At a recent family gathering, Grape Encounters host David Wilson realized that he couldn’t keep it inside any longer. He had a secret that he hadn’t shared with either of his older brothers. As a child, he used to borrow, without permission, their record albums, sometimes at the risk of torture or worse. With a shared love of classic rock, David wondered how they would react to his confession. He broke the news to the eldest brother, Bob, first.  “Bob, there’s something that I want to confess to you, and I am not sure how you’re going to react. You might find this hard to believe,” he continued, “but I am a Swifty and proud of it!” Bob’s response was predictable. “A Swifty? What in the world is a Swifty?” With a healthy degree of trepidation, David answered the question. “A Swifty is a dedicated fan of Taylor Swift, but I doubt you even know who that is.” To David's surprise, Bob knew exactly who Taylor Swift was and responded quite unpredictably. “You know, doubt that I'm a Swifty, but from everything that I have heard and read about her, I'm pretty impressed. I can’t say I care for her music very much, but I sure do like what she's doing to spread positivity and bring people together.” It was a response that David wouldn’t have anticipated in a million years from a brother who generally hates anything to do with pop culture, modern music, and social media. Nonetheless, Brother Bob clearly recognizes what hundreds of millions of people around the world recognize: Taylor Swift is good for America and the world. And though there are many who might take grave exception to her political posture, she is seldom attacked on social media because what she brings to a sharply divided and volatile world is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. She is, quite literally, America's ambassador of goodwill, as evidenced by an impact on the American economy this year alone of more than $5 billion and a waiting list for concert tickets around the world that is sometimes in the millions. For at least the past year, Grape Encounters host David Wilson has been deeply intrigued by the Taylor Swift phenomenon, and what makes her an exceptional subject for Grape Encounters Radio is the massive amount of interest that people have in her taste in wine. It seems that everybody wants to know what is inside those wine glasses that she is often seen holding on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Given the massive influence she has on her audience, there can be little doubt that her taste in wine has the potential to significantly bolster vino sales. Every marketing executive and wine producer in the world ought to be paying close attention to that question. David recently found himself pondering a very interesting comparison between what is now the most successful concert tour in history and the most important event in American wine history: the 1976 Judgment of Paris. There is no chapter on American winemaking that had a greater positive impact on the world's impression of American, or more specifically, California wines. In this very intriguing episode of Grape Encounters Radio, David draws comparisons between these two events that, in their own ways, have generated more positivity where America is concerned than nearly any other single event that you might be able to think of. We are living in times where Americans feel hard-pressed to rally around anything as universally inspiring and joyful as the Taylor Swift happy machine or the Judgment of Paris back in 1976, which continues to be written about and dissected every single day. If you think that perhaps David is off his rocker or that this conversation is likely to be a bit of a stretch—make that a huge stretch—keep an open mind and give a listen. You might just come away with a very different point of view and some very decent and well-deserved reasons to be proud of being an Am...