Today is the first day of Black History Month. It’s a time to celebrate the determination and perseverance of the members of the black network who have damaged the barriers of American culture as a whole. Charles Woodson deserves to be honored as his indelible mark on society began with excellence in football and continues with life-changing contributions off the field. He is the only defensive player in history to win the Heisman Trophy. Woodson is also a Super Bowl champion and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. Now, after the NFL, his goal is excellence as a broadcaster, businessman, philanthropist, and of course, maintaining his prestige as a savvy user in general.
I had the excitement of interviewing Woodson for Forbes to talk about his love of wine and partnering with O’Neill Vintners
When I was drafted by the Raiders in 1998, we had our spring education camp in Napa Valley. There I met other people hanging around and smelling their glasses during lunch, talking about their private wine collections, bringing their own bottles to dinner and I was curious to know more about this world I had never seen before. It had never been exhibited before. During my winemaking journey, I began to fall in love with this world and learned that what I was looking for most was to find a way to share the joy I discovered in wine with others who, like me, had never been exposed or informed about wine before. .
Intercept is all about “intercepting” and turning the way other people understand wine, showing them that smart-tasting wine can be available and affordable to everyone, not just a few, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who supports me, especially my fans, who continue to make Intercept’s smart fortune possible.
As we look to reach the next million, we use wine in the same way I used football. In football and viticulture, no season is the same and you have to work, regardless of external factors. It’s about running in combination as a support team, then celebrating and enjoying the end results. We will continue to craft exceptional wines, expand distribution, and find new strategies to connect with our enthusiasts across the country to help them spread the message to their circle of family and friends.
I created Intercept for my enthusiasts, as one of my main goals is to help new people enter the world of wine. But all too often, high-quality wines are overpriced, making them inaccessible. When I retired from the NFL, my enthusiastic I was looking for other tactics to join and wine is the most productive adjunct. I knew I had the possibility to provide my enthusiasts with a way to interact and be more informed about wine while generating global class and high quality. product if I figured out the right component, which is a big component of why I made the decision to create components. With Jeff O’Neill and his team to create Intercept.
It took me two years to find the right spouse for what is now Intercept Wines; He didn’t need to stay away; I had a vision and wanted to surround myself with a team and a partner capable of building something special.
In the end, the decision came down to finding a partner whose values and roles align with who I am: producing exceptional and available wines, the pursuit of excellence, and being proud of what I do. That’s what I discovered with Jeff O’Neill and his team at O’Neill Vintners.
I have worked with Amanda Gorter from the start and I see it as a true partnership. When we first began this journey, Amanda showed me the vineyards and taught me a lot about what goes into wine and the art of winemaking. We started by focusing on the style and characteristics that I prefer in each varietal and then tailoring the blends to create wines that are both approachable and of the highest quality, a task which required a lot of sampling and blending before we got to where Intercept is today. Amanda is dedicated to the craft and creativity of winemaking, so on each vintage, we collaborate on delivering innovative wines that are bold and expressive but also authentically represent the regions they come from, such as Paso Robles. From the beginning, I knew I could trust Amanda to bring her expertise and passion to bring to life my vision for Intercept wine and she continues to deliver each and every year. She has been an amazing partner and I’m so grateful for all the hard work she puts into this brand.
Intercept’s Winemaker Amanda Gorter and Charles Woodson
From my long career as a footballer to making wines that stand the test of time, I’ve learned the importance of focusing on both the supply and the future. This is one of the main reasons why, in partnership with the O’Neill family, I am proud of the next generation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) who need to pursue careers in the wine industry through the Charles Woodson Family Scholarship Program.
We are entering our fourth year of the program in 2024 and expect to see the first generation of grantees this spring. I can’t think of a better way to empower the next generation of wine professionals than with scholarships at the most sensible colleges in the heart of America’s wine country. Jeff O’Neill and I hope our efforts will inspire others in the wine industry to take similar steps to achieve greater diversity of skills within our industry.
In addition to proceeding to brew new vintages of our existing Intercept strains and sharing them with our fans, we have something new just around the corner that I’ve been looking to create for a while. I can’t wait to share more at Super Bowl Weekend, but in the meantime, it’s safe to say we’ve had some wonderful concepts popping up for a while now.
