A Project By
Gary Robins & John Jacobsen

 

A Project By
Gary Robins & John Jacobsen

 

A Project By
Gary Robins & John Jacobsen

 

A Project By
Gary Robins & John Jacobsen

 

A Project By
Gary Robins & John Jacobsen

 

A Project By
Gary Robins & John Jacobsen

When trailblazers conquer adversity to forge America’s wine legacy, they unleash a 400-year journey of ambition, passion, and triumph—culminating in some of the finest wines on Earth.
I was surprised to discover that the full history of American wine—its grit, defiance, and reinvention—had never been told on screen. While wine today is a global powerhouse, its journey in America is uniquely its own—a battle against nature, failure, and doubt, fought by cowboys and pioneers, the John Waynes of wine, who faced impossible odds and refused to back down. When the world told them wine couldn’t be made here, their answer was the same as Ethan Edwards in The Searchers: “That’ll be the day.” Too often, wine shows feel exclusive, catering to connoisseurs while leaving everyday people behind. But wine belongs to everyone. As a veteran sommelier at Seattle’s Fairmont Olympic Hotel, I’ve seen firsthand how wine brings people together, no matter their background. This series makes wine history accessible, engaging, and deeply American—a story of determination, resilience, and craftsmanship. For centuries, American winemaking seemed doomed to fail—harsh climates proved unforgiving, European vines withered, disease wiped out entire regions, and every attempt collapsed. Yet relentless pioneers refused to quit, forging a legacy that redefined the world’s expectations. Just fifty years ago, fine wine in America was nearly unheard of, dismissed as cheap table wine or an afterthought to Europe. But the shift that made wine an American thriving industry wasn’t just a business evolution—it was a battle fought by visionaries, risk-takers, and dreamers who overcame pestilence, sun, rain, and snow, prohibition, shifting tastes, and even Europe’s determination—especially France’s—to keep America from becoming a winemaking powerhouse. We’ve completed the pilot episode and outlined the five-episode series, bringing these stories to life with expert storytelling, cinematic reenactments, and striking hand-drawn animation that ignites the imagination often with a sense of whimsy. It’s The Searchers meets Somm—an epic journey through 400 years of American winemaking, blending the grit of frontier pioneers with the obsession, dedication, and craftsmanship behind American wine. – Gary Robins

SYNOPSIS

Forget everything you thought you knew about wine. This isn’t just grapes and terroir—it’s about gunslingers, pioneers, immigrant dreamers, and bootleggers. America’s Winemakers is the first-ever documentary series to tell the sweeping, cinematic, and surprisingly wild history of how wine took root in the New World. From Leif Erikson’s discovery of wild grapes in Vinland to the Swiss winemaker who planted Kentucky’s first vineyard with Daniel Boone’s help… from Hungarian aristocrats smuggling vines across Europe to the Gallo brothers turning table wine into an empire… this is a story of ambition, risk, reinvention—and resilience. And yes, there’s drama: Prohibition nearly wiped it all out, yet the American wine industry came roaring back. Today, wine is produced in all 50 states, and the U.S. is now the world’s largest wine consumer. But almost no one knows how it happened. Told through sweeping cinematography, intimate interviews, and whimsical animated vignettes, America’s Winemakers is where Ken Burns meets John Wayne. This is not another Napa Valley travelogue. It’s a bold reimagining of the wine documentary: emotionally rich, visually daring, and rooted in history as thrilling as the frontier itself. Wine is a $375 billion global industry—and growing. Audiences are hungry for lifestyle and food content, but America’s Winemakers offers something more: a gripping, character-driven origin story with heart, history, and an untapped storytelling landscape.

LIVE ACTION & ANIMATION STYLE

Striking visual storytelling paired with comedic timing balances grit and the spirit of adventure with moments of humor that often break the fourth wall—a combination never seen in highfalutin wine documentaries.

Animated sequences weave throughout the narrative, often combining with live action, adding a touch of whimsey to convey as sense of history, the passage of time, and the internal mental states of the characters.

Historic footage and photographs solidify time and place, and mark the advancement of time and technology to modern-day winemaking.

Striking visual storytelling paired with comedic timing balances grit and the spirit of adventure with moments of humor that often break the fourth wall—a combination never seen in highfalutin wine documentaries.

Animated sequences weave throughout the narrative, often combining with live action, adding a touch of whimsey to convey as sense of history, the passage of time, and the internal mental states of the characters.

Historic footage and photographs solidify time and place, and mark the advancement of time and technology to modern-day winemaking.

AUDIENCES

Wine Enthusiasts

Wine Enthusiasts

Wine Tourists

Wine Tourists

American History Buffs

American History Buffs

Foodies

Foodies

Casual Viewers

Casual Viewers

Casual Wine Drinkers

Casual Wine Drinkers

OUR TEAM

GARY ROBINS

GARY ROBINS

PRODUCER, WINE GUY

JOHN JACOBSEN

JOHN JACOBSEN

WRITER

TIM GIRVIN

TIM GIRVIN

DESIGN

DREW CHRISTIE

DREW CHRISTIE

ANIMATION & ILLUSTRATION

Files

Thank you for visiting our site! We’re excited to share our project with you. You’re welcome to view the pilot script directly, or if you’d like to download both the script and our pitch deck, simply fill out the contact form below. Once submitted, you’ll receive immediate access to these materials. We appreciate your interest and look forward to connecting with you. Your support helps bring this vision to life, and we can’t wait to share more with you soon!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Gary Robins
Producer

Vine & Verse Media
451 S 328th St 17D
Federal Way, WA 98003

(206) 429-5540

gary@vineandversemedia.com

For more information and to download our pitch deck and pilot script, please fill out the contact form below:

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