Wine for Normal People

As our last in the series of the Greats of Bordeaux, I tackle Pomerol -- land of the hedonistic, silky, velvety, complex wines. The name of the game in Pomerol is terroir, and what the excellent, dedicated producers do to express it in the glass.    I cover the history of Pomerol, its variable terroir and what that means for the wines, discuss the main grapes in the blend, viticulture and winemaki...

Thanksgiving is one of the most difficult meals to pair with, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!  Source: Canva   This year, for one of our weekly discussion questions I asked the Patrons how many wines they would be serving with their Thanksgiving/holiday feasts and the answer was overwhelmingly 2-3. Given that, in this show I talk about combinations of two wines you can purchase for your ta...

Just in time for the holiday season, I review the five ways to get fizz in a wine (on purpose) -- and the wines that result. I discuss regions and styles of different wines in each of the three major categories: Ancestral Method/Pétillant Naturel, Méthode Champenoise/ Metodo Classico, and the Martinotti/Charmat/Tank Method.    From Col Fondo to Method Cap Classique to German Sekt, I offer you new...

At the suggestion of Patron John D., in this show I give you a list of 10 great winter whites and review each in detail! I discuss the varied styles, since most regions have multiple versions of these wines, and how to get the bone warmers, not the light sippers. I offer food pairing ideas to boot!   From white Burgundy to Poşip to Savienníeres and Fiano, I've suggested a great white bottle for al...

This time in the grape miniseries -- a refresh on one of my all time favorite grapes -- Riesling. This versatile grape has a long history of quality, and is highly misunderstood by most people. I review the long and noble history of the grape, starting in 1435 and talk about how it wound up in places like the US and Australia, where it makes world class examples. I cover Riesling in the vineyard,...

Lying just south of the city of Bordeaux is one of the oldest winemaking regions in the Bordeaux AOC -- Graves. Graves, along with it sub appellation of Pessac-Leognan are covered in this show as two of the great of Bordeaux.     Graves has a wine history stretching back to 100 BCE when the Romans first settled this area and realized that its gravelly (graves=gravel) soil was excellent for viticul...

I happen to be in Sicily with a group of Patrons (this could be you if you join Patreon!).    While I was in  Verona at Wine2Wine , in 2019, I had the honor to speak with Alessio Planeta, President at Assovini Sicilia and Owner at  Planeta Winery     For five centuries and through seventeen generations, Planeta has been active in changing and improving agriculture in Sicily. Alessio Planeta has sp...

This time I revisit a show from long ago on Wine Etiquette. In this Back-to-Basics episode, I cover the three main places you would use etiquette - a dinner party, a restaurant, and a tasting room.  I address:  The Dinner Party: What to bring a host, a good welcome drink, whether or not to open a bottle that a guest brings,  the etiquette of what to do with the last glass in the bottle, and the po...

You will get no better primer on Santa Barbara wine country than in the show. Wes Hagen comes on to school us on his region.    Ask anyone in Santa Barbara wine about Wes Hagen and they'll tell you he is a legend. He has worked in Santa Barbara wine for 30+ years as a vineyard manager, winemaker, hospitality specialist, wine educator, and sommelier. He has run prestigious vineyards , made wine in...

It's been 13 years since I've done a grape miniseries on Tempranillo, so it was high time! This grape has come a long way in a decade +, proving that it has more nuance, terroir driven finesse, and versatility than it gets credit for.    Tempranillo is now the third most widely planted wine grape in the world, at 231,000 ha/570,000 acres. It is not widely grown outside of Spain but there are growe...

This week I finish up the communal appellations of the Médoc for our "Greats of Bordeaux" series with Moulis!  Map: Wines of the Médoc     Although the communes of Moulis and Listrac are often seen as one in the same because both are inland and neither is adjacent to the Gironde River/Estuary, this grouping is a mistake.   The wines of Moulis, especially from the Grand Poujeaux plateau next to Mar...

This week I return to The Greats series in which I explore the greatest wines in the world and how they became such big deals.    Photo: Vineyards in Chianti Classico. Credit: Unsplash   Chianti Classico, with its 700+ years of history and ideal terroir, is indisputably one of the great wines in the world. In this episode, I cover the long history of Chianti Classico, its ebbs and flows, and its c...

This week's show is on South Africa, a much more historic region than many realize, it has been making wine for more than 350 years. Although considered a 'New World' wine region, winemaking and ethos are often more oriented towards the Old World. Its style often straddles the line between New and Old World, offering fruit-driven wines with minerality, earthiness, restraint, and higher acidity.  ...

