Is Natural Wine Dead? Part Deux with Joseph Shaughnessy

On today's show, we expand on our conversation about the state of natural wine and the discourse around it with Joseph Shaughnessy. Joseph is sommelier at the legendary MÄS restaurant in Ashland, OR, as well as a winemaker with his own label: Cru Siskiyou. Joseph graciously brings some counterpoints to our last episode's conversation with Alice Feiring and makes the case for more traditional wine expressions. Joseph and I dive into a dialectic debate ranging from the virtues of typicity, the difficulty of defining "natural wine" satisfactorily, left brain terroir vs. right brain terroir, and the "reverse Parkerization" that can be found in the natural wine movement. Joseph and I both love philosophical thought experiments, and it was such a blast going down the rabbit hole and stress testing some of our preconceived notions about wine and what we love about it. Needless to say, we gracefully settle the debate once and for all and heal all discord in the wider wine industry. You're welcome! This was also our first in-person episode, which allowed us to share a few bottles and chat about the experiential differences in an excellent French natural wine as compared to a delicious and well aged more traditional California Cab. 

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SHOW NOTES:

Joseph's Insta: southern_oregon_somm

Joseph's Wine: Cru Siskiyou

MÄS: https://masashland.com/

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Song - Jonathan Wilson: "Desert Raven" off the album Gentle Spirit - https://www.songsofjonathanwilson.com