Inside the Bunghole...A Journey through Wine

Inside the Bunghole...A Journey through Wine

A deep exploration into all things wine, with a fun, friendly approach. From grapes, vines, regions, pairings, to the importance of the correct stem ware. Raise a glass with your hosts, Pam and James as they share with you in a genuine and inviting manner. You'll get good practical information, while learning the how's and why's without the snobbery.

Episodes

March 18, 2025 13 mins

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Welcome to Season 5!  Who would have thunk?!  We start this season off with a bang as we are interviewing Angela Mondavi...not only an accomplished 4th generation wine maker, from an iconic family in American viticulture, but she is an ass kicking entrepreneur, with several businesses under her belt, of course they pertain to the family business of making AMAZING wines.  The Mondavi family has a checkered past where 1...

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James and Pam had an amazing time at the 2024 Palm Springs Food and Wine Festival, put on by Hocker Productions.  Join them as they look back on the interviews with some great wine families, wine experts they met and discovered there.  Make sure to visit palmspringsfoodandwine.org if you are planning a visit to Palm Springs in the fall.  This event is a MUST if you are going to be in the area.  The foodies (and winos)...

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Have you ever thought about a career where drinking wine was actually a necessary part of your job description?  Well, look no further!  Scott Halterlein, who is a wine rep for Breakthru Beverage Group, one of the very top distributors in the US, gives us the ins and outs, ups and downs of what it takes, besides a liver of steel, to become a successful beverage distributor.  A very fun show, learning about some of the...

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The tasting room of Auteur wines is exquisitely unique...a beautiful, quaint bungalow purchased from the 1915 Sears and Roebuck catalog and restored at its current location in the heart of downtown Sonoma, a little slice of history!

What is better than this nostalgic location are the wines that Auteur Wines is producing!  Specializing in Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, we tasted wines from sixteen vineyards that...

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On our recent road trip to Sonoma, we had an enchanting visit to Three Sticks tasting home, the 1842 Vallejo Casteñada Adobe  in downtown Sonoma.  We were equally captivated by the charm and history of the downtown area, and the amazing wines of 3 sticks!  We got to sit down with Director of Winemaking, Ryan Prichard who is known for crafting distinctive estate pinot noir and chardonnay wines that showcase Three Stick...

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Meet Matthew Villard, the passionate owner and winemaker behind MCV. He is on a mission to create a name for Petite Sirah wines, and doing a great job at it!  His love for wine blossomed around the family dinner table, fostered by his European-minded parents' perspective on alcohol. Matt pursued his wine education at the University of California, Davis.

This is truly a family affair, Mathew, along with h...

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At some point, serious wine lovers will have the same thought..."What if I quit my job and start a winery"?  Some will dwell on it for years, some for only a few seconds, and then there are those like Michael and Charlie Havill who actually do it.

Still committed to growing and providing grapes to award-winning wineries, Bella Grace now has a fully-operation winemaking facility, including a custom-designed an...

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Wow!  What a legend!  Gary Eberle not only shares his great wines, he also shares his rich history from Pennsylvania to Paso, and his part in making Paso Robles a destination wine region in California!

Gary released his first Cabernet Sauvignon in 1979, depicting the now iconic boar logo, which pays homage to the German origin of the name Eberle, which means "small boar".  

If you are lucky...

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Pam, James and (introducing for the 1st time as a host) German , who has been a guest, fan and supporter of Inside the Bunghole since the very beginning, are off to Paso Robles.  Our first stop is Tooth & Nail.  

Join us as we sit down with Jeremy Leffert, Director of Winemaking.  We find out how Jeremy got in to wine making and about his history with Tooth & Nail.  We also talk about the history of P...

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Welcome to our 4th season!  This year we kick it off with a field trip to Grape Expectations, where James and I and a few other bungholers took the winemaking class and ended up with a lot of knowledge and a few cases of our very own, and if I do say so myself, very delicious wine!  We made a Super Tuscan made with grapes sourced just outside of Napa; 67% Sangiovese, 14% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Syrah.  ...

