A podcast for people who like wine but not the snobbery that goes with it. I talk about wine in a fun, straightforward, normal way to get you excited about it and help you drink better, more interesting stuff. About half the shows feature guests and are informal but educational discussions between me and a passionate wine friend –they aren't interviews. All guests are personal friends or friends of friends in wine so like any conversation between friends, we’ll talk back and forth, interrupt ...
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Ep 546: The Rioja Series - the Rioja Oriental Zone with Raquel Perez Cuevas of Bodegas Ontañón
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This show is the final in a multi-part, in-depth series on the Rioja DOCa in which we have looked at the three major zones of Rioja through the eyes of top producers to tell us about their areas and the challenges they face. Photo: Raquel Perez Cuevas. Credit: Bodegas Ontañón Facebook Page This time, Raquel Pérez Cuevas, 4th generation family membe…
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This is the second installment of an in-depth series on the Rioja DOCa, where I do a close look at the three major zones of Rioja. I host top producers in each show to tell us about their areas and the challenges they face. In Episode 544, we heard about the Rioja Alta zone and this week we hear from Tao Platón of Rioja Alavesa, who presents a comp…
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Ep 544: The Rioja Series - the Rioja Alta Zone with Guillermo de Aranzabal Bittner of La Rioja Alta S.A.
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This show kicks off a multi-part, in-depth series on the Rioja DOCa. We will look at the three major zones of Rioja in the podcasts that follow. In each, I host top producers to tell us their perspectives on their zones and on Rioja at large. To get you up to speed before my conversation with Guillermo de Aranzabal Bittner, the Deputy General Direc…
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I wasn't sure I was going to do a Thanksgiving episode this year, but last minute, I felt inspired (and was encouraged by some of you -- thanks especially to my dear friends and your fellow patrons Claudette C and Tina K) so I decided to make it happen. This one is short, sweet, and to the point! I offer seven main wine types and give examples of e…
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With the holidays coming, I thought it would be a good time to do a show on a different kind of sparkling wine, so this time I cover Italy’s premier traditional method sparkling wine, Franciacorta. Map: Consorzio per la tutela del Franciacorta Franciacorta is a high quality Italian sparkling wine made in the area of Brescia in Lombardy (the Italian…
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In this show we answer a question I get asked all the time: how do I even begin to approach a wine event with dozens of producers? Patron Monica G. from @wineshenanigans and @wineopardy (and the Celebrity Wines podcast!) joins to help me break it down! We cover: Finding a worthwhile event to attend Preparing for the event -- both from a logistics a…
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ENCORE Presentation: Ep 396 - A Tasting of Halloween Candy Pairings (and why candy and wine don't mix)
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From the archives, I am relaunching the funniest show I've ever done: Ep 396 -Halloween Candy Pairings with Patrons Kelsey and Colby Eliades. We scoured the internet to find commonly recommended pairings, so we could actually try them and tell you if any of these things actually work. The news isn’t great (candy and wine are HORRIBLE together), but…
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Ep 540: Chile Overview -- The Update
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I haven't done an overview show on Chile in more than a decade so this show is an update on the unbelievable wines of Chile -- I cover new regions, new viticulture and styles, and all the wonderful things this South American gem has to offer. If you haven't had Chilean wine in a while, it's time to take another look. Especially in the last decade, …
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Ep 539: The Grape Mini-Series -Sauvignon Blanc Refresh
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This is the third in the series of Grape Miniseries Refreshes to complete the trifecta of Cabernet Sauvignon and parents – Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. The short of it: Sauvignon blanc has character!! Love it or hate it, you know what you’re getting when you have a wine made from this grape. Whether it be citrusy, acidic, and minerally from …
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The Cabernet Sauvignon refresh was episode 535, so I thought that on the heels of that it was time to do a refresh Cab Sauv's parents. This week is the Cabernet Franc refresh and next week will be Sauvignon Blanc, so you can have the full picture of the parents and the offspring. Cabernet Franc is an underrated grape and things seem to be changing …
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According to all the data – both anecdotal and industry –white wines have staged a huge comeback and are on the way to becoming more popular than red wines. The good news is that there are so many underrated, undiscovered white wines that you can enjoy year-round. Many of us drink seasonally, and when the weather cools down, we shift right to reds.…
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Ep 536: Cinsault Master Alex Milner of Natte Valleij - A winning breakaway for South African Wine
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In this show I host Alex Milner from Natte Valleij. He is my first South African guest and the first Cinsault-focused producer I've had on the show. Photo: Alex Milner. Credit: Natte Valleij Instagram I first learned about Natte Valleij from a local importer who presented the wine as an option for a wine dinner I put together with a restaurant part…
