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Born in Indiana, summers and college in Vermont, dancing their way into each-others hearts, Dierdre met her Husband Caleb Barber at Middlebury. Both loved food, influenced by Italy, opened an Italian restaurant, grew their own produce, then eventually grapes, and practiced farm to table before it was a thing. Loyal to the terroir and indigenous fruits, Deirdre went on to make alpine wines in the mountains and lakes of the great state of Vermont. Her first vintage was in 2010, her innovation, commitment, influence and mentorship has not only put Vermont wine on the map, but how we think about wine, sparklers, and cider. Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.
In the intro to this episode I introduce the new name of the podcast: Beyond Organic Wine Podcast. I also talk about the three weeks I've spent working with the crew of La Garagista, including Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber, and Camila Carrillo of La Montañela, and Anna Travers of Lilith Wines. Should you get a chance to come to Vermont, you could not be more fortunate than to meet this crew – maybe coven is a better word – who make up the team here at La Garagista. Deirdre and Caleb, Camilla of La Montanuela, and Anna of Lilith Wines, I've had the honor to work alongside and learn from these lovely folks, both in the vineyard and winery, and I can't say enough here to do justice to the amazing work that they are doing. Their commitment to an ecological approach to growing grapes and making wine is beautiful, inspiring, and delicious. If you haven't listened to my previous interview with Deirdre Heekin, it's pretty special. But also, her wines, and the wines of Lilith and La Montanuela are transformative. The wines are informed by deep passion and a seemingly preternatural ability to intuit what kinds of wines these grapes in these conditions want to become, all without any inputs other than cosmic energy and probably a little magic. https://www.lagaragista.com/ Support this episode by subscribing via patreon. Sponsors: Centralas Wine
When I think of Vermont, I think of slanted light and moody skies, wildflowers and rosy cheeks, small farms and big forests. And because of my guest for this episode, when I think of Vermont I also think of hardy vines and delicious wines. Deirdre Heekin is the person behind La Garagista and Domaine de la Foret, along with her husband Caleb, and what seems to be a continual stream of young winemakers who help and learn and have become the next generation of Vermont wine. Deirdre is a restauranteur, vigneron, writer, photographer, mentor, gardener… and more, and that means we cover a lot of ground in this conversation. We talk about the magic of the forest and why grapevines are integral to the forest edge ecology that we aim to replicate with holistic, regenerative agriculture. We talk about Deirdre's approach to farming Brianna, which involves not pruning it. She also shares some of the unique approaches she has developed for making cider and wine and co-ferments and other things that don't have names, by gleaning from ancient techniques and by learning from nature and the opportunities it presents to work with it to create one-of-a-kind fermentations. https://www.lagaragista.com/ Support this episode by subscribing via patreon. Sponsors: Centralas Wine Catavino Tours Oom - recycled bottles for wine VT Vineyards Let them know you heard about them through the Organic Wine Podcast.
This episode of the Vintners Podcast touches on the subject of hybrid grapes. Deirdre Heekin of La Garagista in Vermont and Dominic Würth of GraWü in Alto Adige share their insights and experiences. We discuss the future of sustainable winemaking, posing a question: Are Hybrid Grapes the Future of Craft Wine?
