Beyond Organic Wine

This month we, in California especially, will be inundated with reminders that 50 years ago this May a few pioneering California winemakers beat the French at their own game in a blind tasting that came to be known as the Judgement of Paris. The rise of California wine on the global stage began when French judges preferred California wines to their own Bordeauxs and Borgognes. California won, and...

My guest for this episode is Joseph Wiens. With his wife, Jasmine, Joseph founded and makes wine for Lost Ranch Winery in Temecula Valley California. If you aren’t from Southern California, you might not have heard of Temecula. There are many reasons for this, some we discuss, some historical, some justifiable, and some not. Whatever the reasons, Joseph and Jasmine are giving everyone a reason to...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com My guest for this episode is Marc-André Selosse. He is a professor at the Musée national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris and at the universities of Gdansk (Poland) and Kunming (China), where he heads research teams. He has taught in Brazil and is a lecturer at Ecole Normale Supérieure and Hautes Etudes Comme...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com Happy Earth Day! If you don’t know the history of Earth Day it’s worth checking out at least the Wikipedia entry about it. We recently had what was considered to be the largest single-day protest in US history for the No Kings protest on March 28th, 2026. An estimated 8 million people protested that day. O...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com My guest for this episode is Rebecca Sweet, owner of Buzz Cover Crop Seeds in Oregon. Yes, the last few episodes have been focused on folks doing inspirational work in Oregon, because I’ll be going back there soon… to the Organically Grown Wine Conference on April 20-21. Cover crops have become a sort of n...

This episode features Adam Rack, the Co-founder of Revino , the company that is taking the lead in wine glass bottle re-use in the US. Based in Oregon, Revino has recently received funding to open a bottle re-use facility in California, and is helping to build re-use infrastructure and in both states… and thinking globally about the glass bottle ecosystem for wine producers and consumers. Revino h...

This episode features a conversation with Amy Wong, an attorney and the Policy & Program advocate with the Oregon Organic Coalition . As the former Executive Director for the Oregon Organic Coalition, Amy was instrumental to making the historic, first Oregon Organic Winegrowers Conference happen in 2025, and she is once again active in facilitating the 2nd Organic Winegrowers Conference happen thi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This is the last episode from Embracing Hybrid Grapes, so I’m inviting you to send me your hybrid grape related questions. Please email or message me. This podcast is called Beyond Organic Wine for a reason. Seven years ago I started this podcast to promote organic values and bring attention to producers w...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com Christopher Renfro – Adam Tolmach Hey welcome to Beyond Organic Wine, I’m Adam Huss, thank you so much for listening. This episode features audio from the Embracing Hybrid Grapes Conference that took place at UC Davis on January 26th, 2026. This episode is available for paid subscribers to the Beyond Organ...

My guest for this episode is Terah Bajjalieh. Terah is a California winemaker, sommelier, and founder of Terah Wine Co ., crafting intentional wines that champion underrepresented Mediterranean varietals and organic farming practices. With 14 harvests across five countries and a Master’s degree in Enology from France, she brings a global perspective to California winemaking. Her wines—described by...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features the Winemaking with Hybrid Grapes panel from the Embracing Hybrid Grapes conference at UC Davis in January of 2026. Panelists include: Karine Pednault, Ph. D., Associate Professor at Université du Québec, Erin Rasmussen, founder of and winemaker for American Wine Project in Wisconsin,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features Ron Lane, who retired as Superintendent of Agriculture for the UC Davis Environmental Horticulture and Plant Sciences Departments to found Circadian Crop Sciences . During his academic experience he became frustrated by the toxic effects of sulfur and copper in our wine and food crops...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features Deirdre Heekin’s keynote speech at Embracing Hybrid Grapes. Deirdre’s winery is La Garagista in Vermont. We decided to title her keynote “The Vineyard of Lost Time” because Deirdre has a book coming out later this year by that title, and part of her presentation was an excerpt from he...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features audio from the Embracing Hybrid Grapes Conference that took place at UC Davis on January 26th, 2026. It shouldn’t be controversial for me to say that the genetics of our wine crops should one of the important criteria used in determining if we qualify as practicing regenerative viticu...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features the audio from the first panel at the Embracing Hybrid Grapes Conference that took place at UC Davis on January 26th, 2026. This episode is available for paid subscribers to the Beyond Organic Wine substack. You can subscribe and listen to the full audio on the Substack app or at beyo...

Johannes Pinchbeck is a Canadian grape breeder who lives north of Edmonton, Alberta and develops grapes that can take sub-arctic cold and still be productive. The extremity of his climate introduces aspects of grape growing that seem unbelievable, and that remind me of how mind-blowingly amazing these plants are that have adapted to survive in these conditions. Enjoy this journey to explore a kind...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com Elaine Chukan Brown is a gifted writer, speaker, and global wine educator, as well as an outspoken advocate of diversity in our wine cultures… and everywhere. Elaine has won many awards and honors including Wine Communicator of the Year. But more than that, Elaine is a badass, beautiful human being who I l...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features Will Bucklin of Bucklin Old Hill Ranch . Will is the caretaker of one of California’s oldest vineyards, and he discusses some of the many things we can learn from a vineyard that is over 150 years old. One of the remarkable things about a vineyard that old is that it pre-dates the Gre...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com Hey, this is Beyond Organic Wine, and this episode features audio from the Embracing Hybrid Grapes conference that took place on International Hybrid Grape Day, January 26, 2026, at UC Davis in California. This audio is only available for subscribers, and features Matt Niess of North American Press telling...

“I want to thank you for what you said. I’ve felt excluded from wine, and I didn’t understand why. And what you said helped me to see why I felt that way, and now I feel like I can do something about it.” A young woman said this to me after my presentation on the panel titled “Beyond Vinifera,” at the Oregon Wine Symposium last week. Before I spoke, two scientists from Cornell University spoke abo...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features Zach Geballe of the VinePair Podcast . Zach’s experience as a wine and drinks communicator for VinePair builds on years of experience as a sommelier and beverage director in restaurants. He and the VinePair team do a great job of staying informed and having informed perspectives, and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com On January 26, 2026, I and Elodie Oliver produced a historic conference at UC Davis that was dedicated exclusively to the benefits of hybrid grapes for California wine. I will be releasing the audio from each of the keynotes, presentations, and panels for Beyond Organic Wine substack subscribers. This is t...

Last Monday Elodie Oliver and I hosted a sell-out crowd (we had to add extra seats!) of winegrowers, winemakers, wine sellers, grape breeders, wine industry leaders, wine press, academics, and wine aficionados at the UC Davis Conference Center for a conference dedicated exclusively to the benefits of hybrid grapes for the California wine industry. The conference felt like a symbol of the seismic s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com This episode features Derrick Vogel, a grape grower in northern Michigan, and the co-owner of Folklor Wine & Cider with Izabela Babinska. Derrick introduces us this unique winegrowing region at the northern edge of where Vitis vinifera can grow thanks to the buffering influence of lake Michigan, and where...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com The full schedule for Embracing Hybrid Grapes in California on January 26th at UC Davis is now available. I hope to see you there! Crazy Experimental Wines! That’s what this episode is about, and it’s also the label of Chris Boiling’s wines. Chris is a British wine writer who has also been making wine for...