In this ENCORE presentation, Dr. Kevin Pogue, PhD, professor and geologist educates us on terroir. This podcast is like taking a terroir class: it debunks so many things that people spout in reference books, at wineries, and in mainstream press about the topic! He explains things brilliantly and he is one of the first people I've ever met who actually has answers to my really dorky questions about...

Saint Estèphe is the northernmost of the six communal appellations of the Médoc. 50 kilometers/30 miles north of the city of Bordeaux, this red wine only appellation borders Pauillac to the south and a part of the Haut-Médoc in the north. This commune is very different from the others I've covered and the wines are amazing, but of a completely different ilk (they are also much more affordable!). P...

This week I cover Lombardy/Lombardia, one of the smaller wine production areas of Italy.  Lombardy, home to the cities of Milan, Bergamo and Brescia is known far more for its fashion, its industry, and osso bucco and risotto alla Milanese than it is for its wines, but there are some gems to be discovered.  Photo: Lugana Credit: Consorzio Lugana   Because there is limited availability of these wine...

In this week's show, I cover Pinot Blanc as part of the grape miniseries.   Pinot Blanc is a white color mutation of Pinot Noir, native to Burgundy/Bourgogne. It creates refreshing light- to medium-bodied wines that run the gamut from simple sippers to much more complex, oak-aged versions, to excellent sweet and sparkling wines. Photo: Pinot Blanc.  Credit: Wines of Austria   This lovely grape is...

In this unique episode, Kerith Overstreet of Bruliam Wines in Sonoma returns to give us an update (she was on Ep 269 in 2019). Kerith/Bruliam is a boutique producer of vineyard-designated wines, mainly of Pinot Noir and she gives us a full education on the differences between some of the main Pinot regions of California.     The cool thing about this show? The last third of the podcast is a busine...

In this episode I'm joined by author and American wine icon, Karen MacNeil. We discuss her amazing career trajectory in wine from food stamps to international fame, and her new initiative, Come Over October , which is having enormous success in encouraging people to get together over a bottle of wine!   Karen is one of the foremost wine experts in the United States. She's the author of the award-w...

Sandwiched between the famed Médoc AOCs of Margaux in the south and Pauillac in the north, Saint Julien has one of the highest concentrations of classified growths from the 1855 Classification in Bordeaux. This red wine only AOC is just 910 ha/2,250acres, which is 6% of the Médoc vineyard. It is one-sixth the size of Pauillac. It makes an average of about 6 million bottles a year. Image courtesy o...

Here's something you probably didn't know: Vienna is the only major city in the world where serious wine grown, with its own appellation, DAC Wien. In the green belt surrounding this very green city, wine grapes grow as they have since at least the Middle Ages. And it's not negligible -- 582 ha/1438 acres. It's also not crappy, tourist wine. It's high quality, interesting wine that's tasty and dif...

I welcome to the show my friend Giulio Abrigo of Abrigo Giovanni Azienda Agricola , who focuses on the exquisite Dolcetto in Diano d'Alba in the Barolo zone of Piemonte. Abrigo Giovanni is a small family operation, operating on just 13 ha or 32 acres mainly in Diano d'Alba -- the site of the winery and the family home. Dolcetto Diano d'Alba is one of a handful of DOCG zones for the grape – stricte...

My guest Felicity Carter is probably the most brilliant journalist in wine, and certainly one of the only ones doing vital investigative work in the field of wine, health, and the neo prohibitionist movement. From 2008 to 2021, she was editor-in-chief of  Meininger's Wine Business International , a global, English-language magazine, one of Germany's oldest publishing houses. She reported from 22 c...

This is a baffling story that includes a Napa history lesson, an idea of how the Valley has grown and then a jaunt into intrigue, sting operations, and what appears to be an effort to kill the goose that laid the golden egg by the Napa County government. It seems that the County is going after small wineries in an attempt to bankrupt them out of business.  Friend of the pod, Stu Smith of Smith-Mad...

I first spoke to Marina Marcarino of Punset in 2017 and I was fascinated by her story and loved her wines . We became friends and I've visited her over the years and keep in touch with her for a pulse on what is happening in the vineyards and wineries of Barbaresco, where  Punset is located. Marina Marcarino of Punset Wines in Barbaresco As a recap of the first show , when Marina Marcarino was in...