Podcast appearances and mentions of chris benziger

This week, we're on location at the Vancouver Convention Centre, broadcasting from the floor of the 46th Annual Vancouver International Wine Festival. We'll be speaking with numerous local and international wine personalities. Today, our guests include: Wayne Donaldson, a winemaker at Josh Cellars in Calistoga, California. Chris Benziger, VP/Brand Ambassador Benziger Family Winery, in Sonoma County; Olivia Wright, an up and coming winemaker working at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Sonoma County; and Todd Graff, GM & Winemaker of Frank Family Vineyards Napa Valley.

Why is Chardonnay the one grape that is equally made in the vineyards and the winery? What's the difference between biodynamic and regenerative farming? What does it mean to be part of a family brand of wine? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Chris Benziger, winemaker with the Benziger family wines in Sonoma, California. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks   Giveaway Three of you will win one of three bottles of the superb Benziger wines. This is open to Canadian residents because shipping alcohol across borders is still bound-up with prehistoric laws. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast. I'll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck!   Highlights How does the Benziger family's "flaming hoops" program help to ensure family members are a value add if they work at the winery? How did the 2017 Sonoma County wildfires impact the Benziger Family Winery? Which features can you expect from Benziger California Chardonnay, and how does it best pair with food? What makes the Benziger Running Wild Chardonnay unique and more personal for Chris? What is the concept of regenerative farming, and how does it relate to biodynamics? Why is the Benziger Tribute so versatile, and what's the story behind the name? What does it mean to Chris to be part of a family brand of wine? In the Museum of Chris Benziger, what three objects would be in the central display? If Chris could share a bottle of wine with anyone outside the wine industry, who would that be?   Key Takeaways Chris observes that most grapes or varietals are made in the vineyard. With Chardonnay, you can choose whether it'll be a beautiful, unoaked, austere, minerally Chablis-style, or a big butter kiss, butter bomb, or anything in between. The Renziger Chardonnay is right in the middle of the teeter-totter. Biodynamic has some baggage to it, whereas regenerative farming takes the farming part of biodynamics, which is incredible. Organic farming is simply the elimination of chemical inputs. All it does is replace all that biological capital back into the soil. So the land never goes fallow. It's constantly being fed back. Farming is resource intensive. Regenerative farming means giving back so the land is not just restored, it's better than before the farming started. What does it mean to be part of a family brand of wine? Chris calls critter brands and concept brands that are developed by market research whiteboard wines. A family brand is inherently tied to a family and its name. Chris notes that his father burned the boats in the Roman tradition so to speak when he sold his business and uprooted his family and traveled 3,000 miles to start the winery. In developing the winery, all they had was each other and had to lean on each other through all the challenges from tough finances to wildfire. But they stayed together and as Chris notes, he was hosting Christmas dinner with 50 family members this year.   About Chris Benziger Chris Benziger was still in high school when he and his family moved from White Plains, New York, to California wine country. He went on to earn a degree in marketing from the University of San Francisco, while spending summers, weekends and every spare moment working at the winery as a child laborer. He officially, he officially joined the Benziger family winery in 1993 Chris oversees the home ranch and is dedicated to the thriving biodynamic ecosystem of the estate, shepherding the Benziger flock of sheep, tending to the estate vegetables and fruit trees, and producing biodynamic preparations for his vineyards.       To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/321.

