Stop Wasting Your Wine

Big fruit, floral notes, and an $18 price tag. This Greek red brings plenty of flavor, but does that make it your kind of wine? Week two of our Greek Wine Challenge puts Colin’s pick on the table: the 2022 Flowers Agiorgitiko from Greek Wine Cellars in Nemea. It sparks a debate about what we want from a red wine. Is bold flavor enough, or do you want more tannin, acidity, and structure to go with...

There’s crisp, and then there’s this. But is that a good thing? A $15 Hermes Assyrtiko splits the table as Colin, Joel, and Aaron kick off their Greek wine challenge. Aaron calls it a winner from the first sip. Joel enjoys the intensity. Colin wonders whether the acidity is throwing punches the rest of the wine can’t keep up with. The mission: find the best Greek wine they can each get their hands...

Pinot Noir doesn’t have to be red. And there’s a whole festival ready to prove it . Our friend Adam from Saffron Fields joins us for a bonus preview of our upcoming interview. We’re sharing the White Pinot Fest details early so you have time to check it out before October 17. Our full conversation, including our tasting of Saffron Fields White Pinot Noir, is coming in a later episode. In this exce...

Would you spend $23 on a grape you’ve never tried, or reach for your usual bottle? This week, Colin, Joel, and Aaron open the 2023 Valle Reale Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, an Italian white that gets us talking about everything from its round texture and bright finish to floral aromas and a surprising flinty note. It’s a bottle some of us admit we probably would have walked right past. Would that have been...

Love Pinot Noir but ready to try something different? This week, we head to Sicily with the 2024 Ayunta Nerello Mascalese Rosso, a $33 red that brings bright cherry, earthy spice, and some familiar Pinot vibes with an Italian twist. We explore what makes this grape worth a look for fans of lighter reds, how the wine changes in the glass, and whether it earns its price tag. Plus, what does growing...

What makes a Sauvignon Blanc worth $75? Brian Mondavi Borger returns to Stop Wasting Your Wine with the 2024 Sentium, a Sauvignon Blanc led blend from the fourth generation of the Mondavi family. We taste it together and explore why winemaker Chiara Mondavi looked beyond Napa to old vineyards in Mendocino. From Robert Mondavi’s Fumé Blanc legacy to Chiara’s approach in the cellar, Brian shares how...

Did the wine industry push away a generation of drinkers by making wine too expensive, intimidating, and inconvenient? This week, we sit down with Los Cuernos founders Zeke Blattler and Cory Assink to discuss why they believe wine has a consumer trial problem and how they plan to fix it. Their solution is premium California wine served in single portion cans and kegs, designed for places where qua...

Viognier came dangerously close to disappearing. By 1965, only about eight hectares, or roughly 20 acres, remained worldwide. Today, the grape is experiencing a comeback, and Yalumba played a major role in establishing it in Australia. This week, we taste the 2022 Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Viognier from Eden Valley. At around $24, it delivers lime, stone fruit, melon, vanilla, minerality, and a...

Tokaji may be famous for dessert wine, but this bottle shows a completely different side of Hungary’s historic wine region. This week, we taste the 2020 Préselő Tokaji Furmint, a bone-dry white packed with sharp acidity, green apple, citrus, minerality, and a petrol note that transforms as the wine opens. We explore why dry Furmint has struggled to escape Tokaji’s sweet reputation and whether it c...

Albariño usually means Spain or Portugal. This week, we travel much farther south to see whether the grape has found a legitimate second home in Uruguay. We taste the 2025 Bodega Garzón Reserva Albariño, a coastal white wine packed with grapefruit, green apple, floral aromas, bright acidity, and a salty finish. Does Uruguay bring something new to the grape, or has Bodega Garzón recreated the Spani...

This week, we explore two sides of white Burgundy through two very different expressions of Chardonnay from Louis Jadot. First, we taste the bright and unoaked 2024 Mâcon-Villages. Then we move to the warmer and fuller 2024 Pouilly-Fuissé, aged for six months in French oak. Tasting them side by side gives us a clear look at how oak, place, and appellation shape what ends up in the glass. We also e...

The Mondavi name remains one of the most recognizable names in American wine. But the Mondavi family hasn’t been involved with Robert Mondavi Winery since 2004. This week, we sit down with Robert Mondavi’s grandson, Brian Mondavi Borger, to hear what happened and how his family rebuilt after losing the winery that helped put Napa Valley on the world stage. Brian shares what it was like growing up...

