Podcasts about cabernets

Can hybrid grapes revolutionize the wine world? Adam Huss — Host of the Beyond Organic podcast and Co-owner of Centralas Cellars breaks down what a hybrid truly is, explaining how traditional breeding — and nature itself — has long crossed grape species. With over 70 grape species worldwide, today's modern hybrids are the result of generations of crossing, backcrossing, and innovation. We explore the impact of WWII on agriculture, France's ban on hybrids in appellation wines, and why developing new hybrids is critical for disease resistance, flavor discovery, and more sustainable farming. Plus, Adam shares insights into trialing the “married vine” system — a potential game-changer for soil health, pest management, and flavor expression. Resources:         135: Cold Hardiness of Grapevines 217: Combating Climate Chaos with Adaptive Winegrape Varieties 227: Andy Walkers' Pierces Disease-Resistant Grapes are a Success at Ojai Vineyard Adam Huss – LinkedIn Centralas Organic Wine Podcast South Central Los Angeles Couple Opens New Winery Dedicated to Organic Values, Transparency, Inclusion Wine's F- Word Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:03] Beth Vukmanic: Welcome to Sustainable Wine Growing with Vineyard Team, where we bring you the latest in science and research for the wine industry. I'm Beth Vukmanic, Executive Director [00:00:13] In today's podcast, Craig Macmillan, critical resource manager at Niner Wine Estates with longtime SIP Certified Vineyard in the first ever. SIP Certified Winery speaks with Adam Huss, host of the Beyond Organic Podcast and co-owner of Centralis Cellars. [00:00:32] Adam breaks down what a hybrid truly is, explaining how traditional breeding and nature itself has long crossed grape species with over 70 grape species worldwide. Today's modern hybrids are the result of generations of crossing, backcrossing, and innovation. [00:00:50] We explore the impact of World War II on agriculture, France's ban on hybrids and Appalachian wines, and why developing new hybrids is critical for disease resistance, flavor discovery, and more sustainable farming. [00:01:03] Plus, Adam shares insights into trialing the married vine system, a potential game changer for soil health, pest management, and flavor expression. [00:01:12] When Lizbeth didn't get into nursing school on her first try, she could have given up. Instead, she partnered with her mentor Alex, to make a new plan, attend classes part-time, build up her resume and get hands-on hospital work experience. Now Lizbeth has been accepted into Cuesta College's nursing program and her dream of becoming a nurse is back on track. [00:01:36] Lizbeth is a Vineyard Team, Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholar. You can help more students like her who are the children of Vineyard and winery workers reach their dreams of earning a degree by donating to the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship. Just go to vineyardteam.org/donate. [00:01:53] Now let's listen in. [00:01:58] Craig Macmillan: Our guest today is Adam Huss. He is the host of the Beyond Organic Podcast and also co-owner of Centralis Winery in Los Angeles, California. And today we're gonna talk about hybrid grape varieties. Welcome to the podcast, Adam. [00:02:11] Adam Huss: Thanks, Craig. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. [00:02:17] Craig Macmillan: So let's just start with the basics. What are hybrid grape varieties? [00:02:22] Adam Huss: I should also say I'm a fan of your podcast as well, so it's really fun to be here. [00:02:26] Craig Macmillan: Thank you. Thank you. [00:02:28] Adam Huss: Been listening for a while. So hybrids, I mean, it's really simple. It's funny, I see stuff on Instagram sometimes where people just are so misinformed and they think that, you know, hybrid means like GMO or something like that. [00:02:41] A hybrid simply is just, you take pollen from grape X, you put it on flowers from grape y, and if those two grapes are from different species, you have a hybrid. If they're from the same species, you just have a cross, and this is something that has been part of traditional breeding since forever. It's also what happens naturally in the wild. [00:03:00] Or I hate, I actually just use two words I try not to use at all, which is like natural and wild, but in forests and streams forests and backyards without human intervention, these pollen get exchanged by wind and everything else and have led to, you know, some of the more. Old popular varieties of grapes that are, considered hybrids that we know of now, like Norton and Isabella and Kaaba. [00:03:23] Nobody actually crossed them. They just happened. So yeah, that's, that's a hybrid. It's very simple. [00:03:29] Craig Macmillan: That's what they are, what aren't they and what are some of the myths surrounding them? [00:03:33] Adam Huss: yeah, great question. You can't generalize about hybrids. Generally speaking. So that's really important thing for people to wrap their heads around, which is because. You know, we'll get into this, but so much, so many hybrids are, and just hybrids in general, are wrapped up in prejudice because we live in this sort of viniferous centric wine world. [00:03:56] You know, , those of us who are in wine, but there, you just can't generalize. The qualities of hybrids are just like humans. Like it depends on what your parents are. You know, you, you get different things every time you mix 'em up and you're not like your brother or sister. If you have a sibling, you know you're gonna be different from them even though you have the same parents. [00:04:13] So that's the same thing happens with grapes. There's genetic diversity and mutation happens and. For hybrids, , the possibilities, the potentials are literally infinite. It's pretty incredible to know that possibility exists. There are over 70 species of grapes on earth besides vitus vara, and if you cross any of those two varieties, yeah, you'll get a genetic cross that's 50 50 of, of two different species. [00:04:40] But that. Within that you could do that cross again and get a different variety of grape, even with the same cross. So it's just amazing. [00:04:51] The modern hybrids that are now out there are. Often multi-species crosses and have been crossed. Generationally again and again and back crossed and recrossed. And so, you know, I was just looking at a hybrid grape that had five species of grapes in its family tree. I mean, there are family trees that would make the royals blush, honestly, in some of these hybrids. [00:05:11] So it's not, it's not something that is just, can be just said. You can say one thing about it or that. And, and the idea of hybridizing doesn't imply anything at all, really, like it is just this process that happens that we've been doing for a long time. This might be a good thing to dispel some of the prejudices. [00:05:34] You know, something like the word foxy often gets thrown around when we start talking about hybrids. I did a whole podcast about this what's really interesting, I just brought this word up to a, a young couple here in LA who are growing grapes and they, they had no idea what I was talking about. [00:05:49] So that's kind of encouraging. Like in, in the younger generations, these prejudices and some of these words that we inherited from the last century , are dying out truly. Which is great, but it still persists and you still hear it a lot and. If anybody goes online and researches some of these grapes, so much of the information available online is actually still misinformation and prejudiced because it comes from this vinifirous centric culture. [00:06:15] And so it's really important for people to understand that like foxy is not what it sounds like. It sounds like it would be this animalistic, musky, maybe scent gland tinged aroma, flavor thing, but. If you taste the grapes that are known as foxy and you go, you know, start researching this by tasting, you'll find that it's actually kind of delicious. [00:06:37] It's usually fruity and you know, candy like strawberry raspberry flavors. And for those of us in the US. It's often something we associate with Grapiness because of Welchs. And the flavors of Welchs, which come from the Concord grape, which is a Foxy grape, are these grapey flavors that we grew up with. [00:06:57] This sense of like grape candy and stuff like that. And that's a lot of times what you find in these, but again, it depends a lot on. The level of the compounds that are in that specific hybrid. Again, you can't, you can't generalize. And just like with anything, if you mix different compounds together, you'll get these nuances and you might have some of that flavor or aroma, but it'll be blended with other things. [00:07:17] And so it takes on new characteristics. So it's way more complex than just thinking like a. All grapes that are hybridized are foxy. That's absolutely not true. Or that foxy is this monolithic thing or that foxy is bad. None of those are true. And then really the other thing to realize is in. Grapes in the native North American varieties of species of grapes. [00:07:41] There's really only one that has been used traditionally in grape breeding and hybridization that has these flavors. And that's Vitus labrusca. It just happened to be used quite a bit because it's endemic to the East coast where a lot of the Europeans who started all this breeding were living and, and it was, you know, very readily apparent in the forest of the East coast. [00:07:59] So that. Got used a lot and it's also got a lot of great qualities of fungal resistance and stuff like that. Muscadine is the other grape that has it, but it's got a different genetic structure so it doesn't get crossed a lot or hybridized a lot. [00:08:11] Craig Macmillan: So like, what are the advantages of hybrids where you take vinifira and you cross it with a Native American indigenous grape? What are the benefits? [00:08:21] Adam Huss: Yeah. Another great question. Just , the historical perspective on this is really important. I think. So, you know, Europeans came here a couple hundred years ago, and eventually they brought some of their favorite plants over, one of which were their grapes. And what they noticed right away is that their grapes, I. [00:08:38] Suffered and died without exception, just across the board. Anything they brought over grape wise just kept dying, kept dying. You know, many people tried for a century at least, you know, including people like Thomas Jefferson, people with enormous amounts of resources, and they just failed. They failed to grow these grapes. [00:08:56] Meanwhile, you know, these things like. Norton, this, these hybridized grapes started developing and people noticed like, oh, this grape, it's crossing with some of , the local varieties and it's doing really well. So they began to realize, like they didn't know then that part of, one of the benefits that you get is phylloxera resistance, for example. [00:09:16] But that was a big one and came to save, you know, Europe's wine industry at the end of the 19th century. But also you have these grapes that . Evolved with the fungal pathogens of this, of these climates of North America and other places around the planet. So they've developed resistance and tolerance for all these things. [00:09:38] And so when you cross them with vinifira, you get some of the desirable characteristics that you might like from Vera, and hopefully you'll get some of that, you know, hardiness and fungal resistance and some of the other, just. General benefits of having hybridized interesting new flavors and characteristics [00:09:56] Craig Macmillan: have you seen some examples of this in your, in your travels? [00:10:01] Adam Huss: the fungal resistance and things like [00:10:03] Craig Macmillan: resistance or Pierces disease resistance or anything like that. [00:10:07] Adam Huss: Oh yeah. I mean, I. Whew, so many. I mean, the fact that people can grow grapes organically in Vermont for example, relies almost entirely on hybrids. You know, first of all, they have extremely cold winters there. They have extremely wet, hot, humid summers there. And if you try to grow vinifera there the only way to do it is with chemicals and, and a lot of heartache and, and high risk agriculture. [00:10:35] But here we have somebody like Matt Niess, who's working entirely with hybrids, with his winery, north American Press, and basically he's not using any sprays in any of his vineyards in here in California because these. These grapes have genetics that developed for resistance to the fungal pathogens of the East Coast. [00:10:55] And so you bring them to this nice dry, you know, Mediterranean climate, they're just like, they're crazy. They're like you know, they're, you can basically spray free now. I mean, some people have a problem with zero sprays because they don't want things to develop, but he has a 70-year-old baco noir vineyard, for example, that's in like a wet region in Sonoma that. [00:11:18] He has never sprayed and it's pumping out grapes and looking beautiful every year. And the really interesting thing about it's, there are some inter plantations of vinfiera in that like somebody. Planted something. Maybe it was Pinot Noir in with the Baco. It's like one every, you know, like there's only a few, a handful of these scattered throughout the acre of the Baco noir, and you can tell which ones those are every year because they're just decimated by mildew by the end of the year, whereas the Baco is just spotless and beautiful. [00:11:46] So that's a really like obvious, [00:11:49] Craig Macmillan: What are the wines like? The bako noir? I've never had a bako noir. [00:11:53] Adam Huss: Oh, his wines. Well, so Baco is nice. It's, I mean, it's higher acid. It's almost like a high acid. Gosh, I don't know what, it's hard. I, I, I hate to go down the rabbit hole of like trying to compare it to a vinifira, but it is unique. But it's a deep red almost interior, like with deep purple, higher acid flavors, but pretty balanced, really luscious. Dark fruited flavors maybe a little. Like Syrah, like meatiness, there may be a touch. You might find that it depends on the year. He's had a couple different vintages, so it's been really interesting to see. I'm, I'm kinda like loving following that year by year, seeing the vintage variation and what. [00:12:35] Different things come out because nobody's really doing this. Nobody's, nobody's experimenting with these. So we don't really know how they'll do in, in California other than what he's doing. And just a couple other growers. But he also this year introduced awba for the first time back into California. [00:12:50] The last catawba Vines were ripped out of California in like the sixties, and he, planted some and finally was able to harvest a crop this year and released what was once. California, I mean, the America's most popular wine from the Ohio River Valley is sparkling catawba, and it's like pink and just delicious, beautiful, beautiful stuff. [00:13:10] If I can step back, I think a lot of the discussion of hybrids, again, comes from this perspective of vinifira culture and how do we. Help vinifera become better. How do we use these hybrids as a tool to help, you know, this sort of vinifira centric culture? But I, I would, I'd like to reframe it. [00:13:31] I think a better way to look at this is hybridization is kind of just what we always do with agriculture. It's how you evolve and adapt your agriculture. Ecologically in the absence of modern chemistry that we have. So like before World War ii, and part of, and this is part of the history, France's history too, is like, you know, we had RA decimating their, their vineyards as well as. , we didn't just bring phylloxera back from North America, we brought BlackRock, Downey mildew, powdery mildew. So , their vines were just like dying. Like they were just dying. And so there was this urgent need and a lot of the hybridization, a lot of, some of our, you know, hybrids like Save El Blanc and things like that. [00:14:15] Came from French breeders who were just trying to save the French wine industry. Like they just wanted to have wine, let alone vinifira. You know, it was that. It was pretty bad at the end of that set, you know? And so they developed these new things and then we, you know, things like Isabella and catawba and things like that were coming over from North America, some of our hybrids that came from here, and pretty soon they had these really productive, really hardy vines with new, interesting flavors that. [00:14:41] People kinda liked 'cause they are like fruity and delicious and interesting and new and, and if you're a farmer and you have less inputs and you get a more productive, like higher yields on your vine, like, it's just kind of a no-brainer. And so people were just planting these things. They really were taking off. [00:14:59] And in 1934, the French were like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like our, our, first of all, our. Ancient vinifera cultures are going to be completely diluted, but second of all, we're gonna devalue the market 'cause we're gonna have all this like, it's too abundant, you know? So they made, in 1934, they made hybrids illegal in the French Appalachians. [00:15:17] And so that legacy is something that still sticks with us. Of course then World War II happened and we. Didn't really pay much attention to wine at all 'cause we were just trying to survive. But once World War II was over and the the war machine transferred into the pesticide and industrial agricultural machine, the French realized they could keep Vera alive on root stocks of American hybrids or American native varieties by spraying them with these new novel chemistry chemicals. [00:15:49] And so then they started enforcing the ban on hybrids because they could, and they knew they could have the, this alternative. And so that's when you saw like they had their own sort of version of reefer madness where you, you saw a lot of misinformation and hyperbole and outright propaganda and lies about these, these grapes because they were trying to get them out of French vineyards. [00:16:10] It's important to realize that Ban the EU just lifted the ban on hybrids in Appalachian wine in 2021. So it's kind of not surprising that some of these prejudices and misinformation still persist today. We're not too far away from that. I. [00:16:26] Craig Macmillan: And, and why was the band lifted? Do you know? [00:16:30] Adam Huss: That's a great question. It's, it was lifted for ecological reasons because they're realizing these are really important to dealing with climate change. This is like, if you want a sustainable industry, you need to be able to adapt. When you're inside this, this world of vinifira, what I call the vinifira culture, which is, you know, very centered on Vera. [00:16:50] You don't realize how strange it is. You know, it's kind of like growing up with a, a weird family, you know? It's all you know, so you don't know how strange they are until you start seeing the rest of the world. But to think that, you know, 50 years ago we just decided that maybe like. 10 grapes were the pinnacle of viticultural achievement for all time, and we've basically invested all of our energies into, you know, propagating those around the planet and preserving them at all costs is kind of strange when you think about the whole history of agriculture. [00:17:20] And it's really only possible because of cheep fossil fuels and the novel chemistry that we. Have put into our systems. And so if you take those out, if you start thinking ecologically about how do you develop a wine system, I mean the question is like, does it make sense when farming in a world where the only constant is change and we just live in a dynamic world, does it make sense to try to do everything you can to prevent change? [00:17:45] Like is prevention of change like a good strategy? And so I think, you know, diversity and adaptation are. What have always worked, you know, historically through agriculture, and that's kind of the future. I mean, in a real sense, vinifera culture is the past and hybrids are the future. If we want to have a future, there's my enthusiastic, [00:18:09] Craig Macmillan: Well, I'd like you to expand a little bit more on that. 'cause we we have a group of hybrids that are well known or are commonly used. I've, I've been hearing about Marquette a lot more, um, As having a lot of potential WW. What does that future potentially look like and what are some things that would have to happen for that potential to be realized? [00:18:31] Adam Huss: So we have invested, you know, millions of dollars in time and energy and even policy into developing, , the chemicals that we now use to support our, viticulture. And to make it possible in places like Virginia, where, you know, they're developing a whole wine industry there around vinifira in a climate that is, you know, like I said, that was the climate that like Thomas Jefferson failed for and everyone else for hundreds of years failed to grow it there. [00:18:59] If we invested that same amount of time and energy and money into breeding programs and into. Research for the kinds of things that we're now discovering, like DNA markers so that we can have DNA marker assisted breeding. So you're, you're speeding up the breeding process by sometimes two, three years. [00:19:19] Which is, which is significant in a process that can take, you know, 10 to 20 years that any, any little bit helps. So that kinda stuff and just more of it, more private breeders, making it more valuable for private breeders. I always think it's really interesting that like billionaires would rather just do another sort of like cult. [00:19:39] Ego, Napa cab investment, you know, rather than like breed their own personal variety of grape that nobody else could have. I mean, I'm not recommending that, but like, to me that seems really interesting as an idea. You could just have your own proprietary grape variety if you wanted to, you know, but nobody's thinking that way. [00:19:58] But I would say breeding, putting our, our time and energy into breeding not new varieties is, . Really important and, and working with the ones that are already there, I mean. The only reason California's so such strangers to them is because it's so easy to grow here. You know, we're relatively speaking and I get that. [00:20:15] I mean, you know, people like what they like and, and change is hard and market conditions are what they are. But I think we're at a point where. Marking conditions are changed. Like I said, you know, this young couple I was just talking to don't, don't have never even heard the word foxy. And so I think there's a lot more openness to just what's in the glass. Now. [00:20:35] Craig Macmillan: So some. Of it's messaging. If we can have wines that people can taste and do it in a context that's new to them. So there may be an opportunity here with newer wine drinkers or younger wine drinkers potentially, is what it sounds like to me. [00:20:48] Adam Huss: Yeah, and I. I mean, some of this is also realizing all the different ways that hybrids are already being used and could be used. Like, you know, we know you mentioned Pierce's disease. Pierce's disease is this disease that's endemic to California and is heading north. I mean, it's really on the threshold of all of the major wine regions of, of California. [00:21:11] And the only ways . To stop it without hybrids, without resistant hybrids are, are pretty intense. You know, it's like eliminating habitat through, , basically creating a sterile medium of your vineyard and then spraying with insecticides, you know some, sometimes pretty intense insecticides. [00:21:29] The alternative though is there are now multiple varieties of grapes that are. Resistant to them that are tolerant to it so they, they can carry the bacteria, but it won't affect the health of the vine. Those were bred, some of them here, right here in California at uc Davis. And yet if you go to the University of California Agricultural Network Resources page that, you know, kind of handles all the IPM for California, sort of like the resource. [00:21:56] And if you read about Pierce's disease, it makes zero mention of using tolerant. Varieties as a management strategy. And it makes no mention that there are even are tolerant varieties to Pierce's disease as a management strategy. So just that kind of stuff is the shift that has to happen. 'cause it just shows how vinifera centric our entire industry is, like from the top down, even when there are these great strategies that you can use and start implementing to combat these things, ecologically versus chemically. [00:22:25] They're not there, you know, they're not being mentioned. So just little things like that would go a long way. Also, you know, I mean, one of my fun little facts is like. There are already hybrids being used significantly, like probably everybody on who's listening to this has, if you've bought a bottle of wine at a grocery store that was under 20 bucks, you've probably drunk hybrids because 10,000 acres of ruby red is grown in California to make mega purple and mega purples. Pretty much in every, like, you know, mass produced under $20 bottle of wine and it's got esra, Vitus, esra in it. So you've probably been drinking hybrids and not even known about it. [00:23:04] In terms of these Andy Walker hybrids, I do have a little that which were bred for Pierce's disease resistance. I also have kind of a fun story in that I, as you know, like we've, we've both talked to Adam Tolmach, who replanted a whole block that he lost to Pierce's disease with these hybrid varieties, and these are designed specifically to retain a lot of vinifira characteristics. They're like 97% back crossed to be. vinifira and 3% with Vitus, Arizona to have that Pierce's disease resistant specifically. So they don't have a lot of the other benefits that like a higher percentage of North American native varieties would have. Like they, they're still susceptible to powdery mildew and other mildew pretty, pretty intensely, [00:23:44] but just in terms of flavor for anybody who's out there. So I've, I've barrel tasted with Adam. Tasted each of those varieties individually out a barrel. And then we went to his tasting room and tried all of his wines and, and got to, and then he, instead of keeping, he has two red hybrid varieties, two white hybrid varieties, and he blends them and makes a, you know, a, a red blend and a white blend that he calls a state red and state white. [00:24:09] And we went to his tasting room and he makes beautiful wine. All of his wines are great, but no joke. Everybody in my party. Preferred the hybrids to like all of his pinots or raw chardonnay, I mean, I have no idea why. I mean, but, and that's just anecdotal, obviously nothing scientific, but the very least I can say the, the flavors are exciting and delicious. [00:24:29] Right. [00:24:30] Craig Macmillan: If you can get them in front of the consumer, [00:24:33] Adam Huss: Yeah. [00:24:33] Craig Macmillan: the key. That's really the key. [00:24:35] Adam Huss: Right, right, [00:24:36] Craig Macmillan: And for, your own wine making. Are you making wine from hybrids for yourself? [00:24:40] Adam Huss: Not yet just 'cause there are, there just aren't any in California very much, you know, I mean, it's like little patches here and little patches there. And the people that have them are using them for themself, you know, for their own growing. They've grown them specifically you know, Camus has planted some of these Andy Walker hybrids along their riparian corridors to prevent Pierce's disease. [00:24:58] Those varieties specifically are being used. I don't know if they're blending those in. With like their cab or whatever. I honestly think they could, but I don't know if they are. They're probably, I dunno what they're doing with them, but I do grow them here in Los Angeles and I'm, but they're, you know, it's like I'm trying out a bunch of different things, partly just to see how they do, because, you know, they haven't been grown here. [00:25:21] They were developed for colder, wetter climates and so, you know what, how will they grow here in Los Angeles? There's a lot of unanswered questions for some of these. [00:25:30] Craig Macmillan: You and I were chatting before the interview and you have a, a new project that you're very. Excited about tell us a little bit about that, because I thought that was pretty cool. [00:25:39] Adam Huss: Yeah. Thanks. So this past summer, my wife and I finalized the acquisition of this farm in upstate New York that I'm going to develop into a. Married Vine Vida Forestry Demonstration and Research Project. And, and married vines, essentially vines growing with living trees. [00:26:02] But the best way to think about it is if you know the three Sisters of Agriculture, the corn, beans and squash idea, where you plant these. This guild of, of a Polyculture guild, and they have these symbiotic stacking benefits and productivity. This is what a married vine polyculture is for perennial agriculture. And so I don't just see it as vine and tree, but also vine and tree, and then a ground cover and or small shrubs or things like that that are also perennials planted in a guild together to create these stacking benefits and productivity. [00:26:35] Multiple productivity layers as well as making it a grable system because the vines will be up in trees and and we're gonna call it the Beyond Organic Wine Forest Farm. [00:26:47] Craig Macmillan: So gimme some more detail on this. So like, what are the other plants that are in the forest and how are the vines, what's the spacing like? How, how many trees per vine or vine per tree? [00:27:01] How is the vine trellis? Um, I just, I'm really curious about this idea because this goes back to very, very ancient times. [00:27:09] Adam Huss: Yes. Yeah, yeah, [00:27:09] Craig Macmillan: Uh, that I've read about. I've never seen evidence of it, but I have been told that going back to like Roman times, they would plant grapevines, interplant with things like olives, [00:27:18] Adam Huss: yeah, yeah. Yeah. And [00:27:20] Craig Macmillan: use the olive as a trails. [00:27:22] I mean, is this the, is this the same kind of concept? [00:27:24] Adam Huss: You can see some of this still in Italy. So even pre roam the Etruscan times is what the oldest versions of this that are still visible in Campania, just north of Napoli, I think is the largest married vine system that is still in production. And I think it's about, it might be about 34 hectares of this variety where they have elm trees. That are really tall, full sized elm trees. [00:27:51] And then between them they sort of have wires or ropes between the trees and the vines grow up like up 15 meters. Like it's crazy. Like the guys that harvest this, they have like specially designed ladders that are built for their stance so that they can like lock into these 18 meter ladders and be up there like with a little pulley and a bucket, and they're lowering grapes down from way up in the end. [00:28:14] And you get. So many cool things about that, you know, the, the ripeness and the PHS of the grapes change, the higher you go up in that system. , the thinking is they might have even been used to like. Just inhibit invading armies because , it's like a wall of vines and trees that create like almost a perimeter thing. [00:28:33] That that's also how they're being used in Portugal, they are sort of like if you have a little parcel of land, you use trees and vines to create like a living fence keep your domestic animals inside. And animals that might eat them outside and protect, you know, from theft and things like that. [00:28:51] Keep all your crops in a little clo, like a little controlled area. There are old systems where. They're more like feto systems where they were using maple trees and just pollarding them at, at about head height. And every year, every year or two, they would come in and clip off all the new growth and feed it to the livestock. [00:29:10] And meanwhile, the vines were festooned between the, the maple trees is like, you know, just like a garland of, of grapevine. So there's a lot of different things. And what I wanna do is trial several of them. One of the most. Interesting ones that I just saw in whales uses living willows, where you literally just stick a willow slip in the ground, bend it over to the next one that's about a meter and a half away and attach it. [00:29:35] And so you have these arched willow branches that grow once you stick 'em in the ground. They start growing roots and they create like a head high trellis, like a elevated trellis system, and you plant vines in them. And, and it literally looks just like. Like a row of grapevines that you would find here, except the, the trellis is alive and there's no wires and, and you prune the tree when you prune the vine in the winter, you know? [00:29:58] And Willow, I, I don't know if you know, but the, the other interesting thing about that is like willow has been used historically that the salicylic acid is known. Obviously that's aspirin and stuff like that. That's where we get, you know, one of our oldest like pain relievers and things like that. [00:30:12] But. It's used in biodynamic preps as well as an antifungal. And so there's some thought that like this system could be really beneficial to the vines growing with those. Specifically for that, like for antifungal properties or just creating a, you know, showering the vines with this, this salicylic acid thing that will help them grow and have health throughout the season without, with, again, reduced need for sprays of anything. [00:30:37] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, and that was why I brought it up is because there's the idea of working with the natural ecology of what's in the germ plasm of native plants. I. Mixing with an import plant. [00:30:51] And then there's the other way of looking at it and saying, well, what, what about recreating the conditions under which this plant that has evolved in the first place? And I, I just think that there's really fascinating concept. It's really intriguing to me. [00:31:05] yeah. And there's so many different ways you could do it, and that's why it's interested in what you're planning on doing, because there's obviously a lot of ways you could do it. [00:31:11] Adam Huss: Yeah, I wanna experiment with several. Like you said, the, the soil benefits are incredible potentials. And then when you're also thinking about what do I do besides just vines and trees, and I mean, the other thing is like. How does it make the wine taste? Like if you plant a vine with an apple tree or a, a black locust tree, or a honey locust tree, or a, or a mulberry tree, like, does, is the vine happier with one of those trees? [00:31:35] You know what I mean? Does it, does it, you know, and if it is, does that make the wine taste better at the end of the day? All these are really fun questions for me. That's why I'm really excited to do it. But also like what are the benefits in terms of, you know, the health of the vine, the health of the tree? [00:31:50] Do they are, is there symbiotic elements? It seems like they would, I, I think a lot about what kind of mycorrhizal connections and associations the trees have, because we vines have our Arbuscular connections. And so if you plant them with a tree that has similar connections, they might actually have a symbiotic benefit. [00:32:07] They might increase that soil network even further. And then if you're planting shrubs like blueberries or flowers, you know, perennial flowers or Forbes and things like that, that could either be grazed or could be gathered or could be another crop even for you, or it could be a protective thing. [00:32:22] There are things like indigo that you might plant because. Deer don't like it. So you might want that growing around the base of your vine tree thing while it's young, because it will prevent the deer from grazing down your baby vines and trees, you know? And so there's just a, a myriad ways of thinking about these guilds that you can do. [00:32:39] Obviously these are, I. Yeah, they're, they're different. If I was doing it in California, if I was in California, I would be thinking more about olives and pomegranates and figs and things like that, you know, like there's a lot less water for growing trees here, so depending on where you are, unless you're on the coast. [00:32:55] Craig Macmillan: Are you planning on using hybrids in your project? [00:32:59] Adam Huss: Yeah. I don't know how I would do it any other way. Yeah, it's, definitely a climate that. If you try to grow ra, like you're just asking for trouble. And, and just, you know, because of my approach is so ecological, like I will attempt to be as minimal inputs as possible is the other way I look at it. [00:33:20] You know, try to just imitate what's happening around to, to see what that landscape wants to do and then how it. Maintains its health and resilience and maybe, and, and I mean, my, my ideal is to spray not at all. But you know, with not a dogma about that. If I see an issue or if I think like I'm building up these pathogen loads in the vineyard, maybe I'll spray once a year, even if they seem like they're doing okay. [00:33:47] You know, I'm not like dogmatic about nose spray, but I, it's a, it's a fun ideal to reach for. And I, you know, I think potentially with. Some of the symbiotic benefits of these systems that could be achievable with with the right hybrids. You know, I mean, again, I don't wanna generalize about hybrids because you have the Andy Walker hybrids on the one end, which you have to treat just like vinifira in terms of the spray program. [00:34:10] And then on the other hand, you have something like Petite Pearl or Norton, which is like in many cases is almost like a bulletproof. Grape, you know, and in California specifically, it would be like insanely. And then you have things right down the middle. Things like tranet that you know, is basically like, I could blind taste you on Tranet and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and gewurztraminer . [00:34:31] But it's more cold, hearty, it has a little more disease resistance. Gives you a just a little bit, a little bit more of a benefit while still getting flavors that are familiar to you. If you like those flavors. [00:34:43] Craig Macmillan: Is there one thing that you would tell growers on this topic? One takeaway. [00:34:48] Adam Huss: Great question. I think give hybrids the same allowance that you give Vinifera. I. We all know there's a huge diversity of Vin Nira from Petite Ough to Riesling. And not everyone is right for every wine drinker and not all of them per perform the same in the vineyard. And, and you know, and we tolerate a lot of. [00:35:12] Frailty and a lot of feebleness in our veneer vines. We, we do a lot of care. We do a lot of like, you know, handholding for our veneer vines when necessary. If we extended the same courtesy to hybrids in terms of understanding and willingness to work with them. I think like that would just go a really long way too. [00:35:33] And I think we'd be surprised to find , they're a lot less handholding than, than Venire generally speaking. I. But also just try some. I think a lot of the prejudice comes from just not being exposed to them right now. You know, if you, if you think, if you're thinking negative thoughts about hybrids, get out there and drink some, you probably just haven't had enough yet. [00:35:51] And if you don't like the first one, you know, how many bad Cabernets have you had? I mean, if, if I had stopped drinking vinifira, I [00:35:59] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, that's, that's a really good point. If I judged every wine by the first wine that I tasted, that's probably not a very, [00:36:06] Adam Huss: right. [00:36:07] Craig Macmillan: good education there, [00:36:08] Adam Huss: Prevented me from exploring further, I would've missed out on some of the more profound taste experiences of my life if I'd let that, you know, guide my, you know, my thinking about it. So yeah, I think it's like anything with prejudice, once you get beyond it, it kind of, you see how silly it is, man. [00:36:25] It's, it's like so freeing and, and there's a whole world to explore out there. And like I said, I really think they're the future. Like if we wanna have a future, . We can only cling to the past for so long until it just becomes untenable. [00:36:38] Craig Macmillan: Right. Where can people find out more about you? [00:36:42] Adam Huss: So beyondorganicwine.com is the, the website for me. The email associate with that is connect@organicwinepodcast.com. [00:36:53] Craig Macmillan: Our guest today has been Adam Huss. He is the host of the Beyond Organic Podcast and is the co-owner of Centralas Wines in Los Angeles. [00:37:01] Thank you so much. This has been a really fascinating conversation and I'd love to connect with you at some point, talk more about. Out this, thanks for being on the podcast [00:37:08] Adam Huss: Thank you so much, Craig. Appreciate it. [00:37:13] Beth Vukmanic: Thank you for listening. Today's podcast was brought to you by VineQuest. A Viticultural consulting firm based in Paso Robles, California, offering expert services in sustainable farming, vineyard development, and pest management. With over 30 years of experience, they provide tailored solutions to enhance vineyard productivity and sustainability for wineries and agribusinesses across California. [00:37:38] Make sure you check out the show notes for links to Adam. His wine, brand, Centralis plus sustainable wine growing podcast episodes on this topic, 135 Cold hardiness of grapes 217. Combating climate chaos with adaptive wine, grape varieties, and 227. Andy Walker's Pierce's Disease resistant grapes are a success at Ojai Vineyard. [00:38:04] If you liked the show, do us a big favor by sharing it with a friend, subscribing and leaving us a review. You can find all of the podcasts at vineyardteam.org/podcast and you can reach us at podcast@vineyardteam.org. [00:38:19] Until next time, this is Sustainable Wine Growing with Vineyard Team.   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

