Arable

About Arable

A documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective. Learn more at thefuturecollective.org/arable.

Publisher

THE FUTURE COLLECTIVE

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Feb 2026

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026

   Arable Short 05 | Gleaning Orchards with Marreya Bailey

   Arable Short 05 | Gleaning Orchards with Marreya Bailey walks a Sebastopol orchard picking fruit tree by tree, choosing what's ripe by taste rather than variety name, since some of these old apple trees have crossed or been grafted so many times over the decades that no one can identify them anymore. Marreya traces how that same instinct shapes her cider work, from a single-orchard sparkling perry infused with pink jasmine and wildflower honey to a still cider made from an 80-year-old orchard's unnamed apples, and makes the case that cider deserves to be treated with the same seriousness as wine: it's a living ferment, not a mass-manipulated product, and it's long past time American drinkers were introduced to what it can really be. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective. We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

2. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Arable: Episode 08 | Anthropology and Agriculture

   Arable: Episode 08 | Anthropology and Agriculture | Mad Marvlus' Marreya Bailey & Dos' Bar's Aaon Brown follows Marreya's path into wine, which ran through biological anthropology, the Court of Master Sommeliers, and harvests split between Sonoma County and Vermont, where she fell for hybrid grapes and fruit wine. The conversation traces the anthropology of fermentation itself: an archaeological dig in the Bahamas that turned up sacred fermented vessels, the erased history of Jupiter Evans and other enslaved cidermakers who shaped Thomas Jefferson's orchards, and how Prohibition-era politics helped rebrand cider as sugary apple juice. Marreya and Aaron dig into why wine and cider carried medicinal and ceremonial weight long before they became industrial products, and why community, transparency, and diversity, not scale, are what will carry the next generation of producers forward. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective. We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

3. 

   15 Sept 2026

   Episode 07, "Hospitality and Place", Lauren Feldman, Valley Bar + Bottle & Dan Marioni, Marioni Wines

   Episode 07, "Hospitality and Place", Lauren Feldman, Valley Bar + Bottle & Dan Marioni, Marioni Wines brings together two Sonoma natives who left, found wine somewhere else, and came back to build something for their own community. Dan Marioni traces his path from disillusioned mechanical engineer to natural winemaker, shaped by a season crushing grapes by hand in Sonoma and years spent chasing "alive" wines in Europe, now channeled into Marioni Wine and Dos' Bar on the Plaza. Lauren Feldman talks through founding Valley, a wine bar built for locals and industry people who felt like Sonoma's Plaza had nothing for them, and the wage-equity model she runs it on. Together they dig into what it means to build a business here without selling out, why Sonoma still hasn't decided what it wants to be, and what it would take to make this town, and its wine, feel truly its own again. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective. We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

4. 

   4 Sept 2026

   Arable Short 04 | Biochar Burn with Eric Mayer and Dan Marioni

   Arable Short 04 | Biochar Burn with Eric Mayer and Dan Marioni follows a vineyard rehab in progress, where Dan Marioni is cane pruning vines back from years of neglect and cutting out the most diseased old growth to coax new life from what's left. The trimmings don't go to waste: Eric Mayer fires up a flame cap kiln to turn the cut canes into biochar on site, and the two dig into the math of it, comparing controlled vineyard trials, char-to-compost ratios, and how much biochar an acre can realistically produce from its own prunings versus what it would take to import enough to blanket the soil. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by ⁠⁠The Future Collective⁠⁠ (https://www.thefuturecollective.org/arable). We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by the Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

5. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Arable | Short 03 Biochar Part 1: Burn with Eric Mayer, Jack Sporer & Charlie Toledo

   Arable Short 03 Biochar Part 1: Burn with Eric Mayer, Jack Sporer & Charlie Toledo visits a retired vineyard along Huichica Creek in Carneros, where Jack Sporer (FRES.CO Wines) and the Napachar turn turning three-year-old vine piles into biochar with a flame cap kiln instead of burning them off as smoke. Eric Mayer (Napachar) walks through the science of flame carbonization, from why a top-lit burn produces almost no smoke to how crushing biochar and blending it with compost boosts its benefit to the soil. Special returning guest, Charlie Toledo (Suscol Intertribal Council) speaks to the deeper context: fire as an essential, long-suppressed tool of Indigenous land stewardship, and the work of reclaiming that knowledge as the earth rebalances itself after a century of fire suppression and industrial extraction. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by ⁠The Future Collective⁠ (https://www.thefuturecollective.org/arable). We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by the Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

6. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Arable: Episode 06, Ecology and Agriculture, Napachar, Eric Mayer x FRES.CO’s Jack Sporer

   Arable: Episode 06, Ecology and Agriculture, Napachar, Eric Mayer x FRES.CO’s Jack Sporer brings together two voices reimagining what it means to farm responsibly in wine country: Eric Mayer of Napa Char, a doctoral graduate in climate science, now produces biochar with flame cap kilns, turning vineyard waste into a permanent form of carbon storage instead of smoke, and Jack Sporer of FRES.CO (http://fres.co/), a winemaker working to move growers off herbicides and toward regenerative, soil-first viticulture. Over a long, wide-ranging conversation, the two trace the throughlines between carbon capture, soil biology, Indigenous fire stewardship, and the economics of a wine industry that will need to change if it wants healthier land and better wine. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective (https://www.thefuturecollective.org/arable). We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by the Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

7. 

   29 Jul 2026

   Arable Short 02 | Hybrid Grapes: Baco Noir with Matt Niess

   Arable Short 02 | Hybrid Grapes: Baco Noir with Matt Niess walks through a Sebastopol vineyard first planted by Italian immigrant Domenico Callegari, whose makeshift trellises of scrap metal and TV antennas still shape these century-old, dry-farmed Baco Noir vines. Matt shares why he's filling the vineyard's gaps with low-acid aromatic whites to build a field blend rather than more Baco Noir, and why he's left a patch of native vernal pool flowers untouched to protect the specialist bees that depend on them. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective. We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by the Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

8. 

   15 Jul 2026

   Arable Short 01 | Dry Farmed Apples: Gravensteins with Matt Niess

   Arable Short 01 | Dry Farmed Apples: Gravensteins with Matt Niess walks through the Hallberg Butterfly Gardens in Sebastopol, home to an 80-year-old Gravenstein orchard on the property where Louise Hallberg was born and raised. Matt shows how this dry-farmed, old-growth orchard coexists with the adjacent butterfly preserve and explains why he co-ferments these apples with wild California grapes for his Wildcard bottling. He makes the case for keeping old orchards like this one standing rather than replacing them with vines: no irrigation, no spraying, and carbon staying locked in the soil, plus a chance to build a market for the agricultural diversity already growing in wine country. Arable is a documentary series that profiles a new generation of farmers, winemakers, small business owners, and advocates who are reshaping relationships between land, labor, and community in the region. Directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective. We hope these conversations help you understand the values of a new generation that might become the foundation of a regenerative and diversified economic future for Sonoma Valley. Learn more at www.thefuturecollective.org/arable. The project is funded by the Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

9. 

   9 Jul 2026

   Arable: Episode 05 | Hybrids and Community

   Episode 05, Hybrids and Community, with 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 280 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 & 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 brings together two influential voices in Northern California's fermentation and urban farming culture, Matt Niess of North American Press, a wine and cider producer focused on hybrids and dry-farmed heirloom apples, and Chris Renfro of community nonprofit, Two Eighty Project, and wine shop and venue Friend of a Friend, who sees agriculture as an act of ecological creativity and farms as interdisciplinary sites of culture-building, where wine is just one output of a larger cycle of regeneration and design.

10. 

    25 Feb 2026

    Arable: Episode 04 | The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET'S GO DEEPER: ADVOCACY

    The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET'S GO DEEPER: ADVOCACY concluded a four-part panel discussion series exploring the intersection of local food and wine production, employers and farmworkers, and housing affordability and food security in Sonoma Valley. These recordings are the first installment of 𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, a documentary series that reveals the human systems—labor, land, and culture—behind Sonoma’s food and wine industries, directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective, a movement designed to cultivate a new generation of community leaders in Sonoma Valley. In this conversation with author Elaine Chukan Brown, farmworker advocate Zeke Guzman shared his life's story. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund. Visit thefuturecollective.org/arable.

11. 

