The Connected Table Live

South African André Shearer co-founded wine import company, Cape Classics, in 1992 following the end of apartheid. Cape Classics is now the largest player in the South African wine import business and also imports wines from France. Beatrice Contini Bonacossi is a member of family-run Capezzana, Tuscany's oldest wine producing estate dating back to 804. The Contini Bonacossi family helped establis...

We visit two wine estates in western Sicily: Baglio di Pianetto is owned by the Marzotto family. Dominque Marzotto and Renato de Bartoli discuss the estate's history and location, considered ideal for Nero d'Avola. Feudo Disisa in DOC Monreale has belonged to Mario di Lorenzo's family for more than a century and boasts the first and oldest Chardonnay variety in Sicily. Other key grapes in DOC Monr...

Janet Fletcher the well-respected author of 30 cookbooks and creator of the blog, Planet Cheese, which opens readers' eyes to the world of cheese. She discusses her latest book, "Wine Country Table: with Recipes that Celebrate California's Sustainable Harvest." Valle dell'Acate winery in southeast Sicily produces wines made from native varietals as well as the iconic Cerasuolo di Vittorio DOCG. Si...

Two wine producers from the Loire Valley share their stories. Pierre-Jean Sauvion is 4th generation family member and winemaker for Maison Sauvion, the leading Muscadet producer in France. The Sauvion's “Château du Cléray” has belonged to the family since 1935 and is one of the oldest estates in Sèvre et Maine. Amélie Neau is winemaker at her family’s Domaine de Nerleux, located in St. Cyr en Bour...

An authority on Jewish cooking and culinary history, Joan Nathan is the author of 11 cookbooks, including "King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World," "Jewish Cooking in American" and "Quiches, Kugels and Couscous:My Search for Jewish Cooking in France." She discusses the global migration of Jewish food traditions. This show is broadcast live on Wednesday...

Chief winemaker for Golan Heights Winery since 1992, American-born Victor Schoenfeld is a legend in Israel's wine industry. He oversees winemaking for Yarden, Gilgal, Mount Hermon and Golan. Marna and Frank Brigtsen opened Brigtsen’s Restaurant in 1986 in a Victorian cottage in Uptown New Orleans. A New Orleans native and protégé of the late Chef Paul Prudhomme, Brigtsen creates dishes rooted in C...

New York City's Gotham Bar & Grill, celebrating 35 years in 2019, defined new American cooking, thanks to its longtime Exec. Chef Alfred Portale. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Portale initially studied jewelry design. His eye for design inspired his innovative architectural dishes that launched a trend. Portale remains at the top of his game with his team that includes Exec. Pas...

As Executive Chef at the Waldorf-Astoria NYC for 30 years, John Doherty managed five kitchens and dinners for U.S. Presidents and other world leaders. He now runs Black Barn Restaurant in Manhattan, which offers a farm-to-table dining experience, and started the hunger relief charity, Heavenly Harvest Foundation. As Chairman of Feudi di San Gregorio in the Irpinia region of Avellino in Italy, Anto...

Tony Mantuano is Founding Chef and Partner at Michelin Star Spiaggia restaurant in Chicago, celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2019. Mantuano shares insights into Spiaggia's start and its enduring appeal as one of the country's top Italian restaurants. Winemaker Adam Campbell's family is among the pioneer vintners who launched Oregon's wine industry. His parents started Elk Cove Vineyards in the...

Violet Grgich, President of Grgich Hills Estate Winery, Napa, discusses their award-winning Chardonnay and shares anecdotes about her father, Miljenko (Mike) Grgich, who founded the winery in 1977. Oenologist Mike Grgich escaped Communist-controlled Croatia in 1954 and became one of California's most respected winemakers. Paola Mustilli's family runs one of the oldest wineries in Campania, Italy....

Chef Tanya Holland is owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurants in Oakland and San Francisco, CA, and author of a cookbook by the same name. She has served as an official "Culinary Diplomat" on behalf of the U.S.A. in Kazakhastan and Mexico, and appeared on BRAVO TV's "Top Chef." University professor and vintner Guido Gualandi, owner of Podere Gualandi in Chianti Colli Fiorentini D.O.C.G. near Flor...

Exploring Virginia's wine and food scene with Winemaker Lee Hartman at his family's Bluestone Vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley and Neal Wavra, proprietor at Field & Main restaurant in Marshall, which features locally-sourced food and wines. Melanie and David reveal the winner of the 2019 Virginia Governor's Cup: Horton Vineyards 2016 Petite Manseng and share impressions of Virgina wines tasted on...