Send us a textEver wondered if a $10 bottle of wine could truly impress your palate? The Kirkland Signature Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 might just change everything you thought you knew about budget wines.After returning from a brief hiatus, I couldn't wait to share this remarkable Costco find with you. This isn't your typical value-priced Cabernet. Crafted by Allison Crowe, VP of winemaking for Plata Wine Partners, this wine showcases why Alexander Valley deserves recognition as a premier Cabernet region. The valley's unique climate—scorching days that rapidly cool to jacket weather at night—creates perfect conditions for developing complex Cabernet flavors while maintaining crucial acidity.What truly sets this wine apart is its fascinating duality. Each sip reveals layers of pomegranate, blueberry, and plum, balanced by both exotic and sharp spice notes with hints of orange zest. There's an unexpected port-like intensity that adds depth without overwhelming. The tannins are remarkably well-integrated, allowing the flavors to unfold gracefully across your palate. At $9.99, this medium to full-bodied wine delivers complexity that defies its price tag, making it a standout in the crowded field of affordable Cabernets.Whether you're a seasoned wine enthusiast looking for a reliable everyday option or a curious newcomer wanting to explore quality Cabernet without breaking the bank, this bottle deserves a place in your cart during your next Costco run. Take a chance on this unique expression that drinks more like an Old World offering than a typical California Cab—your taste buds and wallet will thank you.Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.comor email us at podcast@cheapwinefinder.com

Bettina from Laurel Glen Vineyard is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Bettina's father Peter M. F. Sichel recently passed away at 102. He was an old friend of Dan Berger who credits him with great contributions to winemaking, in Germany and in the US. Dan wrote a review of Peter's book called “The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Soldier, Prisoner, Spy.” He was instrumental in making Blue Nun wine popular, a dry white wine from Germany. Dan describes the story of Blue Nun as a story of the Atomic Age. There is a bottle of it on the cover of the Fleetwood Mac album Rumors and there is a Beastie Boys song called Blue Nun. Blue Nun was very popular in the 1970s. The brand ran radio advertisements nationally that were written and recorded by Stiller & Meara. Here is one of them: https://calwinecountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BLUE-NUN-1970-Stiller-Meara.mp3 Laurel Glen is on top of Sonoma Mountain. It is a remarkable property. The fact that people would plant Cabernet up there is “outrageous” says Dan. It makes a special kind of wine. Bettina says it's a great site for Cabernet. In the 1990s, Cabernet was a much more restrained, a low-alcohol wine with high acidity. That is still the Lauren Glen style. Sonoma Mountain AVA The vineyard was first planted to Cabernet in the 1960s. They are located on a plateau. The Sonoma Mountain AVA is on the east side of the mountain. The west side of the mountain is now the Petaluma Gap AVA. The mountain blocks the wind and fog. They don't achieve the degree of ripeness that Napa Cabernets do, which produces what Dan calls a richer, oaky, more concentrated and higher in alcohol. California Wine Country is brought to you by Rodney Strong Vineyards and Davis Bynum Wines. Next for tasting is a Riesling that comes from a vineyard on the central coast near Monterrey. They are the last grapes that come into the winery, after all the other grapes. That shows what a long maturation process these grapes require. Dan can think of only about 5 vineyards in California that produce high quality dry Riesling and this is one of them. They make three Cabernets, a Rosé and some Gruner Veltliner.

Located the rolling hills of Livermore Valley wine country, McGrail Vineyards beckons you to escape the ordinary and experience a taste of the good life. Our family-owned winery boasts not only award-winning wines, but breathtaking views, inviting bocce courts, and the kind of warm hospitality that makes you feel right at home.  Jim and Ginger McGrail, planted the vineyard in 1999 and intended to only grow grapes. In 2005, that dream changed and they opted to produce wine and open a tasting room.  Their daughter Heather moved home to open the tasting room in 2008 and they focused on world class Cabernets.  Starting with just 1 wine, they produce several more now, but still focus on Cabernet Sauvignon from the Livermore Valley.