What was it like to move to biodynamic wine farming at a time when hardly anyone was doing it? What crucial role do 100 adorable sheep play at the Benziger winery? How do biodynamic preparations that might seem a bit “woo” actually benefit the vineyard? What are the benefits of biodynamic farming practices for vine health and wine quality? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Chris Benziger, winemaker with the Benziger family wines in Sonoma, California. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks   Giveaway Three of you will win one of three bottles of the superb Benziger wines. This is open to Canadian residents because shipping alcohol across borders is still bound-up with prehistoric laws. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast. I'll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck!   Highlights How did Chris' grandfather transform his alcohol-importing business during Prohibition? How did the Benziger Family Winery get started? What does Chris love about the Benziger family property, and what fascinating history does it have? How does the geology of the area influence Benziger wines? What challenges did the Benziger family face during their first harvest at the new winery? Why did the Benziger family transition to biodynamic farming practices years ahead of mainstream sustainability trends? What crucial role do Dorper sheep and Highland cattle play at the Benziger winery? How do biodynamic preparations that seem “woo” benefit the vineyard? What are the benefits of biodynamic farming practices for vine health and wine quality?   Key Takeaways The Benzigers were biodynamic pioneers in California. He quotes Gandhi: “First they ignored him, then they laughed at him, then they fought him, but then he won.” Today, in every single winery, particularly in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Monterrey, and the counties that have very high prestige, every one of these wineries has some form of a sustainability program today. The Benziger family eventually realized that sheep were the answer to their challenges. They got a big flock of a special type of sheep called a Dorper. Their little cloven hoofs push debris down, like leaves, eliminating mildew pressure, so no mildecides. They eat the grasses underneath the vine, eliminating the need for herbicides like RoundUp. And they fertilize as they go which helps with microbial growth.  Chris says that even though it sounds odd to be putting cow dung in a horn and burying it in the ground, they're making a plant probiotic. That manure attracts microorganisms in the soil, and they're just small enough that they can fit through a cow horn. This is unbelievably healthy for the plants. In conventional farming, you water and feed the plant from the top. You're delivering everything at the surface so the roots stay at the surface. Biodynamics tells the vine, Hey, you've got to earn a living. We don't water or fertilize it. Now the roots do what they want to do, and go down into those different layers, find their own sources of moisture and nutrition, and that's how we get a better, more terroir-driven wine.   About Chris Benziger Chris Benziger was still in high school when he and his family moved from White Plains, New York, to California wine country. He went on to earn a degree in marketing from the University of San Francisco, while spending summers, weekends and every spare moment working at the winery as a child laborer. He officially, he officially joined the Benziger family winery in 1993 Chris oversees the home ranch and is dedicated to the thriving biodynamic ecosystem of the estate, shepherding the Benziger flock of sheep, tending to the estate vegetables and fruit trees, and producing biodynamic preparations for his vineyards.       To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/320.

Segment 1 Guy's guest in this week's adventure in Food, Wine, & Fun is the VP and Brand Ambassador of the Benziger Family Winery.

Zach speaks with vintner Chris Benziger about his family's move from New York City to Sonoma, their early adoption of biodynamic farming practices, how sheep and cows can bring life back into a vineyard, and their newly-released "Running Wild" Chardonnay. Please remember to subscribe to, rate, and review VinePair on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your episodes, and send any questions, comments, critiques, or suggestions to podcast@vinepair.com. Thanks for listening, and be well.Instagram: @adamteeter, @jcsciarrino, @zgeballe, @vinepair Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Benziger comes from a long line of family working in the beverage business, starting with his grandfather smuggling Canadian whiskey into America on a tugboat during prohibition. But it was his oldest brother Mike who realized so much great wine was coming out of California and convinced his entrenched New York City family to move across the country and start a winery in Northern California.All this happened when Chris was just 15 years old and after helping the family build the farm and then going off to college and working for many years in another career, he was wooed back to the winery to become a partner where he was instrumental in making Benziger a bio dynamic winery, which stopped using pesticides and chemicals to grow their grapes. Chris got married, had a family and knew that he would be dedicated to Benziger Wines for the rest of his life. Then the unthinkable happened, his older brother was diagnosed with what was likely terminal cancer and the family and partners decided to sell the winery without consulting Chris. Devastated and angry for a time, Chris put the pieces of his life, his business and his family relationships back together and saw things work out with him still running Benziger Wines under new ownership. Visit the Benziger Wine websiteVisit the Capital Region Family Business Center websiteSponsor: River City Bank