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Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted wine grape in the world. Loved by winemakers and wine drinkers alike, this grape has the potential to make wines with excellent fruit, power, complexity, and structure with outstanding aging ability. In this show, I do a refresh of a show I did 11 years ago (!), discussing Cabernet in all its glory – from the …
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In this show, I continue to take a page out of my own book -- literally! In this back to basics show, I return to review basic wine vocabulary from chapter 1 of the "Wine For Normal People" book and introduce a new series that I'll be doing now that I'm hosting the show alone... This Back to Basics series is my updated take on some basics, without …
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In this show, I take a page out of my own book -- literally! In this back to basics show, I review some basic wine vocabulary from chapter 1 of the Wine For Normal People book and introduce a new series that I'll be doing now that I'm hosting the show alone... Taylor Swift has "Taylor's version" of her songs, and similarly, this Back to Basics seri…
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This is an encore presentation of a wonderful show I did with Serge Doré, importer of French wine (and American via Quebec…) and friend of the podcast, joins us to talk about the Loire Valley. It's especially relevant for those of you who are part of the Wine Access/WFNP wine club, as the "All Serge, all the time" shipment is heading your way soon!…
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Ok, I know this is an obscure show and I promise we’ll get back to mainstream stuff next week, but there is a reason for doing this show now. PLUS, it's super dorky stuff and that's awesome! I was putting together the Wine Access shipment with Serge Doré that is going out soon and one of the wines was from the small appellation of Saint Mont. I pri…
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For more than 30 years, dei Principi di Spadafora has been quietly churning out some of Sicily’s best wines in a tiny enclave of Virzì, about 35 miles southwest of Palermo, on Sicily’s west coast. Photo: Francesco and Enrica Spadafora. Courtesy of dei Principi di Spadafora The Spadafora family has been in Sicily since 1230, and their family came fr…
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Ep 530: The Evolution of the Modern Tasting Room with Jim Morris -- The history, changes, rising costs, possible future, & what it means to us
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If you are an avid follower of the show you know that my friend Jim Morris, hospitality guru, and wine industry veteran has been on the show many, many times. His first appearance was on Episode 30 and he has appeared on Episodes 130, 230, and now 530 – as I say, he is the man of the 30s! Photo: Courtesy of Jim Morris This time Jim joins to pull th…
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Ep 529: The Best Wine Storage Solutions with Certified Kitchen Designer and Patron Robin Rigby Fisher
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This week I welcome Patron Robin Rigby Fisher, a Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer and Certified Aging in Place Specialist. Robin has a kitchen design firm in the Portland, Oregon metro area (called Robin Rigby Fisher Design). She has been creating award winning kitchen and baths for more than 28 years and she comes to tell us about the va…
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Washington State is the second-largest wine producing state in the US with about 1,050 wineries making over 17 million cases of wine. In this show I cover the largest sub region of the Columbia Valley AVA, Yakima Valley AVA (and its sub-AVAs). Map: Yakima Valley Tourism Yakima is in south-central Washington, at 46˚ N latitude. In 1983 it became Was…
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Wait, I thought you only covered wine in this podcast? I do! And guess what? Vermouth is wine. Vermouth is an aromatized, fortified wine flavored with botanicals like roots, herbs, barks, flowers, seeds, and spices. Although aromatized beverages have been around for millennia, vermouth's origins lie in the Kingdom of Savoie in the 1700s, first in T…
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Right now, it’s so hot in much of the country, it’s hard to get creative about anything, let alone a new wine that may provide some refreshment. That’s what I’m here for! Ok, maybe not just me…this is a list that comes from the Patrons in answer to our weekly discussion question about what they drink when the weather gets hot. I added a few in for …
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Cinsault or Cinsaut is a grape you’ve probably rarely heard of, but if you drink Provence or southern French rosé you have it all the time! The grape is planted widely in the south of France, but the grape’s biggest champions are in the New World, where Cinsault is getting new attention for making light, acidic, refreshing reds. This is a warm-clim…
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Ep 524: The Top 12 Grapes Saved from the Brink of Extinction
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There are a seemingly endless number of wines made from grapes from all over. But, surprisingly, what remains in the world is just a fraction of what once existed. Before downy mildew, powdery mildew, phylloxera, and the World Wars of the 20th century hit the shores of Europe, destroying vineyards of native vines, there were likely hundreds of thou…
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This show chronicles my recent trip with a group of Patrons to Sicily with my travel partner tour with Tourissimo. I take you through our odyssey, which had us traversing the entire island from west in Palermo to the center of the island to the southeast in Vittoria to Mount Etna. I discuss the themes I noticed throughout like interesting climatic …
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Ep 522: 8 Top Wine Movies with Patron Bevis S.