What causes the “red wine headache”? Is it sulfites? A histamine reaction? Andrew Waterhouse, Professor Emeritus of Enology in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis and Apramita Devi, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis have identified a flavanol that can interfere with the metabolism of alcohol. That flavanol is quercetin, a natural product made in grape skins in response to sunlight. It is a natural sunscreen produced to protect the fruit from ultraviolet light. This conversation covers why quercetin may be more prevalent in high end wines, how skin contact during wine production impacts quercetin levels, and why sulfites may play a role in “red wine headache”. Resources:         74: The Spirit of Wine Andrew Waterhouse Andrew Waterhouse | Google Scholar Andrew Waterhouse | LinkedIn Apramita Devi | LinkedIn Apramita Devi |Google Scholar Inhibition of ALDH2 by quercetin glucuronide suggests a new hypothesis to explain red wine headaches Why Do Some People Get Headaches From Drinking Red Wine?  Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand (Western SARE) – Learn at your own pace Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:00] Beth Vukmanic: What causes. The red wine headache? Is it sulfites or a histamine reaction? [00:00:10] Welcome to sustainable wine growing with the vineyard team. Where we bring you the latest in science and research for the wine industry. I'm Beth Vukmanic executive director. I've been your team. Since 1994, we've brought you the latest science-based practices, experts growers and wine industry tools through both infield and online education. So that you can grow your business. Please raise a glass. With us as we cheers to 30 years. [00:00:37] In today's podcast, Craig Macmillan, critical resource. Manager at Niner wine estates with long time sip certified. Vineyard and the first ever sip certified winery. Speaks with two university of California Davis researchers. Andrew Waterhouse. Professor emeritus of enology and the department. of, viticulture and enology. And. Oprah meta Debbie. Post-doctoral scholar and the department of viticulture and enology. [00:01:04] They have identified a flavonol that can interfere. With the metabolism of alcohol. And that flavonol is called quercetin. A natural product made in the grape skins in response. To sunlight. It's a natural sunscreen produced to protect. The fruit from ultraviolet light. This conversation covers. Why quercetin may be more prevalent in high end wines. How. Skin contact during wine production impacts quercetin levels. And why sulfites may still play a role in that red wine headache. [00:01:36] Want to be more connected with the viticulture industry. But don't know where to start become a vineyard team member. Get access. to the latest science-based practices, experts, growers, and wine industry. The tools. Through both infield and online education so that you. You can grow your business. Visit vineyard team.org. And choose grower or business to join the community today. [00:01:57] Now let's listen. in. [00:02:01] Craig Macmillan: Our guests today are Andrew Waterhouse, Professor Emeritus in Enology in the Department of Viticulture Davis, and also Aparmita Devi. She is a postdoctoral scholar, also in the Department of Viticulture & Enology Davis. Thank you both for being here. [00:02:17] Andrew Waterhouse: Oh, we're glad to be here. [00:02:19] Craig Macmillan: Today we're going to talk about a really interesting topic. It's the role of quercetin , in wine headaches. The two of you recently co authored a paper on this one particular mechanism that might cause some people to get a headache after drinking even a small amount of red wine. But before we get into that, I want to ask you, how did you get interested in this topic? [00:02:37] Andrew Waterhouse: Well I've been talking to Steve Mathiasson. He's a Napa winemaker for actually quite a while, some years back. He suffers from headaches when he drinks certain wines. And we were chatting about possible mechanisms, and we even did a study many years ago with another postdoc in my lab to investigate a question we had or a theory we had, and that didn't pan out. But more recently we were chatting again, and I got interested in the topic again, and that's what got me interested, you know, just somebody knowledgeable who was suffering from headaches and. for listening. It was, it makes it more real and it's like, well, maybe we can figure something out. So that's what got us started. [00:03:17] Craig Macmillan: Apramita , how same for you. [00:03:19] Apramita Devi: Yeah. Same. Like I've been in touch with Andy and we have been talking about this project many years. So I was always interested because I come from biological science and metabolism and stuff I got interested after talking to Andy. [00:03:33] Craig Macmillan: Well, let's start with some basics. What is quercetin? [00:03:38] Andrew Waterhouse: Well, basically, it's a natural product made by grapes, but it's a very specific one. It's in the class of polyphenolic compounds, and it's in the class of flavonoids called flavonols. And what makes it interesting, I think, is that it is made By grapes, in the skin of the grape, and only in the skin of the grape, in response to sunlight. It's sometimes referred to as sunscreen for grapes. And it specifically absorbs UV light that would cause damage to, say, DNA and other macromolecules. So it's very clear that the grapes are producing this in order to protect themselves from ultraviolet light. [00:04:22] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:04:22] Andrew Waterhouse: So the amount that's present in wine is highly dependent on the amount of sunlight the grapes experience. Not the vine, but the grapes themselves, And a friend of mine, Steve Price, was the first to note this. In a study way back in the 90s on Pinot Noir, he noted that there was more quercetin in sun exposed Pinot Noir grapes. And that observation has been confirmed many times now in different studies. where sun exposure is correlated with quercetin levels. [00:04:58] Craig Macmillan: and this is true just for red grapes as opposed to white grapes. [00:05:02] Andrew Waterhouse: Oh, no, no, there's more in white grapes. But when you make white wine, you throw away the skins. So there's no opportunity to get those materials into the wine. Now, an exception might be orange wine. But I don't know of any data on orange wine. [00:05:21] Craig Macmillan: Apramita , maybe you can talk about the metabolism part, the biology part. So when people consume alcohol, it's metabolized down certain pathways. Quercetin is also metabolized by the body into other forms? [00:05:33] Apramita Devi: Yeah, so the pathway for alcohol and quercetin are a bit different, but the location is liver, where it goes. So when people consume alcohol, it goes to the liver and then there are two enzymes which work on the alcohol. So the first enzyme is alcohol dehydrogenase, which convert it into alcohol into acetaldehyde. The acetaldehyde is the like the toxic metabolite in the body and it can have many side effects. That's why body has to get rid of it out of the liver system. So it has a second enzyme which is called the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. So that convert acetaldehyde dehydrogenase into a non toxic component, which is acetate or acetic system. [00:06:24] So it comes out of the body. What happens when you consume quercetin along in the body, the quercetin also goes to the liver. Because quercetin adds too much quercetin as such is not good for the body and it has low bioavailability. So liver tag it in the form of quercetin glucuronide and then the body knows that it has to be flushed out of the system. So the interesting part is that when you consume alcohol and quercetin together, You are taking the both the metabolite acetaldehyde and quercetin gluconide in the same location inside the liver. And it gives the quercetin gluconide to interact with the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme. And that acetaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme now cannot work efficiently. to convert the acetaldehyde into the acetate. So basically you are building up acetaldehyde in the body and it's not coming out of the system and you are seeing all those negative effects of the acetaldehyde in the form of flushing or headache or not. The other systems like what's like sweating. so we think that there is a correlation between these two pathways, which might be associated in red wine system. [00:07:47] Craig Macmillan: And how did you design your study? [00:07:51] Apramita Devi: The first when I talked to Andy, like he told me that he thinks that this system is because of inflammatory pathways and inflammation system. So he was kind of like, there is something in red wine, which is Triggering this kind of pathways or there is some system so, but we were not sure what exactly are those inflammatory system. [00:08:16] So we went back and saw some literature and we kind of find that there are some studies which told that quercitans inhibit the dehydrogenase enzymes and that what triggered us that okay alcohol is metabolized by these dehydrogenase enzymes. And wine also has these phenolics. So what kind of phenolics, other kinds of phenolics, or what types of phenolics can do this inhibition? [00:08:45] The method was basically in, was based on having different phenolics, which are present in red wines more compared to white wines, select them. And then just, we find this enzyme kits in the market to do this dehydrogenase. Inhibition tests like you put the test compound and it tells whether the enzyme is the inhibited or not. [00:09:09] So we just did that in a test tube system, like we added our phenolics with the enzyme, and we saw that which kind of phenolics are inhibiting this enzyme and screening them out. out of all. So while doing that, we screened different types of quercetin, like quercetin glucoside, quercetin galactosides, and other forms. [00:09:32] Then we also tested other phenolics. I can for all my rest in and other stuff. And we also choose quercetin gluconide because that is the metabolite which is circulating in the body. And then we kind of screen them based on the in the enzyme system and we see how much inhibition is happening there. [00:09:54] Andrew Waterhouse: Yeah. So what we did was a very basic test to experiment. We didn't test anything on people. [00:10:01] We basically tested to see which of these compounds could inhibit that enzyme because we knew that if that an enzyme could be inhibited the acetaldehyde would accumulate and you'd end up with people in that condition would end up with Flushing, headaches, as Aparmita said, all kinds of other symptoms. [00:10:20] Craig Macmillan: And this would vary by person. Different people may have a proclivity to produce more of certain enzymes than others. Is that true? [00:10:29] Andrew Waterhouse: We don't really have any information about that. That's going to take a lot of more work to test you know, the, the details here. For instance. Some people get red wine headaches and some don't, but we don't know whether, for instance, perhaps their enzymes are more inhibited by quercetin glucuronide, or maybe they're just more sensitive to acetaldehyde. [00:10:52] So that's going to take, you know, human studies where we measure a bunch of things. And try to figure out, try to sort through the, the details of how this impacts people individually. [00:11:04] Craig Macmillan: What would a study , with people, investigating this, what would the design be like? How would somebody go about doing that? [00:11:12] Andrew Waterhouse: Okay. So a human study. Could have a couple different possible designs. The one we'll probably use is we'll simply find two wines, two red wines, one that's low in quercetin and one that's high. And then those will be administered to people who get red wine headaches. We'll give it to them blind, they'll have to agree of course to participate in the study. [00:11:37] And then we'll see if their experience of headaches is related to the quantity of quercetin. Now, there's some other designs we could imagine using, which might be a little more straightforward, but we're not sure how relevant they would be or whether we could get approval to do this. So, for instance, one approach would be to find a red wine that's low in quercetin and then simply add it. [00:12:00] Now adding it is tricky for a number of technical reasons. Quercetin itself is very insoluble, so we would have to add what's called a glycoside of quercetin. So we'd have to get our hands on something that would dissolve, et cetera, et cetera. We're not sure we could get approval for that because we're adding a chemical to wine. [00:12:21] Now, the chemical would probably be classified as a supplement, and so it might be approvable, as it were. And then another very simple experiment, which we thought about a while ago, you can buy quercetin as a supplement in the market. It's readily available. [00:12:38] So, one possibility is to simply give our subjects a glass of vodka and give them pills that either contain quercetin or a placebo and see if there's a relationship between administration of quercetin and headaches. [00:12:54] Now the, the quercetin itself, as I mentioned, is very insoluble. So we may have to get these more bioavailable forms of quercetin for that experiment. [00:13:04] Craig Macmillan: That leads to a wine making question. So, if it's relatively insoluble is quercetin extracted from skins more in the alcohol phase at the end of fermentation? [00:13:11] Andrew Waterhouse: Yeah. It's, it's, it's extracted fairly quickly because it's in the skin, in the grapes, it's in the form of what are called glycosides. So these, Has the quercetin molecule with the sugar attached. That makes all those forms very soluble. [00:13:27] Craig Macmillan: Oh, okay. Okay. [00:13:29] Andrew Waterhouse: There's actually an occasional problem with certain red wines, most commonly Sangiovese, where after bottling the wine has had a large quantity of quercetin glucosides. And after bottling, they break down, the glycosides break down, releasing just a simple a glycone, quercetin, and you get this disgusting looking gooey brown precipitate in the bottle. [00:13:56] Craig Macmillan: ha [00:13:57] Andrew Waterhouse: Every few years I know the folks at ETS in Napa get somebody showing up with a bottle of Sangiovese that's got this. Disgusting sludge in it, and they can tell them without analyzing that. Yes, another case, of course, it's in precipitate in the bottom. [00:14:15] Craig Macmillan: Huh, that's interesting. I believe it was mentioned in the paper that , obviously different growing conditions are going to lead to different levels of quercetin and grapes based on how much sun exposure they have, etc. And that also different winemaking techniques would have an impact. [00:14:29] If consumers are looking for products if they know they have a headache issue Is it possible they could experiment with different product types? Products that were made with different production methods if they can find that out that might Impact their sensitivity or might impact how often it happens [00:14:46] Andrew Waterhouse: Yeah, it's a pity that. Consumers wouldn't have information on the level of quercetin. We would very much like to do a study along those lines, but we haven't been able to find any funding for that, just in case somebody wants to support that kind of work, we're happy to work with them. but anyway you know, it hasn't really been an issue for winemakers, so there isn't a lot of data out there. [00:15:08] There are a few studies that published amounts of quercetin, you know, in wines from different places, but the data is very, very limited and not really useful in providing consumers guidance. The one thing we can say is because, as I mentioned earlier, sun exposure is very important, in general if you look at a particular type of wine, a varietal, say Cabernet or Pinot Noir, that the grapes that are grown on very large vines, will have less sun exposure. [00:15:39] Essentially if you have a very highly productive vineyard making targeting an inexpensive line, you probably have much more shading of the fruit as a consequence of lower quercetin levels. Compared to a very high end vineyard, usually, the amount of sunlight is very tightly controlled, and one of the reasons for that is that there's very good data showing that wines that are high in quercetin have a better mouthfeel, better texture in the mouth. And it's not clear whether quercetin is directly responsible or whether it's a marker for something else that's produced under those conditions that leads to that. many years ago, we did a study looking at phenolics in Cabernet, and we observed that the very high end Cabernets that we tested were much higher in quercetin than the sort of average price type product. [00:16:35] And I think that that was true then. It's probably true now that, you know, a very good cabernet is, is made with very tight control of sun exposure. And there is a fair amount, of course, it can't be a complete sun exposure, or they probably get raisins by the end of the harvest, by the time you get to harvest, but there's a very deliberate management of sun exposure in high end wines. And it's for a reason to, get to higher quality product. [00:17:04] Craig Macmillan: Right, exactly! And, We know that the managed sun exposure, quercetin is a part of it but also it's connected to just total phenolics in general. Lots and lots of different compounds that are, you know, semi related. And I actually wanted to go back Aprametia you identified the quercetin glucuronide as being The highest in the ones that you tested, were there other things in that test and that assay that all were also stood out, maybe not as high as that, but really kind of stuck out as being different than the rest. [00:17:39] Apramita Devi: Actually, the quercetin gluconide was a standalone as a very high, like it's like 78%. The other things were around in that 30 percent range, so I'm not sure how significant was the impact of that, but there were quercetin glycosides forms, which were like around 30 percent inhibition of the enzyme, but [00:18:03] all others were very low. [00:18:04] Craig Macmillan: yeah, so it really stood out basically as it was head and shoulders above it. I would like to put this work into context a little bit. I, I work with the public quite a bit as part of my job and I have for years. And this topic comes up. All the time. This information definitely helps me my goal, when I talk to a consumer that has an issue with, wine headache or whatever it's not that I'm trying to sell them a product as much as it is. [00:18:29] They want to enjoy wine. They tell me this, they say, Oh, I love to have it. I just can't. Da da da. And then they'll say, it's like sulfites. And then I'll kind of explore that with them a little bit. Like, so can you eat dried fruit? Do you eat canned fruit? Do you have reactions to this or to that? Are you asthmatic? [00:18:48] Kind of sort that out and go, okay, I don't think maybe that's it. Maybe it's not. The other ones that I just learned about about 10 years ago was a biogenic amines, which made a lot of sense to me in terms of things like histamine reactions. What is your feeling about sulfites is contributing biogenic amines. [00:19:04] Maybe there's other things we haven't hit on, on this topic. What are your feelings about the, kind of the big picture of what potential for a diagnosing assist? [00:19:15] Andrew Waterhouse: Why don't you talk about amines [00:19:16] Craig Macmillan: Yes, please, [00:19:18] Apramita Devi: Biogenic amines like mostly the histamine and tyramine are the main ones people talk about whenever they come with this headache stuff. So I think because it's formed in the wine during the fermentation process, and there are these spec microbes which can convert the amino acids into this, biogenic amines the histamines are part of inflammatory reactions. People know that in biology and immunology. So it's very easy to be people connected that it might be a reason why people get headache. But what I always focus is like, there are far more other food products, for example, fermented meat products, which has far more higher amount of these biogenic amines. do people get headache if they have something similar with alcohol eating together with alcohol or something like that? But there is no mechanism told till now, they just tell that, oh, since it's histamine and it's related to this inflammatory reactions, it might be the cause. But there is no solid proof that it is the cause. [00:20:27] so I don't know whether it's there or it might be a pathway or not. [00:20:33] Craig Macmillan: One of the things that I find fascinating is how we evolve our, Hypotheses about things over time, and somebody has an hypothesis and they test it out, maybe they find something, maybe they don't, but then that kicks off this whole set of what I call naive science making up stories about why. [00:20:53] It's kind of a just so story. It's like, well, obviously then somebody comes along and checks it and says, Hey, wait a second. And we're no, or if this was true, then that would have to be true. And that's not true. You know, and that kind of thing and how we keep coming around to new ideas, which is what you folks have done, which I think is really, really cool. [00:21:10] Andrew Waterhouse: I was going to answer your question about sulfites. It's a really big question actually. Partly because sulfites have so much visibility and there's so much concern about it. I think sulfites themselves Have been studied pretty carefully there's one study where if they gave subjects a very high level of sulfites in wine, it was like very small, but statistically significant increase in headaches. [00:21:39] Or some adverse reaction, but other studies have shown no correlation. By the way, sulfites are antioxidants in case you hadn't heard that. So it seems very unlikely that sulfites by themselves are some sort of bad actor in this regard. Like you, I get these questions all the time. And what I heard so many times was. Oh, it's cheap wine. It gives me a headache. [00:22:06] Craig Macmillan: Yes. [00:22:07] Andrew Waterhouse: And have you heard [00:22:08] Craig Macmillan: I've heard that many times. And then on the opposite side of things, I've heard stuff like, Oh, I get headaches from American wine, but I don't get it from French wine. Or I always get headaches from European wines, but I never from California wine. So I'm trying to figure out, is there something going on? [00:22:26] Like, can you be allergic to burgundy? You know what I'm saying? Cause I mean, it could be, it could be something about burgundy. It's just stuff going on. And then the opposite. I had a guy who says, no, I don't have any that. But he says I was traveling in France, and we were drinking wine like it was water, and I never had a hangover symptom, and I did it, and I was like, I don't know dude, like I [00:22:45] Andrew Waterhouse: Yeah. Well, there's, there's one answer to some of this, which is if you're on vacation and you don't have to get up early and you're relaxed and you probably don't get as many headaches. [00:22:58] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:22:59] Andrew Waterhouse: So I think that's a large part of it, especially for Americans visiting Europe. They're on vacation. but I think there is something to the sulfites question. And that is that inexpensive wine often, not always, but often has more bound sulfites. [00:23:18] Craig Macmillan: Yep. [00:23:19] Andrew Waterhouse: And this is probably because those grapes have a little bit more mold on them or a lot more mold. And when they get to the crusher, the winemaker goes, Oh, there's mold on these fruits. So we're going to add sulfites to, to take care of the botrytis, right? [00:23:34] We don't want the fruit to get oxidized and damaged. They had a bunch of sulfites. The consequence of that is that in the finished line, There's a lot more. Bound to SO2, which shows up in the total SO2 number. [00:23:47] You know what it's bound to? [00:23:49] Craig Macmillan: No. [00:23:49] Andrew Waterhouse: It's bound to largely acid aldehyde. [00:23:52] Craig Macmillan: Really? [00:23:53] Oh! Well that would make sense. Yeah, that would make sense. [00:23:56] Andrew Waterhouse: And the, the reason for that is that during the fermentation, the yeast are converting all this sugar the alcohol, but there's an intermediate step which is acetaldehyde. [00:24:06] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:24:07] Andrew Waterhouse: If you have SO2 floating around, as you would if you'd added a lot of it up front, it binds that acetaldehyde before it gets reduced to ethanol, to alcohol. if you start a fermentation with a high level of added SO2, then you will end up with a wine that has more bound acetaldehyde. And that could be a marker, say, of less expensive wine. [00:24:31] So it's possible that those people are, what they're experiencing is direct ingestion of acetaldehyde, which is being released into the blood and that that's causing them a problem. [00:24:45] Now, I've looked and looked, and I cannot find any data on what's called absorption of acetaldehyde from wine, or from food for that matter. I keep, I'm going to keep looking, [00:24:56] but for some reason or other, this hasn't been subject of a published study, although maybe I just haven't been competent enough to find it. [00:25:05] Craig Macmillan: I doubt that. [00:25:07] Andrew Waterhouse: Well, sometimes these are, you know, they're very specialized and they're indexed in funny ways. And, [00:25:13] You know, and the other thing was, you know, when the study came out, I had all these questions. I was talking to this one reporter and she said, well, I can drink natural wine. [00:25:24] It doesn't give me headaches. And I was like, oh boy, what's this about? [00:25:27] Craig Macmillan: Yeah. [00:25:28] Andrew Waterhouse: But thinking about that further when you make natural wine, you don't add any sulfites or at least you're not supposed to, Right. And consequently in the finished wine, the level of acetaldehyde would have to be very low or else it would smell like sherry. [00:25:41] Craig Macmillan: Right. Right. [00:25:43] Andrew Waterhouse: And yes, granted, many natural wines have funky smells, but they don't by and large smell like sherry. [00:25:49] So it's possible that natural wines have in general, Much less acid aldehyde than conventional one. you know, all these questions have brought up some interesting issues, I think, you know, the industry should be looking into you know, these are these issues like how much acid aldehyde Do we want in our wine and how can we reduce it if we want to reduce it? [00:26:15] I don't think anybody's really looking at that yet. I think that would be a very interesting question to pursue. Oh [00:26:24] Craig Macmillan: you just, you just reminded me of, of something two things that I, I had forgotten about. One I used to teach like enology for babies, enology for dummies thing for the public. I am in no way qualified other than just experience to do that. [00:26:39] But I broke it down in that I do that sugar aldehyde, alcohol arrows, and I'd say, okay, this, this acid aldehyde. Remember this one? This one's coming back. We're going to see this again later. So write this one down. We're going to get to that later. And sure enough, now it's just through the body and, and I think breathalyzers work based on that. [00:27:00] Don't they? It's like density. Something like that. So the aldehyde, they're actually, [00:27:05] I think so. I got to look that up again, but because by the time it gets to your breath, your body's, Processing it, right? Hugely important. Not just that compound, but aldehyde is just kind of a general well, maybe we should all invest in like some kind of, I don't know, AO unit or wine X ray or something at our house. [00:27:21] And then we could get the totals and know before we drink it you know, maybe we could figure out if somebody could come up with a consumer friendly, you know, put it in a vial and shake it and it turns blue. Don't drink it kind of thing. I'm just being silly. I don't know. [00:27:34] Andrew Waterhouse: idea. [00:27:35] Craig Macmillan: You go to different like wine shops and stuff, and there's all kinds of stirs and additives and strainers and funnels and stuff that are supposed to take things out. [00:27:45] And I've always really wanted to see what those things do. They do anything or not, or I don't know. I'd like to try it. Finally, is there one takeaway on this topic, this question to both you, one takeaway you'd like people to know, I [00:27:57] Andrew Waterhouse: well, I think the key thing is that we haven't done any experiments on people yet. [00:28:03] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:28:04] Andrew Waterhouse: And so what we have here is, I would call it a well founded theory, [00:28:09] Craig Macmillan: Mhmm. [00:28:09] Andrew Waterhouse: I think people shouldn't rush out and start changing the way they drink yet. They might want to try some experiments. But we don't have the final word yet. [00:28:20] Craig Macmillan: Right, right. [00:28:24] Apramita Devi: Same. Yeah. This is just very preliminary study. And we just have a theory out. So we still don't know, like, what happens in the actual body. [00:28:34] Craig Macmillan: Well, I hope that we can do that. [00:28:36] Andrew Waterhouse: We're always looking for support for experiments. If anybody wants to support that, get in touch. [00:28:43] Craig Macmillan: You know, another creative thought that I have when I'm preparing for this is like, you know, , people either get headaches from wine or they don't. If I'm someone who wants to enjoy wine, but gets headaches, I would be really attracted to a product that had a back label if we could make health. statements, which we cannot, that would say now low in quercetin or, you know, headache free, you know, no, we would never get that through TTP, obviously, but but, but, you know, but we went round and round with that on sulfites, you know you know, organic waste, no added sulfites, you know, you can say that. [00:29:14] Andrew Waterhouse: I think it would be possible to perhaps have a declaration on a bottle about the level of quercetin, whether it's high or low. I suppose. I don't know. [00:29:24] One company did get a label through that had resveratrol levels on it, but then TTB stopped approving that. So only one company has that approval. But I think in that case the reason for denying the label is that it is a proxy for health claim. Thank you. [00:29:44] Quercetin, you know, whether it's high or low is really, it's not, it's not making a health claim. We're not claiming that this wine is healthier for you than the other has to do with headaches or not headaches. [00:29:55] And I don't see that as really a health claim. [00:29:58] Craig Macmillan: Well, let's just see how this develops. You never know. Let's face it. I mean, we're talking about nutrition. This is August of 2024, the date for this recording. We're talking about having nutritional labeling on wine. Right? Which I think would be a very interesting nutritional label, quite frankly. [00:30:13] I would, I would love to see that, you know. Zero percent of the RDA of everything, again, at the end of one of my lectures I'd introduce potassium, and at the end I'd say, so how much wine do you have to drink to get your RDA of potassium? You have to drink a gallon and a half of wine a day. So, maybe not a big contributor. Maybe not a big contributor. Where can people find out more about both of you? [00:30:37] Andrew Waterhouse: Well, I think probably the best starting point would be our LinkedIn pages. [00:30:43] Craig Macmillan: And those will be in the show notes. [00:30:45] Andrew Waterhouse: and I do have a website at UC Davis called waterhouse. ucdavis. edu. [00:30:52] Craig Macmillan: And that will be in there as well. What about you, Apremita? [00:30:54] Apramita Devi: For me, LinkedIn page. [00:30:58] And if people want to see about my research or my past research, they can go to my Google Scholar page to [00:31:05] Craig Macmillan: Awesome. Thank you. Well, thanks so much for being here. Our guests today were Andrew Waterhouse, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, and Apramita Devi, a postdoctoral researcher in viticulture and knowledge at UC Davis. Really interesting work. [00:31:21] I'm glad that you folks are doing it. I've been a big fan of you, Dr. Waterhouse, for a long time, and now that I've seen your work, I'm a big fan of you. Apremita. You've done some pretty cool stuff in the last five years. So again, thanks. And thank you for listening to Sustainable Wine Growing with Vineyard team. [00:31:38] Please keep downloading episodes. Please visit the show page. Lots of information there. And we also have a new publication, Understanding Wine Chemistry by Andrew Waterhouse, Gavin Sachs, and David Jeffrey. Is that correct? [00:31:53] Andrew Waterhouse: That's correct. [00:31:55] Craig Macmillan: This is out in the world now. [00:31:57] Andrew Waterhouse: It's just out this month. [00:31:59] Craig Macmillan: That sounds like a must have. [00:32:01] Andrew Waterhouse: I agree. [00:32:03] Craig Macmillan: That sounds like a must have. , I will leave the name out, but there was a very famous book written by a group of folks from CSU Fresno and some collaborators. And I don't have a copy because I bought five copies in my cellar. People stole them every single time. So, this is the same kind of book, folks. [00:32:20] Maybe buy five copies. And just hand them out to give one to your assistant winemaker. Give one to your cellar master and just say, here, these are yours. I'm keeping my copy. Thank you very much. That's, that's really cool. And again, thanks for being on the podcast. [00:32:33] Beth Vukmanic: Thank you for listening today's podcast was brought to you by wonderful laboratories. Wonderful laboratories operates two state of the art high throughput laboratories. He's located in Shaffer, California to support pathogen detection and nutrient analysis. The team provides full service support to customers with field sampling. Custom panels and special projects. They're. Customers include pest control advisors, growers, consultants, seed. Companies, backyard gardeners, ranchers, and more. [00:33:10] Make sure you check out the show notes. To learn more about. Andrew. And Oprah meta. To read a great article about their research. Why do some people get headaches from drinking red wine? [00:33:19] And if you're looking. Looking for. Some more fun wine at trivia to share at holiday parties this season. Listen into sustainable Winegrowing podcast episode. 74, the spirit of wine. [00:33:31] If you liked the show, do. It's a big favor by sharing it with a friend subscribing and leaving us a review. You can find all of the podcasts@vineyardteam.org slash podcast. Podcast. And you can reach us at podcast@vineyardteam.org until next time, this is sustainable. Winegrowing with the vineyard team. [00:33:49]   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

Silver Oak Cellars was founded by two people on a handshake in 1972. Ray Twomey Duncan was a visionary Colorado entrepreneur who saw potential investing in California farmland to grow grapes. Justin Meyer was a winemaker and Christian Brothers member. They built a legendary wine focused solely on Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley and Napa. Ray's son, David Duncan, CEO since 2002, continues the legacy and has led expansion with Twomey Winery to focus on Pinot Noir and OVID Napa Valley.The Connected Table is broadcast live Wednesdays at 2PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).The Connected Table Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

1886 was a good year for brooding@ GargiuloVineyards @BeaulieuVineyard @EhlersEstate #WineTasting #Podcast #WineLovers #RadioShow Co hosts : Good ol Gal Denise, Good ol Boy Justin, Made Man Maury, Made Man BobSIPS – Dive deep into the world of exquisite wines with us! In this episode, we explore an impressive lineup from Gargiulo Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, and Ehlers Estate. From buttery Chardonnays to robust Cabernets, we dissect each bottle with our signature blend of humor and expertise. Join us for a palate-pleasing adventure that will have you reaching for a glass. We will be discussing this wine and rating them from 1-5 with 5 being the best:06:17 Gargiulo Vineyards 2022 Frank Wood Chardonnay 4 SIPS08:32 Gargiulo Vineyards 2018 G Major 7 Cabernet Sauvignon 4 SIPS17:09 Gargiulo Vineyards 2018 Money Road Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 4 SIPS26:04 Beaulieu Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon 4 SIPS29:20 Beaulieu Vineyards 2019 Rutherford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 5 SIPS33:25 Ehlers Estate Portrait 2021 4 SIPS40:10 Ehlers Estate Jean Leducq 2021 4 SIPS44:46 Ehlers Estate 1886 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 4 SIPSinfo@sipssudsandsmokes.com X- @sipssudssmokes IG/FB - @sipssudsandsmokes Sips, Suds, & Smokes® is produced by One Tan Hand Productions using the power of beer, whiskey, and golf. Available on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeart, and nearly anywhere you can find a podcast.Enjoying that cool Outro Music, it's from Woods & Whitehead – Back Roads Download your copy here:https://amzn.to/2XblorcThe easiest way to find this award winning podcast on your phone is ask Alexa, Siri or Google, “Play Podcast , Sips, Suds, & Smokes” Credits:TITLE: Maxwell SwingPERFORMED BY: Texas GypsiesCOMPOSED BY: Steven R Curry (BMI)PUBLISHED BY: Alliance AudioSparx (BMI)COURTESY OF: AudioSparxTITLE: FlapperjackPERFORMED BY: Texas GypsiesCOMPOSED BY: Steven R Curry (BMI)PUBLISHED BY: Alliance AudioSparx (BMI)COURTESY OF: AudioSparxTITLE: Back RoadsPERFORMED BY: Woods & WhiteheadCOMPOSED BY: Terry WhiteheadPUBLISHED BY: Terry WhiteheadCOURTESY OF: Terry WhiteheadPost production services : Pro Podcast SolutionsAdvertising sales: Contact us directlyContent hosting services: Audioport, Earshot, Radio4All, & PodBeanProducer: Made Man BobWine Tasting, Gargiula Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyards, Ehlers Estate, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Wine Reviews, Wine Ratings, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Pairing, Wine Lovers, Vineyard Tours, Wine Cellar, Fine Wines, Wine And Food, Wine Podcast, Wine Experts, Wine Education, Wine CultureGargiula Vineyardshttps://www.gargiula.com/Beaulieu Vineyardshttps://www.bvwines.com/Ehlers Estatehttps://www.ehlersestate.com/Screaming Eaglehttps://www.screamingeagle.com/Bottle Shock (Movie)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914797/Tony Chachere's Seasoninghttps://www.tonychachere.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1886 was a good year for brooding@ GargiuloVineyards @BeaulieuVineyard @EhlersEstate #WineTasting #Podcast #WineLovers #RadioShow Co hosts : Good ol Gal Denise, Good ol Boy Justin, Made Man Maury, Made Man BobSIPS – Dive deep into the world of exquisite wines with us! In this episode, we explore an impressive lineup from Gargiulo Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, and Ehlers Estate. From buttery Chardonnays to robust Cabernets, we dissect each bottle with our signature blend of humor and expertise. Join us for a palate-pleasing adventure that will have you reaching for a glass. We will be discussing this wine and rating them from 1-5 with 5 being the best:06:17 Gargiulo Vineyards 2022 Frank Wood Chardonnay                                4 SIPS08:32 Gargiulo Vineyards 2018 G Major 7 Cabernet Sauvignon                  4 SIPS17:09 Gargiulo Vineyards 2018 Money Road Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon     4 SIPS26:04 Beaulieu Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon                                                 4 SIPS29:20  Beaulieu Vineyards 2019 Rutherford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon  5 SIPS33:25 Ehlers Estate Portrait 2021                                                                            4 SIPS40:10 Ehlers Estate Jean Leducq 2021                                                                                  4 SIPS44:46 Ehlers Estate 1886 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021                                              4 SIPSinfo@sipssudsandsmokes.com X- @sipssudssmokes IG/FB - @sipssudsandsmokes Sips, Suds, & Smokes® is produced by One Tan Hand Productions using the power of beer, whiskey, and golf. Available on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeart, and nearly anywhere you can find a podcast.Enjoying that cool Outro Music, it's from Woods & Whitehead – Back Roads Download your copy here:https://amzn.to/2XblorcThe easiest way to find this award winning podcast on your phone is ask Alexa, Siri or Google, “Play Podcast , Sips, Suds, & Smokes” Credits:TITLE: Maxwell SwingPERFORMED BY: Texas GypsiesCOMPOSED BY: Steven R Curry (BMI)PUBLISHED BY: Alliance AudioSparx (BMI)COURTESY OF: AudioSparx TITLE: FlapperjackPERFORMED BY: Texas GypsiesCOMPOSED BY: Steven R Curry (BMI)PUBLISHED BY: Alliance AudioSparx (BMI)COURTESY OF: AudioSparx TITLE: Back RoadsPERFORMED BY: Woods & WhiteheadCOMPOSED BY: Terry WhiteheadPUBLISHED BY: Terry WhiteheadCOURTESY OF: Terry WhiteheadPost production services : Pro Podcast SolutionsAdvertising sales: Contact us directlyContent hosting services: Audioport, Earshot, Radio4All, & PodBeanProducer: Made Man BobWine Tasting, Gargiula Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyards, Ehlers Estate, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Wine Reviews, Wine Ratings

Melissa Galliani, Dan Berger & Justin Seidenfeld. Justin Seidenfeld, Rodney Strong head winemaker, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Justin Seidenfeld has been on CWC a few times, most recently on this episode of April 27, 2022. They begin tasting a brand new wine that they just launched on June 1st. It is a single vineyard 2023 Sauvignon Blanc from one of their estate vineyards called Bud's Ranch. Justin modelled this wine after a Bordeaux style, it is richer than the usual SV. 55% made in large oak barrels, then the rest is done in stainless steel. Dan says it is aimed at being ready to drink now and also to be held in the cellar. 2023 was an interesting vintage, it was cooler than average, which gives the wines structure without being tart. There is just enough acidity to have balance. They also use a rotating egg-shaped vessel for mixing during fermentation, which gives it lees contact. Justin started in 2005 at Iron Horse Vineyards while still going to school at UC Davis. Then he worked at Robert Mondavi before coming to Rodney Strong. Rodney Strong had the thirteenth bonded winery in California. He did a lot of firsts, like planting Chardonnay in Chalk Hill and makin the first Alexander Valley single vineyard Cabernet. He was also a founder of the Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill AVAs. Justin Seidenfeld helped drive the approval of the Petaluma Gap AVA. Dan Berger started writing about wine in 1976, working for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He had a very informative 2-hour lunch interview with Rodney Strong that year. 1158 Acres of Vineyards Rodney Strong winery is now owned by the Klein family and now owns 12 vineyard sites with 1158 acres total. It is critical to their success to have control over the vineyards as well as production. Dan Berger notices the flavor of fresh-cut new-mown hay in this Sauvignon Blanc which makes it unique. Rodney Strong is famous for its Cabernets and for its Chalk Hill Chardonnay. They also make a very good Pinot Noir, all from Russian River Valley. Their Alexander Valley Estate Cabernet retails for about $20. Justin says it punches above its weight, at that price. They literally buy their barrels as trees in France. That and the fact that they own their vineyards means their retail price is modest, they can focus on quality and evolve. They have just finished rennovating their vineyards and are ready for generations in the future. August 24 is the Single Vineyard Dinner, when they release their top wines. They taste one that is a 2019 100% single vineyard Cabernet, which is a demonstration of terroir. The 3 wines to be revealed on August 24 are similar except for their vineyard location so they taste differently. As Justin describes, Rodney Strong's intention is to surprise and delight.

