Unofficial transcript of a conversation between Amazon founder and world's wealthiest man, Jeff B., and Amazon Prime member Bradley N. (The "Yelp Whisperer"), wine blogger, writer, and head sommelier of @The Redwood Bistro. (Recorded live in San Mateo County, California on July 2, 2019). Jeff: Hi everyone, and welcome to the second episode of the new Amazon Studios documentary series, “Jammin’ with Jeff.” In each episode of the series, I'll be visiting Amazon Prime customers around the world, who will tell me about one specific product they recently purchased online that literally changed their lives for the better. Remember, too, that when you are jammin’ with Jeff, you are always “primed and ready for a really great time.”® Let’s get right to it, shall we?. As you can see from the gorgeous redwoods in the background and the delicious looking spread of food and wine in front of us, we’re back in the Santa Cruz Mountains just south of San Francisco, speaking for the second time in a row with Amazon Prime member, Bradley N., the "Yelp Whisperer," who is in charge of the craft beer, fine wine, and spirits program at this remarkable little pop-up bistro, whose food and wine offerings rival those of Michelin-starred restaurants down below in nearby Silicon Valley. And, if I’m not mistaken about this, Bradley, you’re also the head chef and co-founder of @The Redwood Bistro, are you not? Bradley: Yes, that’s right, Jeff. We’re a tiny operation, so everyone who works @The Redwood Bistro has to wear many hats. Most of the time, it’s just my wife and me who handle kitchen and serving duties, with a couple of students we recruit from Stanford to help us out with wine and drinks and also with the cleanup. J: Wow! You know, when I started Amazon in Seattle years ago, it also was quite small when compared to the Amazon of today. Everyone played a part in everything, and there was this energy. It was electric! Sometimes, I miss those days. But then I look at my latest financial statements, and I decide otherwise. B: Well, for our parts, my wife and I never intended @The Redwood Bistro to be a profit center. It’s more like a labor of love. J: I can appreciate that as well. Much of what I do these days is in the field of experimental capital investment, and I’m up to my ears in a host of philanthropic causes as well. So, I totally get what you are saying. B: I’m sure that you do. I mean, the whole “Jammin’ with Jeff” series that you’ve just started streaming on Amazon Prime Unlimited is basically a way to celebrate the average Joe customers out there, like myself, who get this amazing opportunity to promote a consumer home product that has made a big difference in their lives. Personally speaking, I find that a very worthwhile cause. J: Which is the perfect segue into the main subject of our conversation this afternoon. What say we end the suspense for our viewers? What’s the life-changing product that you’ve brought for us to talk about? B: Well, since I’m speaking with you today in my capacity as the head sommelier @The Redwood Bistro, it’s going to be related to wine appreciation. Take a look: the Rabbit™ Wine Shower-Funnel with Strainer, from a company based in your home town, so to speak, of Seattle, Washington. J: A wine shower what? I’m sorry. I think I lost you there. You said the words “funnel” and “strainer.” Funny, I do enjoy wine myself, but those are terms I typically associate with cooking, not wine drinking. Cocktail making, maybe. But not fine wine. B: Well, that’s precisely my point, Jeff. Most people know about waiter’s corkscrews and decanting vessels and maybe even own a Vinturi wine aerator that someone gifted them for their 30th birthday. But the truth of the matter is, if you’ve got a Rabbit™ Wine Shower-Funnel with Strainer, it’s almost like you’ve got your very own sommelier at your service. J: Come on! B: Well, you’d also need a pair of really nice wine glasses, like the Gabriel Glas Austrian Crystal “StandArt” Edition two piece set ($62.50 on Amazon), and you’d need a nice glass decanter by a top manufacturer like Riedel, such as their Cabernet model (around $50 on Amazon). But the funnel and strainer are key to unlocking the essence of truly great and distinctive wines. J: Why is that, exactly? B: Really well made wines like to breathe after opening, especially ones that you’ve been cellaring for a few years or more. But they don’t like to be awakened from their slumber violently, no more than a teenager likes to be shaken awake by his dad at 6am in the morning. Gentle is best: a soft caress with a very light and loving touch. And then, that wine will just blossom in the glass and make your meal that much more special. J: OK, I think I follow you. But what makes the Rabbit™ Wine Shower-Funnel with Strainer such a great tool for aerating an expensive bottle of wine? B: It’s made of non-reactive stainless steel, for one, not plastic like the Vinturi models out there or other versions you might find at your basic Williams Sonoma store at the mall. And the funnel has tiny holes at the tip that actually create a “shower effect” as you pour the wine into your glass decanter. It looks nice, too, so we generally perform this operation directly at the table of our guests here @The Redwood Bistro. J: That’s the wine shower-funnel bit, I get that now. But you also mentioned something about a strainer as well? B: Nothing gets past that razor-sharp mind of yours, does it Jeff? J: Usually not. Just ask my board of directors. B: I trust you! Anyway, the strainer attachment is separate from the shower-funnel. It’s also made of stainless steel but has a fine mesh lining that allows you to filter out sediment and other solid matter that can accumulate at the bottom or sides of a bottle of wine that’s been in the cellar for a while. J: I know about that sediment stuff. At fancy restaurants, the wine stewards will decant the wine by the light of a candle and make a big deal about leaving the gunk, if you will, in the bottle and not in your glass. Unless they do a poor job, and then the last pour of your wine is filled with that crud. B: Right. It’s not harmful obviously, but isn’t very aesthetically pleasing, either. So, if you use the strainer part while decanting your wine for aeration purposes, it’s like a twofer. Aerating and filtering all in one. Our guests just love it. J: I can see why! You are educating them about proper wine etiquette without being stuffed up jerks about it. That’s fantastic! B: But wait, Jeff. It gets even better! Our guests are so taken by the Rabbit™ Wine Shower-Funnel with Strainer that we’ve ended up ordering a bunch of extras on Amazon and, at the end of the meal, we present them a gift-wrapped one in a special box along with a signed and framed copy of the tasting menu that day, along with a high-resolution bottle shot of the particular wine that they ordered. It doesn’t cost all that much, and it is super special. Our guests often email or text us days or weeks later about how the Rabbit™ Wine Shower-Funnel with Strainer has revolutionized their home wine drinking and serving practices. Then they usually log into their Amazon Prime accounts and order a few more as gifts for their family and friends when Christmas and Hanukkah roll around. J: It’s like some sort of virtuous cycle, isn’t it? We at Amazon make a deal with a great local company like rabbitwine.com. Then, people in the wine or hospitality business like you discover the product and share it with others, who in turn order more of the product as gifts. And then the cycle repeats all over again. It’s brilliant! B: Yes, but it only works because the Rabbit™ Wine Shower-Funnel with Strainer is such a great, durable, and useful tool for sommeliers and wine writers like me who appreciate its quality craftsmanship and ingenious design, rather than just letting it collect dust in the back of a kitchen drawer, which is what many of my other win
