Indie Wine podcast

IWP Ep36 Steven Kent Mirassou - Steven Kent Winery. I recently spoke with Steven Kent Mirassou of Steven Kent winery at his tasting room in Livermore.   Steven is the 6th generation in his family to make wine.  They trace their California wine roots all the back to the Pellier Brothers in the 1850’s.  We discuss his family, how he made his way back into wine, living and making wine in Livermore, i...

Historical Episode IWP Ep35 The Alhambra Valley 1850-1915 - Experimentation, Education, Conservation - Strentzel, Swett and Muir. This episode is about family and Friends in a small valley in the golden age of Pomology.  They all are named John somewhat confusingly and all are referred to as the “Father” of something, John Swett’s son Frank is also a large part of the episode.  Although Strentzel...

 IWP Ep34 Jared Brandt and Connor Bockman - Donkey and Goat I recently spoke with Jared Brandt and Connor Bockman of Donkey and Goat.  Jared is of course one of the founders of the winery and Conor is the Director of Winemaking.  Located in Berkeley California the winery celebrates it’s 20th anniversary this year.  The natural wine landscape in California has changed a lot since Donkey and Goat st...

Historical Episode IWP Ep33 Short Stories on California Wine 1. Usually we have an interview or one subject running throughout an episode.  This episode will be a little different.  Doing research for episodes I often come across stories and people who can’t fill a full episode but the stories of both are fun and unusual and deserve to be heard. Sometimes these older publications just have weird a...

IWP Ep32 Ryan Stirm - Stirm Wine Co. I recently spoke with Ryan Stirm of Stirm Wine Company in Watsonville. Since his first vintage about 10 years ago, Ryan has become really well known for his multiple Rieslings from the central coast and working with great vineyards like Kick On Ranch and Wirz.  He’s also perhaps the foremost producer of Cab Pfeffer, working with the Siletto family vineyards as...

IWP Ep31 Julia Ornelas-Higdon - The Grapes of Conquest I recently spoke with author Julia-Ornelas-Higdon about her book The Grapes of Conquest - Race, Labor, and the Industrialization of California Wine, 1769–1920. Julia is an associate professor at Cal State University Chanel Islands and this is fascinating book if you’re interested in the history of California and California Wine especially Pre-...

IWP Ep30 Tyler Stacy - Commune Regional Wines.  Tyler runs commune with his wife Emily and together they are making wines from places they love.  These are well made, bright and textured wines from California that go great with food and family.  We talked at the Haarmeyer/ Harbor winery in West Sacramento where Commune is based. These are amazingly food friendly wines made from unique sources in s...

New Episode Next Week! 2nd trailer for the Indie Wine Podcast. In this trailer you’ll hear short excerpts from some of the first 29 episodes.  Many of our episodes are interviews with smaller independent winemakers, people who I think are making great wine from carefully farmed fruit.  I’ve also spoken with some of the farmers growing those grapes.  Authors, Sommeliers, Merchants and some episodes...

Historical Episode IWP Ep29 Mission San Jose and Fremont Wine History Today we’ll be looking at the history of grape growing and winemaking in the Mission San Jose and Fremont area of California.  We are going further back and following this area beginning with the Pre Mission Period, the Missions then the Rancho Period, the Gold Rush and the American Period. Vineyards were planted early here and...

Historical Episode IWP Ep28 The Life and Writings of Angelo Pellegrini. Today we are talking about Angelo Pellegrini, the great Italian American author.  If you aren’t familiar with the name, his books to me are classics of food and wine based literature.  If you enjoy the writings of MFK Fisher, Jacques Pépin, Julia Child, James Beard etc. then his books are right up your alley and have more of a...

IWP Ep27 Ed Kurtzman - Sandler, August West, Mansfield-Dunne. I recently sat down with Ed Kurtzman of Sandler wines, August West and Mansfield- Dunne wines to talk about his long and distinguished career in California wine.  Besides the 3 wineries I already named he’s made wine for Roar, Testarossa, Freeman and Fort Ross.  He produces much of his wine out of the August West facility in San Francis...

Historical Episode IWP Ep26 Hilgard and the Experiment Stations part 2- The Other Stations. This is Episode 2 of a 2 part series about Professor Eugene Hilgard from the University of California and the Experimental Stations that he spearheaded in the late 1800’s.  This episode will be concentrated on the other stations of note that the university worked with at the time.  The Southern Coast Statio...

IWP Ep25 Kevin Ferguson - "Rain on the Montebello Ridge" and Gemello Winery History. Kevin is the grandson of Mario Gemello, the late winemaker of the Gemello Winery, which produced great Cabernets and Zins in Mountain View for a half of century - well before the tech boom of the past 40 years, back when this area was still the Valley of the Hearts Delight and Silicon Valley was a glimmer in the e...

