The Wine Pair Podcast

If you think Cabernet Sauvignon is the only Cabernet, you’ve got another think coming (as Joe’s mom used to say). Cabernet Franc is on the rise, and it’s time to get on the bandwagon. Most famously from the Loire Valley, Cabernet Franc has for too long been the understudy to wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, often primarily used as a blending grape. But today you can find Cabernet Franc as the star o...

They say summer is the time for Rosé, but did you know that not all Rosé wines are the same? Bandol is the perfect example of a Rosé that may just surprise you. Yes, it comes from Provence in France, but it is made predominantly with the Mourvèdre grape, which is unusual, and creates a Rosé wine with surprising depth, character, and, dare we say, seriousness?!? If you’re one of those people who is...

It is not a heresy to chill red wine. In fact, it can be downright crucial to creating a better drinking experience. Temperature impacts a wine’s aromas, taste, and feel in the mouth - so it’s something you need to think about when you are having a meal on the patio in the sun this summer. We also go over the all-important 20/20 rule in this minisode - a handy rule of thumb to make sure you are se...

How did a kid with no background in winemaking, a D1 scholarship to wrestle in college, and an interest in Mechanical Engineering end up making wine at one of the most famous wineries in Napa? You could call it fate. This week, we had the honor of sitting down with Kurtis Ogasawara who is the Director of Winemaking at Robert Mondavi Winery. Like a lot of winemakers we have met, he didn’t start out...

Understanding a wine’s alcohol content doesn’t just mean you can figure out how fast it will get you a buzz - it actually can be central to understanding what style of wine you will be drinking AND what kind of foods it might pair better with. In this minisode we explore the hidden secrets behind alcohol content and how it impacts nearly all aspects of wine - from mouthfeel to aroma to taste. When...

A favorite wine of sommeliers, Ribolla Gialla is just different. Hailing from the beautiful Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, this wine even made it into the seminal and historically significant literary work The Decameron where the poet Giovanni Boccaccio listed Ribolla as one of the sources of the sin of gluttony. So that’s kind of fun. What makes it different is that it is a medium-bodied...

This is a “wow your friends” wine if there ever was one! Serve this wine, have them guess what it is, and then amaze them with your wine knowledge. Assyrtiko is sometimes called THE Greek wine - the most famous and iconic of Greek wines - and yet not enough people know about it or talk about it. Made for thousands of years, Assyrtiko is the rare white wine that keeps its wonderful acidity even tho...

Many people find it confusing that wines from places like France, Italy, and Spain are often named for where they are from rather than the grapes they are made from. For example, did you know that white Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc? Or that red Burgundy is Pinot Noir? Wait, what?!? And do you get livid when someone asks if you really meant Champagne or you were actually talking about sparkling wine...

Boxed wine sucks - or does it?!? When a listener suggested we do an episode on boxed wine given all of the nuttiness with tariffs and rising wine prices, we said “Why the eff not?!?” Look, we may be wine reviewers and have our own fancy-pants wine podcast, but that doesn’t mean we are too good for boxed wine. And, we think you will be very surprised to learn about how popular boxed wine has become...

Douro Tinto is often called a “Steakhouse Wine” but that really doesn’t do it justice. This fabulous wine from the Douro region of Portugal - an area most famous for the fortified wine Port - is a rich, smooth, and lovely drinking wine that needs to be on your table. Grown on very steep hillsides, the variety of the grapes in the blend can include up to 50 varieties, but the majority of the blend...

It ain’t easy to find an Oregon Pinot Noir under $25, but in this episode, we taste and review 3 Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs to see if any of them are worth seeking out, and in particular, if the 2022 Costco Kirkland Signature Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is worth snagging. Willamette Valley in Oregon is said to create maybe the best Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy, and many of the Oregon Pinot N...

As the Cardinals head into Conclave to elect the new Pope, we head into our studio (ok, it's our basement, but whatever) to dig into a big, bold, red wine that links directly to the Papacy when it was in France. The Pape in Châteauneuf-du-Pape refers to, you guessed it, the Pope, and the name means “The Pope’s New Castle.” But did you know that Pope John the XXII actually had this papal castl...