A few days after winemaker Meghan Zobeck started her new job at Napa's historic Burgess Cellars, the winery burned down in the 2020 wildfires. With the help of owner Gaylon Lawrence and CEO Carlton McCoy, not only did Burgess bounce back, but Zobeck's followup 2021 Cabernets are outstanding. She tells us about her journey from the NFL to Chile's Clos Apalta to Michel Rolland's team in France to California's Napa Valley, and the "crazy ideas" she's implementing at Burgess—including something called agricultura promiscua ….Straight Talk host James Molesworth also welcomes Wine Spectator senior editor Mitch Frank to the newest episode to discuss the recent sales of Williams Selyem and Sea Smoke, and what they tell us about the California Pinot Noir industry.And don't forget, there's always more free content at WineSpectator.com!• Rebuilding Napa's Burgess Cellars from the Ground Up• Video: In the Vineyard at Burgess with Meghan Zobeck• Burgess Cellars Among Napa Wildfire Victims• Burgess Owner Gaylon Lawrence: Napa's Nashville Newcomer• Napa Icon and 1976 Paris Tasting Winner Warren Winiarski Dies at 95• Williams Selyem Sold to Burgundy's Faiveley• Sea Smoke Sold to Constellation• Wine Spectator's July 31, 2024, issue• Latest News and Headlines• Ask Dr. Vinny• Sign up for Wine Spectator's free email newsletters• Subscribe to Wine SpectatorA podcast from Wine SpectatorMarvin R. Shanken, Editor and PublisherHost: James MolesworthDirector: Robert TaylorProducer: Gabriela SaldiviaGuests: Meghan Zobeck, Mitch FrankAssistant producer, Napa: Elizabeth Redmayne-Titley Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Evan Damiano (center) with (l-r) Dan, Melissa and Chris. Evan Damiano, winemaker at Marchelle Wines, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Marchelle Wines is Greg La Follette's label and he was on CWC earlier this year on February 9, on this epiode. Also in the studio today are Melissa Galliani, GM of Wine Country Radio and Chris DiMatteo, producer of this podcast, who has brought and uncorked a 1985 Barolo he has been holding for thirty years. Evan Damiano started working with wine in 2010 when he worked a harvest in Oregon, then in Australia, at Balletto and then he took a “sojourn” to Milwaukee to try brewing, but that didn't work out. While living in Milwaukee, he sold high end Cabernets to restaurants, including some prestigious Napa Valley names. The pandemic wrecked his business when everything closed. He wanted to get back into wine and got an offer from Pride Mountain Vineyards. But in 2020, the fires affected them so much that there was no wine to be made. Evan emailed his friend Greg La Follette. Evan had met Greg when he worked selling wine, Greg's wines were in his portfolio. He got a job in another winery and in the evening he was helping out at Greg's winery. Evan got to do more and more under Greg's supervision and eventually became assistant winemaker then fully titled winemaker. J&H Estates, Marchelle Wines and Evan's winemaking lineage Evan is making some wines now where he is making the picking decisions as well as doing the winemaking. They did a whole-cluster press into new barrels. J & H Estates is owned by two African-American women partners. Evan has brought a bottle of Chardonnay that he made for their label. Greg La Follette's label is Marchelle Wines, where Evan is the winemaker now. Greg was the last apprentice of André Tchelitscheff and Evan is the last apprentice of Greg La Follette. Evan is proud of this lineage. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Rodney Strong for info on the 2024 Summer Concert series. Dan Berger has brought a bottle of his now award-winning Bahl Fratty Riesling. This 2022 has just won a Gold Medal at the Sunset International Wine Competition. They ask Chris to describe it in Italian, which he does. “Proprio secco!” means “really dry!” Quanto costa? (How much does it cost?) Dan Berger answers, $38, having understood the Italian question. Bravo Dan!   Click the logo to visit our sponsor Davis Bynum Wines. The 1985 Barolo Chris has brought a bottle of Barolo from 1985, so at 39 years, one of the oldest wines, if not the oldest wine we have ever tasted on this show. Dan Berger waxes eloquent to describe it. Barolo is known for being able to last this long and this one has survived its 39 years with deep complex flavors. Chris does a jazz radio show called This is Jazz broadcast on Radio Morcote International and this week's show is a Steve Jaxon tribute show. Steve Jaxon did a show called Swingin' with Sinatra and Chris' show this week uses some of Steve Jaxon's voice work and music programming. You can listen to the weekly one-hour This is Jazz show here at the Radio Morcote International site's "podcast" page, scroll down to the third item. Find the dropdown menu for several weeks of older shows. Evan will be pouring Marchelle Wines at Big West Vine Fest at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville this weekend. It is a new wine festival that is attracting a young crowd. And Dan will be there too pouring his Riesling. Taste of Sonoma is happening Saturday June 22, 2024. Here is a link to the radio report on CWC from the 2023 Taste of Sonoma. Evan pours a barrel sample of a Cab that he is about to bottle. Then Dan opens a California Barbera. It's different than the Italian Barberas. It is good, but in a different way. Piedmont is cooler so the local Barbera isn't as strong as this California one. It's warmer here so the Barbera is stronger than the usual common everyday Italian Barbera.  

Welcome to Wine Camp with Niel and Monica.  We are two friends who love wine. Wine Camp is about the stories and the people behind the wine.  We interview people in the wine industry, share our experiences and hopefully point you in the direction of good wine. It is not about 93 point Cabernets or the details of how wine is made.  Pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine, sit back and enjoy Wine Camp.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wine_camp_podcast/Music: Windows Rolled Down by The 126ers, Wes Hutchinson Windows Rolled Down - The 126ers Wes Hutchinson % - Free Music Download For Creators (happysoulmusic.com)

In this episode, Lady Petra and SafferMaster interview NE Hypnotist about how hypnosis plays with kink over a trio of Cabernets. Support the showListen on Podurama https://podurama.com

We're setting sail on a wine-tasting adventure. Join us as we uncork and explore the complex flavors of Vigilance Cabernet Sauvignon, Bodegas Aragonesas Mosen Cleto Crianza, and the Brick Shake Zinfandel. It's a journey into uncharted wine territory, where we form our first genuine opinions about these exquisite vintages. From rich Cabernets to smooth Crianzas and vibrant Zinfandels, we're breaking down the barriers of wine stereotypes. So, let's "wine" about it and dive headfirst into a world of unique wine experiences. Chandler: Instagram.com/chandlerdoesjokes Bumblebearcomedy.com Twitter.com/jokesfortrees James: Twitter.com/WhatFunnyFriend Tiktok.com/Living_Dad_Joke Instagram.com/theartofgivingup Facebook.com/wasthatingoodtaste --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/was-that-in-good-taste/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/was-that-in-good-taste/support

IWP Ep25 Kevin Ferguson - "Rain on the Montebello Ridge" and Gemello Winery History. Kevin is the grandson of Mario Gemello, the late winemaker of the Gemello Winery, which produced great Cabernets and Zins in Mountain View for a half of century - well before the tech boom of the past 40 years, back when this area was still the Valley of the Hearts Delight and Silicon Valley was a glimmer in the eye. Ferguson is writing a book about the winery and his bond with his grandparents. It's called Rain on the Monte Bello Ridge, a memoir about health, aging and winemaking. Follow along with Kevins Substack at gemello.substack.com⁠ or ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gemellowinery⁠ and if you are in the Bay Area, he sometimes does speaking engagements. Follow the podcast www.instagram.com/indiewinepodcast or email indiewinepodcast@gmail.com with questions, comments or feedback. If you'd like to support the podcast further, please tell your wine friends about it and rate the podcast wherever you're listening if you like what you hear or donate on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/IndieWinePodcast or Spotify at - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support to allow for more episodes, more travel and to help defray other costs. Thanks. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indie-wine-podcast/id1673557547 https://open.spotify.com/show/06FsKGiM9mYhhCHEFDOwjb. https://linktr.ee/indiewinepodcast --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-wood4/support

Clark Smith joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke on California Wine Country to discuss his book on pairing wine with music. This episode was originally recorded December 8, 2021. This is the last week of Summer vacation for The Drive and California Wine Country. This is the last repeat episode before next week. Starting Monday August 21, The Drive returns to live radio, on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, Mon-Fri 3-6. California Wine Country moves to Fridays so our next podcast episode and the first new live show of the Fall season will be Friday, August 25.  Clark Smith Clark Smith joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke on California Wine Country to discuss his book on pairing wine with music. He has published a book called A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music. Clark has been on California Wine Country a few times before, including this most recent episode on September 15 of 2021. Today Clark Smith will tell about his book and his website dedicated to pairing wine with music. But before we begin with Clark, we will taste a bottle from Dan Berger's extensive personal cellar. This is a 2004 Peter Lehman Shiraz from Australia. It is a bit rich and has some plum flavors. At 17 years old and is past its prime as it was lost in the cellar and Dan forgot about it. Euro-Centric Wines Clark Smith is back with us on California Wine Country today. He is a consultant to about 120 wineries, after a whole career training wine makers. European wines are his favorites, when they are balanced and age well. He calls that “Euro-centric wines.” He likes to say that he makes American “forgeries” of European styles. Today we will taste his Cabernet Franc which is a good example of that. He also likes to use an American grape called Norton. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online. Clark Smith has published a book on this subject, called A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music, which is available as a Kindle book on amazon, at that link. Wines are like music. They are liquid music. They can carry emotion. Wines are happy and sad too. For example: If you want to make a Cabernet Sauvignon taste terrible, play a polka. Cabernets are dark and angry and if you play happy music around it, it will taste awful. A Sound Wheel, Maybe? Clark Smith credits Don Blackburn for coming up with this idea. Dan is a friend of Clark Smith and he didn't like the Aroma Wheel approach as a framework for the flavors of wine. He wants to look at the whole wine. He did an experiment with about 100 people, and he gives people 3 wines, a Beaujolais Nouveau, a Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a big bad Cab. Then he played the following music: - a Mozart divertimento, in the Classical style (late eighteenth century) - a Franz Liszt piece for piano (mid-nineteenth century) - Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a heavy chanting and rhythmic D minor jam for chorus and orchestra (mid-twentieth century) Then he asked people to match the wines to the music. If it had been random, the assignments would have been about evenly distributed among the wines. But people put the light frilly music with the Beaujolais and the Carmina Burana with the Cabernet. That's an intellectual exercise. But then, try playing the Carmina Burana with the Beaujolais, and it tasted horrible. What it means is that the feeling in the music and the wine can be aligned, or misaligned, and you can sense that. For the rest of this very interesting episode, we hear music and taste wine and compare the sensations of the pairings.

Erin Hamilton chats with Di Baddest Chaplain about One Hope Wines, entrepreneurship attached to service, moderation, and the need to pursue understanding of one another. Find out more about One Hope Wines here. Subscribe to my substack: baddestchaplain.substack.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/baddestchaplain/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/baddestchaplain/support

WBZ's Jordan Rich talks with Nicholas Daddona, Managing Director of WineKey and Beverage Director and Sommelier at the Boston Harbor Hotel, about when the best time to uncork a wine is.

WBZ's Jordan Rich talks with Ken Hoggins of Ken's Wine Guide about some favorite cabernets.

Nuestro sommelier Julián Ontivero nos hace degustar un vino de Córdoba blend de Cabernets. Nuestra chefa Gi Pilatti preparó humita

Join Kelli and Sarah as they talk with longtime friend and wine industry maven Cathy Corison as the three dig deep into the grapes, soil, and vintages that makeup Corison Winery. Cathy is an American Winemaker who specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon, and was nominated for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine.  In this episode, Cathy goes in-depth on the flavors she likes to play with in her famous Cabernets, such as her Sunbasket and Kronos Vineyard varietals, and why her love for the flavors around the world draws her to older vine characteristics. Among other things, Cathy also shares how important family is in winemaking, and her excitement in seeing the next generation of winemakers begin to sprout up. This episode is packed full of great tasting notes, stories, and perspectives on some of the best Cabernets in Napa Valley! If you like this episode, be sure to follow Wines That Matter on whatever platform you're listening on. This episode was produced and edited for CurtCo Media by AJ Moseley. Music by Chris Porter. Hosted by Kelli White and Sarah Bray. Chin chin!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This podcast is a refresher on Merlot (it's been 12 years, so it's time!). It's one of the titans of the wine grapes, and yet it's not often that we encounter it as a varietal wine. Because it is frequently blended, Merlot can often be forgotten or not given its due.   But Merlot will not be forgotten! It is the second-most planted grape in the world, the most widely grown grape in Bordeaux, and its pedigree as part of some of the world's most prestigious and well-known Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style wines makes it royalty in the wine world.   But Merlot is not without challenges. When it's not grown on the proper soils or managed meticulously, wine made of Merlot bears little resemblance to great wines of Bordeaux or other regions that are famed for blends that use it. The reputation of Merlot as a boring, flabby, dull wine is not the fault of the grape, and although it was a convenient scapegoat, it's also not the fault of the movie “Sideways.” The fact is that Merlot is not as easy to grow as people thought, and in 1980s and 1990s, opportunistic companies used high-yielding clones on bad rootstock and in bad sites to churn out high alcohol fruit bombs, lacking all the nuance that make the grape esteemed in its homeland.     This says nothing about the grape, but much about the people who defiled it. Although it is entirely capable of making boring, cheap wine, Merlot simultaneously makes up 95% of Château Petrus, Bordeaux's most expensive wine and is used in fine wines all over the world for its ability to elevate a blend. In this show we pay homage to Merlot, and this time, shed some light on the recent past for Merlot and why, ultimately, it has done little to harm the grape's reputation among winemakers and those who take the time to know the grape.   DNA and Parentage Merlot originates from Gironde or SW France or Basque country. It's the child of Cabernet Franc and Magdeleine Noire des Charentes from Brittany Merlot Gris: Pink color mutation of Merlot Merlot Blanc: A cross of Merlot x Folle Blanche created in 1891 NOT WHITE MERLOT, which is just Merlot made like white Zinfandel   History We discuss the history of Merlot – from its first mention in Bordeaux, to its more modern history - its rise in the 1990s and its fall in the early 2000s in California, Australia, and the global consumer market.       In the Vineyard Merlot is an early budding variety, making it susceptible to spring frost – it needs good weather at flowering or it won't have a great vintage. The grape needs cooler, well-drained soils – cooler limestone and clay soils are best Because Merlot is thin skinned with loose to medium density bunches it is also susceptible to disease (downy mildew) and botrytis (bad). It is bad in drought, which raises the question: how will it do with climate change, which we discuss. Merlot ripens about 2 weeks earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and it's the first red grape picked in Bordeaux. That makes it a great agriculture hedge – if it does well, there is less pressure to have a huge Cabernet Sauvignon harvest. The grape has milder tannins, higher sugar, and lower acidity (especially malic) than its relations Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. It can be vigorous, so yields must be managed and picking decision is important, since Merlot loses acidity quickly once ripe. Two main styles result from picking decisions (among other factors – terroir!): Bordeaux style: Merlot is harvested earlier, leading to a more acidic, medium alcohol wine (Pétrus). These wines tend to have moderate alcohol and show more red fruit flavors (cherry) along with “other” things like: green and black tea, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, earthy, mushrooms, green pepper, green olive International style: Concentrates on physiological ripeness, with long hang time to have hardened stems and seeds (wines of Michel Rolland). These wines are often inky, purple, dark wines, with high alcohol, velvety tannins, and dark fruit character (plum, blackberry, blueberry). The wine is smooth and can seem sweet due to the high alcohol, strong fruit, and the oak used that brings flavors like caramel, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, nut, and cigar.   _____________________________________________________ Regions: the grape is planted everywhere! This is more or less a list…     FranceMerlot is France's most planted grape   Bordeaux Bordeaux is the grape's native home, and it is the most cultivated grape in the region. It contains half of all the Merlot in France. The grape does best on cooler limestone and clay soils of the Right Bank and in pockets of the Left Bank. Climate change is a challenge for Merlot – it will need to be grown exclusively in cooler spots as the climate warms Right Bank Pomerol: Can be up to 100% Merlot. Wine is luscious, soft, velvety, plummy, iron or clay-like. Famed châteaux are Pétrus, Le Pin Émilion: Usually contains 60-70% Merlot with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon. Flavors are more like balsam, dried fruit, with tea notes, but the wines vary based on limestone, clay or sand content in the soil. Famed châteaux mentioned are Angelus and Pavie Other high quality Right Bank AOPs with Merlot based wines: Canon-Fronsac, Fronsac, St-Émilion “satellites” (Lussac St. Emilion, Montagne St. Emilion, Puisseguin St. Emilion and St. Georges St. Emilion)   Left Bank A major blending component of AOPs: Graves, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe, Listrac, Moulis, Pessac-Leognan   Other Bordeaux: all Côtes de Bordeaux (I recommend Francs and Castillon), Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur AOPs     Southwest France: Bergerac where it is blended with Cabernets, Cahors where it is blended with Malbec Languedoc and Loire grow Merlot     Italy: Merlot is the third most planted red in Italy and is made in a number of styles In Northern Italy: Alto-Adige, Friuli, parts of Veneto: the wines often have higher acidity, herbal notes and can be blended with other grapes. Tuscany: Super Tuscan blends in Bolgheri/Tuscan coast – producers use Merlot to soften Sangiovese or Cabernet in blends. Masseto by Antinori is 100% Merlot on clay soils (it costs more than US$1000 per bottle). Climate change is worrisome in these areas because it is getting too hot for Merlot. Other regions: Umbria, Lazio     Other Western/Central Europe: Spain: Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra, Aragón Portugal Switzerland: In Ticino made as a rosé Germany: Pfalz, Rheinhessen Austria: grown in all wine-growing regions in Austria, basic wines     Eastern Europe: Bulgaria: Significant plantings, varietal wines Hungary: In Bull's Blood (Egri Bikaver) with Kekfrankos, Kardarka Romania: Most widely exported red Croatia, Slovenia (near Italian border), Ukraine, Moldova, Greece,   _____________________________________________________ United States   Washington State: Excellent Merlot with strong acidity, dark color, and lots of interesting earthy, fruity flavor. The long growing season with cool nights lends the wine great structure. This is my top pick for US Merlot! Producers mentioned: Leonetti, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Andrew Will, Columbia Crest Regions mentioned: Walla Walla, Red Mountain     California In the early days of California wine, Merlot was a varietal wine. Sterling was the first to make a vintage dated Merlot. Warren Winiarski, a leader in California wine in the 1970s and owner of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, promoted Merlot as part of a Bordeaux blend We recap a bit of the story of how it evolved in California that we discussed earlier in the show. Then we talk about some of the styles in various regions   Napa: Producers usually dedicate the best soils and sites to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot is an afterthought. Right now there is a bit of a shortage of Merlot because no one has focused on it but demand is increasing as styles have changed. Top Producers: Duckhorn, Pride, La Jota Regions mentioned for Merlot: Carneros, Mt Veeder, Rutherford, Oakville     Other California:  Monterey (bulk), Sonoma (Alexander Valley, some Sonoma Valley)     Other US: Oregon (Rogue Valley), Virginia. Long Island (great stuff! Merlot is their best grape), Texas     Mexico, Canada (most prominent in BC for Bordeaux style blends)   _____________________________________________________ Southern Hemisphere   Chile:  Producers mistook Carménère for Merlot in the 1990s but they've slowly gotten back to real Merlot. Top areas: Colchagua (Apalta sub AVA), Maule, Curicó. I mention the famed wine writer     Argentina: Merlot is made in a ripe style, often blended in with other grapes     Australia: The grape is often used for blending with Cabernet, but had similar issues to California when demand rose in the 1990s – Merlot was overplanted in warm bulk areas like Murray Darling, Riverina, Riverland.  Today, quality Margaret River and Western Australia.     New Zealand: Merlot is the second most planted after Pinot Noir. It does especially well in blends coming out of Hawke's Bay. Merlot also does well in Auckland, Marlborough, and Martinborough     South Africa: Cooler sites in Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek       Other places: Israel, Lebanon, India, Japan, China     Suggested food pairings Cabernet style ("big wines"): Roasted, grilled food, “brown food” – hearty stews, meats, heavy dishes Soft, fruity styles with high acidity: Mushroom, salmon, spinach, greens   We end with a warning about serving temperature: NEVER SERVE MERLOT TOO WARM!! 60˚–65°F _______________________________________________________________ I could not be happier to announce my partnership with Wine Access, once again. For 2023, I will be working with this outstanding company, which is my go-to source for the best selection of interesting wines you can't find locally. Every box you get from Wine Access is meticulous -- tasting notes with food and wine pairing, serving temperature suggestions, and perfectly stored wine. It's no wonder that Wine Access was rated the best wine club by New York Times Wirecutter and is the official partner and wine provider of The MICHELIN Guide. Go to www.wineaccess.com/normal to sign up for their daily emails and get 10% your first order. Wine Access is a class act -- check them out today!      Is the podcast worth the price of a bottle or two of wine a year to you? If so, please become a member of Patreon... you'll get even more great content, live interactions and classes!  www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople   To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes  