This talk was recorded by Heritage Radio Network as a part of RAW Wine NYC 2019's Speakers' Corner - with Lewis Dickson (La Cruz de Comal), Deirdre Heekin (La Garagista Farm & Winery) & Ryan Stirm (Stirm Wine Company) in conversation with Alice Feiring (The Feiring Line)Hybrid grapes are on the verge of shedding their vile reputation. We’re not just talking acceptance, we’re talking praise, praise for their ease of farming, flavor and potential vineyard savior status in the age of climate change. In part this new dawning for these grapes is a direct response to work done with them in the world of natural wine.However, we use the word hybrid, but do we really know what they are? Are they franken clones as so many believe them to be? Naturally occurring or well, something else? Will your beloved Burgundy pinot noir one day be planted to Black Spanish? Will the new Trousseau be Marquette? Come and geek out about this, learn the truth and taste some beautiful examples that, we bet, will stun you.Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, for a raucous feast to toast a decade of food radio. Our tenth anniversary bacchanal is a rare gathering of your favorite chefs, mixologists, storytellers, thought leaders, and culinary masterminds. We’ll salute the inductees of the newly minted HRN Hall of Fame, who embody our mission to further equity, sustainability, and deliciousness. Explore the beautiful Palm House and Yellow Magnolia Café, taste and imbibe to your heart’s content, and bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and tasty gifts for any budget at our silent auction. Tickets available now at heritageradionetwork.org/gala.HRN On Tour is powered by Simplecast.
with Deirdre Heekin (La Garagista Farm & Winery), Saša Radikon (Radikon) and Alberto Anguissola (Casè). Hosted by Simon J Woolf (The Morning Claret). It’s often said that orange wine as a technique obscures both varietal and terroir characteristics. Simon J Woolf presents a panel discussion and tasting with Deidre Heekin, Saša Radikon and Alberto Anguissola where he hopes to persuade you that the exact opposite is the case. Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast.
Krista Scruggs returns to the show to discuss her new project ZAFA and everything she has learned from working the vinyards out in Vermont. She is joined by her mentor Deirdre Heekin (aka Queen D) from La Garagista Wine and we discuss farming, economics ,creative endeavors, and much more. On a side note... our apologies for the bit of static/interference on some parts of the episode. We are in the process of upgrading our equipment. Should be good on the next episode.
Troubadours and Raconteurs, do you like wine, politics, Halloween, and donkeys as the autumn leaves color the sidewalks crisp with color? We have for your listening pleasure Episode 243 of "Troubadours and Raconteurs with E.W. Conundrum Demure" Crafted In North Eastern Pennsylvania... Heard All Over The World. This week's featured guest is Almighty Todd our resident philosopher and wine aficionado. The Almighty and I discuss, as he sits on the back porch of his farmhouse in Stockbridge Vermont, a Load of Lumber, Wine Season, Deirdre Heekin, Push Downs, With Wine the Truth, the Soulessness Republicans, Moving Down into the Darkness, How We Raise Boys in the U.S., How Aloofness Leads to the Inability to Recognize Humanity, Autumn, Halloween, and His Donkeys. This week's sixty minutes includes an EW Essay titled "Lemonade Stand." We share a Trump I.Q Test prepared for the New Yorker Magazine by Broti Gupta and Rebecca Caplan. We have a poem called "Halloweenie." Our music this week is provided by these wonderful artists: Django Reinhardt, Stephan Grapelli, Aimee Mann, the Pretenders, Billy Bragg, Fats Domino, Sarah Jarosz, Branford Marsalis and Terrence Blanchard. Commercial Free, Community Radio at its Finest. Share this episode with whomever you choose. Tell your Friends and Neighbors...
