The Wine List

Cristina Mariani May is a third-generation winemaker. Her grandparents emigrated from Italy to the United States in the early 1900’s. Ironically, her father and uncle headed back to Italy in the late ‘70’s to create Castello Banfi in Brunello di Montalcino, now the largest contiguous vineyard in Europe. Cristina joined Banfi in the early ‘90’s and has been the President and CEO since 2018. Cristin...

This week we are going to talk about Bordeaux 2020. The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux was recently in NYC with over 100 wineries pouring their new 2020 vintage. I got a chance to speak with six different wineries from different regions in Bordeaux and the consensus is the 2020 vintage is excellent, the third in a trilogy of great vintages after 2018 and '19. This was a walk around tasting with...

Not your typical winemaker, Bibi Graetz was surrounded by a family of visual artists, studying art and not wine. He grew up in a medieval castle in Tuscany surrounded by vineyards. With no formal training, Bibi started making wine in the late 1990’s, and by 2000 he was making his own wine with a passion for old vines and Sangiovese. Merging his two loves, Bibi has created the labels for his highly...

Nathan Kendall , a Finger Lakes native, has been making wine at his eponymous Nathan K winery for over a dozen years. He has traveled the world to fine-tune his craft, including Sonoma, New Zealand, Australia, Oregon, and the Mosel in Germany. He also makes wine at Hickory Hollow and at Chepika with Pascaline Lepeltier. Nathan is part of a new generation of Finger Lakes winemakers bringing passion...

Shana Clarke is a freelance writer based out of New York City, specializing in wine, Sake, and travel. She has WSET Level 3 certification and is a certified Sake Sommelier. Her writing has appeared in Fortune, Wine Enthusiast, Departures, and Saveur to name a few. Shana is also a wine marketing consultant for major wine entities. Shana Clarke just released her new book, “ 150 Vineyards You Need to...

Eric Asimov is the long-time wine critic of the New York Times. His wine column, “The Pour” , appears every Wednesday in the Food Section of the Times in-print and online. Eric recently concluded almost 9 years and 100 columns of his “Wine School” . Post-Covid times have allowed Eric to travel around the world, taste wine, and meet the winemakers for the first time in years. He has published numer...

The Grape Nation ends the season with Champagne and Bubbly recommendations from the best in the business for the holidays and beyond. We talk to Robin Wright , Beverage Director at Ci Siamo ; Yannick Benjamin and Heidi Turzyn , Proprietors of Beaupierre Wines and Spirits and Contento Restaurant ; Aldo Sohm of Le Bernardin & Aldo Sohm Wine Bar ; Annie Shi , Partner at King Soho and Jupiter ; an...

Josh Greene is the longtime Editor and Publisher of “ Wine and Spirits ” Magazine. Josh has traveled extensively to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. He is a critic for those regions and South Africa along with writing feature stories and commentary. “Wine and Spirits” Magazine also presents their Top 100 Tasting annually. Josh and his team...

Alex Schrecengost has spent almost two decades working in wine, spirits, hospitality, luxury goods, and PR. She has worked closely with such iconic brands as Romanée Conte and Biondi Santi at Wilson Daniels. The Pandemic created an opportunity for Alex to start mission driven businesses to help the workers in hospitality and the consumer alike. Alex founded Virtual with Us and Culture with Us, a b...

On this very special episode of The Grape Nation, Sam sits down with Harold Langlais of Château Le Puy , live from Raw Wine 2022 in Queens. Sam and Harold discuss the history of Le Puy, their growing practices, and how they stand out from other natural wine makers. Château Le Puy lies on 54 hectares in three parcels in Saint Cibard, France, on the same rock plateau as Pomerol and Saint-Emilion, a...

Isabelle Legeron is the author of “ Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally .” She is France’s first female Master of Wine . Isabelle created RAW WINE , the world’s largest community of low-intervention organic, biodynamic and natural wine producers, supported by fairs, a wine club and online shop. Isabelle has long advocated organic farming practices and prope...

Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe Eselbock are the proprietors and wine makers at Gut Oggau , their winery in Oggau in the Burgenland region of Austria. They restored a 17th century winery and now farm biodynamically. They created a unique family of wines by field blending the grapes of the region.  Christian Tschida is a fourth-generation winemaker in the Burgenland region of Austria. Christian farms...

Chase Sinzer has been around…in a good way. He has worked with Union Sq Hospitality Group at Maialino, with John Fraser at Narcissa, David Chang at Momofuko Ko where he met now chef/partner Joshua Pinsky, and received 2 Michelin stars. Chase hit the west coast at Michael’s in Santa Monica, and Caesar Ramirez’s Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare and did a little retail at Crush Wine, both in NYC. Chase...