For many visitors it's the first part of the wine district they see. If you're coming from the airport it's on your right as you turn and head toward town. But it's also one of Stellenbosch's most dynamic areas, home to award-winning Cabernets and other Bordeaux varieties, top-notch Chardonnay on the mountain's cooler, higher slopes, and many other exciting wines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to another episode of The Everyday Wine Aficionado Podcast! Today, we are joined by Michael Speakman! Michael Speakman bought Westerly Wines five years ago and has not looked back. From crafting high-quality Pinot Noir to big Cabernets, Westerly Wines capitalizes on everything Santa Barbara offers. Let's dive into his story!   [00:31 - 07:27] Veteran-Owned Wineries Supporting Veterans   Michael Speakman, owner, and winemaker of Westerly Wines and 13 Stripes Winery is a veteran and retired Navy seal. Mike has been working in the wine industry for five years and is passionate about supporting veteran initiatives.   [07:27 - 15:36] Winemaker creates unique wines for charity   Westerly has been around for 25 years Mike and his wife are the fourth owners. The difference between inferior and superior wine and a high-quality farming Wine can be used for many purposes, such as raising money or promoting awareness for a cause.   [15:37 - 21:22] Releasing A Patriot Wine Called 13 Stripes   Mike started 13 Stripes Winery in 2020, In January of 2022, he received a phone call from folds of honor asking if he would donate wine to an upcoming golf event He agreed and donated two cases of wine In May of that year, he was contacted by folds of honor again, this time to donate wine for an event in California. Since then, he's donated wine to Folds of Honor events in multiple states. He recommends documentaries and working with a winemaker who knows verbiage about winemaking [21:10 – 33:29] Closing Segment Learn everything you need to grow your wine, business, or brand with Wine Business Bootcamp where I help other wine producers master the fundamentals of digital marketing, nail their customer experience, and convert more wine tasters into wine clubs and other offers. Just send me a dm or email at kris@krislevy.comwith the subject: Wine Business Bootcamp Favorite go-to-wine Sauvignon Blanc Favorite go-to pairing Cheese and Sauvignon Blanc Hamburgers and Red Blend Wine Resource Books  And Documentaries   Connect with Mike Speakman Instagram:@westerlywines Website: westerlywines.com and 13stripeswinery.com   Let's continue the Everyday Wine Conversations and connect with me through Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or feel free to shoot me an email at kris@krislevy.co. You can also check out my website at ​www.​klevywineco.com. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! LEAVE A REVIEW + help us get the word out there! Share this podcast with someone who wants to join the wine conversations. Go ahead and take a screenshot, share this in your stories, and tag me on Instagram! JOIN THE CLUB through this link and handpick wines every month, from up-and-coming wineries, winemaker-owned brands, and wineries with unique stories while supporting those wineries directly. You can also join our Facebook Group to connect with other wine lovers, get special tips and tricks, and take your wine knowledge to a whole new level.   Tweetable Quotes: “I knew that wine was fermented and put in the barrel, but. It's very intriguing. The complexity of how the wine is made and the different aspects of taking it from the field and putting it into a bottle are pretty cool. and then when it makes it to the shelf and you get positive feedback, there's nothing better than that.” - Mike Speakman

Drea Kelly really knows how to use the name Kelly of her ex husband now incarcerated R Kelly to her advantage by having enticing Cabernets that seems to be working in her favor in Atlanta by recruiting women and young women to be in her shows. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/akashimediapodcastlive/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/akashimediapodcastlive/support

In this episode, I chatted with a real Californian pioneer, Cathy Corison, of Cathy Corison Winery in Napa Valley. Cathy is a champion of Cabernet Sauvignon, who always managed to marry the qualities of power alongside elegance and finesse beautifully. Not an easy fit. You can hear about her early years as a young winemaker. She spoke of taking on complex and big operations, for which in hindsight, she is happy to admit, they (her and other 20-something-year-old winemakers of the time) should probably not have been responsible. In our conversation, Cathy was telling the story of what it was like, standing by your fruit and not bowing to the ‘Parker trend' of big, overripe and extracted Cabernets of old, in the process forgoing any salary for a decade! She also described her ‘Bench' Terroir, what it is like and how it translates in her wines. We discussed the challenges of fires and water shortages and the obligatory question of what wine she'd be happy to take with her to a desert island (Cabernet-Sauvignon?... you might be surprised!). This episode is the first of 4 episodes exploring the people and wineries of Northern California. Please consider subscribing to the newsletter and follow the show on your favourite podcast platform. Your comments, either here or on Instagram are always greatly appreciated! Moshé

Wine consultants have become essential to the production of Napa Valley's signature product: Cabernet Sauvignon. As more wineries rely on a handful of elite winemakers, the field has become more competitive. Senior wine critic Esther Mobley joins host Cecilia Lei, to explain how the economics of winemaking factor in and why some fear the wines could become homogeneous. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

De retour sur le vaste sujet des cépages, l'œnologue Béatrice Dominé et le MOF Sommelier Laurent Derhé vous font découvrir aujourd'hui les mythiques Cabernets.     Le Cabernet Franc et le Cabernet Sauvignon sont très répandus en France et dans le monde. Des cépages de caractère qui se cultivent sur différents climats et types de sols. Ils sont également réputés pour produire les plus beaux crus du Bordelais et de Loire !  

Adam, Joanna, and Zach discuss Cabernet Sauvignon's place at the top of the American wine heap - why it's so popular and whether any other variety can ever unseat it. Then, the team tastes three different classic Cabernets from Napa Valley - the Inglenook 1882, Robert Mondavi Estates Oakville, and Louis M. Martini Monte Rosso. Please remember to subscribe to, rate, and review VinePair on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your episodes, and send any questions, comments, critiques, or suggestions to podcast@vinepair.com. Thanks for listening, and be well. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There's been a lot of talk about millennials and Gen Z, and what their changing consumption habits mean for the wine industry. In an era that offers an increasing variety of styles to chose from, do younger generations still care about traditional wines like Napa Valley's iconic Cabernets and Chardonnays? And, perhaps more importantly, should they? In this episode, Contributing Editor Virginie Boone talks to Napa winemakers Blair Guthrie and Bertus van Zyl talk about the wine world's shifting demographics, the impact younger drinkers are are having on traditional production techniques, and what consumers are getting right—and wrong—about Napa Valley wine.   FOLLOW US ON: Instagram: @wineenthusiast Twitter: @WineEnthusiast Facebook: @WineEnthusiast

In between guests for the podcast again, Mike is puttering in the garden at home, cooking, and of course sipping wine! Hear all about the change of the seasons in Northern California, tasting notes on two VERY different Cabernets, plus a few other things.Don't forget to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Write a review if you're moved to do so. Want to communicate a little more directly? Drop an email - to TallMikeWine@gmail.com - and for pictures of everything, follow Mike on Instagram @tallmikewine - tag Mike when you post pictures of what you're drinking!Wines discussed this episode:2013 Castello di Querceto / Querceto Cignale Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT2018 Brook & Bull Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley

Clark Smith Clark Smith is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke today. Clark has been on California Wine Country a few times before, including this most recent episode on September 15 of 2021. Today Clark Smith will tell about his book and his website dedicated to pairing wine with music. But before we begin with Clark, we will taste a bottle from Dan Berger's extensive personal cellar. This is a 2004 Peter Lehman Shiraz from Australia. It is a bit rich and has some plum flavors. It is 17 years old and is past its prime. It was lost in the cellar and Dan forgot about it. Clark Smith is back with us on California Wine Country today. He is a consultant to about 120 wineries, after a whole career training wine makers. He loves European wines, which are balanced and age well. He calls that “Euro-centric wines.” He likes to say that he makes American “forgeries” of European styles. Today we will taste his Cabernet Franc which is a good example of that. He also likes to use an American grape called Norton. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online. Clark Smith has published a book on this subject, called A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music, which is available as a Kindle book on amazon, at that link. Wines are like music. They are liquid music. They can carry emotion. Wines are happy and sad too. For example: If you want to make a Cabernet Sauvignon taste terrible, play a polka. Cabernets are dark and angry and if you play happy music around it, it will taste awful. Clark Smith credits Don Blackburn for coming up with this idea. Dan is a friend of Clark Smith and he didn't like the Aroma Wheel approach as a framework for the flavors of wine. He wants to look at the whole wine. He did an experiment with about 100 people, and he gives people 3 wines, a Beaujolais Nouveau, a Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a big bad Cab. Then he played the following music: • a Mozart divertimento, in the Classical style (late eighteenth century) • a Franz Liszt piece for piano (mid-nineteenth century) • Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a heavy chanting and rhythmic D minor jam for chorus and orchestra (mid-twentieth century) Then he asked people to match the wines to the music. If it had been random, the assignments would have been about evenly distributed among the wines. But people put the light frilly music with the Beaujolais and the Carmina Burana with the Cabernet. That's an intellectual exercise. But then, try playing the Carmina Burana with the Beaujolais, and it tasted horrible. What it means is that the feeling in the music and the wine can be aligned, or misaligned, and you can sense that. For the rest of this very interesting episode, we hear music and taste wine and compare the sensations of the pairings.

On this weeks Cork & Taylor Wine Podcast, we venture up to Howell Mountain to sit down and talk wine with Mike Dunn who consistently brings us one of the best Cabernets every year from Napa. Great stories and awesome wines!Don't forget to Subscribe, Rate and Review! Also, follow us on our Facebook @corkandtaylor and Instagram accounts @corkandtaylorpodcast.Also, please consider supporting the show as it would be appreciated. This helps me offset  expenses to continue to run and grow the Cork & Taylor Wine Podcast. Thanks! Lukehttps://www.patreon.com/corkandtaylor​Check out our Cork and Taylor Wine Collection by going to the link below. We have partnered with some awesome wineries to bring wine country to your door. Remember to use CorkTaylor when you check out at each of their shops!https://www.corkandtaylor.com/winecollection

My favorite wine is a bold red. I love Cabernets, Syrahs, Malbecs, Petite Syrah and everything in between. The bolder, the better. I would consider myself to be like my fav wine, I would say I'm a bold, confident person, most of the time.I've always felt that my superpower is confidence, or at least seeming confident, and helping others find it from within.  I feel like when we're confident, life is a little brighter, a little easier, and a little more fun. It helps us grow. When we're confident we're more resilient, we're open to try new things, we show up better in our relationships, and we perform better.When I look back at when I was 20 years old and just graduated college with a Bachelor's in Marketing, to where I am today, I needed to be bold, and find my confidence to get here.  I'll be sharing how I did it in this episode, and how I help unlock other people's confidence. I also share a story about my confidence getting rocked, I lost it for a bit but I was able to find my way back.So grab a glass of wine (or drink of choice), and let's open up about building self confidence!

Recently I traveled into Alexander Valley and enjoyed some time with Nate Weis at Silver Oak's new state of the art winery .I was amazed at the entire estate and loved my time there.Today we have a new two part feature with Nate Weis and Silver Oak.First we will look at their website,and gather some history and great facts about the two featured wines from the fabled winery. Silver Oak began over a handshake between two friends with a bold vision: focus on one varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon, aged exclusively in American oak and worthy of cellaring for decades to come. Over the next two decades, Silver Oak grew in popularity. Our Napa Valley and Alexander Valley Cabernets sold quickly upon their release from the winery and became a sought-after staple on restaurant wine lists around the country. After selecting Daniel Baron to succeed him as winemaker in 1994, Justin retired, selling his share of Silver Oak to the Duncan family in 2001. In 2006, a fire destroyed our historic Oakville winery. It was a difficult and emotional event; but in hindsight, a blessing in disguise. When we regrouped on the morning of the fire, we knew we had to rebuild, and it wasn't long before the excitement of a new, state-of-the-art winery overcame our sense of loss. Today, we are applying this experience from our LEED Platinum Oakville winery toward a new winery in the Alexander Valley. Set amidst 70 acres of estate vineyards along the rolling foothills of the Mayacamas mountains, our new Alexander Valley winery – set to open for harvest 2017 – will push industry design and innovation standards through alternative energy sources, innovative water reuse systems and reclaimed building materials. Today, we farm more than 400 acres of vines in Napa Valley and Alexander Valley with a leading-edge approach toward precision viticulture, allowing us to give our vines exactly what they need, when they need it. All of our estate vineyards are certified under California's Sustainable Winegrowing program. In 2014, Nate Weis joined us as only the third winemaker in our 45-year history. Nate worked side-by-side with Daniel Baron, just as Daniel worked with Justin Meyer before his retirement. These overlapping tenures ensure the handing down of our commitment to continuous improvement and the wisdom that our best wines are still ahead of us. We have two great wines to discuss.starting with the 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet. The 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has an opaque crimson color with a purplish hue. The alluring nose draws you in with notes of cassis, black cherry, pipe tobacco, salted caramel, cocoa beans and fresh strawberry. This full-bodied wine enters with a depth of flavor and offers mouth-coating, velvety tannins and flavors of cream soda and red fruit. Black currant and vanilla notes crescendo through the palate to the lengthy finish. This wine is drinkable upon release, but given proper cellaring conditions, can be enjoyed through 2040. we also will open the great Alexander Valley Cabernet from Silver Oak! Located 10 minutes east of downtown Healdsburg at 7300 Hwy 128 in Sonoma County, our new, state-of-the-art winery is now open for walk-in tastings, guided tours and food and wine pairings. Designed to “Frame the Vineyard”, the winery features panoramic views of the Alexander Valley bench and our surrounding 113 acre estate and 75 acres of prime Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard. Upon arrival, guests are welcomed at our modern barn-inspired tasting room adjacent to the iconic Silver Oak water tower. Visitors will gain a deeper understanding of how sustainable vineyard management contributes to wine quality, as well as the technologies and practices we apply toward resource management and vineyard health. Healdsburg has become a great wine country hub for Sonoma County.Surrounded by the Russian River AVA,as well as the Alexander Valley,and many more.A wine country excursion should be part of your holiday celebration. these are very special wines,please consider having both wines on your Christmas day dinner menu. So now let's join Nate Weis and learn more about the world class Cabernets from silver Oak!Click on the link below and enjoy the discussion.. there are two links as this interview has many minutes of great conversation.Cheers! Please join us! Click here and join us as we enjoy the wines of Silver Oak . Please click on part 2 below and join us! Click here and join us as we enjoy the wines of Silver Oak .

One of Napa Valley’s original Cabernet houses with a legacy that dates back to 1886, Freemark Abbey has pioneered the California wine industry and become a beacon of enduring quality and tradition. Timeless, trusted and authentic—the winery is admired for crafting classically structured Cabernet Sauvignon that stand the test of time sourced from lauded vineyard sites. The winery has an especially long tradition of sourcing from the highly desired Rutherford AVA and is widely known for its iconic Bosché and Sycamore single-vineyard Cabernets. The hand-built stone winery, originally constructed in 1899, is a testament to the estate’s long presence in Napa and on the famed Rutherford Bench. Freemark Abbey wines are available through discerning fine wine retailers and restaurants throughout the United States, or directly from the winery.

Mike Parker (IG: @mikeparkerjokes) is an LA-based comedian who now lives in Seattle, WA. Having performed together frequently over the years, Mike has become a close friend and has been there a lot for me, congratulating me after my good sets and critiquing me on my bad ones. He's got a big heart, a distinct, authentic approach to the art of stand-up, and a relentless spirit. We had so much fun in this discussion we booked a follow-up interview for next month so you'll hear from him again soon! Show notes: 02:51 Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 What the Bible has to say about laughing. 03:45 Video & podcast editing software; DIY publishing. 14:14 Mike's joke about his girlfriend and his boat (my favorite :D) 15:13 When the audience takes jokes the wrong way! 16:19 Review of Rodney Strong 2017 Cabernet; sweeter than most cabs but not too “fruit-forward.” Pleasant notes of nutmeg and a little pepper! 23:53 “Close Friends Only” Instagram stories are useful! 26:41 Social media strategies for comedians that can't perform due to social distancing restrictions. 29:42 Mike calls out conservative Christians for the hypocrisy. 33:03 Some hardcore stereotypical “Christian's” illegitimate accusations of Daniel Fusco, pastor of Crossroads Community Church for being a “false teacher” because he has long hair. 35:11 Using the Word of God as a weapon to spread “hate.” 37:10 Matthew 5:39 – Jesus is not a passivist and a pushover that advocates taking physical abuse, as most people interpret this passage. 42:41 Do we take explicit passages from the Bible literally or are they stories to be interpreted spiritually? Did Jonah really get spat out by a giant fish? 45:32 Practical perspectives on faith vs. atheism; salvation and afterlife. 51:52 “The Canopy Theory.” What scientifically caused the flood in the book of Genesis? 1:02:10 My kids breaking into our recording studio!

Some relationships are so mystically created, that their very roots dissolve into the deep essence of love. Devoid of material goals, they turn to become exceptional tales of meaning and radiate into others the powerful energy of soulfulness and bonding.In a beautiful and touching conversation, we have with us Bonny Meyer, author of the book “Perfectly Paired” and also the co-founder of a Napa Valley winery called Silver Oak Cellars. Her book tells the story behind not only the making of Napa Valley's most iconic Cabernets, but also of a wonderful relationship that blossomed between a monk and a lady. Getting married to Brother Justin after a hard 5 years trying to fall out of love, Bonny witnessed the deeper beauty of the relationship herself.  Listen in as Bonnie discusses spirituality, togetherness, vulnerability, surrender and love, while connecting with all of us and our emotions at a more human level. She shares her eternal relationship with her husband, battling with the inexplicable grief following his demise, and learning to connect with him even today through the gratifying power of meditation. She has also talked about her fulfilling life at the vineyard, how she practices impact investing with her kids, and investing in companies and projects that help society and the earth regenerate.When you open your eyes to view the larger frame of your life, you realize the immeasurable power of your mind, and consider to see relationships in greater depth. We hope you feel the intensity of Bonny’s words the same way as we did. Listen in and understand love like you’d never have before! Episode Milestones[00:09] Intro[00:58] Meet Bonny Meyer[04:36] How Bonny met Brother Justin[09:40] Creating a stronger connection with Justin [11:05] Spiritual parlance and grounding[12:34] Maintaining balance between the relationship and her business[18:37] Understanding vulnerability and surrender[20:31] Dealing with the demise of her beloved[22:08] Understanding grief [27:11] How she feels Justin around her even today[31:55] The bond with her vineyard[33:36] Bonny Meyer’s advice for you[37:43] OutroResources Mentioned:Brene Brown: The Power Of VulnerabilityStandout Quotes from the Episode“The important thing about a relationship in that business is, we brought our love for each other, we brought our very strong values into that. And I really believe that our love truly infused, kind of magically infused the wine with our love for each other.” –Bonny Meyer [08:52]“I think we were both either learned or blessed with an attitude that we didn't take ourselves too seriously.” - Bonny Meyer [15:21]“I learned that grief, when you really dive into it, when I really dove into it, is transformative, an alchemical. It can bring you into a whole another new understanding of life and relationship.” - Bonny Meyer [21:08]“Everything and everyone is better at the end than they were before, which hasn't always been true of modern business.” – Bonny Meyer [35:57]Connect:Find | Sidewalk Talk PodcastAt sidewalk-talk.orgOn Instagram: @sidewalktalkorgOn Twitter: @sidewalktalkorg Find | Traci RubleAt Traciruble.comOn Instagram: @TraciRubleMFTOn Twitter: @TraciRubleMFTOn Facebook: @TraciRubleMFT

In this episode, Lady Petra and SafferMaster interview NE Hypnotist about how hypnosis plays with kink over a trio of Cabernets.

Brian Demay and Wine Ambassador Jim Teegarden highlight three newly released, super-premium Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons:  #Caymus Special Selection #Cabernet (2015) #JosephPhelps #Insignia (2016) &  #RobertMondavi The Reserve Cabernet (2016) What makes these wines premium? In this once-in-a-lifetime tasting, Brian and Jim discuss the history and terroir of Napa, and the founding families who made it the wine capital of America.  #SouthernGlazers

(Due to the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, there is no live California Wine Country show on KSRO today. This podcast episode was recorded 4 weeks ago in the show that aired on October 2. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross which has done so much to help Sonoma County again during the fires this year.) Nigel Westblade is visiting from Australia, sharing some of the wines that he produces as the chief winemaker at Peter Lehmann Wines in Australia. Tom Simoneau and Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn are also in today. Dan Berger has fond memories of the late Peter Lehmann, "Peter Lehmann was quite a character... Every day of the year was a party with Peter Lehmann." Dan Berger has been to Australia 23 times so he knows their wine scene very well. He describes Barossa Valley as a wine-making region north of Adelaide, Australia, capable of producing great reds, "...but if you are very careful you can also make fabulous white wines." Peter Lehmann has enjoyed great distribution in the United States for a few decades so the wines are highly regarded here. They taste a Pinot Noir which Nigel says has "bunchy" flavors, meaning it was made with whole berry fermentation. Nigel Westblade has also brought two bottles of Shiraz; first, a 2015 Barossa Shiraz with soft tannin structures that Dan calls "a strikingly together wine." Nigel Westblade describes how they work with the growers to get the canopy and the fruit levels right, and to get the winemakers out into the vineyard towards harvest, "to make sure we get the picking date absolutely spot on." The Barossa Valley is about an hour or two north of Adelaide. It is on the way to the Clare Valley wine region, where all the Rieslings are produced. In Australia they call their wine regions Geographical Indications or GIs, which are like the AVAs in the United States. They taste the Peter Lehmann Barossian Shiraz. Barry Herbst says this will be available at Bottle Barn. It will retail for about $21, which they all agree is a bargain. Dan finds that this one is more elegant, more personality of fruit, more florals. He says that this wine has great fruit and beautiful structure and you don't taste much barrel at all. Nigel explains that it does get put in barrels. He explains that they use barrels in the old English style called "hogshead" which is 300 liters, instead of the standard French-style barrel which Nigel calls a barrique, which has a capacity of 225 liters. The don't get a strong oak impact but they do get a lovely softening of the tannin structure. Tom Simoneau notes that when the cheap Syrah and Shiraz came in from Australia 10 years ago kind of ruined the varietal for the US. But now these new Shiraz wines that are coming in are going to redeem the varietal's reputation. Next they taste a 2014 Cabernet. Dan says it's wonderful to have an aged Cabernet available. The 2017s out now are too young. Nigel says they are getting to a stage in the Barossa Valley where they are making nice Cabernet too. Tom Simoneau says it tastes like it could come from California. It is an older style, compared to the way Cabs are made now. Dan says Cabernets from Australia are under rated, only that the prices are so low that it's not really worth it to import to the US. Nigel remembers Peter Lehmann as a winemaker who thought about the relations with his growers so he managed to beg, borrow or steal enough equipment to be able to start a winery and promised the grape growers that he would take care of them in the future if they gave their grapes to him that year. They had a huge success and many of the relationships with growers that he started then are still in place, based on a handshake. The Beverage People is Sonoma County's fermentation headquarters since 1980. Tom Simoneau remembers that he used to buy a lot of equipment from them back when he was a home wine maker, before he turned pro.

Bernie Orsi and Rusty Eddy from Orsi Family Vineyards join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Rusty Eddy’s brother is Tom Eddy, the winemaker. Rusty does public relations for the winery. Tom Eddy has a long history as a winemaker. He graduated from UC Davis in 1975 and first worked for Wente. He has had a label of his own since 1991. They taste a 1994 Cabernet that Tom Eddy made. The grapes are from the Dr. Crane vineyard. Rusty describes a “vertical” tasting, of Tom Eddy wines, meaning one from each year 1991-1996 then six more. This 1994 is still in good shape. Dan says that in the warmer regions, the acid is not always in perfect condition, in Cabernets. 1994 was warmer, so riskier, and probably the 1995s are in better shape. But Cabernet just needs time to develop. Orsi Vineyards is unique as a California grower of many Italian varietals, which are so abundant all over Italy but which are hardly known at all in California due to the dominance of the principal French varietals (the "usual suspects" being Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir, as well as Sauvignon Blanc). Orsi Vineyards features Sangiovese, Aglianico, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Fiano, Barbera, Negroamaro, Sagrantino, Schioppettino, Primitivo and Biancolella. They also grow some Cabernet, which is also grown in Italy. These are all ready to be discovered by wine consumers who are only familiar with the other more common grape varieties. Orsi Vineyards started with Bernie Orsi purchased a vineyard in 1990. It was in Healdsburg and was a cattle ranch. They looked into the possibility of planting grapes and were advised against it because of soil types, etc. Someone suggested he visit Rich Kunde who was growing grapes. He said there is no undesirable place to grow grapes and there was a rootstock for any soil. He decided that “4453” rootstock from France does well in the high magnesium soils in there area. Dan asks how he came up with the Italian varieties. In 1992 or 3 he had the largest planting of 4453 rootstock, Cabernet, Chardonnay and Merlot. He found them boring. He was always fascinated traveling to Italy and found the wine excellent and he noticed you could drink it with a meal and still walk away unimpaired. He went to Ischia, off the coast of Naples, where his grandmother came from. She left in 1916, same time Steve’s grandparents left. (The family ended up in San Pedro, California, because they were fishermen.) He encountered a wine in Ischia and it turned out to be Biancolella d’Ischia. The Ischians say it is unique to their island. It went well with fish and shellfish. He wanted to import the vines so he contacted some commercial grapevine importers. He learned that they were studying two or three Biancolella plants at UC Davis, for research into pest and disease resistance. About 5 or 6 years ago he planted some, then soon after he also planted other Italian varieties, including Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Negroamaro and others. These varietals have their own characteristics unlike the familiar French-named varietals that are more common in California. Dan tastes a lemon flavor in the Biancolella. “This is delicious!” says Steve. “…freshness, a little minerality in the finish, bright, clean and crisp,” says Dan. Despite the genealogy of grapes which cross national borders, the local growers, by tradition, are proud of their local varieties and take care to maintain the production and quality of any of them. They also have a Fiano to taste. Usually southern wines are “harder” but this is delicate. These wines like Biancolella and Fiano do not travel well and are hard or impossible to find here. They are best when they are tasted fresh, close to home, and this one is. The 1980 bottle was spoiled because it was oxidized, so Dan said, when that happens you just move on. Schioppettino is an Italian variety (pronounced “skyo-pett-EE-no” with a K sound) in Italian.

