Grape Encounters Wine Radio

Grape Encounters Radio is the perfect wine exploration for individuals that care about the wine they drink. It’s a unique blend of wine knowledge and entertainment that helps listeners understand the deeper connections between wine, music, culture and lifestyle choices. Through fascinating interviews with winemakers, wine educators and other wine industry experts, Grape Encounters Radio dives deep...

We’ve been talking about Benchmark Wine Group for a few years now and, now that Covid is largely behind us, we couldn’t wait to get up to Napa, California to check the company out in person with its founder David Parker. Benchmark is the world’s most acclaimed buyer and seller of rare and elite wines. We were given a tour of their Napa Valley facility and it would be an understatement to say it ab...

This week on Grape Encounters Radio, we are delighted to welcome back Mendocino, California winemaker Greg Graziano. Greg’s remarkable winemaking journey has made him a pioneer, a rebel, and a legend. That’s because, when it comes to winemaking, you name it, he does it! Join host David Wilson as he and Greg discuss Greg’s winemaking journey, the impact of late-season weather events on grape crops,...

Today, we proudly present what may well be the most off-color episode of Grape Encounters ever; and to help us accomplish that feat is one of the most respected authors in the world of unusual wines. We’re eager to introduce him, but first, a confession. All right, we might as well just admit it. We have definitely been negligent when it comes to spending an appropriate amount of time talking abou...

Welcome to Episode 688 of Grape Encounters, where we're all about the love of wine. This week, Jeanne Sullivan, a leading wine PR executive who has been booking top-tier guests on Grape Encounters for a whopping 15 years, steps up to the microphone for the first time. Well, it's about time! After all, over the course of a decade and a half, she's become a beloved personal friend of Grape Encounter...

An American journalist rarely gets to sit down with the top brass of Italian winemaking like Angelo Radica. After all, Italy is the number one wine producer in the world, so leaders in the industry play a vital role in the wine industry's contribution to the economy. Nonetheless, not only did Grape Encounter enjoy a rare one-on-one, it was a wonderfully light-hearted exchange demonstrating the joy...

Americans are notorious for overworking and missing out on a plethora of simple pleasures. That's where this edition of Grape Encounters Radio comes in! On today's show, David heeds the advice of his Italian friend Francesco who gave him a reasonably stern lecture for pulling too many all-nighters and missing out on the vast number of celebrations that are what summer and fall in Italy are all abo...

Wine labels frustrate us! David Wilson, the host of Grape Encounters Radio, welcomes a longtime friend of the program, Wes Hagen. Wes is the Brand Ambassador and California Market Manager of the Miller Family of Wines. (Correction: Wes just announced that he is leaving the Miller Family of wines to pursue a new career direction). Today's topic: wine labels and packaging... the good, the great, and...

This week on Grape Encounters, David finally returns to his home in Abruzzo… But not before spending some time in Croatia to experience the delectable Plavac Mali red wine that David says is so delicious that no description can do it justice. David Wilson has been on the road, all over the world, for 90 days, and now it's time to settle into his home in Atri, Italy, on the east side of the country...

In this episode of Grape Encounters, we are joined by renowned California winemaker Greg Graziano. Greg is famous for producing world-class Italian varietals in the idyllic Mendocino County wine region and has been doing it for over 40 years. In this episode, we discuss the history of Graziano wines, cult wines, Italian varietals, and Greg's thoughts on so-called "hipster wines." We'll also explor...

Make your wine taste better? That and more! This week's installment of Grape Encounters Radio will touch on several super interesting topics. You might find the show's first segment particularly captivating as David shares an encounter with the Moscow Bureau Chief of the New York Times, Anton Troianovski. A huge wine lover, the journalist and his family, whom he was visiting, randomly wandered int...

Can wine chase the blues away? On this edition of Grape Encounters Radio, host David Wilson is joined by special guest Christopher Sawyer, otherwise known as the Sommelier to the Stars. Christopher is a renowned figure in the wine industry, and he's here to talk about how wine can be enjoyed to help chase away the blues. This isn't about catching a buzz; it's about finding simple joys and building...

