Wine for Normal People

This week I finish up the communal appellations of the Médoc for our "Greats of Bordeaux" series with Moulis!  Map: Wines of the Médoc     Although the communes of Moulis and Listrac are often seen as one in the same because both are inland and neither is adjacent to the Gironde River/Estuary, this grouping is a mistake.   The wines of Moulis, especially from the Grand Poujeaux plateau next to Mar...

This week I return to The Greats series in which I explore the greatest wines in the world and how they became such big deals.    Photo: Vineyards in Chianti Classico. Credit: Unsplash   Chianti Classico, with its 700+ years of history and ideal terroir, is indisputably one of the great wines in the world. In this episode, I cover the long history of Chianti Classico, its ebbs and flows, and its c...

This week's show is on South Africa, a much more historic region than many realize, it has been making wine for more than 350 years. Although considered a 'New World' wine region, winemaking and ethos are often more oriented towards the Old World. Its style often straddles the line between New and Old World, offering fruit-driven wines with minerality, earthiness, restraint, and higher acidity.  ...

In this ENCORE presentation, Dr. Kevin Pogue, PhD, professor and geologist educates us on terroir. This podcast is like taking a terroir class: it debunks so many things that people spout in reference books, at wineries, and in mainstream press about the topic! He explains things brilliantly and he is one of the first people I've ever met who actually has answers to my really dorky questions about...

Saint Estèphe is the northernmost of the six communal appellations of the Médoc. 50 kilometers/30 miles north of the city of Bordeaux, this red wine only appellation borders Pauillac to the south and a part of the Haut-Médoc in the north. This commune is very different from the others I've covered and the wines are amazing, but of a completely different ilk (they are also much more affordable!). P...

This week I cover Lombardy/Lombardia, one of the smaller wine production areas of Italy.  Lombardy, home to the cities of Milan, Bergamo and Brescia is known far more for its fashion, its industry, and osso bucco and risotto alla Milanese than it is for its wines, but there are some gems to be discovered.  Photo: Lugana Credit: Consorzio Lugana   Because there is limited availability of these wine...

In this week's show, I cover Pinot Blanc as part of the grape miniseries.   Pinot Blanc is a white color mutation of Pinot Noir, native to Burgundy/Bourgogne. It creates refreshing light- to medium-bodied wines that run the gamut from simple sippers to much more complex, oak-aged versions, to excellent sweet and sparkling wines. Photo: Pinot Blanc.  Credit: Wines of Austria   This lovely grape is...

In this unique episode, Kerith Overstreet of Bruliam Wines in Sonoma returns to give us an update (she was on Ep 269 in 2019). Kerith/Bruliam is a boutique producer of vineyard-designated wines, mainly of Pinot Noir and she gives us a full education on the differences between some of the main Pinot regions of California.     The cool thing about this show? The last third of the podcast is a busine...

In this episode I'm joined by author and American wine icon, Karen MacNeil. We discuss her amazing career trajectory in wine from food stamps to international fame, and her new initiative, Come Over October , which is having enormous success in encouraging people to get together over a bottle of wine!   Karen is one of the foremost wine experts in the United States. She's the author of the award-w...

Sandwiched between the famed Médoc AOCs of Margaux in the south and Pauillac in the north, Saint Julien has one of the highest concentrations of classified growths from the 1855 Classification in Bordeaux. This red wine only AOC is just 910 ha/2,250acres, which is 6% of the Médoc vineyard. It is one-sixth the size of Pauillac. It makes an average of about 6 million bottles a year. Image courtesy o...

Here's something you probably didn't know: Vienna is the only major city in the world where serious wine grown, with its own appellation, DAC Wien. In the green belt surrounding this very green city, wine grapes grow as they have since at least the Middle Ages. And it's not negligible -- 582 ha/1438 acres. It's also not crappy, tourist wine. It's high quality, interesting wine that's tasty and dif...

I welcome to the show my friend Giulio Abrigo of Abrigo Giovanni Azienda Agricola , who focuses on the exquisite Dolcetto in Diano d'Alba in the Barolo zone of Piemonte. Abrigo Giovanni is a small family operation, operating on just 13 ha or 32 acres mainly in Diano d'Alba -- the site of the winery and the family home. Dolcetto Diano d'Alba is one of a handful of DOCG zones for the grape – stricte...

My guest Felicity Carter is probably the most brilliant journalist in wine, and certainly one of the only ones doing vital investigative work in the field of wine, health, and the neo prohibitionist movement. From 2008 to 2021, she was editor-in-chief of  Meininger's Wine Business International , a global, English-language magazine, one of Germany's oldest publishing houses. She reported from 22 c...