Wine Country TableBy Janet Fletcher Intro: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book podcast with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.Janet Fletcher: I'm Janet Fletcher in Napa Valley California, and I'm the author of 'Wine Country Table.'Suzy Chase: California, a western US state, stretches from the Mexican border along the Pacific for nearly 900 miles. Its terrain includes cliff lined beaches, the Redwood Forest, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland and the Mohave Desert. Talk a bit about the range of California's bounty.Janet Fletcher: Oh you know Suzy, I think a lot of people think of California as just warm and sunny all the time, and we have a lot of that. We have a lot of sunshine, but we have an incredible range of climates. Climate zones, and micro climates, within those zones. We have a lot of cool, foggy coastal areas that are great for certain wine grapes and great for certain crops like lettuces and artichokes and brussels sprouts, and broccoli. I feel like there's a sweet spot for every crop you might want to grow somewhere in this state.Suzy Chase: This book includes 23 stunning farms and wineries. How did these 23 make the cut?Janet Fletcher: We were looking to showcase a variety of crops and a variety of growing regions, and all of the farms and all of the wineries that are showcased in the book, are leaders in sustainability. Some are organic, not necessarily, but all of them are really known as models of sustainable farming or grape growing, and that's really what we wanted to showcase. That California is not only the U.S.'s number one agricultural state but we're really global leaders in sustainable practices.Janet Fletcher: Which is not just ... of course sustainability has a lot to do with how you treat the land. Whether you do dor don't use herbicides and pesticides, are you a good environmentalist? But also, are you conscientious about saving other resources like water, like energy. Are you good to your employees? Are you a good member of your community? It's a more holistic approach to farming then, say, biodynamics or organics.Suzy Chase: In addition to the stories, this book includes 50 recipes that cover all the bases from breakfast to desserts. Talk a little bit about that.Janet Fletcher: Well, breakfast, one of my favorite recipes in the book is, I call it Golden State Granola. California is known as the Golden State. And the Golden State Granola really showcases one of our major crops, which is almonds.Janet Fletcher: There's a lot of toasted almonds in it, and toasted oatmeal and coconut and raisins and dates, and just kind of a compilation of a lot of the things that we're known for, here in California. It makes a great topping for yogurt, or a great breakfast, with some milk on top. So, really love that recipe for breakfast.Janet Fletcher: And smoothies, I'm a big smoothie fan, and I love taking dates or prunes. Prunes, you know, are just dried plums, and putting them in a blender with a frozen banana and some buttermilk, which is very low in fat, and making a delicious breakfast smoothie.Suzy Chase: Now, would a vintner 60 years ago recognize what's going on today in California?Janet Fletcher: Interesting question, I think actually a lot of the old timers, or people from a generation or two ago, were really surprised by how grapes are being grown in California today. One thing that comes to mind is that if you drive around the vineyards, vineyards almost anywhere in this state. I'm talking about vineyards for wine, not just table grapes, you're going to see what looks like sometimes kind of messy vineyards. They look like they have weeds in them. In the old days, vineyards were always really carefully tilled, and so the ground was very bare under the grapes. And today, it's not.Janet Fletcher: And that's because people are growing cover crops to attract beneficial insects and in some cases, to add nutrients to the soil, or maybe, prevent erosion. There are all sorts of reasons to plant cover crops. But, almost every vineyard is doing it today, so vineyards can look kind of messy, because they have these grasses growing up under the vines, or between the rows.Suzy Chase: You mentioned table grapes. What's the difference between a table grape and a grape for wine?Janet Fletcher: Well, some table grapes are used in wine making, one of the biggest ones is Thompson's Seedless. That's probably our main table grape. And it's used, it's used in wine, I wouldn't say it's used in high quality wines too much, but it is a grape that you can vinify. You can vinify any grape. You can add yeast, and ferment it and make wine.Janet Fletcher: But over the centuries, wine makers have learned that certain grapes produce a better flavored wine. Wine grapes tend to have thicker skins, they're not ones you would necessarily enjoy as a table grape, because they have thick skins and they have seeds.Janet Fletcher: And today of course everybody, for the table, they want a seedless grape with a thin skin. So, there is that difference of eating quality, but, and also, wine grapes, to make wine, they let them get really, really sweet. They get up to about, oh, almost a quarter sugar before they pick them. To make wine. And I think very few table grapes are picked at that high a sugar.Suzy Chase: Immigration is a hot button issue right now. How essential is the immigrant population with helping California farming production.Janet Fletcher: Essential is the word. Our immigrant communities are essential. We couldn't, we could not have agriculture in California without the people who work year round, in our vineyards and on our farms. They prune, they cultivate, they harvest. They are the labor force, and most of the native born Americans are not willing to do that work. It's hard, physical work. And so, immigrant communities, in California, agriculture is primarily Hispanic people, mostly from Mexico, who do a lot of the work in our farms. And they are just essential. And I think one aspect of the sustainability programs that most wineries and farms are signing on to is the understanding that working conditions have to be proper, they have to be beyond proper.Janet Fletcher: I mean, California regulates all of this. Farmers and vintners have to follow certain regulations about employee welfare. But people who are advocates of sustainability sort of go beyond that. I'm thinking of one great, one vintner in California, and I'm sure he's going to kill me when I'm, but he's quite a well known character. Larry Turley, of Turley Wine Cellars, who has pledged to put any one of his, the kids of any one of his employees through a state college. He'll pay their state college tuition, and he has done that for four and he told me that there are 28 more people currently, young people who would qualify, and he stands ready to put them all through state college.Janet Fletcher: So there's just this understanding that, employees are key assets, and you have to treat them well. It's just the right thing to do.Suzy Chase: One story that caught my eye was the Resendiz Brothers, in the town of Rainbow, an hour north of San Diego. Can you talk a bit about their story?Janet Fletcher: Isn't that a great town name, Rainbow? Yeah, and it really doesn't look like Paradise as you're driving up to it, it's a desert landscape. It's very dry and rocky. And very steep hills that are just bare, it looks like nothing would grow there.Janet Fletcher: But to go to Resendiz Brothers, which is in northern San Diego County, not far from the town of San Diego, you pull off the road and you drive up into the mountains. And there is this farm there, that's a cut flower farm. And we included cut flowers in the book, even though they're not edible, because there's a big sustainability movement in California cut flowers. You know, you can grow apples sustainably, and berries sustainably, but you can also grow cut flowers sustainably, if you choose to. And the Resendiz Brothers do that.Janet Fletcher: It's an operation that was started by a man named Mel Resendiz, who came to California as an immigrant, as a teenager, with nothing. And he started working on a cut flower farm just to, as a low man on the totem pole, and he learned the business. And he became very accomplished at growing these flowers in the desert.Janet Fletcher: They are a type of flower called protea, which doesn't take a lot of water, it likes that sun and those difficult conditions. And he started his own business, growing proteas for the florist trade. And he now has a large business, lots of employees, and he ships these flowers all over the world. They are gorgeous, and they grow out of this landscape that just looks like nothing would come out of it. So, he's turning this marginal land into very productive land that's supporting a very good business.Suzy Chase: He started out at 17, making $20 a day, and now he gets $12 a flower. This is a real great American story.Janet Fletcher: It really is, I'd forgotten those numbers, but yeah. Some of these flowers are quite valuable, and when I was down there visiting him, he took me, near the end of our visit he took me into his packing shed. And he started kind of ordering his employees around in Spanish, and they were bringing him all sorts of, all these cut flowers to his table in the packing shed. And he starts making this bouquet. And I thought he was making it for some client, that it was going to go off to some bride, somewhere, for some society wedding. It was this gorgeous bouquet, and it was getting bigger and bigger.Janet Fletcher: And finally, it was about two feet across, and he handed it to me. And I said, "Mel, I can't take that. I'm getting on an airplane in two hours. What am I going to do?" And he said, "You're going to take it on the plane."Janet Fletcher: So, in fact, I marched onto the plane with that bouquet, they let me on with it. And I fortunately had an empty seat next to me, and so I just put that giant bouquet of proteas in the seat next to me, and I put a seat belt around it. And off we went.Suzy Chase: That's so funny. I love it.Janet Fletcher: Yeah, a very generous man. Growing a beautiful, you know, building a great business on this beautiful crop that he found a niche for.Suzy Chase: You wrote in the book Luther Burbank, the legendary plant breeder, called Sonoma County the chosen spot of all this earth as far as nature is concerned. Talk a little bit about his ground breaking work.Janet Fletcher: Well, Luther Burbank was, I don't know where he was from. I'm not sure if he was a Californian, but he did most of his work around the town of Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County. And he was a famous plant breeder of the early, I'm going to say, the early 20th Century. And a lot of the fruits, primarily, are what he worked with. And a lot of the fruits that he created through hybridizing are still among our favorites, today. One called the Santa Rosa plum. Santa Rosa plum is one of our table plums, you can find it all over markets. The Santa Rosa plum is a great eating plum, that he developed.Janet Fletcher: But the one that we dry is called the Improved French plum, and that's a Luther Burbank hybrid. And that's what's grown in all of our prune orchards. Which are, it's just an absolutely delicious piece of fruit, both fresh and dried.Suzy Chase: In Sonoma County is the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. How did a world famous film director get into the wine business?Janet Fletcher: Well, Francis Coppola is a wine lover. And, he and his wife bought a beautiful heritage estate in Napa Valley, I'm going to say, maybe 30 years ago. And really transformed that. And then he, I think he just enjoyed the wine business. There's a bit of a performance quality to the wine business as well, in some levels, and I think he just enjoyed being in agriculture. I think his wife, Eleanor Coppola's an amazing gardener, and they went on to buy this property in Sonoma County, another important heritage estate. And that's where they have Francis Ford Coppola Cellars now.Janet Fletcher: It's a wonderful place to visit, and the thing that he did that was pretty revolutionary for the wine industry, is that he created this winery that is very welcoming to children. I think wineries have sort of shied away from that, for fear of crossing a line, offending people that they're marketing to children. But Coppola just embraced kids, and he created a swimming pool. He used to, he noticed that at his Napa winery that kids were always wanting to go into the fountains, and parents were always admonishing the kids not to go into the fountain. So he said at his Sonoma winery, he was going to have this giant swimming pool that kids could enjoy. So, there's all sorts of fun, family oriented things to do at his winery in Sonoma. Including a beautiful garden, great restaurant and this enormous, oversized swimming pool.Suzy Chase: Among the fog, what is harvested on the north coast?Janet Fletcher: The foggy areas on the north coast are really best for certain wine grapes that like cool climates like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir. In the Anderson Valley, which is one of our coolest growing regions along the coast, wineries are just growing varieties that are more typically associated with Alsace, one of France's coolest growing regions. That would be the varieties, like Riesling and Gerwurztraminer, so that's one of the few places in California where those cool climate grapes are still grown, in the Anderson Valley.Janet Fletcher: But as far as produce, those cool climate areas are really great for all those beautiful baby lettuces that you see in fancy restaurants. There's one grower along the coast, in a little, you can't even call it a town. It's just a little speck of a burg called Bolinas. He grows an amazing array of lettuces, very tender lettuces, and he has really, the farmer who deserves a lot of the credit for introducing the Little Gem variety, he started growing it and taking it to a Farmer's Market in San Francisco.Janet Fletcher: It's a Romaine type, but very small, very crisp. People fell in love with the Little Gem lettuce that this farmer was growing. And it's now, I mean, it's the trendiest lettuce. It's on every menu, and people have Little Gem Caesar salads, and Little Gem this and that. But he really introduced the Little Gem, I would say, to California agriculture.Suzy Chase: You wrote, "The early Sierra Foothills grape growers got it right. Zinfandel belongs here." Why is that?Janet Fletcher: Well, Zinfandel likes mountain vineyards, it does really well on these higher elevation vineyards. It likes some heat. And it doesn't really get a lot of flavor until it gets very ripe. Riper than you would pick, say, a Pinot Noir or a Chardonnay. And, it also, you know, it needs good drainage, like most grapes so that's, but it really likes the drainage that you get on a steep hillside.Janet Fletcher: You know, it got established in some of these older California vineyards, like 19th Century vineyards, in the Sierra Foothills, shortly after the Gold Rush. That's where the Gold Rush happened, and of course a lot of these people who came to California to mine gold, they liked to drink. And they wanted their wines, and so people started planting vineyards there. So some of our oldest vineyards are in that sort of Gold Rush area, in the Sierra Foothills.Janet Fletcher: And today's wine makers are just overjoyed when they can get a parcel that has some of these older vines on it. Some of them might be 80, you know, 70, 80, 90 year old vines. And they are very prized, because they have shown that they can survive in that climate. You know, it's like survival of the fittest. They're the vines that have done well there, have survived for all these years, and have very deep roots and make beautiful wines. So that's where these old vine Zinfandels that you read about, a lot of them are coming out of that Sierra Foothills area.Suzy Chase: Speaking of old vines, the Lucas Winery in Lodi is owned by David and his wife Heather Pyle Lucas. So, David purchased the land in 1976 after doing a stint in the Peace Corps and US Foreign Service with expertise in Asian rice cultivation. And he just wanted to own land and grow something. They have old vine, world class Zinfandel, and David has named every grapevine. I love that.Janet Fletcher: I went into one, into their barrel area, and there was this vine mounted on the wall. A dead vine, with no leaves on it. It's just those gnarly arms. And it was mounted on this wooden board, it makes almost like a cross shape. It looks this religious icon on this barrel wall.Suzy Chase: I found it funny, because I kept reading it over and over, and I was thinking, "A tractor ran over Cindy?" And then I was like, "Oh, Cindy's a grape vine." It was so funny.Janet Fletcher: Exactly, yeah, that was, David Lucas gives all his grape vines names, all his old ones. They have names because he just treasures them. He sees them as, you know, almost members of the family. And they are prized, and you can injure one if you have a tractor or a weed eating device that goes, there are these kind of plows. And when they sense the vine trunk they go around it, they retract and they go around it. But if you're not handling it properly, you can do some damage to a vine. And that's what happened to poor Cindy, she got nicked and she didn't survive. So, he mounted her on a wall, like a shrine, and it's quite, it's a beautiful, it looks like a work of art. Very gnarly arms that kind of stretch across the wall of their barrel room. You can't miss Cindy.Suzy Chase: So, on your personal blog, you wrote, "I live, cook, garden and write on a quiet street in Napa Valley. My house is not large, but my kitchen is. And my sunny garden is bigger yet." That sounds dreamy. Describe how the two years you spent as a cook at Chez Panisse shaped your taste.Janet Fletcher: I worked at Chez Panisse, it was one of my first jobs out of cooking school and it, I was very impressionable, and it made a big impression. And it has really stayed with me in the years since. That was more 30 years ago, but working with Alice Waters is just, well, it was a dream for a young cook. And she has such a strong point of view, a strong aesthetic, and it really made a mark on me.Janet Fletcher: A lot of it had to do with supporting small farms, supporting local farms, being an absolute obsessive about quality and working with only the best. You can't make good food without great ingredients, and also, I think as a cook, I learned to keep it simple. That, if you buy great ingredients, that you just don't want to do too much to them, because you don't want to screw them up. Alice really shaped my approach to cooking and certainly that experience of being at Chez Panisse and seeing all that gorgeous produce that would come in the door, made me want to garden. So I've been an avid gardener ever since that time.Suzy Chase: Your husband has said, "Over the years, Janet's cooking and recipe development has affected how I view wine." Talk a bit about that.Janet Fletcher: Well, Doug makes wines that are, I hate to use this word because it sounds kind of trite, but they're very food friendly. They are not hugely tannic, they are fruit forward, and the alcohol is restrained. And the tannin is gentle. Doug recently retired, but he's most, but most of his career in the Stags Leap district of Napa Valley, which is renowned for that style of wine, anyway. But the wines are primarily Cabernet, that's what the area is known for, and Cabernets, depending on how you make them and where you grow them, can be very tannic and hard to like when they're young.Janet Fletcher: Doug's are more feminine, more soft, more ... not soft in terms of low acid, they have good acidity and approachable tannins. So they're very good food wines, we eat a lot of beans and grains and fruits and vegetables in this household, and not a lot of meat, and the wines, his red wines are very complimentary with that kind of produce first way of eating.Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called My Last Meal. What would you have for your last supper?Janet Fletcher: I, you know, every time I have an avocado, a beautiful, ripe avocado, and spread it on homemade bread or whole grain bread from a good bakery, and I put some coarse salt on top, and a little squeeze of lemon or lime, I think, "This is what I want, for my last meal." It just doesn't get any better than a great California avocado, buttery, nutty, and I, you know, I'm quite happy with something like that. It's, in fact, I have that for lunch a lot. Just a piece of avocado toast.Janet Fletcher: So it makes me laugh, that avocado toast has become so trendy, because I've been eating that for a long time. Even at Chez Panisse, when I was a cook there, and I had like all this amazing food around me. For my little break time lunch, I would just grab a piece of bread and an avocado. And I would be very happy with that for lunch.Suzy Chase: You were ahead of your time.Janet Fletcher: In terms of avocado toast, yes. I've been enjoying it for a long time. And will continue, even when other people move on to other things, I'll be eating my avocado toast.Suzy Chase: Until it comes back around.Janet Fletcher: Right. These things are cyclical. No, people will never give up on avocados. It's one of people's favorite fruits, they're so luscious.Janet Fletcher: And I did get to visit an avocado grower in the book, and profiled him. He's down in the Carpinteria area, near Santa Barbara. Family farm, he farms with his wife, and has two adorable children, or three. And they grow citrus and avocados, and they're very sustainable about it.Janet Fletcher: In fact, he gets a lot of the mulch that he puts around his trees from a local Starbucks factory where they make Frappuccino, so there are all these coffee grounds that he can get for next to nothing. And he puts those around the base of his tree, to provide nutrients and keep the weeds down. And it, other people do not do that. It's pretty progressive, a pretty new thing to think about mulching your grove.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web, social media and your cheese class?Janet Fletcher: Well, I hope people will find me on janetfletcher.com, that's my website where I list all my classes. I teach a lot of cheese appreciation classes and cooking classes. I have a blog called Planet Cheese and people can sign up on my website, janetfletcher.com, it's a once a week read, something new that I've learned about cheese and want to share.Janet Fletcher: So, cheese is a great passion along with my love of writing about farms and farming and great produce. I do love the world of cheese, and I hope people will join me with Planet Cheese. Instagram, @janetfletcherNV, for Napa Valley. And Twitter, @janetfletcherNV.Suzy Chase: Awesome. Thanks Janet for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.Janet Fletcher: It's been my pleasure, Suzy, thank you for having me.Outro: Follow Suzy Chase on Instagram, @cookerybythebook, and subscribe at cookerybythebook.com or in Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening to Cookery by the Book podcast, the only podcast. The only podcast devoted to cookbooks, since 2015.

Clear understanding of Job responsibilities. As entrepreneurs grow their Cabernets to have a better understanding of each employees lane and expectations makes for a More successful hire.

In this episode, Jonathan and Damien debut "The Cabernet Conversations" where they have a great discussion over two amazing Cabernets.  The guys dive deep into their cellars for this episode and come out with shocking results.  One of the bottles might be the last in existence and they talk about everything from label importance to Tahitian wines while enjoying these amazing cabs.  Damien does get a bit nostalgic talking about consuming vintage wines on this episode and the guys even have a chance to text with one of the wine makers during the show.  We hope you enjoy The Cabernet Conversations on Spilling the Truth Wines Tasted:2006 Malm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - Sonoma County, California2013 Coup de Foudre Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa Valley, California

Peter Velleno studied winemaking, brewing science, microbiology, and food engineering at the University of California at Davis. In 2003, he was the only student to graduate with a bachelor's degree in fermentation science.After graduation, he went to work in the laboratory at William Hill Winery, where he quickly worked his way up to assistant winemaker specializing in Chardonnay production. Peter went on to work for the ultra-premium small winery Hartwell Vineyards, where he helped craft some of the most highly regarded Cabernets in the Napa Valley.Peter’s career path took a sharp turn in 2008 when he joined Castello di Amorosa as the associate winemaker. He was promoted to winemaker in 2014 and manages production of the Castello’s wines. If asked, he will tell you that making wine in a Castle is even more fun than it sounds.Peter and his wife Lauren have lived in Napa since 2003. They have two children and enjoy playing tennis, biking, cooking, and spending time outdoors with their dog Nora.Castello di Amorosa produces classically structured Italian-style wines that reflect California's unique climate, soil, and growing conditions.Our philosophy is to make elegant, intensely flavored, and well-balanced wines that showcase the "terroir" of each unique vineyard site. In this way, we can experience the flavor and aromas of the vineyard itself.We are committed to using traditional approaches to the craft of winegrowing and winemaking, but also incorporate modern techniques and equipment when it improves quality

Laurel Glen Vineyard is a 14-acre estate, first planted in 1968, located on the north end of Sonoma Mountain, the peak that sits between Sonoma Valley and the Sonoma coastal plain, just south of Santa Rosa, California. The vineyard blocks face east, but lie above the fog line, allowing diffused sun exposure throughout the day and a long, moderate growing season. The vineyard is farmed organically and planted entirely to the Laurel Glen clone of Cabernet Sauvignon, certified as a unique clone by the University of California at Davis.Debuting with the 1981 vintage, Laurel Glen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon soon made an impression upon trade and consumers alike, with its consistent depth, elegance and focus. The 1980’s saw Sonoma and Napa establish their reputations for quality wine making. Winemakers such as Richard Arrowood, David Ramey, Robert Mondavi, Paul Draper, Zelma Long, among many others, were changing how critics thought of American wines and the drinking preferences of consumers. By the end of the 1980s, Laurel Glen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon joined the ranks of first generation “cult” Cabernets from California.After 30 vintages, founder Patrick Campbell sold the vineyard and winery to a group of wine lovers, led by Bettina Sichel, whose family has been in the wine business for so many generations, she jokes, if you cut her, she bleeds wine.The new era at Laurel Glen Vineyard begins with an ambitious new team. Organic viticultural guru Phil Coturri, who grew up on Sonoma Mountain and spent a formativesummer in his youth working for Patrick Campbell, manages the vineyard. Randall Watkins, who spent many years developing his skills with mountain Cabernet at Moon Mountain Vineyards, manages the cellar. Under their stewardship, Laurel Glen Vineyard is being rebuilt with great care. The new team started immediately farming the vineyard organically, introducing modern trellising practices, berry sorting at harvest, and a host of other quality-¬oriented improvements.The result is already evident in the barrel, promising wines that preserve the nuanced layers of flavor of the past, while adding intensity and texture.

