A Filmmaker Exploring Wine Through Story
Wine has long inspired writers, historians, and filmmakers alike, yet few attempt to document its culture through the lens of long-form cinema. Filmmaker and certified sommelier Jack Kauffman has taken on that challenge with an ambitious documentary project that aims to bring lesser-known wine regions and the people behind them into sharper focus.
Kauffman’s background bridges both worlds. With experience working in vineyards in Spain and Chile, managing wine programs, and studying wine business and production in several international programs, he approaches storytelling with both technical understanding and creative perspective. His latest project, Uncorked Potential, seeks to explore the deeper narrative behind wine—one that extends beyond well-known regions such as Napa or Bordeaux and into the emerging landscapes shaping the industry today.
For those interested in the intersection of wine, travel, and culture, the documentary represents a compelling direction for wine media. Rather than focusing on short-form social content, Kauffman’s work emphasizes immersive storytelling and the human experiences behind wine production.
The following interview, originally published by Carl Giavanti, offers insight into Kauffman’s background, filmmaking philosophy, and the experiences that shaped his approach to documenting the world of wine.
The interview below is republished with permission.
Jack Kauffman, an award-winning filmmaker and certified sommelier, has a strong interest in telling stories of wine through motion pictures. His Uncorked Potential wine documentary project represents his greatest effort yet to bring the story of wine to life. Kauffman has worked on vineyards in Andalucia, Spain, and Colchagua Valley, Chile; he’s overseen a wine bar in Charleston, S.C., as the wine director and worked as a specialist at Sotheby’s auction house in the wine department.
Kauffman holds the WSET Level 3 rank with merit, developed and ran the East Coast business of a Napa Valley winery, studied at the IAU wine program in Aix-en-Provence, France, and achieved a 96% grade in Sonoma State University’s Wine Business course. When Jack’s not drinking wine, you can catch him sailing or planning his next adventure.
You can find more on Jack’s latest wine documentary project at www.uncorkedpotentialwine.com/ and more on him personally and his various projects at www.instagram.com/jack_pjk/
How did you come to wine, and to wine documentaries?
I founded my first film production company in high school and have focused on developing every aspect of my craft since. A couple of years later, while at Hobart College in upstate New York, my interest in wine began to bud, as visiting the plethora of wineries in the Finger Lakes was a regular activity for me and my friends. Upon graduating with a media degree, I realized the best way to bring my love of film and wine together was through producing a documentary about Finger Lakes wines, which few New Yorkers knew about despite it being in their backyard, so to speak!
What are your primary story interests?
Primary story interests are all wine related, of course. But adventure stories play a big part in my interests as well. I like to incorporate adventure into my stories of wine, and often focus solely on adventure itself in my short-form hobby films, including exploring Mongolia during the Golden Eagle Festival in autumn of 2024 or sailing a 40-foot racing sailboat from Bermuda to New England through relentless storms during the summer of 2024.
Tell us about your latest documentary projects.
Uncorked Potential is my latest documentary project, and it currently consumes most of my time in the filmmaking part of my career. The hope is to make more wine documentaries about unique, little-known parts of the world, so stay tuned.
Is it possible to make a living as a wine content creator? What are the primary challenges and hurdles you face?
I find it difficult to make a living as a wine content creator, though I’m not a content creator in the modern sense — that being one of social media. I’m striving more for the traditional, long-form media approach, to give viewers full immersion into the story.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
Probably my sailing hobby. My professional focus remains filmmaking and anything related to the world of wine, but I enjoy racing on boats of all sizes as often as I can. I taught sailing for five summers on Nantucket Island and, recently, my team and I managed to win the super-yacht regatta in Newport during summer 2025.
What is one thing you’d like your readers to learn from your wine projects?
That there is so much more going on in the world of wine beyond the classic wine regions like Napa, Tuscany and Bordeaux, and that wine itself is so much more than an alcoholic beverage.
If you weren’t producing wine content for a living, what would you be doing?
Racing sailboats around the world and making films about it.
Can you describe your approach to wine documentaries?
My approach is one of inquisitive and patient curiosity. I spent nearly six months on the pre-production of Uncorked Potential before arriving in Chile – I’m a loyal subscriber to the idea that “failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
Upon arriving in Chile, I spent several weeks living at Viña VIK and working as a junior winemaker, to improve my understanding of winemaking as a wine professional, but also to better inform me of Chilean culture and wines of the region. Following this “stage” (short work stint) I flew in my American and Chilean film crew and we got to work on producing the film. We had help from the Wines of Chile organization in preparing the logistics, as well as a small team of advisors helping at each step of the way.
Ultimately, my process is that of “first principles” reasoning, one where I work backgrounds to determine everything needed for a successful operation, and what the best questions are to ask in order to tell the best possible story.
How do you develop and collaborate with sources for story ideas?
For the Uncorked Potential series, I begin by identifying wine regions of interest, then I pull on a range of sources to find the unique stories within.
Do you post your films on social media?
I try to avoid social media because short form content seems inappropriate for what I’m trying to do, but I acknowledge it as a necessary step in the marketing and branding of Uncorked Potential. I therefore post a range of content to our Instagram account: www.instagram.com/uncorked_potential/
What is your most memorable wine or wine tasting experience?
It’s a long list, but one standout moment was drinking 1985 Salon followed by 1986 Krug Clos du Mesnil at a special event with a client in Charleston; I was almost moved to tears when I tasted it. Another top moment was with my close friend Pablo Chacon and my girlfriend at the time (now wife) at his vineyard in El Tajo of Ronda, Spain — the quality of his biodynamic wines was an epiphany moment for me and created the foundation for a new friendship.
What’s your favorite wine region in the world?
I’m partial to Provence and Bandol, having studied part of my wine degree in Aix-en-Provence, and because I absolutely love the rusticity of a Bandol. Serrania de Ronda in Andalucia is another top one for me.
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