Born in Pennsylvania, but now a British-American living in France, Aaron Ayscough made his way out to LA at the young age of 23, and even to his surprise, became a prominent Italian wine buyer with famed pizza chef, Nancy Silverton. Looking for an escape a few years later, Aaron headed to Paris working in fashion and organically, no pun intended, made his way into the thriving natural wine scene....

Karen MacNeil is an award-winning wine speaker, consultant, journalist, educator and author. When I say award-winning, I’m talking an Emmy and a James Beard Award among others. She has her own line of stemware and publishes her weekly newsletter and website, Winespeed . Karen just released the fully revised and updated 3rd Edition of “The Wine Bible,” selling upwards of a million copies; it is one...

Sam Coturri is a fourth generation wine guy hailing from Sonoma royalty dating back to the '60's. His dad Phil started a farming company in the late '70's practicing thoughtful and organic farming from the get-go and continues to be one of the most sought-after vineyard minds in wine. Sam worked in PR, political campaigns, and cannabis before he joined Winery Sixteen600 , the family winery as Prop...

Jorge Riera has been a fixture on the NY wine and restaurant scene for over 20 years. His commitment to, knowledge of and influence in natural wine dates back to 360 in Brooklyn, Balthazar, The Ten Bells, Wildair, Contra and Frenchette in NYC. His wine lists characterize natural wines at their best, featuring predominantly small growers and makers. Jorge introduced an all-natural only wine list at...

For over two decades, Alice Feiring has been the original and honest voice of Natural Wine. She cut her teeth on Manischewitz and mastered her way to Morgon…and Barolo! Alice is an award-winning wine writer, prolific author, publishes her natural wine newsletter, “ The Feiring Line ”, and just released her sixth book, To Fall in Love, Drink This: A Wine Writer’s Memoir , a journey of love and wine...

Wolffer Estate was the vision of German-born businessman Christian Wolffer. He purchased property in Sagaponack in the late ‘70’s and developed it into one of the great vineyards on Long Island and in the world. Marc and Joey Wolffer , Christian’s son and daughter, along with winemaker/partner Roman Roth , now run the Estate. Joey started a successful career in fashion and design before shifting h...

Brooklyn’s own Kilolo Strobert is a true Crown Heights Affair. After attending high school on the Upper West Side, culinary school at Johnson and Wales, her love of wine, hospitality, helping friends with wine pairings and recos solidly pushed her into wine. She has worked all aspects of the business including retail at Morrell and Le Du’s and Fresh Direct, the Hotel Parker Meridien, Zagat and mor...

Hailing out of Los Angeles, Randall Grahm attended college in Santa Cruz. A stint at a wine shop in Beverly Hills woke Randall to the allure and magic of wine, sending him to UC Davis to study Plant Science, and an itching obsession with Pinot Noir. Randall made his way back to Santa Cruz and, as they say, the rest is history. He started Bonny Doon Vineyard in the early ‘80’s and made a sharp turn...

This episode was recorded live at this spring's RAW Wine NYC - a celebration of artisan and natural wines.  My guests were Kreso Petrekovic from Vinas Mora and Marko Kovac representing Bibich Winery . Together we explore the region of Dalmatia, a historic wine region in the south of Croatia on the Adriatic Sea in Eastern Europe. Wine has been produced there for thousands of years, and Dalmatia has...

Hailing from California with time spent in Vermont, Max Mackinnon found a love for cooking and attended the French Culinary Institute after college in Vermont. He crisscrossed the country working in San Francisco, Washington DC, Hudson NY, his own restaurant Pistou in Vermont, and even worked in Copenhagen. Max always had a love for wine and morphed over to wine sales eventually leaving to hit the...

Jordan Salcito is a seasoned wine veteran having worked with David Chang at Momofuko and Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison. She is an award-winning sommelier, entrepreneur and most importantly a mom, finding that life work balance. Jordan is the Founder and CEO of Drink Ramona , an early entry into the portable canned wine segment with her organic wine spritzes from Italy. Jordan lives in NYC with her...

Being born into wine is one thing, being born into the Mondavi family is another. Tim Mondavi’s grandfather, Cesare, and dad, Robert, are California wine royalty. Tim grew up around the vines in St Helena, traveled to Europe, studied wine at UC Davis, and then jumped right into the family business at Robert Mondavi Winery . He had a big influence on their growth and innovation including Opus One,...