Zach Hodges stops by to help me recover from last week’s big live show and I show my gratitude by forcing him to do a blind taste test: One Cabernet costs twice as much as the other! Will he be able to tell the difference? Find out in this week’s new episode! ~~~~~ (Spoilers ahead!) ~~~~~ Cab-testant #1: Robert Mondavi Private Selection Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (aged in bourbon barrels) 2016 red wine from Monterey County, California. Price: $14 (average). Tasting note: Smells like rubbing alcohol but tastes subtle and complex. Rating: 4/5 Cab-testant #2: Moon X Trader Moon Moon X Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 red wine from California. Price: $7 (only at Trader Joe’s). Tasting note: Fruity and fun–– with a hint of banana! Rating: At least a 2! The Extras: Check out the photos from our live show! See Chris LIVE this Friday at the Little Old Lady Comedy show in Brooklyn. Rate and review Chris Tries to Review Wine on Apple Podcasts! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

It's got a long, storied history, but Greek wines still deserve more attention from today's curious drinker. Explore islands, indigenous grapes, and must-try reds. Wines discussed: @3:27 Gaia Wines 2017 Wild Ferment Assyrtiko (Santorini) @11:40 Nasiakos 2016 Mantinia Moschofilero (Mantinia) @16:16 Alpha Estate 2015 Hedgehog Vineyard Xinomavro (Amyndeon) Transcript: Welcome to Wine Enthusiast's What We're Tasting Podcast. I'm your host, Jameson Fink. Join me as we discuss three fantastic wines and why each one belongs in your glass. This episode, we're looking at wines from Greece with Executive Editor Susan Kostrzewa, who covers and reviews wine from the region. What We're Tasting is sponsored by Vivino. With the largest online inventory, Vivino finds the right wine every time, including wines from Greece. Download Vivino to discover and buy your favorites, and stock up at Vivino.com/wineenthusiast. Greek wines aren't getting enough due, and I think as modern wine drinkers we should be connected to a country that has such an amazing past, so Sue, thank you for being on the show. Susan Kostrzewa: Thanks for having me. Jameson Fink: Are Greek wines just not getting enough due? Why aren't they more well known, or are they better known than I think they are? Susan Kostrzewa: I don't think they're well known enough. I love Greek wines, and they've been making wine for 4,000 years. So you'd think with all that time we would have found out about them by now. But I think part of the issue is a pretty simple one. It's kind of surprising, I guess, in a way that this could hold something back, but the names. The names of the grapes, the names of the producers, they're in Greek. Jameson Fink: Yeah, right. Susan Kostrzewa: You know, it's all Greek to you and me. But it honestly, I think, for so many years the producers of Greek wines were labeling all of the wines in Greek. So only really Greeks in the US, so Greek restaurants, Greek people, Greek immigrants were drinking that wine. They were the ones who could read the labels. It scared everybody off, so that was one very simple thing. I think that kind of deterred regular wine drinkers from getting into it. Then you also have the whole retsina thing, which for many years in the US, retsina, a not very well-made retsina was what was being exported into the country. So a lot of people have literal and figurative hangovers from the retsina days. There's great retsina being made now, and I'd love to talk to you about that, but I think there's still, I run into a lot of people who when I say I'm rating and reviewing Greek wine, I love the Greek wines, and were like, "Oh, I hate retsina." It's the first thing they go to, so I think there have been some starts and stops along the way that have deterred people who should know about it from knowing about it. And thank God, like the psalms are the ones who started the trend in the US again. They were the ones tasting it. They were like, "This is amazing. You should know about it," and sort of gained momentum from there. Jameson Fink: Yeah. I mean, I'll be guilty as charged. I mean, I remember when I was a buyer at a grocery store, we had like one Greek wine. It was a retsina, and of course I became more knowledgeable after that. I remember actually when I was still working in there, some new wines were coming into the marketplace, and they were exciting and interesting indigenous grapes, but it's sort of like, I don't know if it's maybe like Chianti with the fiasco, the straw kind of bottle that people still associate like a whole region or a country painted with that kind of broad stroke. But I don't know, nowadays, and I think you mentioned what? Sommeliers, and of course wine buyers all over are doing with Greek wines as sort of championing them and getting them in front of people, which I think is the biggest reason. So the first wine I want to talk about is one this definitely been a darling of the sommelier scene, and maybe not to its detriment, but maybe we're not seeing enough of other wines, but it's Assyrtiko, which comes from the island of Santorini. So the first wine I want to talk about is the Gaia wine's 2017 Wild Ferment Assyrtiko from Santorini which is 92 points. First of all, can you just tell me what is Assyrtiko and what makes it special on Santorini and in the world? Susan Kostrzewa: Assyrtiko is a white wine variety, it's indigenous to Santorini, which Santorini is basically a huge block of volcanic rock. And this is the variety that loves that volcanic rock. And even though it is being grown in other areas of Greece, I think its original and best home is Santorini. So Assyrtiko is a fresh, very linear, kind of sea salty, delicious white wine. Crisp, like I said, great with food. I think it's very unique, it's got a touch of smoke, and sea salt, and all the things you would associate with volcanic soil. And the other thing that's interesting about it, is they've never had phylloxera on the island, so there's some very old vines on that island. They're bush vines, they're low to the ground. If you've ever been to Santorini- Jameson Fink: Of course I've been to Santorini. Susan Kostrzewa: Yes, of course you have. Which, by the way is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Jameson Fink:  It is, yes. Susan Kostrzewa: Whether you love wine or not. Jameson Fink: The bluest of blues there. Susan Kostrzewa: It's amazing. And one of the things that's so cool about it is the first time I went I remember being with a big group of wine journalists who were all very knowledgeable and we were rolling by this sort of field. And it's super dry, and it's not a hospitable island as far as greenery goes. It's very hot and dry. And we were driving by this vineyard, and we're kinda looking at it, and we stop and we're all like, "What is this? This looks like a brush windswept field." And they're like, "This is the vineyard." And it's all these bush vines that grow their trained basically to protect the grapes from the super windy situation on the island. And it looks kinda crazy, and thread bare, and scrappy. But in the midst of this amazing vineyard are these great wines that are being made. So it's very unique. Jameson Fink: Yeah. That was exactly my experience. Like we're gonna go look at a vineyard, and you still have in your head oh, it's gonna be manicured rows with posts and what not. But yeah, the vines are woven into like a basket. Susan Kostrzewa: Yes. Jameson Fink: It's like nothing I'd ever seen. I have a million pictures of wine makers picking it up and lifting it up kinda like a man hole cover almost. It's really remarkable. And yeah, it sort of recalibrates your expectation. The climate there doesn't permit having training vines like that, they just wouldn't survive the wind and the heat. Susan Kostrzewa: Definitely, yeah. So I think it's one of the most unique places in the world as far as wine vineyards and unique wines go. So I'm a big fan. And I hope I'm pronouncing this correctly, I believe it's Gaia. Jameson Fink: Oh yeah, I pronounced it wrong. Susan Kostrzewa: Again, this is my beat and I still have a hard time pronouncing some of these. Jameson Fink: I gotta stop pronouncing these wines, I gotta make everyone do it unless it's something very simple. Susan Kostrzewa: But Gaia, the wine that you were mentioning, Wild Ferment Assyrtiko, Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, who is the wine maker there has really, he's really championed doing these sort of unique and experimental approaches to Assyrtiko. But he's also an awesome spokesperson for Greek wine. So you asked earlier about why we don't know about Greek wine, I think the producers themselves are on the road now. And they're doing an amazing job, they're the best people to champion what is happening in their country. And he, the wine maker here and the owner, is fabulous at doing that. So all of his wines are great. Jameson Fink: Yeah, I've also had ... Interesting things about Assyrtiko, I've had some older bottles, like it can age really well, which I thought was surprising. Susan Kostrzewa: Definitely. Jameson Fink: And it's not necessarily a heavy wine, but it's got some substance to it, it's not a super light, I don't know like Pinot Grigio. It's got somebody to it and a little bit of richness, but still super refreshing. Susan Kostrzewa: Yeah, I mean they're making sparkling Assyrtiko, their Assyrtiko blends with like Sauvignon Blanc that are really good. And then Retsina, their Retsina's now being make by which are made out of Assyrtiko. It's a very versatile grape. And like you say, it does have weight and complexity. It's pretty ... To me, it's again, one of the more unique wines that's being made in Greece. Jameson Fink: And another, let's keep going about island wines, one of the things that I think I clumsily said when we started is that you see a lot of Assyrtiko on wine lists, which is great. But also it's sort of like when's the next hurdle when we're gonna see more Greek wines from other islands and the mainland too? But I wanted to talk about Crete for a little bit, what are the wines like there as far as indigenous grapes? Are they doing reds, whites, both? Susan Kostrzewa: Crete may be the oldest wine making area in Greece. Again, I think when we talk about 4,000 years we talk about minoans , we talk about this incredible history of wine making on Crete. I was just there recently and spent a lot of time there. And everything is incredible, everything is old. Every olive tree is thousands of years old. They have an amazing history of wine making in general. But yeah, they make whites, they make reds, Vidiano and Thrapsathiri are two of the whites they make that I love that are just delicious, and refreshing, and again very unique to the island. Kotsifali's one of the reds. How do they differ? I mean every region of Greece is quite different. There are a lot of micro-climates. Crete is hot, and the wines are a little bigger, and a little more robust than say when you get up into the north where you're talking about very high altitude, pretty high acid wines. So a little fuller bodied, still great acidity, but a little bit more of a reflection of their location. And I actually did a piece recently on Crete for the magazine, and talked a lot about this new generation of younger wine makers, who are coming up in Crete and really pushing a lot of innovation. Because these are very old varieties, some of them were almost extinct, a couple of the producers I talk about rescued nearly extinct ancient grapes from extinction and brought them back, and are now doing all this cool stuff. So to me that's an area that's really exciting, and we haven't really seen as many of those wines in the US yet. But I think that's going to change. Jameson Fink: Yeah, and what I think is exciting too is when you have these ancient vines, or varieties and you see kind of younger people sort of rehabilitating their reputation, or literally rehabilitating them from the brink of extinction. You see it all over the world, and it's really exciting. Especially in a place with a history like Greece where you see old world wine history, and then you see people with new ideas and new energy kind of bringing them back to life instead of chasing a more faddish grape. Susan Kostrzewa: Well I think what's really exciting about what's happening in Greece now, and I've been covering the beat, I think it's probably been about eight years. When I first started wine makers were just starting to get back into really believing in their own grapes. They were planting a lot of, they had been planting a lot of international varieties, which by the way do really well in northern Greece, a producer we'll talk about, they do a beautiful job with Cabernets and Sauvignon Blancs, and Chardonnays. But what was really exciting was to see the younger wine makers, and some of the older ones getting excited again about indigenous grapes. And that to me was the beginning of the real quality story with Greek wine, is these are the varieties that are in their sort of blood. And they really know, it's the perfect place for these to be grown, and they really believe in them. And I think the quality is in those bottlings now. Jameson Fink: Hey, we'll be back to the show very shortly. But since you're here, I know you're already a fan of wine podcasts, why don't you check out our other show called The Wine Enthusiast Podcast, download it wherever you get podcasts. Let's talk about another white wine, we'll move on from Assyrtiko, it's Moschofilero? Susan Kostrzewa: Yes. Jameson Fink: Okay, so the second bottle I wanna talk about is the Nasiakos 2016 Mantinia Moschofilero, probably butchered that again. Susan Kostrzewa: No, you got it. Jameson Fink: Okay. That's 92 points. So tell me about this white wine grape, because it seems like if you're gonna start somewhere in Greece, this might be the white wine to start with. Susan Kostrzewa: Yeah, that's a very good point. I think Assyrtiko, it's interesting because it might be the first point of contact that most people have with Greek wines, but it's actually, to me it's a little geekier. Whereas Moschofilero also delicious, but a little bit more versatile as far as style, and just a little easier to enjoy just patio wine. Again, it depends on where it comes from, it's Mantinia, which is in the Peloponnese, it's mainland Greece is where it's traditionally from. And you know, it's very floral, it's got again, it's crisp, it's really balanced. But it's got orange blossom, and grapefruit, and sort of floral aromas. Almost could be like a Riesling, or an Albarino style wine. And to me, those are some of the best wines that again, are made in Greece are the Moschofileros, they do them in sparkling, still, all sorts of different dessert wines. It's really delicious. And this particular one is fabulous. This producer makes incredible Moschofilero. Jameson Fink: And I always think about that, I remember going to a wine dinner for a Greek winery a few years ago. And they were just showcasing Syrah, and Cabernet. And it was kind of weird in a way because I feel like this is probably for, I always have this tension in well, we kinda wanna give people grapes they're familiar with if you want them to enter a world of Greek wine or whatever it may be, or wines from Sicily or something like that. But then there's such this heritage of indigenous grapes, like here's a Syrah, here's a Cabernet. It's like you have this treasure trove of indigenous grapes. So is there kind of that tension there to pursue indigenous grapes? And it's not like they're bad wines, but Syrah or Cabernet, you know? Susan Kostrzewa: Well like I said, I think there was a pressure years ago to plant international varieties, again Chardonnay, Syrah Chardonnay, et cetera. Because people felt well no one knows these wines, so let's push the international stuff. Then I think what the benefit became is they were making a very good quality of international grapes and they started blending them. And that's a great entree. I mean it is scary, especially if you're just a beginning exploratory wine drinker, you're not gonna go maybe first for something that is called Thrapsathiri. Jameson Fink: Right. Susan Kostrzewa: But you might go for a Sauvignon Blanc Thrapsathiri blend. Jameson Fink: Right. Susan Kostrzewa: So I think that actually ended up being a good thing. And there are some really great blends, really delicious blends. And it helps people along. And then they might say, "You know what? Next time I'll just try the Thrapsathiri, I liked this wine, I'm not afraid of this anymore, I'm gonna try the single variety. So I do think there was a pressure. I think now it's sort of subsiding in that I think more people are just doubling down on the native varieties. But it's good that they have some of these other blending options. I think it makes for some really nice wines in some cases. Jameson Fink: And do you think, now we're at the second wine is from the mainland, I was also thinking when I think of Greek wine it's Crete or Santorini, is the mainland sort of still under appreciated even though it's huge and there's so much wine being made there. But kinda are we just in love with the island wines, and the mainland's like, "Hey, we got a lot going on here too." Susan Kostrzewa: Yeah, I mean it's easy to connect with the idea, the visual of Greece is always the islands, and the beautiful ocean. But most of Greece is mountainous. It's one of the highest altitude, highest elevation countries in Europe. And people don't always realize that most of the grapes in Greece are grown in these high altitude, maybe 1,100 feet vineyards on the mainland. So yeah, I think there is some ... Jameson Fink: I know, this is a real podcast. There's thunder, there's lightning. Susan Kostrzewa: There's this dramatic. Jameson Fink: The gods, the Greek gods. Susan Kostrzewa: The gods are here with us as I talk. I better get this right. Jameson Fink: Yeah, we'll get this right. Susan Kostrzewa: This could be the last you ever hear of me. But anyway, I think they're underappreciated and I think again, you've got mainland Moschofilero, you also have some red wines, which we can talk about as well. Those are made in northern Greece in the mountainous areas of northern Greece. And you know, we need to talk about them more, there's great stuff going on. Jameson Fink: Let us talk about one right now. Susan Kostrzewa: Excellent. Jameson Fink: The Alpha Estate 2015 Hedgehog Vineyard Xinomavro, 90 points. So kind of along the lines of Moschofilero is this kind of the red wine grape to start exploring if you're getting into Greek wines? Susan Kostrzewa:             That's a good question, because Xinomavro is kind of akin, people compare to Barolo, to Nebbiolo. So I think if you're a wine lover and you're a food lover, you're going to be really excited about these wines. Do I think it's a quaffer? Not so much. And I hate to call any wine that, but I think as far as approachability, Xinomavro might be your 2.0. Jameson Fink: Right. Susan Kostrzewa: And I think Agiorgitiko, which is another red, and I hardly get that right. But anyway, that might be a little more approachable. So Xinomavro, I love these wines, I think they're so elegant. They're incredibly age able. So this is the kind of wine that you can store for 10 years plus and it has all that great acidity, it's gonna age really well. But yeah, I think it's sort of maybe for somebody who's got a little more of an advanced taste in reds. Jameson Fink: So one thing we haven't talked about, which I think when talking about one of the great pleasures of wine is pairing it with food. Let's just back up and talk about Assyrtiko again. One of the things I remember being on Santorini is having the best tomatoes in the world and seafood. What are some of your favorite Assyrtiko pairings? Susan Kostrzewa: Well Assyrtiko again, when I think of a great pairing I think of food as you said on the island, which is like the tomatoes, I think about seafood, grilled seafood like sardines, any of that salty seafood goes perfectly with this. Capers, caper salad, all that. All that style of food. A point that I wanna make just 'cause you're making me think about this, that I talk a lot with Greek wine makers about this, and this often happens, Greek wines often are associated with Greek food and that's a great thing. But they also do very well with other types of cuisine. And I think one of the foods that I think is delicious with Greek white wines would be sushi. So sort of more delicate seafood dishes. Indian food, there are a lot of flavors that do very well with these wines. And I think it's kind of fun to explore that as well. And I think that's something that as Greek wine has become more popular in the US you can find the wines in restaurants that aren't just Greek restaurants. Jameson Fink: Yeah, that's a good point. It doesn't have to be I'm in a Greek restaurant, I'll drink Greek wine, and then if I go somewhere else that has any other kind of cuisine I'm like nah. Because I mean we drink champagne at pizza places, we do lots of interesting experimentation too. So I think that's a really good point. And that's something that will help Greek wine grow too, just not ... Of course if you're there in Greece, or if you're at a Greek restaurant I mean, yeah, it's only natural. Don't drink Barolo in southern Greece or northern Greece. But I really think that's a great way to get people excited and interested about pairing. I'd love Assyrtiko right now, it's super hot and humid out. Even just a summer salad with fresh produce would be great with probably almost any Greek white wine that was of a lighter style, or a medium bodied. Susan Kostrzewa: Yeah, definitely. And actually one of the things I've found is these wines, Moschofilero, you can pair them with obviously poultry and pork, and all that stuff. But they can handle some of the red meat like lamb, I mean you'd be surprised. Again, lamb is pretty traditional to Greece. But I've had Assyrtiko with lamb, and the high acid cuts the fat, it's really delicious. To me it's just fun. And again, they're great wines, they're very versatile, but they're really food-driven. So that would be my recommendation to everyone. If you've never had a Greek wine, I would recommend that you probably have it with food. Because they can be a little high in acid for people just to sit and drink if they've never had. But they do very well with that. Jameson Fink: And I guess I have a little sidebar about food and wine pairing, I love white wine with meat, whether it's lamb, even steak. I had recently steak with a different wine, different country, but a rich, dry, Austrian Riesling. And it has that sort of big rich steak dish, and big rich red wine. But when you have something that's a little livelier like a white wine, especially in the summer. Especially with like a steak salad, it's super refreshing to drink a white wine, or a slightly chilled red rather than ... That doesn't mean oh I'm having a pork, or a steak, or a lamb then I have to have a red wine. Susan Kostrzewa: Right, yeah. I mean that's the exciting thing about all these combinations. I think there's a lot more freedom than there used to be. There was always freedom, but we will tell you also, as I've bene lucky enough to taste and pair a lot of wines and foods in my career, I realize now it's really important to just try new combinations and not necessarily worry too much about what you've read, or think is the right combo. And that's, like I say, the Greek wines I've had a blast just tasting lots of different foods with them. And it's been a really fun way of learning more about the flavors, and seeing how they change, and just having a good time with it. Jameson Fink: Yeah, I don't think you need to bring your little chart to the restaurant and sort of look at it underneath the table, like oh I'm getting a steak, what am I allowed to have? Susan Kostrzewa: Right. Jameson Fink: I think that's a good thing where we sort of ... There are matches that are classic for a reason, but I think it's great that we've kind of moved beyond these rigid rules. Because a lot of it depends on how it's cooked, what it's served with, where you are. Are you in a nice air conditioned cave, or are you outside on a 90 degree humid day? It's like, "Oh I'm outside, I'm eating a steak, I have to have Cabernet." But you can definitely just chuck those rules. Susan Kostrzewa: Actually you just made me think of something when you were talking about drinking wine and the context of it, and the atmosphere in which you're drinking it. And I was thinking when I was recently in Greece I was on Mount Olympus, which is in northern Greece outside of Thessaloniki. And it was a hot, hot day. My instinct would've been to go for again, refreshing white wine, something sort of nervy and easy to drink. And we ended up drinking some incredible Xinomavro on the mountain with lamb. And it seemed like ugh, it's heavy, and it's gonna be too hot for this. And I have to tell you, it was so awesome and delicious. And I think in the case of again, going back to Xinomavro it has a freshness to it, it's got this kind of really nice backbone and freshness to it. And I actually, it made me reset my brain about red wine in the summer. Red wine and hot climates. It can be really awesome, and really delicious. And it also doesn't hurt to be on Mount Olympus. Jameson Fink: No, it definitely does not. So even if you can't get to Mount Olympus for some Greek wine, I will encourage all of you to explore the country, it has an amazing history, centuries old, more than centuries old. Susan Kostrzewa: Millennia. Jameson Fink: Millennia old. And these are just three wines that are great to start, but explore the whole country, try the indigenous grapes, and maybe get a little crazy and try some of the blends that have some of the grapes you might be familiar with too. But get out there and explore Greek wine. So Susan, thank you for being on the show. Susan Kostrzewa: Thanks for having me. Jameson Fink: And thank you for listening to the What We're Tasting Podcast, sponsored by Vivino, wine made easy. Susan Kostrzewa: The three wines we discussed today were the Gaia Wines 2017 Wild Ferment Assyrtiko , the Nasiakos 2016 Mantinia Moschofilero, and the Alpha Estate 2015 Hedgehog Vineyard Xinomavro. Jameson Fink: Find What We're Tasting on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you find podcasts. And if you liked today's episode, please give us a five star rating on iTunes, leave a comment, and tell you friends. What We're Tasting is a Wine Enthusiast podcast. Check out Wine Enthusiast online at winemag.com.

