Wine for Normal People

After 14 years, I felt like it was probably time to do another show on Zinfandel! Known as America's heritage grape, the story of the quest for its European origins is like a mystery novel with an interesting end. It is a great grape and so historic! 

 
Photo: Frank Schulenbur...

Many, many years ago (like 15 years ago when I started the pod! ) I did a bunch of shows to define terroir. This was when there was a lot of controversy over whether or not terroir was "real", with people lining up on various sides – terroir is a bunch of bunk made up by snobby French people, wine from anywhere can be made to taste the same regardless of place, the winemaker is more important than the land...

Located about 2.5-3 hours southwest of Washington DC, in the southeast of the United States, the Monticello AVA is making world class wines that you need to know about!

Photo: Afton Mountain Vineyards. Credit: WFNP

Altho...

As our last in the series of the Greats of Bordeaux, I tackle Pomerol -- land of the hedonistic, silky, velvety, complex wines. The name of the game in Pomerol is terroir, and what the excellent, dedicated producers do to express it in the glass. 

I cover the history of Pomerol, its variable terroir and what that means for the wines, discuss the main grapes in the blend, viticulture and winemaking and then go over some of the top...

Thanksgiving is one of the most difficult meals to pair with, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try! 

Source: Canva

This year, for one of our weekly discussion questions I asked the Patrons how many wines ...

Just in time for the holiday season, I review the five ways to get fizz in a wine (on purpose) -- and the wines that result. I discuss regions and styles of different wines in each of the three major categories: Ancestral Method/Pétillant Naturel, Méthode Champenoise/ Metodo Classico, and the Martinotti/Charmat/Tank Method. 

From Col Fondo to Method Cap Classique to German Sekt, I offer you new possibilities and sparkling wine ty...

At the suggestion of Patron John D., in this show I give you a list of 10 great winter whites and review each in detail! I discuss the varied styles, since most regions have multiple versions of these wines, and how to get the bone warmers, not the light sippers. I offer food pairing ideas to boot!

From white Burgundy to Poşip to Savienníeres and Fiano, I've suggested a great white bottle for almost every week of winter! I hope y...

This time in the grape miniseries -- a refresh on one of my all time favorite grapes -- Riesling. This versatile grape has a long history of quality, and is highly misunderstood by most people.

I review the long and noble history of the grape, starting in 1435 and talk about how it wound up in places like the US and Australia, where it makes w...

Lying just south of the city of Bordeaux is one of the oldest winemaking regions in the Bordeaux AOC -- Graves. Graves, along with it sub appellation of Pessac-Leognan are covered in this show as two of the great of Bordeaux.  

Graves has a wine history stretching back to 100 BCE when the Romans first settled this area and realized that its gravelly (graves=gravel) so...

I happen to be in Sicily with a group of Patrons (this could be you if you join Patreon!). 

While I was in Verona at Wine2Wine, in 2019, I had the honor to speak with Alessio Planeta, President at Assovini Sicilia and Owner at Planeta Winery

For five centuries and through seventeen generations, Planeta has been active in changing and improving agriculture in Sicily. Alessio Planeta has spent his life dedicated to the study of...

This time I revisit a show from long ago on Wine Etiquette. In this Back-to-Basics episode, I cover the three main places you would use etiquette - a dinner party, a restaurant, and a tasting room. 

I address: 

The Dinner Party: What to bring a host, a good welcome drink, whether or not to open a bottle that a guest brings,  the etiquett...

You will get no better primer on Santa Barbara wine country than in the show. Wes Hagen comes on to school us on his region. 

Ask anyone in Santa Barbara wine about Wes Hagen and they'll tell you he is a legend. He has worked in Santa Barbara wine for 30+ years as a vineyard manager, winemaker, hospitality specialist, wine educator, and sommelier. He has run prestigio...

It's been 13 years since I've done a grape miniseries on Tempranillo, so it was high time! This grape has come a long way in a decade +, proving that it has more nuance, terroir driven finesse, and versatility than it gets credit for. 

Tempranillo is now the third most widely planted wine grape in the world, at 231,000 ha/570,000 acres. It is not widely grown outside ...

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 groupin...

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...

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.

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