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This week I welcome long-time Patron and listener, Bevis Sydney, who is not only a wine educator in the UK, but also a movie buff. He and I give our views on the top 8 wine movies, according to a poll of the Patron community and general consensus from the press on the top wine movies. We discuss: · Sideways (2004) · A Good Year (2006) · Wine Countr…
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As part of the series on the The Greats (the great wines of the world), I cover the complex world of Hungarian Tokaji. As with all dives into “The Greats,” I spend the first half of the show delving into the history of Tokaj and then discuss winemaking, the grapes, and the complex way in which this wine is made. Some notes that may be hard to under…
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Ep 520: The historic, urban wines of Vienna (yes, the city!) with Alex Zahel of Weingut Zahel
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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 h…
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For this show I ask my friend with Brian Callahan, small vineyard farmer and co-owner of Crux Winery in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma (the Middle Reach though – the warmer part, so they do Rhône varietals) to tell us what a year in a Sonoma vineyard looks like. He takes us through what he has been doing for the last 18 years in his vineyard, a…
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These categories of "better for the earth" wines are technical, tricky, and ever-evolving, so I felt that it was time to do a comprehensive update! In this show, I do best to break it all down in as simple a way as possible…I cover: Biodynamics Organics Sustainable farming Regenerative agriculture And then, quickly, the loose ends – vegan wine and …
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Earth Day Encore: Ep 440: Jason Haas of Tablas Creek on Regenerative agriculture, alternative packaging, & improving the environmental footprint of wine
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This is a special re-release of this very relevant and important show on Earth Day. Jason Haas, perhaps the greenest guy in in wine, joins to discuss the challenges the wine industry faces in becoming gentler on the earth. From regenerative agriculture (which is way less woo woo than biodynamics!) to sustainable transport and packaging, we cover th…
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Tax Day in the US has come and gone. Many of us are getting a refund, so if you have a little extra change, here are some great wines to consider. A few on the list are... Burgundy in red and white: Pinot and Chard Pomerol in Bordeaux Syrah from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater in Walla Walla Washington Old Vine Zinfandel from Sonoma, Napa, a…
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Ep 516: Celebrity Wines Explained
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This week friend, listener, Patron, and wine diva @wineshenanigans and the wine game show @Wineopardy Monica G. joins to talk with me about wines made by celebrities, aka Celebrity Wines. We run through what they are, how many of them are made and then we discuss specifics. We wrap with our analysis of whether or not we would recommend buying these…
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Ep 515: The Origin Story of Oak Barrels -- (plus how barrles are used, reused, and how sustainable they really are)
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Inspired by a question from friend and Patron Amy Payton, this week I cover the history of oak barrels. I go from animal skins in Mesopatamia to modern day barrels, talking about how winemakers decided that oak was the best vessel for wine. I answer her follow up questions too -- How are barrels obtained by winemakers? What happens to them after th…
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This week I explore one of my favorite grapes of all time, Fiano! The grape makes some of the most exquisite wines you could imagine -- whites with layered complexity, age-ability, and unadulterated deliciousness. I discuss all aspects of the grape: The historical overview of the grape and how Mastroberardino saved it from obscurity (Check out my p…
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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 o…
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In recent years, there has been a lot of buzz around “volcanic wines.” The term makes it sound as if these are wines that are spawned from a volcano, but in reality these are wines that many people believe have special qualities because they grow on volcanic soils. In this show, I define the types of volcanoes before discussing the ecosystems they …