This week on Unorthodox, we're wining and dining. Our Jewish guest is author Andre Aciman, whose 2007 novel Call Me By Your Name was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet. He tells us about being forced to leave Egypt with his family as a teenager, getting recognized on the Upper West Side after the film premiered, and his absolute favorite coffeemaker. Our gentile of the week is journalist Kevin Begos, whose new book is Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor and the Search for the Origins of Wine, a literary undertaking that began when he found an obscure wine from Bethlehem in a hotel room minibar. He tells us how local Israeli grapes got overshadowed when Edmond de Rothschild arrived in the 19th century and started making European wine in the Holy Land, and why we should ditch the Pinot Noirs and Cabernets and drink wine made from local Israeli grapes like jandali, hamdani, and dabouki instead.  This is the last week of our fundraising drive. If you like listening to us, consider making a donation at tabletmag.com/donate. Write the name of your favorite host in your donation notes. We love hearing from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like listening, please consider leaving a review in iTunes. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt This episode is sponsored by One Day University. Get 20% off your ticket to see Mark Oppenheimer's Oct. 14 lecture on religion in America by using the code MARK when you register at OneDayU.com. This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get $5 off a shave set from Harry’s with code UNORTHODOX at Harrys.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Jameson speaks with Wine Enthusiast European Editor Roger Voss about rosé from Provence. Its color and flavor are the epitome of summer wine. But there’s more to rosé from Provence than its looks and taste. Explore the surprising diversity surrounding this pale pink charmer and find out why it should be enjoyed all year long. Wines Discussed: @3:15 Château la Vivonne 2017 Les Puechs Rosé (Côtes de Provence) @9:28 Commanderie de la Bargemone 2017 Rosé (Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence) @13:58 Gassier 2017 Château Gassier Cuvée 946 Rosé (Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire) Transcript  Jameson Fink:       00:08          Welcome to Wine Enthusiast's What We're Tasting podcast. I'm your host, Jameson Fink. Join me as we discuss three fantastic wines, and why each one belongs in your glass. This episode, I'm exploring rosé from Provence, with contributing editor Roger Voss, who covers and reviews wines from the region. So if I was able to go back in a wine time machine, maybe 20 years or so, when I was first starting to drink wine, I was certainly drinking rosé and enjoying it, but I never, ever would have expected rosé, and particularly, rosé from Provence, to be so incredibly popular as it is. It just seems like it's beyond a trend. It's its own category, it's continuing to grow, doesn't seem like it's going to slow down. It seems like rosé is just a part of our life, like red wine, and white wine. Which is great, but I wanted to explore it a little further, and get to know the world of Provence rosé with Roger Voss. Roger, welcome to the show. Roger Voss:          01:14          Thank you. Thank you for having me. Jameson Fink:       01:16          It's delightful to talk about rosé. It is almost tropical here in New York. It seems to be a theme that I'm exploring, it's really hot out, it's really humid, and luckily, we're talking about wines that fit this season. Of course, rosé fits every season, but Roger, what's your take on ... I mean, are you surprised at how popular rosé from Provence has become? Does it surprise you? Roger Voss:          01:39          Well, yes, because when I first got to know the American wine scene, rosé was sweet. It was called blush, and it was sweet. So it's astonishing to me that we've moved on from there, to drinking dry. That is really where Provence comes in. Because Provence, to me, is the perfect dry rosé. I always think, you combine sun, sand, sea, and summer with the sophisticated bars and restaurants beside the Mediterranean. That, to me, is the image of Provence rosé. And that's obviously gone down in America. Jameson Fink:       02:16          That's a good point, too. How much is that lifestyle, too, that's part of its popularity? Do you think that's tied in? It's sort of aspirational. Like, "I'm drinking this rosé, and pretending I'm transported to Provence"? Roger Voss:          02:29          Well, there is something about it. There's a little story, which I heard from one of the top producers. He spent a lot of time trying to sell Provence rosés, but he knew he'd arrived, when he got a phone call from one of the major yacht builders in the Mediterranean, saying, "Can you tell me the size of your double magnums? Because I need to ensure that the iceboxes, the fridges on my yachts, are big enough to take your double magnums." He knew he'd arrived. Jameson Fink:       02:59          I wish I had that thought going through my head. I wonder if my fridge is big enough to fit double magnums of rosé. I'd probably have to take out a couple shelves, but I think I could do it. But, really, I'm fortunately living more of a 750 milliliter standard bottle lifestyle. Let's talk about the first wine. I would like to attempt to pronounce it, Roger, but I think that would be a crime scene, and an affront to all things French if I did. I could sort of say it phonetically, but it would be awful. So I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind introducing the first wine? Roger Voss:          03:33          Sure. First wine is Château la Vivonne. It's 2017 vintage, because that is what rosé is all about. Young, and ready to drink now. And its cuvée name is Les Puechs. Jameson Fink:       03:46          That's from the Côtes of Provence, and that's 91 points, Best Buy. Roger Voss:          03:49          Yes, indeed. I reviewed it in March, and the review was published in July. Jameson Fink:       03:56          One of the things I'm interested about in your review is you talk about the wine, that it has a certain perfume, from the Mourvèdre. I'm wondering, what's the typical blend? Is that something that you see in a lot of these Provence rosés, that you're getting some Mourvèdre poking out, or is it, the blend vary? Roger Voss:          04:16          Well, Mourvèdre is a very specific grape to a certain part of Provence, which I'll explain in a second. To answer your first question, the general blend is Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah. Those are the three which, in fact, they are the secret behind really good Provence rosé, which is why rosé from France is so good, 'cause it has Grenache in it. But Mourvèdre, to move onto this wine, is from a region called Bandol, which is on the coast, near Toulon. It's a very mountainous set part of Provence, and the Mourvèdre grape seems to have settled there, and loves it. So most of the Bandol wines have Mourvèdre in them. This wine comes from a producer who's actually based in Bandol, he just happens to have vines outside in the Côtes de Provence area, but he's also using Mourvèdre in his rosé. Jameson Fink:       05:15          So is it fair to say, this is, maybe, for Provence, kind of a heartier rose? Is that accurate? Roger Voss:          05:22          That's a fair word to use, yes. Slightly richer than your standard Provence rosé. And certainly to say, as I say in my note, more perfumed. Jameson Fink:       05:31          That's interesting too, because a conversation about Provence and its rosés is that of is ... there's certainly a lot out there that's sort of one-note, and so pale, it's almost watery, and nondescript. What's the variety? Am I painting Provence with too broad a stroke? Is there, within Provence, a lot of diversity of rosé? Roger Voss:          05:54          There is, yes. First of all, we have different appellations. de Provence is by far the biggest. But we've also got a wine, we're going talk about later on, from Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, which is slightly further to the west, and is Bandol, which, this wine comes from next to Bandol. Then there's other areas as well, within Provence. Now, you mentioned the color, and I think it's been very funny, because I review these wines every year. I've been noticing the color getting paler and paler each year. Until this year. Because, really, some of them were absolutely white. But this year, I've noticed they're actually ... a little bit of color's crept back in to even the palest of the rosés. So you naturally see it's rosé, rather than a white wine. Jameson Fink:       06:48          Do you think that's a product of vintage, or is it winemakers saying, "You know what, maybe we went a little too far with the pale, and it needs a little more color and flavor"? Roger Voss:          06:59          Well, I did say in my notes last year, they were just stupidly white, in some cases. So maybe they read those, I don't know. Jameson Fink:       07:08          They could've. They could have taken it to heart. Roger Voss:          07:11          They could've taken it to heart. But just, the problem you see with stripping out color, is you also strip out flavor. So, the paler the wines, very often, the less actual taste they had. So if you're drinking rosé really chilled, fine. But I taste rosés not chilled, because then I taste the wine complete. I was noticing with these really pale rosés last year, that they were getting less and less taste. So I'm glad to see they're stepping back from that really, really pale, almost white trend. Pale is fine, provided you can also have taste. Jameson Fink:       07:50          Yeah, and that's something interesting to talk about rosés, you think about Tavel, or something like that, that's a really deep, dark, rich rosé. But is it always mean that, oh, because its pale colored, it's going to be lighter, or that kind of thing? Can it be still pale, and still have a lot of oomph or structure? Roger Voss:          08:12          Well it can do, yes, and that's obviously, it's just up to the skill of the winemaker. The thing about rosé, all rosés, is lot of it to do with winemaking. Because of the use of the getting the color just right, and how long you macerate the skins of the grapes to get just the right color that you want and so on. So, rosé is probably the most, they say in the wine business, it's the most technical wine. Jameson Fink:       08:38          I think that's something that people would be surprised to hear about. I think people maybe think because, "Oh, rosé, it's summery, it's light, it's pale," people don't think that it takes a lot of skill and effort to make a rose like it does. They might think a red wine, or even a white wine, would need, necessitate. Roger Voss:          08:59          Yes, it actually takes even more skills than ... white wine's more difficult than red, and rosé's more difficult than white. You need to have a lot of skill, and you need to actually dedicate yourself to making a rosé, rather than just saying, "Oh, I've got some red juice, let's drain it off red grapes and macerating, let's drain them off, and we'll have some rosé." That doesn't work with good rosé. Provence has understood this, and so that's why their wines are good, even if, as we said, some of them are too light in color. Jameson Fink:       09:32          Well, let's move on to the second wine, so if you could go ahead and introduce that for me, Roger? Roger Voss:          09:36          Sure. This is from the Commanderie de la Bargemone, and as I said, this is from Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, which is west of the Cote Provence main part of the region. Jameson Fink:       09:48          That's a 91-point editor's choice, from you, the editor? Roger Voss:          09:52          A 2017 vintage, again. Now, this is interesting estate, founded by the Knights Templar, who were one of the crusading orders. So it was founded as a place where they lived, as well as making wine, the Knights Templar. And it actually got its name, Bargemone, because a few centuries later, there's a family, called Bargemone, bought it. Jameson Fink:       10:25          I'm familiar with this rosé, because I think it was one of the first rosés from Provence, or rosés ever, that I saw in a three-liter box, and I was really excited, and I started buying a lot of it, because I love that three-liter box. Is that something, I mean, you're in Bordeaux right now, correct? Roger Voss:          10:37          I am, yes. Jameson Fink:       10:38          Do you see rosé when you're traveling around? Is that alternate packaging for rosé popular, or is it more of, just, export market? Roger Voss:          10:47          No, the French love boxes. They're very happy with boxes, and particularly, at this time of year, they'll be buying ... If you walk through the aisles of the supermarket, and look at people's trolleys, which is always fun. There will be boxes of rose in those trolleys. Particularly vacationers, but also the locals. Jameson Fink:       11:06          That's good to hear. I'm glad to hear I get the approval from the people of France when I'm drinking a box wine in my Brooklyn apartment. Good. I also thought it was interesting, packaging-wise, too, that ... I was reading some things you wrote about last year's rosés on winemag.com, and more, I listened about the vintage, but you're seeing all this different kind of bottle shape and packaging. What do you think that is, with these rosés from Provence? Roger Voss:          11:30          Rosé is also a marketing thing. I mean, I started off by telling you that little tale about the guy and his double magnums. But, really, rosé, particularly Provence rosé, has a definite marketing bling to it. You're quite close to the Riviera. People like to be seen to be drinking from a fancy bottle, so there's a lot of that that goes on, as well, introducing these rosés. Sometimes, these bottles are so bizarre. I get ones that look just like gin bottles, and the wine inside is fine, but what it is, a lot of packaging is very important, so you can put it on your table, and make it look good. You can show off with your bottle of rosé. Otherwise, it's just a pink thing in a glass. Jameson Fink:       12:22          Well, I wonder, also, if that's part of, sort of this thing, with a lot of these rosés looking the same, like, the same pale, pink color. I mean, maybe that's also another way to kind of stand out on a shelf. A different bottle shape, or graphics, or things like that. Roger Voss:          12:35          Absolutely. It's all, it's obviously all to do with looks, and Provence has really understood the idea. Because you're dealing with a product that's, as I say, it's very bling. It's here today, gone tomorrow. You got to make something to distinguish it, and bottle shape is a very good way of doing so. Jameson Fink:       12:53          To move from bottle, to more of a terroir type of conversation, I think it's interesting that, when I think of rosé from Provence, I just think, "It's Provence. It's rosé." But we're looking at a couple wines from more specific appellations, and the bigger Côtes, smaller than the Côtes de Provence region. Is that something where there's rosés, and you can be like, "Do you have specific qualities, that come from where the grapes are from?" Like, terroir. Is that the next step in rosé? Roger Voss:          13:25          Well, it has already happened. Certainly with Aix-en-Provence, which is where this Commanderie de la Bargemone wine comes from. One of the reasons is, they also blend in Cabernet Sauvignon. And that obviously makes a difference. Gives more structure to a wine, because, as you know, from drinking Cabernets … there's always a lot of tannin in Cabernet. So, even if it turned into a rosé, it certainly gives more ... Not just actually tannic character, but certainly, structure to the wine. Which is why a wine like this one, the Commanderie de la Bargemone, is probably more structured than the first wine, or the third wine, that we'll be talking about. Jameson Fink:       14:08          Yeah, let's move right on to the third wine. Go ahead and introduce that for me, Roger. Roger Voss:          14:13          Okay. This is from the Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire appellation, Chateau Gassier, Cuvée 946. Jameson Fink:       14:24          What does the 946 refer to? Is that a mystery, or is there something to it? Roger Voss:          14:31          946 is actually, is meters. Jameson Fink:       14:32          Oh, okay. That's right. Well, in your review, it says, "It's a vineyard at a height of 3,000 feet." Roger Voss:          14:42          Which is a rough conversion of 946. The thing about Sainte-Victoire, the mountainous Sainte-Victoire, which is why it has an appellation, is that it creates a microclimate, if you like. Which is very sheltered. It's drier, just a bit drier, because the mountain protects it from any rain that might arrive. It is, it gives wines with ... let's say, extra richness, and certainly, they do have weight to them, which some other Côtes Provence wines don't have. So Sainte-Victoire's seen as an appellation apart, and it is because of the Sainte-Victoire mountain. Which is, I have to tell you, it is a scary mountain, just to look at. Jameson Fink:       15:31          Scary, how? Roger Voss:          15:32          Because, you're in the vineyard, and you're looking face, and there's this sheer rock face lowering over you. Jameson Fink:       15:42          It's ominous. I don't think of rosé when I think of threatening and ominous, so there's kind of, there's some kind of dissonance there, but I'm sure, when you drink it, it's a glorious wine. I should also mention that this wine scored, that you scored at 93 points, and this ... So this rosé, when I'm hearing you talk about it, and reading it, and some of your notes that you can wait awhile to drink it. Is this an age-worthy rosé? Is this something you can age for a year, two years? Roger Voss:          16:05          Yeah. So, I mean, this particular one, which is actually, had a bit of wood, with aging, certainly could be aged longer. And I said, I'm just reading my note now: "Wait until late 2018, but you could certainly drink it in 2019, and probably 2020." Jameson Fink:       16:23          Is oak something common in rosé from Provence? Is there this, kind of, making it like these super rosés, if you will, and with some oak on them? Because I would think most of them are stainless steel, correct? Roger Voss:          16:36          Absolutely. Stainless steel, or cement tanks. Neutral, neutral containers, but there is a trend, where two or three ... well, more than two or three. There's several wines, which I taste, which have been aged, not much. Just lightly, in big barrels, not little. Not little Bordeaux-type barrels, which rounds them out a little bit, and certainly makes them age-worthy. And, of course, means you can put their price up. Jameson Fink:       17:05          What's the oldest rosé you've ever drank? Like, if you had one that was five, 10, more years old? If you had a really old rosé that made you stand up, and you're like, "Wow, this is really surprising"? Roger Voss:          17:17          Yes. I mean, five years, maybe six, is as old as I've tasted, and that was still very good. I mean, it was no longer a fruity fresh wine that we think of as rosé. It was more like a, actually, it was more like an aged red, in a curious way. Because the structure would come forward, but the fruits are falling away. So it was an interesting wine. I wouldn't say it was a stand up wow moment. But it was very interesting, but I think that "interesting" is not necessarily the word you want to hear, when you're talking about a wine you want to drink. Jameson Fink:       17:54          Right, I'd rather, "delicious," or things like that. But it just makes me think, kind of, what we talked about earlier, about the skill it takes to make a great rosé, versus white wine and red wine. Are we getting to a point, where ... I mean, rosé is a serious wine, but are people striving to say, "Hey, I can make a rosé that will reach the heights of the greatest red wines"? Is that possible? Are we selling rosé short, or it is just something, that, "Hey, you know what? Let's enjoy it, and its youthful properties." Are people reaching for the stars with rosé? Roger Voss:          18:28          Well, I mean, the wine we're just talking about, the Cuvée 946, is certainly, got serious intentions, ambitions. Obviously, I liked it, because I gave it a good score, and there are others like that. I mean, there are some which are more expensive than this one, which retail at $50, but there's one which retails for $100, and they exist, and they are actually wines you can look at seriously. To go back to your original point about aging. I don't think you can age even these really expensive wines for very long. But you can certainly age them for longer than, "Buy it now, drink it this summer," which is what most rosé is. Jameson Fink:       19:09          Well, I think you just mentioned $100 as a ... I think if we ever had any doubt that rosé from Provence, and rosé in general has really skyrocketed, I don't know if any of us would have predicted we'd see a $100 bottle of rosé awhile ago, or maybe even not that long ago. Roger Voss:          19:25          I know. That's an exceptional wine, and an exception to the normal rule, which puts Provence rosé as a very drinkable $20 bottle. Really, I mean, we can talk about these fancy cuvées, and these more serious wines. But let's not forget, that at the end of the day, rosé is meant to be drunk with pleasure. You got hot weather in New York. I've got hot weather here, this is when I've got a bottle of rosé sitting next to me, ready to be drink, and, as soon as we finish talking. So, there is, that's definitely what, rosé, we should think of rosé. That's really how we should look at it. Jameson Fink:       20:10          Also, the pleasure of rosé has to do, I think, with, it's probably one of the most food-friendly wines, too. I mean, there's certainly classics, especially in Provence, but what do you like to enjoy, food-wise, with rosé? Are there some things, people might be surprised, that you think is a good match? Roger Voss:          20:27          Well, pretty much everything, actually. You've sort of indicated that. Rosé is a versatile, I mean, it definitely goes with fish. It goes with things like gazpacho, or it even goes, it certainly goes with chicken. I've even had it with red meat, and it's fine. Black truffle, if you can afford it, is a great match, cheeses. You name it, pretty much, rosé goes with pretty much anything. Especially if the weather's hot. You'd much prefer to have a rosé, than a red wine. So, in the summer, we drink a lot of rosé, with pretty much anything we're eating. Jameson Fink:       21:06          I like drinking it in the winter, too, I think. I mean, for the big holidays here, like Thanksgiving. With turkey, it's such a great match. Then, also, when I think it starts getting cold and dreary, especially here, when you have a bottle of pink wine, that can make, it just sort of brightens up your day. Just like how it's emblematic of summer. It's like, it's December, or January, there's a blizzard in New York, and you open a bottle of rosé, and pour it in your glass, and it's this beautiful pink color. And you're like, serenity now. At least, that transportive property that is has. Roger Voss:          21:40          Yes. I know, exactly. You're absolutely right with Thanksgiving turkey. It's a brilliant match. I've certainly done that. Yes, I mean, it reminds you of the summer that's just passed, and gives you hope for the summer that's about to come. I think that sets another great thing that rosé can do. Jameson Fink:       22:00          Well, Roger, thank you very much for this little tour of Provence rosé. I think it's interesting to note that there's a lot of one-note rosé out there, but when you dig a little deeper, there's really interesting, different grapes being used, different locations, different prices, and different styles. So, thank you very much for this in-depth look at rosé. Roger Voss:          22:21          You're very welcome. I enjoyed talking to you about it, and now, I'm going to have my glass of rosé. Jameson Fink:       22:25          All right. You have more than earned it. You could have had it while we were recording, too, and I would have been delighted, as well. Roger Voss:          22:30          I do point out, it is seven o'clock in the evening here. Jameson Fink:       22:33          Oh, yeah, yeah. You're overdue. Roger Voss:          22:37          Okay. Nice to talk to you, Jameson. Jameson Fink:       22:38          Okay. My pleasure. And thank you, for listening to the What We're Tasting podcast, sponsored by Vivino: Wine Made Easy. The three wines we talked about today are: Roger Voss:          22:48          Chateau La Vivonne, 2017, Les Puechs, rosé, Côtes de Provence. Second wine: Commanderie de la Bargemone, 2017, rosé, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. Third wine: Chateau Gassier, Cuvée 946, rosé, Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire Jameson Fink:       23:10          Perfect. Thank you so much. You saved me from grave embarrassment of pronunciation. Roger Voss:          23:16          Oh, come on. I'm sure you can do it. Jameson Fink:       23:17          Find What We're Tasting on iTunes, Googeplay, or wherever you find podcasts. If you liked today's episode, please give us a five-star rating on iTunes, leave a comment, and tell your friends. What We're Tasting is a Wine Enthusiast podcast. Check out Wine Enthusiast online at winemag.com.

Heidi Barrett has produced extraordinary wines for clients including Screaming Eagle, Paradigm, Dalle Valle, and many more. One of her Cabernets holds the record as the most ever paid for a single bottle of wine -- $500,000 at Auction Napa Valley. Today she has her own wine brand, La Sirena, and another with her husband, Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena, called Barrett & Barrett. On this episode of the podcast, Heidi takes Doug through one of the most fascinating careers and life stories in the Valley. Enjoy! For more visit: lasirenawine.com or barrettwines.com.

WBZ's Jordan Rich talks with Ken Hoggins of Ken's Wine Guide about top cabernets this fall.

Three years after my first podcast with Mike Dunn, he helped me rope Randy Dunn into a podcast so that we could learn more about old-school Napa winemaking and the stories from a place that had far less glitz than exists today.  Not one to seek the spotlight, Randy has consistently turned out iconic mountain Cabernets, which have brought the spotlight up to their otherwise quiet ranch on Howell Mountain since the 70's.  Mike and Randy count their harvests together in decades, not years.   There are two reasons this turned out to be a great podcast.  First, Randy painted a picture of his background and some of the adventures from his early days at Caymus Vineyards, including misleading immigration raids.  Second, Mike and Randy were candid about their methods of working together together at Dunn Vineyards.   For a primer to this episode, check out Mike's first podcast on Inside Winemaking in Ep. 3 from August of 2014, where we discuss his path back to Dunn Vineyards and the creation of his own wines with the Retro Cellars brand.     LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Dunn Vineyards, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley Retro Cellars, Napa Valley Caymus Vineyards, Napa Valley Pahlmeyer, Napa Valley La Jota Vineyard Co, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley Long Shadows Vintners "Feather" Walla Walla, Washington Livingston Moffett Winery, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley Deep Winemaking 2017 is scheduled for August 10-12th in Napa.  Come spend three days immersed in technical visits with winemakers, viticulturists, barrel cooperages, and wine laboratories with other like-minded aspiring winemakers.   Please email me with any questions or comments about winemaking or this podcast    jim@insidewinemaking.com The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes And Stitcher Radio Too Questions?  Comments?  Let me know what you think: jim@insidewinemaking.com

Everyone loves a great cabernet sauvignon -- especially as it starts to get cooler outside. But so many are expensive. I went and found four great ones for you that all clock in under $30. And you're going to love them! But you have to lsiten to hear how different they all are. So cool. #cabernet #garyswine #wine #wineonthestreet #under30 Here's your list 2013 Felino Cabernet Sauvignon: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/18886.html 2012 Poggio Il Castellare Sant Antimo Cervio Cabernet Sauvignon: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/italy/12261.html 2014 Baus Family Cabernet Sauvignon: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13738.html 2012 Go Figure Rutherford Cab Sauv: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/06320.html

"God and the devil are in the details."  In this episode Cameron Parry, who is taking over the winemaking reigns at Groth Vineyards and Winery explains which details he views are most critical to ensure that each vintage of Groth wines are exceptional. A highlight from our conversation include Cameron's description of the flavor and texture qualities that result from Sauvignon blanc's fermentation in neutral oak barrels vs. stainless steel tanks. Cameron does a great job in dispelling the myth that winemakers have some sort of gifted sensory ability. Training is the key to develop one's abilities when it comes to smell and flavor recognition.  I like how Cameron works that training into everyday experience, especially with his kids and their time spent cooking and "developing their sensory capacities."   Groth is perhaps most well known for their Cabernets - all of which are from grapes sourced from the Oakville district of Napa.  Cameron tells the story of how the Groth Reserve Cabernet came about and the describes the most notable wines from the recent 30-year retrospective tasting that Groth put on as a press event.

Read the full story with photos at: https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/company/globalnews/2013/0607_02.html On June 7 and 8, 2013, at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, in Rancho Mirage, California, American President Barack Obama held a bilateral meeting, followed by a working dinner, with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. Ridge Vineyards 2008 Geyserville Zinfandel was served with the main course – the Porterhouse steak. Dinner diplomacy of course requires world-class cuisine, but the culinary merit of each menu item is not the sole consideration; each dish has political significance. Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, a French diplomat at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, emerged victorious from the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna due in no small part to the wines of Chateau Haut-Brion and the grand cuisine of legendary chef Marie-Antoine Carême. There is no question that Ridge Vineyards 2008 Geyserville was carefully chosen as a representation of America's influence. China has experienced rapid and continuous economic growth, and has passed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, after America. China is becoming a leader in both the importation and production of wine as well. It is significant that the red wine served to China's leaders was a Zinfandel-based blend. There are many American wines that are more expensive than Geyserville, such as Cabernets from Napa. A Zinfandel was likely chosen because it is a distinctly "American" variety, one that symbolizes an America that has become the world's dominant power and that has carved out its own unique position in the world, while still retaining its connections to the culture and traditions of Europe. Ridge Vineyards was acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in 1986 and is honored that, out of all the Zinfandels available, Ridge Vineyards 2008 Geyserville was chosen to represent America at this dinner. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay, the owner and executive chef of several restaurants, including Mesa Grill, was chosen to represent America in the preparation of the meal itself.

Paul LaRochelle, General Manager of Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis joined us to taste some outstanding Cabernets and update us on the new Lexus GS and other exciting happenings for Lexus. Lexus is a sponsor of the 30th Annual Food & Wine Classic and has other special benefits for the wine loving owners. The post The Sipping Point Radio – 3/24: Get ready for the 30th Annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic appeared first on Laurie Forster | Wine Expert | Wine Coach | Wine Speaker.

Wine legend John Jordan of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, celebrates his 40th birthday, and the Vineyards 40th birthday too! John will discuss with Stu ; how he grew up in the wine business, the process of making the great Cabernets and Chardonnays that Jordan produces and life. Call in, tweet, email. and get into the live chat room and ask your questions of John and Stu. Wine Talk with Stu The Wine Guru is what anyone and everyone that enjoys wine listens to to find out the latest about wine, wine makers, celebs who like wine, Call in and ask Stu all of your questions about wine at 1-646-381-4860. Email him your questions at info@stuthewineguru.com Tweet him your questions at @stuthewineguru on Twitter. As Stu always says "If it's time to pour the wine, it's time for Stu The Wine Guru. Drink Up!"