Cuong Pham

67 Minutes

Cuong Pham has one of the most remarkable stories we've ever heard on the podcast. He escaped Vietnam in 1979 and lived in a refugee camp in Malaysia before making it to the U.S. Here he became an engineer at Apple in its early days where he built a long, successful career.

In the early 2000s, with a longing for the flavors of his mother's cooking, he began the work of creating Red Boat Fish Sauce company, which has become a global phenomenon.

Cuong's most recent adventure began when he and his wife, Ann, purchased a hillside property on Soda Canyon Road in Napa Valley. With his new vineyard established, Cuong has launched a winery called Doi Da, which is Vietnamese for "Rocky Hill." We learned about the wines both from him and his highly regarded winemaker Nova Cadamatre.

We also learned a host of surprising similarities between making fish sauce and producing wine, involving terroir, harvest, fermentation, aging, and more.

We were riveting by this one.

Learn more at:
redboatfishsauce.com
doidawine.com