    25 Feb 2026

    Arable: Episode 03 | The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET’S GET DEEP: COMMUNITY

    The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET’S GET DEEP: COMMUNITY is the third panel discussion in a four-part series exploring the intersection of local food and wine production, employers and farmworkers, and housing affordability and food security in Sonoma Valley. These recordings are the first installment of 𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, a documentary series that reveals the human systems—labor, land, and culture—behind Sonoma’s food and wine industries, directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective, a movement designed to cultivate a new generation of community leaders in Sonoma Valley. This panel discussion, presented to the community at Dos' Bar on August 6, 2025, was a conversation on the intersection of wine, farming, and the pillars of employment, housing, financial stability, health, and education. Christopher Renfo, co-founder of The Two Eighty Project, Lucy O'Dea of Feed Cooperative, farmworker advocate Maria Membrila, and Elise Gonzelas of the Catalyst Food Security Initiative, and author Elaine Chukan Brown gave us incredible insights on how connections between local leadership and community members can build new systems, programs, and businesses in ways that fix temporary need while building towards long term sovereignty, stability, and security. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund. Visit thefuturecollective.org/arable.

12. 

    25 Feb 2026

    Arable: Episode 02 | The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET’S GET DEEP: LABOR

    The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET’S GET DEEP: LABOR is the second panel discussion in a four-part series exploring the intersection of local food and wine production, employers and farmworkers, and housing affordability and food security in Sonoma Valley. These recordings are the first installment of 𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, a documentary series that reveals the human systems—labor, land, and culture—behind Sonoma’s food and wine industries, directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective, a movement designed to cultivate a new generation of community leaders in Sonoma Valley. This panel discussion, presented to the community at Dos' Bar on June 25, 2025, was the second in the four part series on local food and wine production, employers and farmworkers, housing affordability and food security, with moderator, Elaine Chukan Brown author of The Wines of California and panelists Cody Citrus of Paul’s Produce, David Rothschild of Las Vivas Wines, Los Paisanos Vineyard Management, Emma Lipp of Valley Bar & Bottle, Valley Swim Club, and Daniel Chavez of Daylight Vineyard Management Services. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund. Visit thefuturecollective.org/arable.

13. 

    25 Feb 2026

    Arable: Episode 01 | The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET’S GET DEEP: LAND

    The Future Collective x Dos’ Bar LET’S GET DEEP: LAND launched a four-part panel discussion series exploring the intersection of local food and wine production, employers and farmworkers, and housing affordability and food security in Sonoma Valley. These recordings are the first installment of 𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, a series that reveals the human systems—labor, land, and culture—behind Sonoma’s food and wine industries, directed by Aaron Brown, presented by The Future Collective, a movement designed to cultivate a new generation of community leaders in Sonoma Valley. This panel discussion, presented to the community at Dos' Bar on April 24, 2025, brought together distinct perspectives: Melissa Bucklin of Oak Hill Farm on the inherently extractive and exclusive nature of local food production; Saskia Tingey of Hamel Wines on land ownership and decision making around viticultural practices; Christian Cain of Perennial Grazing, whose sheep grazing practice is rooted in mutualism between animals and plants; Charlie Toledo (Towa) of Suscol Intertribal Council, who has led the creation of land-based projects to preserve Native American culture and human rights, and Elaine Chukan Brown (Inupiaq and Unangan-Sugpiaq), whose work as an author and global educator is at the forefront of using wine as an entry point to self-determination that leads to social justice. The project is funded by Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund. For more The Future Collective events, follow @thefuturecollective.sv or visit thefuturecollective.org.

14. 

    25 Feb 2026

    LET'S GET DEEP: Values-Driven Local Businesses

    The Future Collective at UpValley event, LET’S GET DEEP: VALUES-DRIVEN LOCAL BUSINESSES, was ticketed a dinner and panel discussion between young, values-driven local business owners Sam Coturri, Winery Sixteen600, Erinn Benziger-Weiswasser, Glen Ellen Star, and Lauren Feldman, Valley Bar + Bottle, moderated by Elaine Chukan Brown on community-minded business practices that promote resilience and how, together, we can shape a rejuvenated and regenerative Sonoma economy. The event featured a dinner and wine pairings that showcased the principled sourcing that aims to close the loop on our local regenerative economic system and retain the value of purchased goods within the loop of our community, utilizing local farmers that prioritize the land and the humans to the same level that we do.

Contact Arable

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.