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James and I are on a field trip to Stockton and caught up with Astronaut  turned wine maker, Jose Hernandez.  We first tried his wines at a wine tasting at La Fe, our regular haunt in Palm Desert, and decided we needed a re-visit.  His story is fascinating...so fascinating that Amazon decided to produce a feature film on his life.  Just released on Amazon Prime, titled A Million Miles Away, is his out of this world jo...

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If you are around the Palm Springs area on Veteran's Day come join Pam, James, Don, German, Lisa Wherry and Jeff Hocker at Palm Springs Food and Wine Festival – Saturday, Nov 11!

Explore the finest international cuisine from world renown food purveyors and award-winning chef owned restaurants, watch LIVE celebrity and emerging chef and mixology demonstrations, experience elevated wine and spirits tastings, talente...

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Oh BOY!  What happens when 3 great friends, and several bottles of wine meet in one crazy evening?  Well, this episode of Inside the Bunghole is what happens!

Don gifted Pam a bottle of wine with the explicit instructions NOT TO DRINK for 5 years, and Pam actually listened!  Listen, if you dare, as they uncork a 2011 French Bordeaux  to see if this bottle of wine aged well, and if these clowns are even sober ...

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Today we interview Sandra Gomes-Rocha of Diniz Cellars,  whose missions is to bring wines from her homeland of Portugal to the US.  Diniz Cellars is a passion project as Sandra's goal is to expose the talent and history of Portuguese winemaking to the palates of Americans!  In Portugal, wine is part of the family, part of everyday life, and something always to be shared.  They are beautiful and unusual wines from...

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WOW!!  What an interview with the incomparable Jon Simmons of Hugo's Cellar restaurant in the 4 Queens, downtown Freemont Street in Las Vegas.  Jon shares not only his knowledge and approach to wine, but boy, oh boy, does he have some amazing stories of Las Vegas, the mob, Sinatra...just to name drop a few!  This episode is longer than most, but you will be captivated by his amazing career, and his no-nonsense, d...

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Place your seatbacks up and put your trays in the upright position as we taxi the runway to one of the most unique destinations for wine tasting around, Bouschet wine bar!  In a retro strip mall in South Palm Springs, CA there is a little wine bar with big surprises inside!  Join us as we chat it up with the owners Dennis Costa and Tom Beatty, each bringing their passion and knowledge to wow their customers!

...

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You can enjoy a nice bottle of wine, but once you know what REALLY goes in to making wine, you can truly appreciate all of its nuances.  Well, we couldn't call ourselves true students of wine without exploring what it takes to make our own now, could we?  Although we believed that anything we made would likely be barely drinkable, at best, we still felt the need to pursue this noble craft! 

How surprise...

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Welcome to 2023!  Inside the Bunghole's Pam, Don and James visit their favorite local wine bar in the Coachella Valley, La Fe on the World famous El Paseo!  We interview one of the owners, German to find out how and why Richard and he decided to go into unchartered territory and open a wine bar!  We'll talk about the pitfalls and challenges of a pandemic and growing a business in a trying economy, to new and...

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Imagine drinking wine for a grape cause...your cause!  We are joined by winemaker, Mari Wells Coyle from One Hope Wines, which has a totally unique and fun way to learn about wines, while making money for your favorite charity!

Think Tupperware party, but MUCH, MUCH more fun!  One Hope has set up a business model where you throw a wine tasting party, sampling the amazing wines of One Hope, and proceeds go to ...

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We had a fantastic adventure in Valle de Guadalupe in Baja Norte, less than an hour east of Ensenada.  We had the absolute pleasure of staying at the beautiful airbnb Nativo, which, unbeknownst to us, had such a wonderful winery, and winemaker Benjamin Peña Guerrero,  with a unique story of how he changed careers mid-life from being a successful architect, who designed many of the wine cellars in Valle and caught the ...

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