This installment of Grape Encounters Radio, hosted by David Wilson, features legendary musical guest Norman Greenbaum. While the name Norman Greenbaum may not be familiar to everyone, he is arguably the biggest one-hit wonder of all time; and his legendary Spirit in the Sky is one of David's all-time favorite songs. It's also remarkably popular among music lovers aged 8 to 80 and beyond! Through a...

Christopher Sawyer is one of a kind. In wine circles, he’s known as the “Sommelier to the Stars” because he spends much of his time helping A-List celebrities and captains of industry stock their wine cellars and plan their elite soirées. We recently caught up with Christopher on his native soil at the Sonoma, California Food and Wine Festival. Well, actually, we only caught up with him for a shor...

We’ve been talking about Benchmark Wine Group for a few years now and, now that Covid is largely behind us, we couldn’t wait to get up to Napa, California to check the company out in person with its founder David Parker. Benchmark is the world’s most acclaimed buyer and seller of rare and elite wines. We were given a tour of their Napa Valley facility and it would be an understatement to say it ab...

When the California Wine Institute asked us if we’d like to have a first-hand experience of the relationship between wine tasting and state and national parks, we said, “Heck yeah!” But then, after giving it some thought, we got to wondering just exactly what that really meant. Well, it turns out that there are a lot more wineries and wine regions adjacent to state and national parks than we ever...

Today's show is all about saving money on wine and wine country travel. We're going to look at how to enjoy your wine lifestyle without having to dip deeply into your savings account. We'll tackle this subject from two fronts. First, we'll look at one of the best-kept secrets in the wine industry. We're talking about Second Label wines. These are wines that are produced by some of the most acclaim...

From million-dollar wine Cellars to Grape Encounters in California State Parks, today's show is aptly titled "Behind Vault Doors to the Great Outdoors. Joining us on the show are two very fun-loving fellows. In the first half of the show, David is joined by one of his best friends in the world. His name is John and his last name will have to remain a mystery at his request. That's because he'll be...

You can study wine until you’re blue in the face but, the simple truth is, the more we think we know about wine, the more we realize how little we actually do. Take wine heritage for example. Did you know that Cabernet Sauvignon is the love child of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc? As a matter of fact, it wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things that Cabernet Sauvignon didn’t even exi...

In recent weeks, we wandered into a discussion about something that is completely changing the way we think of wine, including how we taste it and draw conclusions that are hopefully more accurate than ever before. In this three-part series, Grape Encounters will focus on the remarkable work being done by Tastry Laboratories in San Luis Obispo, California. What Tastry is doing is nothing short of...

In recent weeks, we wandered into a discussion about something that is completely changing the way we think of wine, including how we taste it and draw conclusions that are hopefully more accurate than ever before. In this three-part series, Grape Encounters will focus on the remarkable work being done by Tastry Laboratories in San Luis Obispo, California. What Tastry is doing is nothing short of...

In recent weeks, we wandered into a discussion about something that is completely changing the way we think of wine, including how we taste it and draw conclusions that are hopefully more accurate than ever before. In this three-part series, Grape Encounters will focus on the remarkable work being done by Tastry Laboratories in San Luis Obispo, California. What Tastry is doing is nothing short of...

On our last episode of Grape Encounters Radio we talked about how much wine has changed over the years, but we also suggested that many things seem to always remain the same. In this edition of Grape Encounters Radio, we pose the question, “What is changing more, the wine, or the wine consumer? It’s an interesting question worth pondering for more than just a fleeting moment and, hopefully, this d...

In wine there is truth, or "In Vito Veritas." Never tell secrets while drinking wine. After all, wine is probably the most powerful truth serum in the world. Wine likely stimulates more discussions than anything else, and so, not surprisingly, this episode of Grape Encounters not only tackles this truism but also wanders down several different pathways to recollect some very interesting Grape ENco...

There is no shortage of lists that profess to tell us which wines are most popular. You can base that opinion on sales or any number of other factors but, when it comes right down to it, it’s all pretty subjective and far be it from your host David Wilson to refrain from weighing in with his opinion. For the purpose of this discussion, David compares his list of favorites to a list published by th...