It was time for a virtual wine tasting courtesy of Bottega Wine and Stile Brands featuring winemaker Sandro Bottega and Stile's Carmen D'Onofio.

Cat: We're going to be talking all things bubbly and all things summer and we're going to let you in on a little thing we did recently, which was a virtual wine tasting. Please, everybody. Welcome today to Carmen D'Onofrio of Stile Brands. Welcome, Carmen.

Well, listen, you're kind of famous in your own right here. Anybody who's a football / soccer fan, like myself, we have ourselves a Whitecaps star on our hands. He also played with the 86ers, so you have this amazing sports background. You're into Italian wines. Tell us now a little bit about yourself and how you came from being a sports star to going into the wine business?

Carmen: Well, I was playing I played soccer a young age when I started I was five years old and played on you know, the various bc select teams and, and youth national teams. And I was fortunate enough to get drafted by the 86ers at that time when I was 16. And, and I played and trained with them, and then went away to University at Stanford University and played varsity soccer for four years. And then came back and played on the Canadian Olympic team was qualifying for the Atlanta 1996 games.

I've played indoor soccer and outdoor soccer for for six years, until my body couldn't hold up anymore. And I had a problem with my left knee and I couldn't train or play, you know, at the same level, on a consistent basis. So it was just kind of time for me to look at my next life. And my dad who started our wine agency, he, unfortunately, became ill with cancer. So it was time for me to you know, reset and take care of the family and take care of business and move on to my next chapter of life.

Cat: Well, I think you've picked a pretty good second career. I'm partial, though, because I am a wine lover, and I think many of my audience is as well. How fun is it to do something like this? It's a big task. But tell us about Stile Brands.

Carmen: