California Wine Country

Dan, Daedalus and Casey Graybehl. Casey Graybehl from Grenachista Wines joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country today. This is Casey’s first time on the show, although we mentioned Grenache as recently as last September on this episode with Oded Shakked of Longboard Vineyards . Grenachista Wines specializes in Grenache, and makes several types and styles of this one v...

Barry Herbst is here to talk about sparkling wines for the holidays on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Barry has been on CWC many times before. For the comparison, here is a show where he brought sparkling wines, recorded on Dec. 29, 2023. He is the wine buyer at Bottle Barn . First, Dan recaps part one, which is here on its own podcast episode page , a detailed talk a...

Melissa Galliani and Dan Berger. Dan Berger takes some time to explain Gamay Beaujolais today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Later in the show, Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn will be in, to talk about sparkling wines they have in the store for the holidays. That portion of the show has its own podcast episode, right here . Dan has brought a Beaujolais from 2023 from...

Garry Brooks from Brooks Note Winery in the Petaluma Gap is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode in February of this year. They begin by tasting the 2023 Chardonnay. It started five weeks late and they didn’t think anything was going to ripen. These grapes are usually picked mid to late September b...

Bettina Sichel, the owner of Laurel Glen Vineyard is back in the studio as our guest on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. She was on the show once before, on this episode last May . Bettina has brought a new wine that Dan is tasting for the first time. This is a 2025 Gruner Veltliner from a historic vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, an unusual grape from a historic vineyard....

Bibiana Ravé Bibiana Ravé, winemaker and co-owner of Shared Notes, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Bibana has been on CWC twice, first on this episode of August 29, 2019 , to talk about her own wine brand Alma de Cattleya. Then, on April 5, 2023, Bibiana and her husband Jeff Pisoni were on this episode, to talk about Shared Notes . Bibiana grew up in Medellin, Colo...

Peg Champion and Brad Whitworth from the Sonoma County Wine Library join Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. The Sonoma County Wine Library is reopening and the wine community is celebrating the rebirth of this great resource. They even have an Instagram page, here. The library holdings document the history of wine in Sonoma County, as well as all over. The renovation of the...

James MacPhail James MacPhail is our in-studio guest today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. This is his first time on the show. James MacPhail tells about how he was able to buy back the rights to his brand in July of 2024, so his business is undergoing a rebirth. He has just finished his thirtieth harvest. He and his wife started a brand in 2012 called Tongue Dancer...

Winemaker Adam Lee is our in-studio guest today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. He has enjoyed a distinguished career as a winemaker and winery owner and now he runs Clarice Wine Co . The last time Adam was on the show was this episode of July 14, 2021 . “If Adam Lee’s in the room, it’s gotta be Pinot Noir,” says Dan Berger, right at first. T...

Jake Lachowitzer from Banshee Wines is our guest on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Banshee Wines was last on this show on this episode of June 1, 2022 which featured their winemaker at the time, Alicia Sylvester. Banshee wines stand out because they “…are so good and so reasonably priced…” says Dan Berger. They have broad distribution and are a...

Elaine, the owner of Elaine Wines is our guest today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. She started her winery after a career as an biotech intellectual property attorney. Dan Berger discovered these wines just by tasting them at an event. He was excited to find a Chardonnay that was not overdone and that smelled and tasted like Chardonnay. It is an older style of maki...

Dan and Kevin Kevin Bersofsky, owner of Montagne Russe wines, is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Harry Duke sitting in for Daedalus Howell today. He has been on CWC before, the last time was this episode of July 19, 2024 . Dan Berger begins with a compliment for Kevin’s Pinot Noir. He replies, “Syrah is my spirit animal,” so he has brought some Syrah too. His...

Ken Wilson and Katie Ambrosi from Wilson Artisan Wines are here on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Harry Duke sitting in for the vacationing Daedalus Howell. This is their first time on the show, although some award-winning Wilson wines were mentioned on Dan Berger’s report from the 2023 Harvest Fair competition, on this episde . Dan says that Wilson Artisan Wines is one of the m...

