John Kapon, Acker Auctions

John Kapon is a singular figure in the world of fine wine as the scion behind the illustrious Acker Wine Store & Auction. Down-to-earth and fun-loving, Kapon is an all-American boy at heart. He is devoted to his family and business, but the lure to dip into his creative side entices his attention.

Managing the machinations of a global wine retail and auction empire with deft perception into the consumer’s mind came quickly to Kapon after joining his family in the wine business in the 1990s. The original Merrall & Condit Wines store opened its doors as a grocery and package delivery service in 1820 and was one of the first stores in the United States to sell the notorious “Champagne Charlie” Heidsieck Champagne along with Portuguese Madeira and Port, Spanish Sherry, and French Claret.

John Kapon’s grandfather joined the Merrall & Condit team in the 1950s and soon took the reins of the business, christening it Acker, Merrall & Condit. John Kapon grew up immersed in a world that included the greatest wines and winemakers in the world. Though he dabbled in the family business, his muse was music. He flexed his musical understanding as a New York City hip-hop producer. At the tender age of 22 (or 23), his lineup had a giant entourage along with a Columbia record deal, but instinctively he turned it all down. Leaving that record deal and posse behind, Kapon joined his family wine shop.

He found working in his family wine store a welcome respite from the tumultuous music scene. He embraced wine and the in-store tastings gave him a front-row view into the grapes, expressions, and regions of the world’s best wines. Kapon quickly fell in love with wine, channeled his natural creativity into crafting adventurous, often bawdy tasting notes and informative wine-centric articles, and authored The Compendium: Tasting the World’s Finest Wines Vol. One.

In between musings, Kapon founded the Acker auction house in 1998 and launched an auction in Hong Kong in 2008. Twenty-four years later, under John Kapon’s leadership, Acker has become one of the planet’s most influential wine retail and boutique wine auction houses.

After nearly five decades of navigating the bustling streets of New York City, Kapon and his family enjoy the serenity found on the sun-soaked beaches of Puerto Rico. Speaking today by telephone from the Hamptons, John shared his philosophy on a life well lived and his insights into the tremendous success of his family’s business.

You can read it in its entirety here: https://winecountryinternational.com/

Story and Photos by Christopher J Davies

In April this year, we decided to visit Scotland to do some R&D on Single Malt Scotch, touring and tasting at several world-class distilleries. We plan to produce the first-ever Global Whisky Challenge in Glasgow in April 2024, so the timing of this adventure was ideal.

Searching options, we found Icelandair had the shortest travel times from Denver to Glasgow. Iceland has been on my bucket list for many years. I have been mesmerized by the photographs of Iceland’s spectacular nature and incredible landscapes, so planning a three-night stop-over in Iceland for our way back from Scotland made sense.

Darcy and I have a love-hate relationship with Iceland’s volcano Eyjafjallajökull, which disrupted international air travel from Europe to the United States in 2010. No one felt sorry for us, as we were stuck for an extra week in Italy, drinking wine and consuming delicious cuisine. That week we were famously reporting back from Italy on CNN, CNN.COM, and NBC with updates on the severe impact on international travelers. A BBC documentary is now in the works, so stay tuned.

Traveling on Icelandair’s Saga Business Class was indeed a treat. Although the seats do not lay flat, they are wide and very comfortable, and the staff is amiable and attentive. The food was delicious, and the drink menu had a great selection of gins from Iceland and French and Spanish wines. The flight from Denver to Iceland was under seven hours. Fortunately, we did not need to check through customs in between flights. Our wait time was 1.5 hours.