Wine Blast PLUS with Susie and Peter

So where does the humble glass bottle fit into the bigger picture of wine? Some are decrying its impact on the environment, citing the carbon footprint of smelting glass and shipping heavy, space-inefficient bottles around the planet. But glass has one of the highest recycling rates of any packaging and has served wine well for centuries, an inert container that has no interaction with its content...

A trip to *hic* Hollywood via Napa Valley as we chat to Matt Crafton, winemaker at the renowned Chateau Montelena, about serious stuff like making elegant wine in Napa, the wildfires, climate change, sustainability, his lockdown wines and...the film Bottle Shock. This enables us to segue neatly onto a rollicking ride through our (and your) favourite wine movies and wine moments on screen, from Sou...

'My day job is acting but my life is really wine and farming.' So says Sam Neill, world famous for his roles in screen hits like Jurassic Park, Peaky Blinders, Dead Calm and The Piano, but whose real passion is his Two Paddocks wine estate in Central Otago, New Zealand.  We caught up with Sam while he was quarantining after arriving back in New Zealand from 5 months filming Jurassic Park...

The wild, fun wine ride continues after a first season full of intrigue, deliciousness and, erm, magnum Jenga. For those who don't know Wine Blast, welcome! We don't bite (unless very thirsty). The show is for everyone - we bring wine to life with a smile, chatting to intriguing people all around the world , sharing our recipes and recommendations, and chewing the wine cud in general. Yo...

Where's best for wine travel? (Well - we can dream, can't we?!) The best value bold New World Chardonnays out there? Greek wine? Why no love for Merlot? How to deal with being considered pretentious when it comes to wine?? We answer your burning wine questions and pick our favourite highlights from the 30 episodes to date in this fun, momentous culmination to Season 1 of Wine Blast. And...

We use our wine festival (formerly Wine Festival Winchester, this year Wine Festival Online) as a springboard to talk English wine, wine education, making a wine festival happen in lockdown, events in general and how normal people engage with wine. We chat to acclaimed English winemaker Emma Rice of Hattingley Valley, Erica Dent of Enjoy Discovering Wine and Tony, who has a great story to tell abo...

So what's the BEST red wine grape variety? Ever? We asked you - and you replied in your droves, more than a thousand of you sending in weird and wonderful suggestions from all over the world. Thank you! We've compiled the results, and the funny comments and goings-on, and you can hear the results in this fun episode. We name names so see if you get a mention! (Sorry if not...) We also fi...

We've reached a tipping point in environmental terms. Not just in terms of biodiversity, climate change, pandemics and the like - but also in the media. Recent releases showcase this trend - from Kiss the Ground (Netflix) to Extinction: The Facts (BBC/David Attenborough) and The Food Programme's English Pastoral episode. All are powerful, terrifying, inspiring calls to action - and made...

So what's been happening to wine during lockdown? It's the BIG question on everyone's lips - and the answer is not what you might expect. We dive right into the debate, throwing about facts, figures and opinions as we go. It does seem as if people revert to the familiar in times of crisis - and we're not afraid to treat ourselves a bit either. With this in mind, we launch a Twi...

Chile is a wine scene stuck on fast forward. Many of the most exciting projects lately have been developed in the country's deep south, where the cooler conditions mean more elegant, refreshing wines (and respite from a decade-long drought). And these aren't projects for the faint-hearted: we visit a new vineyard on a remote island 1,200km south of Santiago - and another on the side of a...

There is FREE medal-winning wine to be won for UK-based wine lovers in this episode, which ties in with the virtual ceremony for the Wine GB Awards 2020. Tune in for more details! Also to hear Susie’s views, in the wake of the trophy announcements for these awards, on what, where and who are providing the real excitement in English and Welsh wine right now. There are also some up-to-date stats on...

As one of the best-selling wine writers of all time, with millions of sales to his name and global renown, Hugh Johnson OBE needs little introduction. For this exclusive interview, we head into the privacy of his London home for a rare no-holds-barred, funny, wide-ranging, moving, eye-opening chat. It’s intimate, controversial and thought-provoking. There are few things we don’t cover, and Hugh do...

