Wine for Normal People

This is the start of a new series, suggested by Patron Keith S.! Thank you, Keith!  I'll cover people who have made a huge difference in the wine world —figures whose contributions have shaped how wine is made, understood, and appreciated.   I felt the best place to kick this off was with a man who ratcheted up the quality of wine in Bordeaux and then around the world. Through his great scientific...

Pollak Vineyards is a small family-owned winery founded in 2003 when Margo and David Pollak bought a farm west of Charlottesville, Virginia. David's experience in wine was pretty extensive – he worked in the 1970s in Sonoma's Russian River Valley and was a founding partner and investor in one of Napa Valley's first Carneros wineries, Bouchaine Vineyards. Years later, when he thought about retireme...

600 episodes of WFNP! I am grateful to you for listening, for reading the book, for learning with me and gracefully accepting the changes over the years, and I'm especially grateful to my sponsors, guests, and travel partners. (thanks Heather and Beppe!) over the last 15 years who have supported this show.     But most of all, as I say every week, I'm grateful to the Patrons – the people who direc...

In honor of Women's History Month, I'm rereleasing a show with one of the most dynamic, intelligent, and all around fantastic women in wine: Laura Catena of Bodegas Catena Zapata in Mendoza, Argentina. Photo from Laura's website: https://indefenseofwine.com   We discuss her life as a doctor, a mom, and the head of a wine empire. We cover the history of Malbec and how her family aided the meteoric...

This week I cover Malbec, or Côt as it's known in its native home of Southwest France. This old red grape variety has long history in France and was once one of its most planted grapes. But due to pickiness in the vineyard and harshness in the bottle, Malbec fell out of favor in its native country. Despite being a big component in the Bordeaux blend, the grape remained in relative obscurity until...

This week I cover the regional AOCs of Medoc and Haut-Medoc, which wraps up our exploration of the Left Bank of Bordeaux. These two areas can cover a lot of ground, but they are usually used for discreet geographies in the north and south of the Médoc Peninsula. Because each AOC is so large and varied, I do a deep dive into the whole of the region and then into the particularities of the smaller M...

This week I cover Lodi, California, an historic wine region in the Central Valley of California that has been growing grapes since the 1850s.   Located 40 miles /64 km south of Sacramento and 90 miles/ 145 km east of San Francisco, Lodi is an often overlooked wine region, despite the fact that it has been recognized as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) since 1986. Lodi AVAs. Source: Lodi Winegra...

In this show I go back to basics (the last time I covered this topic was in 2011 -- episode 7!!)  and discuss the differences between the terms New World and Old World.   Although it seems totally basic, there has been controversy over using these terms, with some writers saying they are antiquated, non specific, and need to be replaced. I disagree. I discuss the usefulness of the terms and why th...

This show is a refresh of Episode 371 with a new take!   In October of 2025, I visited Croatia on a scouting trip with my friend Brett from  Walk & Wine Croatia (check them out and take a trip with them! Marija and Barişa are the best guides!) to see if there was a possibility of me hosting a patron trip there! It was a fantastic trip and I learned so much about the country and the wines. Photo: V...

If you haven't seen the Apple TV Series "Drops of God", you must change that quickly. This is, in my opinion, the single best wine show/movie ever done. It's not hokey, it shows wine in a realistic and good light, and it's a cool story.   The show, whose first season dropped in 2023, won the International Emmy Awards for Best Drama Series and has been praised for its beautiful cinematography, skil...

In the show I discuss these two outstanding appellations that once were Greats in Bordeaux and should be once again -- these are wines we should all be drinking more often, especially at the price we pay (you can get a great bottle for US$30). Located at 44.5°N, northwest of the city of Libourne, Fronsac and Canon Fronsac sit on Bordeaux's Right Bank, overlooking the Dordogne River. These two red-...

This week I discuss the current challenges facing wine due to climate change.   I cover some strategies the industry is undertaking to address the major issues -- from vineyard and tech solutions to new varieties (Pilzwiderstandsfahige Reben or PiWi grapes!). Then I cover emerging regions that are doing a surprisingly great job making innovative wines! From Normandy, France to the UK, Tasmania, an...

After 14 years, I felt like it was probably time to do another show on Zinfandel! Known as America's heritage grape, the story of the quest for its European origins is like a mystery novel with an interesting end. It is a great grape and so historic!    Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons   In this show I cover the massive history of the grape and the unbelievable decade...

Many, many years ago (like 15 years ago when I started the pod! ) I did a bunch of shows to define terroir. This was when there was a lot of controversy over whether or not terroir was "real", with people lining up on various sides – terroir is a bunch of bunk made up by snobby French people, wine from anywhere can be made to taste the same regardless of place, the winemaker is more important than...

Located about 2.5-3 hours southwest of Washington DC, in the southeast of the United States, the Monticello AVA is making world class wines that you need to know about! Photo: Afton Mountain Vineyards. Credit: WFNP   Although California is the state for which American wine is known, the first place to tirelessly attempt to make premium wine was, in fact, Virginia. In the land Thomas Jefferson, the...

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...