Visually stunning, Tavel is not your typical rosé, and may be the rosé wine that makes your snobby “I don’t drink rosé” friends change their minds! Sometimes called the 4th wine, and sometimes called the Pope’s wine, Tavel is a different kind of juice. It is a very deep pink to red hue, sometimes described as watermelon or evening sunset, and the reason for that is because it spends more time on t...

Wines from Umbria are often considered “delightfully undervalued.” Right now, that sounds especially appealing! Grechetto is one of those wines from Umbria that is flying under the radar, but it shouldn’t be. This week, we dig into this wonderful white wine from Italy’s “Little Green Heart” - and the exciting part is that we found two very different styles of it, one more like an oaky Chardonnay,...

In the year 2000, Lenny Recanati decided to start a winery, which is not a small decision. Born out of a love of wine, Lenny rightly says that when you’re not making money, it’s a hobby, and when you’re making money, it’s a business. Today, his winery is recognized as one of the best in Israel. In this episode we interview Lenny and his head winemaker Kobi Arviv and learn how they make elegant, ga...

This is our first ever head-to-head battle between Trader Joe’s and Costco wines, and what a doozy it was. A true battle of equals - the same year, same price, same varietal, same region, same specific area, and same top tier of each retailers’ private label wines. Plus, these wines are from Oakville in Napa - one of the most revered wine growing areas in America. And our verdict? Well, we’re not...

Now this is an exciting wine! We didn’t have super high expectations going in - the name Kerner does not scream “adventure” - but we are telling you this is a white wine that is worth seeking out. Some call it one of the best white wines in Italy, and after tasting it, we agree, and so we are wondering why it does not get more love! It is a grape originally created in Germany as a cross between Ri...

When one of our listeners asked if we would be willing to explore wines from Croatia, we were a little hesitant - not because we didn’t want to try them, but because we were worried that we would have a hard time finding them. Well, we were able to find some, and we are so glad that we did! Croatia is an area where they have been making wine for more than 5,000 years, yet despite their history, Cr...

We had mixed expectations about Layer Cake Wines. On the one hand, Layer Cake was started by a winemaker who produces some of the most expensive and highest rated wines in the U.S. via their Hundred Acre label. On the other hand, “layer cake” is hardly a name one would give a sophisticated, serious wine. So which one is it? In this latest episode, we try to give Layer Cake wines an honest shot to...

Is there such a thing as minerality in wine? Our taste buds tell us yes, but the science tells a different story. Is it a myth? Have the wine nerds and snobs brainwashed us to believe that minerality is a real thing? Is that really rock or seashell or gasoline or gunsmoke we are tasting in wine, or is it a bunch of hooey? In this minisode, we attempt to break down the facts and separate the eviden...

What a beautiful wine! You may not have heard of Greco di Tufo, and you may not be familiar with wines from Campania in southern Italy, but we are hoping that we can change that! Greco is an ancient wine grape, brought to the area around Naples by the Greeks thousands of years ago, that nearly went extinct in this area of Italy. Thankfully, some hard working farmers and heritage wine making projec...

You know when they say “you get what you pay for”?!? That seems to fit pretty well with Trader Joe’s Reserve label wines. Look, you’re spending $10, so you probably shouldn’t expect to be wowed. And the wines we tasted met that expectation. However, when a wine is a private label from a store like Trader Joe’s - similar to Costco’s Kirkland brand - we think you should expect to get 2X the value fo...

Sometimes an interview just feels magical. Like, you just happen to find two people who have amazing stories, who genuinely like each other, and who complement the other in terms of their philosophies and approaches, and that is what we found in this interview with Roman and Jens. Roman makes beautiful wine for Wölffer Estate, so beautiful, in fact, that Jens and his partner Rasmus wanted to inclu...

Don’t say we didn’t warn you - because once you try this wine, you may never go back to Prosecco! Don’t get us wrong. We like a nice Aperol spritz made with Prosecco, and Prosecco was the sparkling wine that opened our eyes to sparkling wine, but if you want a more elegant, interesting, and food friendly wine, Franciacorta cleans Prosecco’s clock! There is a reason that Franciacorta and not Prosec...

This is what we call a “wow your friends” wine! First, it’s a wine they have probably never heard of. Second, it is a great wine for all sorts of different red wine lovers because it has hints of different wines like Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. And third, it is a delicious wine that goes well with a wide variety of foods. That is, if you find the right Blaufränkisch. And that is what we...