Historical Episode IWP Ep24 Hilgard and the Experiment Stations Ep 1 - Jackson. This is Episode 1 of a 2 part series about Professor Eugene Hilgard from the University of California and the Experimental Stations that he spearheaded in the late 1800’s. Today we will be focussing on the background of the stations, how they came to be, what they hoped to accomplish and dive in deeper to the Foothills...

IWP Ep23 Terah Bajjalieh - Terah Wine Co. I recently connected with Terah Bajjaliejh of Terah Wine Co.  We discussed her worldwide education both in schools such as Montpellier in France and the harvests she's done including Australia, New Zealand, France and Oregon.  Starting a winery during the pandemic and being a mentee for other women in the industry through working with Batonnage and oth...

IWP Ep22 Sabrina Tamayo - Ruby Blanca Wines. I recently sat down to talk with Sabrina Tamayo of Ruby Blanca wines in Oakland.  Sabrina is now on the 3rd vintage of Ruby Blanca, making wine in Richmond and working with mostly Italian varieties including Ribolla Gialla, Barbera and Nero D'Avola.  Sourcing grapes from Lodi, Sonoma and Mendocino these are great food wines.  We discuss Sabrina grow...

IWP Ep21 Daniel Callan - Slamdance Koöperatieve Wine. Today We’ll be talking to Daniel Callan of Slamdance Koöperatieve wines based in Paso Robles. Daniel along with his partner Anna and Freddie they dog stopped by on a recent trip to Northern California.  We talked about Daniels experience working harvests in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as well as in Paso Robles.  One of the larger in...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 20 - Shaunt Oungoulian - Les Lunes and Populis Wines. Shaunt and Diego Roig started Les Lunes and Populis in the tradition of the french vignerons with who they trained.  Leasing and farming many of their vineyard sources and using a very light touch in the winery, only adding some sulfer.  Both graduated from UC Davis and we talk about that as well as how they find vine...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 19 - Sebastian Erggelet - Erggelet Brothers. Sebastian Erggelet along with his brother Julian, make up Erggelet Brothers.  They recently built a new winery in Brentwood, in the heart of Contra Costa County and are making really balanced, classically styled, lower intervention wines from Mataro, Carignane, Zinfandel and Malvasia.  Everything coming from within a few minut...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 18 - Chik Brenneman - Baker Family Wines. Chik has had a varied and successful career since making the move to wine. From working at smaller family run wineries in the Sierra Foothills to working at the giant Woodbridge production facility and managing wine making at UC Davis to now partnering with Dusty Baker at Baker Family Wines in West Sacramento. We hear Chik discus...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 17 - Hank Beckmeyer - La Clarine Farm and Ecstatic Truth Wines. Hank has been making natural wines longer than most in California. Based in El Dorado County, his wines are as good as ever. Hear about how Hank's interest in wine started in Germany, making wine and farming in El Dorado, moving from Biodynamics to Fukuoka farming and dealing with climate issues the last cou...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 16 - Knights of the Vine - Chik Brenneman and Gordon MacKay. We sit and talk with Chik Brenneman of Baker Family wines in West Sacramento and Commander of the Chancellory Chapter in Sacramento and Gordon MacKay, commander of the Lodi Chapter - at the Baker Family winery. Knights of the vine has chapters all over the US promoting the love of wine and although the roots of...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 15 - David Teixeira - Lusu Cellars. David brings his Portuguese heritage to the way he thinks about and makes wines. He makes California versions of traditional Portuguese styles like Vinho Verde or a Sercial like "Mad-Era" as well as California heritage styled Zins, Mouvedre and Carignane. Lusu Cellars is located on Camelia St. In Berkeley California, this win...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 14 - Adam Saake - Perch Wine Company. Adam is a native of Sacramento who has worked harvests in Chile and New Zealand as well as Amador and El Dorado counties in the Sierra Foothills of California for wineries like Skinner and Turley. Perch is a relatively new winery, but already gaining a following for its wines. Syrah and Zin from Amador have been mainstays and Sauvign...

Indie Wine Podcast episode 13 - Ann-Marie Koth, Brett Koth, Phil Silver. Mokelumne Glen Vineyards is located along the banks of the Mokelumne River in the Victor Triangle area of Lodi. Originally planted by Ann-Marie and Brett's parents - Bob and Mary Lou, it boasts one of the largest collections of Germanic varietals anywhere. Riesling, Dornfelder, Blaufränkisch, Kerner, Bacchus and many more...