Last week, Louis Jadot's Beaujolais Village surprised all of us with incredible value. This week, we're raising the stakes with one of the world's most recognizable wines: Burgundy Pinot Noir. Can a $20 bottle from one of Burgundy's most respected producers actually deliver the classic Pinot Noir experience, or is great Burgundy only reserved for collectors spending hundreds or eve...

For years, we've heard that French wine offers some of the best value in the world. This week, we finally put that idea to the test with one of Burgundy's most recognizable names: Louis Jadot. We're kicking off our three-week Louis Jadot series with their Beaujolais Villages, a $14 Gamay that's available almost everywhere. Along the way, we break down why Old World wine labels don&...

This week we're joined by Ryan Julio and Shane Mason from Del Rey Wine Center to answer one of the biggest questions in wine: does proper storage really matter? We talk about what actually happens to a bottle as it ages, the biggest storage mistakes people make, and how heat, light, and temperature swings can quietly ruin a great wine. Along the way, Ryan explains why some inexpensive wines ar...

Over the past three weeks, our listeners challenged us to give Australian wine another chance. This week, we wrap up the challenge with one of the most recommended bottles we received: Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz (2023) from South Australia. Featured wine: Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz (2023), 100% Shiraz, South Australia, 15% ABV, approximately $24-25. Along the way, we discuss why this wine surp...

This week, we're putting another listener recommendation to the test and the pressure is on. After last week's surprise Australian wine win, our community is looking to go 2-for-2 with a Barossa Valley Shiraz from legendary winemaker Chris Ringland. Can a $24 bottle from one of Australia's most respected names really deliver? We dive into bold dark fruit, pepper, herbs, oak, and one ta...

This week, we're kicking off our Australian wine challenge with a bottle recommended by you, our listeners. After our infamous Yellow Tail review stirred up plenty of passionate responses from Australia, we knew we had to come back with an open mind. Enter the 2022 Penfolds Max's Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia (14.5% ABV, $18-22). Along the way, we explore why it's a mistake t...

What happens when two Midwesterners fall in love, start making wine in a Los Angeles apartment bathroom, and eventually plant their own vineyard in Oregon? John and Megan Adams of Wildsound Wine share their journey from home winemakers to farming and producing wine in the Willamette Valley. The conversation explores vineyard life, organic farming, whole-cluster fermentation, amphora aging, and why...

Can a Bordeaux-style Napa blend close out the Napa Wine Company series on a high note? In this episode, we review the Oakville Winery Napa Valley Red Wine, an estate-grown blend from Oakville, Napa Valley. The conversation explores how the wine evolves with air, why decanting may make a difference, and what stood out to each host after spending more time with the bottle. We also take a closer look...

Can a $25 Napa red really deliver a premium wine experience? This week on Stop Wasting Your Wine, we're heading from Ghost Block to its sister label, Elizabeth Rose, to find out. In the glass is the 2023 Chockablock Red Blend, a Napa Valley blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec that surprised us from the very first sip. What started as a savory, herbal, and unexpectedly salty wine tr...

A Napa Valley Cabernet that challenged expectations. This week the team explores the 2022 Ghost Block Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville, Napa Valley, and finds a wine that delivers freshness, balance, and complexity without the overpowering oak and alcohol often associated with big California Cabernets. Along the way, they discuss how oak aging really works, the difference between oak flavor and ba...

Priyanka French of Ghost Block Estate Wines joins the show to talk about her path from India to Bordeaux, Burgundy, New Zealand, and Napa Valley, plus how those experiences shaped her approach to vineyard-driven winemaking. The conversation covers organic farming, women in wine, mentorship programs like Batonnage and Wine Unify, and the legendary ghost story behind the Ghost Block vineyard in Youn...

Sutter Home Chardonnay surprised the crew by being less offensive than expected, but the real shock was how little separation there was between a $9 1.5L bottle and the $15.99 Olema California Chardonnay. The episode dives into why Chardonnay gets such a bad reputation, how oak and climate shape the wine, and why people shouldn’t give up on the grape after one bad experience. Featured wines: Sutte...

Barefoot Moscato vs. Rivata Moscato d'Asti - Does a jump in price mean a jump in quality? Week two of the  Drink This, Not That  challenge, and Colin steps up as the sacrificial lamb. The Barefoot Moscato gets a fast, ugly, unanimous verdict. Think thick Sprite with a side of nickels. But the substitute, a DOCG-certified Moscato d'Asti from Italy, opens up a real conversation about what th...