Ray the third degree, he is also under no obligation to let Ray sell his wine on Jay’s show without rebuttals or confrontation.

[Scott_Everson]

Are you less sympathetic to buyers in China not receiving wines as promised, since chances are better than average that people in China obtain their money through less than honorable means, at least as far as western standards of business are concerned.

[George_Chadwick]

@Scott Everson

Are you less sympathetic to buyers in China not receiving wines as promised, since chances are better than average that people in China obtain their money through less than honorable means, at least as far as western standards of business are concerned.

That is an accusation phrased as a question. Understandable and maybe valid but it would be unfair if after the interview people are mad at Jay because he didn’t play prosecutor…

[Andrew_L]

“People are mad at Jay”

Like what, one person…kind of?

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

I think the disclaimer mentioning Ray’s dissatisfied customers is a good idea.

[Randy_Bowman]

@Chris Blum

Ray is always well prepared. I don’t think the interview will shed much light on his actual winemaking past, present or future. It’s not a deposition and Jay, intelligent and well meaning though he is, will be out of his league dealing with this charming, yet deeply flawed guy.

On a totally unrelated note, I found this article interesting.

Hi Samuel - Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified - symptoms

There are nine specific diagnostic criteria (symptoms) for borderline personality disorder defined in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (referred to as DSM-IV-TR, or just DSM-IV) published in 2000 by the American Psychiatric Association.1 In order to be diagnosed with borderline disorder, you must have five of the nine criteria.

It is now common to list the symptoms of the disorder in four groups or dimensions:

1. Excessive, unstable and poorly regulated emotional responses.
   The most commonly affected emotions are anger, anxiety and depression. Of the nine DSM-IV criteria for borderline disorder, three fall into this group:

Affective (emotional) instability including intense, episodic emotional anguish, irritability, and anxiety/ panic attacks
Anger that is inappropriate, intense and difficult to control, and
Chronic feelings of emptiness
In addition, if you suffer from borderline disorder, you may also experience

Emotional over reactivity (“emotional storms”)
Emotional responses that are occasionally under reactive, and
Chronic boredom
2. Impulsive behaviors that are harmful to you or to others.
Two of the DSM-IV criteria for borderline disorder are in this group:

Self-damaging acts such as excessive spending, unsafe and inappropriate sexual conduct, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating, and
Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-injurious behavior
Also, you may engage in other impulsive behaviors such as actions that are harmful and destructive to yourself, others or to property.

3. You may have an inaccurate view of yourself and others, and experience a high level of suspiciousness and other misperceptions.

Two of the DSM-IV criteria for borderline disorder are included in this group:

A markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of your self (your identity), and
Paranoid ideation or severe dissociative episodes (transient and stress related)
In addition, you may consistently experience

Expectations of negative and harmful attitudes and behaviors from most people
Impaired social reasoning under stress
Impaired memory under stress
4. Finally, you may experience tumultuous and very unstable relationships.

The final two DSM-IV criteria fall in this group:

You may engage in frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, and
Your relationships may be very intense, unstable, and alternate between the extremes of over idealizing and undervaluing people who are important to you
You may also recognize that you have overly dependent and clinging behavior in important relationships.

Thanks Chris. Carrie read this, looked at me and said “That explains it Lucy. I’ll make you appointment with the shrink.”

[Randy_Bowman]

Back on topic, Ray has a lot of irons in the fire. In addition to MI as is and the cars, he has talked about expanded his winery and opened a market in Hong Kong/China. This indicates either great success or more sources of capital. To expand into Hong Kong/China, he must increase his production to meet a demand much greater than he has been able to keep up with so far.

What’s his plan to expand production? Doing it in the garage with marbles and corking bottles by hand won’t be adequate, so there must be a number of changes in his wine making to meet demand.

If he is the only one doing the marketing, will he still be hands on through the course of production?

What other changes has/will he made/make to ensure quality of the wine and proper distribution?