How can wine lovers help Lebanon in its hour of need? Lebanese wine expert Michael Karam and Chateau Musar’s Marc Hochar talk us through the finer points, all the while educating us about Lebanon’s fascinating (and very, very long) history with wine and its current day challenges including the massive recent explosion in the port area of Beirut. We give a plug to some of the fundraising initiative...

So how do you go about judging nigh-on 300 of the finest English and Welsh wines amid the Covid chaos? Susie reports back from chairing the WineGB Awards 2020 – a bit different from the norm, featuring an aircraft hangar, personalised portaloos, being brought to tears…and English sparkling Merlot (yes, really – and no, the last two things aren’t connected).  There’s a quick word on Wine Festival W...

It’s like trying to eat your favourite food with tweezers. Or listening to your best tunes with a goldfish bowl over your head. If you buy a nice bottle of wine then serve it wrong, you’re wasting your time as well as money. In this episode, we tackle the thorny issue of how to serve your wine right, with a couple of helpful tips to remember. And it can make your wine taste so much better! Roped i...

Go on. What's the best rosé wine you've ever had? For Lee Isaacs, rosé is 'a crime' and, if you like it, 'you're a bad person' (or, at best, indecisive). Global rosé expert Elizabeth Gabay MW thinks we're too snobbish about the sweet stuff and has had delicious rosés as old as 1959. Majestic's Jack Merrylees thinks the best way to get a party started is...

In our LAST Wine Survival Guide we talk climate change, ancient grapes and guitar-offs with Miguel Torres – and reveal our Top 5 Rioja Tips. Coming next time: we return to our normal Wine Blast schedule that was so rudely interrupted by Covid-19 - with a big splash on the pink stuff: rosé! 

Superstar Italian winemaker Alberto Antonini tells us about wine as meditation, how to be a ‘virtual’ wine consultant, his vinyl collection and his nonna ’s wise advice on how to stop a mole-hill becoming a mountain. In his honour, we crack open two wines from Sicily, delving into this most exciting of Italian wine regions – and discuss the hot topic of vegan wine. 

Robin Hutson is one of Britain’s foremost hoteliers as chairman and CEO of The Pig hotels and Limewood group. He’s been a prominent campaigner for rural hospitality during lockdown, citing the millions of jobs supported by the wider sector and the difficulty of re-opening with two-metre social distancing rules. He’s also had to fend off criticisms levelled at his biggest private investor, Jim Ratc...

How to make sense of Riesling? Food is one of the best ways we know to make sense of even the most tricky of wine subjects. So we try out a delicious monkfish and prawn curry as well as some pork terrine to try to get a handle on the grape variety that came top in our survey of the Best White Wine Grapes. (We also talk sourdough – but that’s something else entirely.) Another way to make sense of w...

In our SHORTEST EPISODE EVER, funny messages sent with champagne deliveries during lockdown come courtesy of The Finest Bubble’s Nick Baker. (Our favourite? A close call between ‘Cheer up!’ and ‘STOP MOANING’.) As the weddings, birthdays and anniversaries continue to see sparkling glasses raised via the internet, we turn to the pressing subject of where to find the best Syrah wines – made in the a...

Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Michael Baum is rebooting Burgundy, even under lockdown (which he rails against while being stuck in France, separated from his wife and boys in San Francisco). He explains why he prefers French wine to Californian, and talks about how coronavirus and his tech-based approach may help prompt radical change in wine – which is about getting closer to customers, at a t...

We asked a simple question on social media: what are your top 3 grape varieties for white wine? The reaction...blew us away, with a torrent of fascinating responses from all around the world featuring more than 100 different grape varieties - not to mention fighting talk, bonding, football analogies and cheating. We got a bit carried away with this podcast - it's our favourite one so far - bu...

South African wine is in turmoil. The government has banned the sale and export of wine as part of its strict coronavirus lockdown and, while restrictions will eventually be eased, Cape producers are in shock: reeling from the long-term effects and implications of this dramatic intervention. We hear the views of three producers – Kathy Jordan (Jordan), Charles Back (Fairview) and Andrea Mullineux...

Bartholomew Broadbent is a wine importer on the eastern US seaboard and he has seen ‘atrocious declines in business’ since coronavirus restrictions began. He lightens the tone by singing Monty Python songs (always look on the bright side of life…) and has a few choice words to say about Trump. Meanwhile, in California, Eric Baugher of Ridge Vineyards muses on challenges and opportunities before ch...