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The Hunter Valley is the OG -- the first place where Australian grape growing took place. For 200 years there has been continuous winegrowing and winemaking among the rolling hills and green valleys, which are peppered with iconic wineries, many of which have been around for more than 100 years. Although other types of wines are made, the Hunter ha…
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Ep 510: Virginia’s Iconic Barboursville Vineyards with Winemaker & GM Luca Paschina
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I welcome to the show, again, and this time for a much longer and more thorough conversation, Luca Paschina, the head winemaker and GM of Barboursville, the historic property in the Monticello AVA of Virginia. Luca was on the show in 2016, originally on episode 162. Barboursville has a long history, which starts around the same time as its current …
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As a follow up to Felicity Carter's show last week, in which we mentioned referenced the work of Christopher Snowdon often, I am re-releasing Episode 274 to give another perspective. This was originally released April 29, 2019. We raised all sorts of red flags in this show and Christopher has been consistent on his blog about how moderate drinking …
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Ep 509: Felicity Carter Exposes the Jaw-dropping Truth of Who is Guiding Global Wine & Health Policy
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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 …
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Ep 508: Armenian Wine - Ancient Grapes, Modern Innovation, True Excellence with Aimee Keushguerian of Zulal & Keush
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In this show we explore the world of Armenian wine, which has roots in the ancient world and may be the oldest winemaking region in Europe. To tell us about these wines, the terroir, and the regions, I welcome Keush Managing Director & Zulal Founder, Aimee Keushguerian. Aimee educates us on Armenian wine and tells us about the projects she and her …
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Food and wine pairing is complex. But as many of us are trying to eat healthier, more plant-based diets it becomes an exercise in frustration. Traditional outlets barely ever talk about how to pair red wine with vegetarian dishes, beyond eggplant and mushrooms. Wendy Narby, a wine educator and writer in Bordeaux and Sally Evans, a winemaker and own…
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This time we explore the hidden gems of Bordeaux -- the Côtes de Bordeaux -- which make superb wines that few people know about. With an easy-drinking style, the Côtes de Bordeaux are the hidden, affordable wines of Bordeaux. These historic vineyards are a collection of AOCs around eastern Bordeaux on sunny hillside slopes that grow a majority of M…
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It's another edition of the "Alternatives to a Fave" series! This time: Grenache/Garnacha. As an extension of the Grape Mini-series, we come up with lists of wines that lovers of a specific grape can try as alternatives. Grenache/Garnacha comes in many different forms -- as a juicy, cherry-berry standalone grape in Spain, as lighter blender in the …
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Ep 504: A Normal Wine Person Perspective on Greek Wine -- Patron Lindsey Miller Shares Her Love and Knowledge of Greece
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For the first time, we have a Wine For Normal People Patron on the show to share her passion and expertise! This week is a follow-up to last week’s weedier podcast on Greece. This time, long time listener and friend, Lindsey Miller, joins as our first Patron guest, to talk about her passion for and knowledge of Greek wine. She helps bring this topi…
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This show is an update to our previous shows on Greece. We hope to get you (re)started on your exploration of this ancient winemaking nation that has been reborn in recent years. Greek wines are unique, terroir-driven, and they harken back to the nation's ancient past and the very foundations of wine as a major part of the history in western civili…
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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 bu…
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Ep 499: The Impacts of Smoke on Wine with Professor Tom Collins of Washington State University
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Professor Thomas Collins (yes, his name is Tom Collins) is a foremost authority in the US on smoke in the vineyards. After a long career in research and enology at large wineries in New York and California, and a Ph.D. at UC-Davis, Dr. Collins became an assistant professor of grape and wine chemistry in the Viticulture and Enology Program at Washin…
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