Beyond Organic Wine

The objective of this episode is to get vital information out to winegrowers everywhere about Pierce’s Disease, or Xylella fastidiosa (and you’ll get a whole lot more as well). Pierce’s Disease/ Xylella fastidiosa isn’t a new concern for many winegrowers, but it has recently hit the news in a way that has whipped up a frenzy of new attention in California… and much of that attention is misguided,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com My guest for this episode it Autumn Stoscheck of Eve’s Cidery in beautiful Van Etten, New York. I drove over to the cidery to sit outside as evening descended and have a conversation with Autumn about this culture of wine and cider as we practice it here in the US in our unique context. If you don’t know A...

“To care for what we know requires care for what we don’t, the world’s lives dark in the soil, dark in the dark…” “…Forbearance is the first care we give to what we do not know. We live by lives we don’t intend, lives that exceed our thoughts and needs, outlast our designs, staying by passing through, surviving again and again the risky passages from ice to warmth, dark to light.” - “A Small Porch...

What I want to say in this piece is urgent. It’s urgent because of the recent discovery of sharpshooters on grapevines at several Costco locations in Northern California, where most of California wine is grow. It’s also urgent because Pierce’s Disease is a very serious plant disease that affects grapevines, perhaps as serious as Phylloxera, and I’ll get more into that. And it’s also urgent because...

My guest for this episode is Shannon Mayhew, Estate Sustainability Director for Brooks Winery in Oregon. Brooks is a B-corp, Demeter certified biodynamic, and regenerative winery with some of Oregon’s oldest own-rooted vinifera vines. This conversation focuses on how we might think about our wine farms as opportunities to grow something more than grapes, and how we can grow and farm the contexts,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com Since there is very little knowledge about growing hybrid grapes in places where a majority of the wine on earth is grown, like California where I live, I want to provide really practical and useful information when I think I have it to share. I have grown and made wine from dozens of varieties of vinifera...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com I’m thrilled to announce that my first book is officially available for pre-order! The book is called Wine Liberated: The Ecological Revolution and the Vintners Inspiring Change . The heroes of Wine Liberated are people who I met through this podcast, who took the time to share their knowledge and inspire...

A big thanks to our special sponsor for this episode: Shifting Gears Travel My guest for this episode is Tim Jordan, who is a co-founder of and winemaker and consultant for Common Wealth Crush . From overseeing winegrowing brands Star Party and Midland in Augusta County, to his winemaking and vineyard responsibilities at Common Wealth Crush, Tim has his finger on the dynamic pulse of Virginia wine...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit beyondorganicwine.substack.com My guest for this episode is Daniele Delaini who owns and farms and makes wine for his family winery Villa Calicantus near Lake Garda in northeast Italy. He grows most of his grapes on cement pergola, what they locally call “pergola veronese,” and farms local indigenous varieties of grapes biodynamically a...

As a younger man, Patrick Pierquet found the wild grape that became the Frontenac grapes (noir, gris, and blanc). He tells about his experiences discovering the wild parents of several of the North America’s most popular, commercially used wine grapes, as well as the practical aspects of what it takes to breed new varieties of grapes. He also tells stories of Elmer Swenson, with whom he got to wor...

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...