Award-winning wine writer, Alice Feiring, is an ardent advocate for minimal intervention (natural) wines which she covers in her newsletter, The Feiring Line. She is author of "The Dirty Guide to Wine," "Naked Wine," "For the Love of Wine: My Journey Through the World's Most Ancient Wine Culture" and "The Battle for Wine & Love." Gravner's Mateja Gravner discusses her family's historic winery in F...

Jeb Aldrich is Executive Chef at Tiny Lou's, located in the renovated Hotel Clermont in downtown Atlanta, a neighborhood rich in history and diversity. The hotel is a landmark dating to 1924 that served as a communal melting pot in its day. Chef Aldrich discusses the hotel's history and his menu at Tiny Lou's which is a marriage of French and American cuisine. The restaurant's namesake, Tiny Lou,...

Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy are highly regarded wine writers, columnists at Wine Review Online and co-authors of the best-selling "Wine for Dummies" wine book series ( John Wiley & Sons). Mary is president of the International Wine Center in New York City, the nation's first woman to be named a Master of Wine and a WSET Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Ed is a Certified Wine Educator...

Growing up on a family farm in Wisconsin, is one reason Chef Steve McHugh was inspired to open his restaurant, Cured, which sources its food from local Texas farmers and serves a daily selection of cured meats. The other is because McHugh survived Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is remission. Having cancer inspired McHugh to change his own diet to stay healthy, focusing on fresh, flavorful, non-process...

Chef/Restaurateur duo Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook take you on a culinary journey through Israel in "Israeli Soul" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). They spotlight some of the dishes that define traditional and modern Israeli food and key ingredients. Solomonov and Cook are co-owners of CookNSolo which owns Philadelphia restaurants: Zahav, Abe Fisher, Goldie, Dizengoff, Federal Donuts and Rooster...

Valpolicella in Italy's Veneto region north of Verona translates to "the land of many cellars." It's an area of rolling hills filled with olive groves, cherry orchards and vineyards. Alessandro Pasqua, co owner with brother, Riccardo, and father, Umberto, oversee Famiglia Pasqua (established 1925). Pasqua explains the time-honored process of making Valpolicella's prized Amarone wine. Pasqua's Amar...

Mary Ann Esposito is creator and host of "Ciao Italia" (PBS), the longest continual running cooking show since 1989. Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, with Sicilian and Neapolitan grandparents, Esposito draws on both her heritage and her passion for the authentic regional foods and flavors of Italy when she writes and cooks. Author of 13 cookbooks, her recent is "Ciao Italia My Lifelong Food Adventu...

Early Mountain Vineyards in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley produces classic Bordeaux-style reds plus elegant whites made with Chardonnay, Petite Manseng and PInot Gris. Winemaker Ben Jordan discusses Early Mountain's wines. Founded in 1989 by U.S. importer Robert Haas and France's Perrin family (Beaucastel), Tablas Creek Vineyard is a pioneering winery in Paso Robles, California known for its organi...

The region of Savoie in France's Rhône-Alps produces crisp white wines and spicy, fruity reds. Jeremy Dupraz, 6th generation family member at Domaine Dupraz (est. 1880), discusses Vin de Savoie's native grapes, wine styles and his family estate. Chef Anita Lo ran Michelin-starred Annissa restaurant, cooked at a White House State Dinner during the Obama administration and is a Bravo TV Iron Chef. S...

Jeff Gordinier, Food and Drinks Editor for Esquire Magazine, discusses his career in journalism and reveals the magazine's 2018 Best New Restaurants in America. Wine Educator Karen MacNeil, author of bestseller, The Wine Bible, and the weekly WineSpeed newsletter, discusses how the cannabis industry is impacting California's wine business. This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 2PM ET on W4...

The former Chairman of Cartier International, Alain Dominique Perrin is owner of Chateau Lagrezette, an historic wine estate in Cahors, France. For more than 30 years he has collaborated with Bordeaux-based oenologist, Michel Rolland, to produce his portfolio of mainly Malbec-driven wines. Katie Bundschu is the 6th generation family vintner at Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma, an historic winery establ...

Braiden Albrecht, Winemaker for Mayacamas Vineyards, discusses this historic Napa Valley winery and his approach to making its top-ranked Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Paola Lanzavecchia is fourth generation owner and winemaker at Villadoria Winery in Piemonte, Italy, She discusses Villadoria's history and its range of Barolo wines as well as its white wines. This show is broadcast live...

Wine merchant and writer, Terry Theise, shares his thoughts on What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking (the name of his new book) and how he approaches tasting wines and selecting his eclectic portfolio of independent producers from Germany, Austria and Champagne. Gilles de Larouzière, eighth generation family member for Champagne Henriot, and president of Maisons & Domaines Henriot, discusses the legacy...