This is a baffling story that includes a Napa history lesson, an idea of how the Valley has grown and then a jaunt into intrigue, sting operations, and what appears to be an effort to kill the goose that laid the golden egg by the Napa County government. It seems that the County is going after small wineries in an attempt to bankrupt them out of business.  Friend of the pod, Stu Smith of Smith-Mad...

I first spoke to Marina Marcarino of Punset in 2017 and I was fascinated by her story and loved her wines . We became friends and I've visited her over the years and keep in touch with her for a pulse on what is happening in the vineyards and wineries of Barbaresco, where  Punset is located. Marina Marcarino of Punset Wines in Barbaresco As a recap of the first show , when Marina Marcarino was in...

In this show, I welcome my friend and wine industry guru Daniel Posner, the owner of the prestigious New York retailer,  Grapes, The Wine Company . Daniel joined Grapes, The Wine Company in 2000 and was the managing partner by 2004. For the past 23 years, he has been a wine consultant, with clients from all over the globe. He travels to wine regions to meet with producers, winemakers, winery owner...

Eva Martinelli is a young, innovative, and experienced winemaker from Tuscany. She has a degree in oenology, a deep understanding of terroir of Chianti Classico, and an unrivaled passion for the region. She has worked harvests in New and Old World countries, after which she returned home to follow her dream of being a winemaker in the region she loves most.  Photo: Eva Martinelli, Credit:Wine For...

This episode is all about the Leelanau Peninsula AVA of Michigan (a state in the midwestern US, on the Canadian border). Drew Perry, head of Production for  Simpson Family Estates , a family business located on the peninsula, joins to educate us about this very unique area, which has been making wine since the 1970s. We discuss the land, the climate, and the history of this region, which is an ess...

Agathe Bellanger from Le Brun de Neuville Champagne joins to discuss the Chardonnay-centric Côte de Sézanne, the role of growers and smaller co-ops, the terroir of this small sub-region, and the beautiful wines her group makes. I LOVE these wines, which focus on longer lees aging. Agathe Bellanger, Champagne Le Brun de Neuville.    Here are the lines of wines from Le Brun de Neuville :  The Côte :...

Campania was one of the most famous wine regions of antiquity. The pedigree of Fiano, Greco, and Aglianico are well documented in literature of the time (including Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historius)! These wines have a legacy of cultivation for more than 2000 years on this land, and since the 1700s, the Mastroberardino family have taken the lead in protecting and elevating the region and its w...

When we were on our last day of the Patron trip in Tuscany, we had our final dinner in Bolgheri at a fairly new winery, Le Vigne di Silvia . This farm is owned by a family that was as kind as they could be. It was everything you could hope for when visiting an Italian family -- great food, welcoming hospitality, homey vibe, and great wine!  Photo: Stefania Fuselli, left. Silvia Fuselli, right. Cre...

Alert: David is so awesome that he has offered us a discount on your purchase of GlasVin ! Use code: WINEFORNORMALPEOPLE  for 10% off ( Patrons, please see Patreon for a deeper discount!) We have never before had on a glassware producer because, in the past, it has been a very limited field. One company dominated and sometimes their products made no sense because, like many things in wine, there w...

This episode presents our first ever producer on from the northern Rhône – Aurelien Chirat from Vignobles Chirat . Photo: Aurelien Chirat. Credit: WFNP Located in the steep terraced slopes overlooking the Rhone, in the village of Saint Michel sur Rhône, Vignobles Chirat began in 1925 when Benoit Chirat harvested his first Syrah at the Domaine. In 1948, his son George joined and worked with Benoit...

Jean Pierre Foubet is the managing director of and chief communicator for Château Chasse-Spleen , the best estate in Moulis appellation of the Médoc. His wife, Celine Villars-Foubet is the owner of the estate, and together they have brought this château to new heights in quality and prestige.  Photo: Jean Pierre Foubet. Credit: ROLAND COIFFE & ASSOCIÉS   According to Jane Anson, in her book "Insid...

For decades, Aldo Vacca has been the Managing Director of the Produttori del Barbaresco , the best and most successful wine co-op in Europe. Through his leadership and guidance, the Produttori has taken its wines, and with it, the wines of Barbaresco beyond Piedmont in northeastern Italy, to world renown. Aldo's job at the Produttori is not just an occupation, it is his family legacy and a profess...