Lisa Amaroli, winemaker, Benziger Family Winery This podcast show is originally from August 19, 2020, featuring Lisa Amaroli, winemaker, and Chris Benziger, from Benziger Family Winery. (Due to a schedule pre-empt for an Nba game, there is no new CWC show this week.) Lisa Amaroli, winemaker at Benziger Family Winery, and Chris Benziger both join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Chris' family founded the winery in the early 1970s and Lisa Amaroli has been their winemaker since 1999. Chris Benziger tells the family story. His grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition. After WWII, he came back, legitimized his liquor distribution business, then Chris' eldest brother Mike moved to California to the Livermore Valley for a winery called Stoney Ridge. They called it the reform school for grapes, they used fruit that nobody else wanted. His brother and father decided to go into the wine business and the whole family moved from New York City to Sonoma. They bought an old ranch that had been vacant since Prohibition. Their success started with the 1981 Sonoma County Harvest Fair. It was Dan Berger's first wine competition as a judge. The family made Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet. In a big surprise, they won the sweepstakes, N.1 with Sauvignon Blanc and 2nd with the Chardonnay. This put them on the map. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Bottle Barn online for the coolest bargains on wine, beer and spirits. Bottle Barn has a new app, which makes it even easier to place orders from their vast stock. They have an enormous task, due to their huge inventory, but their goal is to have their whole stock available online. Bottle Barn also does 3 emails per week, with special offers. Dan finds that their Sauvignon Blanc is a lot like a white Bordeaux. It has so much acid, a 3.03 pH so it needs the contact with lees to build creaminess. Dan says that SV made like this is a rare treat. Instead of green herbaceous flavors, you get stressed vines, so you get more minerality and steeliness from the variety. It's unusual to have mountain-grown SV. Lisa lived in Heidelberg and visited France enough to fall in love with their practices of food and wine. Back in the US, a friend encouraged her to go to college and she attended Sonoma State studying Biology and Chemistry. Instead of medicine she found that she might find work in the wine business and got a job working for Kerry Damskey. (Kerry Damskey was on California Wine Country on this episode in March of 2018.) He put her to work sampling grapes and she was hooked. She has taken lots of classes at UC Davis and has had lots of mentors over the years. She's glad that the Benzigers let her make their commercial brands with total trust and nothing but support. "It's been a really great experience to be a woman winemaker at Benziger." They are tasting a 2017 which was a fire year. Chris lost his house to fire, but managed to save some bottles from his wine collection by throwing them into the swimming pool before evacuating. Chris calls Chardonnay the blank canvas of wines, in that it can come out many different ways depending on how it is grown and treated.

Chris is an absolute rockstar and leads the way in bio dynamic farming. This episode was great and the wines are even better!

Have a sip with JJ, Michael & Doug as they sit in the beautiful outdoor tasting gardens at Benziger Family Winery. Chris Benziger shares the history of this gorgeous estate along with some truly incredible wines. Be sure to check out their wine club at https://benziger.com. Don't forget to subscribe to the Something to Wine About podcast so that you don't miss a single episode. While you're at it, please take a moment to write a short review and rate our show. It would be greatly appreciated! To learn more about wineries we've visited, listen to past episodes, and get to know your hosts, go to https://www.somethingtowineaboutpodcast.com/ and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Guy's guest for this week's adventure in food, wine, & fun is the big cheese of the Benziger Family Winery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Amaroli, winemaker, Benziger Family Winery Lisa Amaroli, winemaker at Benziger Family Winery, and Chris Benziger both join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Chris' family founded the winery in the early 1970s and Lisa Amaroli has been their winemaker since 1999. Chris Benziger tells the family story. His grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition. After WWII, he came back, legitimized his liquor distribution business, then Chris' eldest brother Mike moved to California to the Livermore Valley for a winery called Stoney Ridge. They called it the reform school for grapes, they used fruit that nobody else wanted. His brother and father decided to go into the wine business and the whole family moved from New York City to Sonoma. They bought an old ranch that had been vacant since Prohibition. Their success started with the 1981 Sonoma County Harvest Fair. It was Dan Berger's first wine competition as a judge. The family made Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet. In a big surprise, they won the sweepstakes, N.1 with Sauvignon Blanc and 2nd with the Chardonnay. This put them on the map. Dan finds that their Sauvignon Blanc is a lot like a white Bordeaux. Lisa Amaroli says their estate properties are all bio-dynamically farmed. It has so much acid, a 3.03 pH so it needs the contact with lees to build creaminess. Dan says that SV made like this is a rare treat. Instead of green herbaceous flavors, you get stressed vines, so you get more minerality and steeliness from the variety. It's unusual to have mountain-grown SV. Lisa grew up in Sonoma County in a conservative family where the sons were supposed to go to college and the girls were supposed to marry. She instead went to live in Europe, lived in Heidelberg and visited France enough to fall in love with their practices of food and wine. Back in the US, a friend encouraged her to go to college and she attended Sonoma State studying Biology and Chemistry. Instead of medicine she found that she might find work in the wine business and got a job working for Kerry Damskey.  (Kerry Damskey was on California Wine Country on this episode in March of 2018.) He put her to work sampling grapes and she was hooked. She has taken lots of classes at UC Davis and has had lots of mentors over the years. She's glad that the Benzigers let her make their commercial brands with total trust and nothing but support. "It's been a really great experience to be a woman winemaker at Benziger." They are tasting a 2017 which was a fire year. Chris lost his house to fire, but managed to save some bottles from his wine collection by throwing them into the swimming pool before evacuating. Chris calls Chardonnay the blank canvas of wines, in that it can come out many different ways depending on how it is grown and treated. Benziger Family Winery is well represented at Bottle Barn. Visit Bottle Barn dot com for up-to-the-minute offers and news. They have extensive choices online and offer delivery and in-person pick-up service. You can also visit the shop to browse their huge selection, in person, with a mask on.