A spirit was planned to be released long before bourbon. It was literally a plan without a plan. I had to put that aside temporarily. I knew I had a hobby of seeking to give other people an experience, having already had wine for years. I just wanted to be able to add to that experience and a spirit. , for me, was the way to go. Bourbon is one of the spirits that I would say I stumbled upon through possibility and knew very temporarily that this was the path I was looking to take, so a spirit has been in the works for me. for a long time and despite everything it is here and I am enjoying it.
yes, that’s definitely a call I came up with. Of course, that’s a play on words. I like to create calls that catch other people off guard once they realize what it’s all about. The Heis-Manhattan was a concept I had and I think it stuck.
No, wine definitely was first. Wine is something that I began to enjoy early in my career with the Raiders spending a great deal of time in Napa Valley and getting a great understanding of what wine means to the Napa Valley region and to the people there. What it means to the food and wine experience there. Wine was definitely the precursor to getting into whiskey so wine would definitely be the first love.
Being the official bourbon of the Las Vegas Raiders is pretty cool in my opinion. It’s anything I said off the record that I am/was the official bourbon of the Las Vegas Raiders. Then one of my team members at Woodson Whiskey contacted the Raiders and we asked them what it would look like. We started talking about how we could accomplish this as a small business looking to enter the industry. And you know, it worked where we thought we could, so we went. for that, and now we’re the official bourbon of the Los Vegas Raiders. It’s wonderful to walk into a game and see our ad on the stadium jumbotron and other people can see my face with the product and then also shout the Raiders chant. with me. We are very proud of this achievement and of maintaining this position. Myself and the entire Woodson Whiskey team are very pleased with this and warmly thank the Raiders for believing in us as partners.
Lately I have been enjoying “The Golfer” cigar. It’s from a friend of mine, Werbin Vargas, owner of his own cigar company called The Golfer. It has 3 other versions. It has “El Par”, “El Pajarito” and “El Águila”. One called “The Albatross” will also be released at some point. These are Dominican cigars made through a tobacco corporation in the Dominican Republic. I think with Woodson Whiskey, our signature bottle, it pairs well with “The Par,” which uses a lighter bodied cigar. Plus, our signature bottle pairs well with “The Birdie,” which is a step above “The Par” in terms of boldness. I think our signature whiskey holds up and complements any of those cigars well. Our 2-year commemorative bottle of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Raiders, which we just released in Nevada, pairs well and holds its own against “The Eagle” cigar, as it is a wonderful and superior tasting flavor, but a little bolder than our signature bourbon . This is what I’ve been enjoying the last few years as I’ve had more time to play golf, drink whiskey with a cigar, since our season on Fox Sports recently ended.
When other people taste Woodson Bourbon whiskey, I just need them to feel calm and comforted, like they don’t have a care in the world. I need that experience of sitting down and enjoying a glass of Woodson whiskey so they can just say “you. “You know what? For the next 30 to forty-five minutes or whatever, I’ll be fine. Then you can think about everything else. So, I just need you to enjoy the fullness, the flavor, the profile of the bourbon and be able to just relax. I think that’s what life is all about and that’s the delight I need you to have with Woodson Bourbon. Just a carefree, seated moment where you can laugh or enjoy your friends.
With pairings, I prefer to have Woodson Whiskey pre-dinner and post-dinner. I like to start off with a cocktail beforehand. Old Fashioned are always a favorite of mine. Then after dinner, I like to experience Woodson Bourbon Whiskey neat. To me, I do not prefer to have it with my meal, I would rather experience it on its own.
With wine and speaking of the winter months, I think our Intercept Red Blend or Cabernet Sauvignon pairs perfectly with a beef stew. For Pinot Noir, if you can get your hands on a smart roast duck to go with it, you’re in a smart place. These are the things I like to accompany my wine with those winter months. Of course, Chardonnay goes well with any seafood or octopus, and a small watercress salad with a few oranges and strawberries. Oh man, you’re going to love him.