These questions are not that challenging, but each has myriad of follow up questions that can be asked based upon the answers.

There is little doubt that Ray is monitoring this thread. It will give him an opportunity to prepare for the interview as well as recognize his mistakes or arrogance. A no show is an admission of guilt, regardless of the excuse. Ray has an opportunity explain his past and his future. The ball is in his court.

[Jay_Selman]

@Andrew L.

“People are mad at Jay”

Like what, one person…kind of?

I honestly do not understand this.

[Gary_York]

Well maybe you don’t. But I can tell you that I question your motivation, honesty/integrity and sanity because of the interview. Do want you want, but don’t be surprised at how some view this and you. Some stains are hard to wash off.

[Jay_Selman]

@George Chadwick

People I have a request in advance. Please lay off Jay. He is not your hired attorney and he did not have to post this. Unless Jay implicitly or expressly vouches for Ray’s character or endorses Ray’s version of things, he does not owe you anything and he is being nothing but courteous. Jay you might have to go on the air after your interview to tell the listeners there is a lot of controversy about Ray’s alleged procrastination, disorganization, and dishonesty in order not to be implicitly endorsing Ray’s alleged lies by giving him a forum without rebuttal but Jay is under no obligation to confront Ray with anything during the interview itself. Jay if I were you I would do just that, finish the interview and then solo bring up whatever controversies you could not bring up during the interview without turning it into an ambush. But I predict Ray cancels when he realizes that while Jay is under no obligation to give Ray the third degree, he is also under no obligation to let Ray sell his wine on Jay’s show without rebuttals or confrontation.

Thanks for this. I sorta get the any publicity is good publicity mentality. I wanted to talk to Ray so we could directly address all the anger towards him personally and his winery. He is entitled to give his own perspective (spin?) on the issues. I love wine and my nature is rather positive. However that does not equate to being a pushover. We have tried to avoid (to varying degrees of success) at being a 60 minute infomercial. Eric can personally verify about material that never got aired because he felt it was too promotional. He could also tell you about at times where he felt I was hard on a guest.

I have been thinking a great deal about the wisdom of doing this show. If we are too hard, we might not give Ray a fair shake and certainly could come off as being real a-holes. Too easy and we are fluffers. Despite all this, I still want to do the show because it fascinates me. If you take the most favorable interpretation of events, it becomes a valuable lesson to future “I want to be a winemaker” listeners. That my friends makes this worth the effort.

Lastly, I originally posted this as part of the 2012 thread for the specific purpose to keep this low key. Todd decided on his own to start a new thread on the topic. I don’t take issue with his decision, but its a worth noting.

[Craig_G]

I’d say do this interview however you like. Then do a companion piece and interview Freek, Chris and some of the other people who starred in the 2011 thread.

[CFu]

Wonder how it went

[jdietz]

@c fu

Wonder how it went

Today, Charlie, today.

[Rob_Winn]

The Clippers managed to pull it out C Fu.

[Brian_Gilp]

Perhaps he could clarify how he bottles. Per the web page it’s by hand. Per the video on his blog it’s a bottling line.

This could lead into the cork label mismatch question.

[ToddFrench]

@Jay Selman

Thanks for the Good Luck wishes. Eric and I will need it. Its Eric’s call on when we will post. However, if we think the show sucks, we will not post it.

I do not know if Ray is a con artist. I like him, but that does not mean anything. I do know that as a business man (or even as a con artist), he is not very good. So I am biased. I plan to tell him that upfront before we start the interview. However, I feel we can produce a show that at a minimum is entertaining, and potentially enlightening.

I believe that one can build trust without much effort. Simply be honest with yourself and those around you. Never fail to deliver on a promise. Once trust is broken it almost never can be rebuilt. That is why I value trust so much.

These two statements are quite contradictory, as he’s proven not to fulfill the values you do, so why do you like him, exactly?