Lisa Amaroli, winemaker at Benziger Family Winery, and Chris Benziger both join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Chris' family founded the winery in the early 1970s and Lisa Amaroli has been their winemaker since 1999. Chris Benziger tells the family story. His grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition. After WWII, he came back, legitimized his liquor distribution business, then Chris' eldest brother Mike moved to California to the Livermore Valley for a winery called Stoney Ridge. They called it the reform school for grapes, they used fruit that nobody else wanted. His brother and father decided to go into the wine business and the whole family moved from New York City to Sonoma. They bought an old ranch that had been vacant since Prohibition. Their success started with the 1981 Sonoma County Harvest Fair. It was Dan Berger's first wine competition as a judge. The family made Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet. In a big surprise, they won the sweepstakes, N.1 with Sauvignon Blanc and 2nd with the Chardonnay. This put them on the map. Dan finds that their Sauvignon Blanc is a lot like a white Bordeaux. Lisa Amaroli says their estate properties are all bio-dynamically farmed. It has so much acid, a 3.03 pH so it needs the contact with lees to build creaminess. Dan says that SV made like this is a rare treat. Instead of green herbaceous flavors, you get stressed vines, so you get more minerality and steeliness from the variety. It's unusual to have mountain-grown SV. Lisa grew up in Sonoma County in a conservative family where the sons were supposed to go to college and the girls were supposed to marry. She instead went to live in Europe, lived in Heidelberg and visited France enough to fall in love with their practices of food and wine. Back in the US, a friend encouraged her to go to college and she attended Sonoma State studying Biology and Chemistry. Instead of medicine she found that she might find work in the wine business and got a job working for Kerry Damskey.  (Kerry Damskey was on California Wine Country on this episode in March of 2018.) He put her to work sampling grapes and she was hooked. She has taken lots of classes at UC Davis and has had lots of mentors over the years. She's glad that the Benzigers let her make their commercial brands with total trust and nothing but support. "It's been a really great experience to be a woman winemaker at Benziger." They are tasting a 2017 which was a fire year. Chris lost his house to fire, but managed to save some bottles from his wine collection by throwing them into the swimming pool before evacuating. Chris calls Chardonnay the blank canvas of wines, in that it can come out many different ways depending on how it is grown and treated. Benziger Family Winery is well represented at Bottle Barn. Visit Bottle Barn dot com for up-to-the-minute offers and news. They have extensive choices online and offer delivery and in-person pick-up service. You can also visit the shop to browse their huge selection, in person, with a mask on.

In this episode I am speaking with Chris Benziger of the Benziger Family Wines.  Although I did not get him for very long, I was able to get a brief glimpse of his story.  One of family, packing up everything to head West and build a winery.  A winery that succeeded through know how, hard work, and family (and a pretty big respect for the land).  Please enjoy! Also appearing on this episode is a Take Five segment with Jamie Thompson from the new season of Married at First Sight, which premieres Wednesday, June 12th on Lifetime. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week on Barrel to Bottle, Kristen and Greg sit down with two VIPs of California wine, Chris Benziger and John Concannon. Chris Benziger carries the tradition of his family’s winery into the next generation, with all of Benziger’s releases certified sustainable, organic or biodynamic. John Concannon is an advocate for environmental stewardship and sustainability. As a fourth generation vintner, he is hoping for a future as bright as his family’s rich legacy: from bottling the first petite sirah in 1961 to importing key cab clones from Chateau Margaux in 1893 that are now found throughout California. Plus, Chris and John stick around to help with this week’s customer Q&A about wine in cans.

Brian and Steve talk to Chris Benziger from #Benziger Winery, as he recounts the harrowing experience escaping the California wildfires. We also discuss #biodynamics, and the Benziger #Sauvignon Blanc, #Merlot and #Cabernet Sauvignon, and the wines of #Sonoma.