Nicola Pellacani of Saintsbury Winery joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country today. Dan Berger explains that Saintsbury has been around for about 40 years with a record of getting better and better all the time and Nico will tell us their story. Saintsbury used to be focussed on Carneros and now have shifted toward Sonoma Coast. Nico has brought their Sonoma Coast Chardonn...

Oded Shakked, Longboard Vineyards Oded Shakked from Longboard Vineyards is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. He has been on CWC several times before, the last two times were this episode on September 20, 2024 . and a year before that, this episode on November 17, 2023 . Today he has brought more Longboard wines to taste and to discuss. Oded Shakked’s episod...

Christian Adams with the German Wine Collection is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. The last time he was on CWC was this episode last November . The name Fumé Blanc is still used by about 10% of the bottlers of Sauvignon Blanc. It was a name that Robert Mondavi came up with, for Sauvignon Blanc wine. Then in 1973 David Stare, founder of Dry Creek Vineyards, also...

Kim Stare Wallace and Brian Pruett are our guests on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Brian is the winemaker at Dry Creek Vineyards and this is his first time on California Wine Country. Kim’s last time on the show was this episode of March 30, 2022 . Dan begins by describing Chenin Blanc and how versatile it is in Europe. Dry Creek Valley is making a sparkling Ch...

Dan Berger, Clark Smith and Clark’s book Postmodern Winemaking. Clark Smith, one of our most frequent guests, is back again on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. His last time on CWC was this episode on Dec. 6, 2024 , when he talked about unusual varietals. Dan Berger is at WineSong today, and Clark Smith is here with Daedalus Howell. Clark Smith just got through bo...

Winemakers Greg Morthole and Chris O’Gorman join Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Greg is the winemaker at Davis Bynum . They are here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Davis Bynum’s wine company. He was a pioneer in Russian River Valley and was one of the first to make Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is difficult to grow properly. Davis Bynum’s father was a j...

Jamie Peters from WineSong is our guest here in the studio on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, September 5 and 6 will host Winesong. Dan Berger has invited Jamie Peters from Winesong to talk about the 40th anniversary of this event. Dan has brought some Riesling that was grown at Cole Ranch in Mendocino County. This is Dan’s...

Ventura Smalley, Harry Duke, Cathy Ratto and Dan Berger. Dan Berger and Harry Duke are in the studio together on California Wine Country today on the Italian holiday of Ferragosto. Our expected guest was not available. California Wine Country is brought to you by the 40th annual WineSong! Ferragosto is the Italian holiday celebrated on August 15th. It is the middle of summer vacation season in Ita...

Winemaker Michael Browne is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Daedalus Howell is sitting in for Steve Jaxon today. Michael has brought a few wines today. The first pour is a 2020 Santa Rita Hills, made under his Cirq label. It his is focus on Russian River. His other brand, Chev , focuses on all the west coast, from Oregon to Central California. The Santa Rita H...

Today’s pre-show guest is Rex Pickett , author of Sideways. The main show guest is Trevor Durling, Winemaker from BV, Beaulieu Vineyard . This show was recorded on August 9, 2017 eight years ago. Due to a technical glitch, there is no recording of the live show recorded today, August 1, 2025. So for our podcast listeners, we offer this jewel of a Highlight show, in its place. Enjoy! In the live se...

Kyle Cameron and Gianna Fugazi of Trecini Winery are our first-time guests on California Wine Country with Daedalus Howell in for Steve Jaxon, and with Dan Berger. Kyle is a seventh generation Russian River Valley farmer. They are farming grapes now. He and his wife Christina bought Trecini Winery in order to get more involved in the rest of the wine business, apart from growing grapes. The wine m...

Darryl Miller from Dehlinger Winery is back on California Wine Country today with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode, last summer. This is the 50th anniversary of Dehlinger Winery. Darryl has known the family for forty years. Tom Dehlinger was a biochemist and got the wine bug. He studied wine at Davis and worked with some local wineries. The...