Deirdre Heekin is the co-founder, winegrower, organizer, writer, photographer, flower farmer, and designer behind La Garagista Farm + Winery in Barnard, Vermont. In this episode we get into a lot from where the idea came from to start growing and making wine in Vermont to its challenges as she successful makes amazing natural wines in this environment. We also talk about her love of travel, the biodynamic practices that have been instilled in her, and her new book, An Unlikely Vineyard. We invite you to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here and leave us a review. Our goal is to grow a community of people who are passionate about wine so we can all learn more and connect with each other. If that appeals to you at all, then subscribe. It helps others find the show, which continues to expand this community you’re apart of. Learn more about Deirdre at CruPodcast.com
Biodynamics Now! Investigative Farming and Restorative Nutrition Podcast
Deirdre Heekin is the author of An Unlikely Vineyard. She is the proprietor and wine director of Osteria Pane e Salute, an acclaimed restaurant and wine bar in Woodstock, Vermont. Heekin and her husband and head chef, Caleb Barber, are the authors of In Late Winter We Ate Pears (Chelsea Green, 2009), and she is also the author of Libation: A Bitter Alchemy (Chelsea Green, 2009) and Pane e Salute (Invisible Cities Press, 2002). Heekin and her husband live on a small farm in Barnard, Vermont, where they grow both the vegetables for their restaurant and natural wines and ciders for their la garagista label. An Unlikely VineyardThe Education of a Farmer and Her Quest for Terroir Is it possible to capture landscape in a bottle? To express the essence of place—its geology, geography, climate, and soil—as well as the skill of the winegrower? That’s what Deirdre Heekin and her husband have set out to accomplish on their tiny, eight-acre hillside farm in Vermont—in their quest for terroir. “Terroir is about mud and stones, but it is also about the varietal nature of the plants or animals that grow in or on this land, the microclimate of a hillside or plain, and the personality of those who do the tending. It represents the six sides of the honeycomb: geology, variety, geography, climate, social culture, and the human hand,” writes Heekin inAn Unlikely Vineyard. “Another winegrower I know says that what is poured into the glass is a liquid landscape painting of the 365 days of a certain year. This is my hope on our farm: to capture the four seasons of each year in the bottle, a liquid portrait of our landscape and its history. This is my quest.”An Unlikely Vineyard tells the story of their farm and its evolution, from overgrown fields to a fertile, productive, and beautiful landscape that melds with its natural environment. But the book is much more than that. It also presents, through the example of their farming journey and winegrowing endeavors, an impressive amount of information onhow to think about almost every aspect of gardening: from composting to trellising; from cider and perry making to old garden roses; from pruning (or not) to dealing naturally with pests and diseases. Challenged by cold winters, wet summers, and other factors, they set about to grow not only a vineyard, but an orchard of heirloom apples, pears, and plums, as well as gardens filled with vegetables, herbs, roses, and wildflowers destined for their own table and for the kitchen of their small restaurant. They wanted to create, or rediscover, a sense of place,and to grow food naturally using the philosophy and techniques of organics, permaculture, and biodynamic farming. This book is proof of their success, writes Alice Feiring in the book’s Foreword: “In a state so committed to organic and unprocessed food, Deirdre is currently the sole voice for the same kind of wine. But in writing this book, she proves to all who endeavor to make true wine in climates where grapes struggle for ripeness that it is indeed possible. Others will follow. How could they not when the results are so stellar?”Accompanied throughout by lush photos, this gentle narrative will appeal to anyone who loves food, farms, and livingwell.
This week on Eat Your Words, host Cathy Erway welcomes Deirdre Heekin to the show, talking about her new book, “An Unlikely Vineyard.” Kicking off the episode, Cathy asks Deirdre to elaborate on the wine world in Vermont, considering that she is one of the wine pioneers in that area of the country. She goes on to talk to Cathy about the conundrum of being certified as organic or biodynamic for the grower versus what it means for the consumer. Notably, Deirdre is the proprietor and wine director of Osteria Pane e Salute, an acclaimed restaurant and wine bar in Woodstock, Vermont. Deirdre and her husband, head chef of the restaurant, live on a small farm in Barnard, Vermont, where they grow both the vegetables for their restaurant and natural wines and ciders for their la garagista label. Tune in to learn all about the wine happenings in Vermont and to hear highlights from her new book! This program was brought to you by Rolling Press. “Research your wine like you’d research your food.” [17:35] “I say get your hands dirty, start planting things. It’s important that we all grow something and that we learn something from the act of planting a seed.” [27:05] —Deirdre Heekin on Eat Your Words
Deirdre Heekin stops by the show to talk about her career as a writer, winemaker and restaurateur. She's the author of "Libation, A Bitter Alchemy" and, along with her husband Caleb Barber, owner of Vermont's Osteria Pane e Salute.