In this episode we take a deeper look at VQA Ontario wines, and more specifically the Niagara Peninsula and its 10 sub-appellations. We begin to unravel the mystery of the cru, those single parcels of vineyard that have, or yet may rise, to the top of the heap of Ontario VQA wines. What features do they share? What makes them unique? With grapegrowing experience stretching back to the 1970s, it is becoming more clear which sites are best suited to which grape varieties. John and Sara speak to gu...
Oct 22, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Today we're exploring viticulture on top of the world, the wines of Mendoza which is the most prolific wine-growing region of Argentina. In fact, Mendoza holds 75% of the total vineyards in Argentina and the largest number of wineries in the country. In this episode, we’ll be talking about the diversity within Mendoza in all its corners from Lavalle to San Rafael so you’ll benefit from having a map on hand to follow along. They'll take a deep dive into the Uco Valley from the highest peaks in Gu...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Way back in episode 41 entitled Armenia: Stepping Back Through Time, the Wine Thieves introduced listeners to this fascinating country with 6100 years (at least) of winemaking history. Armenia is the site of the oldest known winemaking facility, the Areni-1 cave discovered in 2007 in the Armenian highlands in the region called Vayots Dzor. Be sure to listen for the full backstory. But despite that near-bottomless history, the modern Armenian wine industry is barely a decade old. The country is m...
Sep 11, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 44
What do a British diplomat, a Paris wine shop owner, and a Mosel winegrower have to do with Ontario wine? Listen in to find out - they all defined or shaped Ontario's wine industry in some way. In this rich episode on the history of the Ontario wine industry, you'll also hear many more legends, tales and genuine anecdotes archived from the mists of distant times in the voices of those who witnessed them. Be there for the death of labrusca wines, and the birth of an appellation system, the scourg...
Sep 02, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 43
This week the Wine Thieves embark upon the all-important discussion of riesling grown in Ontario, Canada. Ontario’s cool-climate wine growing regions enjoy special status as one of the few areas outside of northern Europe where Riesling is a signature grape variety. It is home to vineyards that are now over 40 years old and as of this year, riesling makes up 15% of all VQA Ontario production by volume. The early 1970s saw quality wine swell in Ontario, at which time riesling dominated the list o...
Aug 27, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 42
The world’s most ancient wine-producing region, with 6,000 years of history, is just beginning a modern winemaking renaissance. Why haven't you heard about Armenian wine? Unlike neighbouring Georgia, whose wine production has continued unbroken for millennia, Armenia’s ill-fated wine culture was drowned by successive waves of troubled historical events. But thanks to the country’s extreme climate, phylloxera-free volcanic soils, abundance of highly promising, antediluvian grape varieties such as...
Aug 13, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In our ongoing series featuring Femmes du Vin, we speak with Madeline Puckette, author, co-founder and wine education content creator of the wildly popular Wine Folly. Stemming from her own experience with formal wine education, Madeline decided to take a rather radical departure from formalized pedagogy, working instead within a visual framework to better communicate information to a broader audience. We'll discuss her uniquely unconventional and progressive perspective and how it translates in...
Aug 06, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 40
We’re back in the Napa Valley with stories about the early days of the re-birth of the Napa Valley from the 1970s and 1980s. We’ll hear about the hard work, the physical labour of establishing a vineyard, the uncertainty that hung over wineries at the time, and certainly the financial drain. John and Sara speak with two second-generation winemakers from the Napa Valley who both have stepped into the family business and taken the reins from their parents. It’s the sort of discussion and topic you...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 50
This is not an episode about Napa's “icon wines” or “icon wineries” whose labels, rarity, and high cost cause a frenzy among consumers resulting in exclusive waitlists for the privilege of purchasing a bottle. No, today we’re talking about the “star” vineyards that, in some cases, have become brands in their own right. In Part One, we spoke with Andy Beckstoffer, the winegrower who turned Napa Valley’s grower-winery relationship upside down. Today our illustrious guests include Paul Hobbs, Chris...
Jul 20, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Join the Wine Thieves in Napa Valley this week for the first of a special two-part series on the "grand crus" of Napa Valley, that is, the very best vineyards, the historic and more recently famous sites that produce Napa's finest wines. Today we're going straight to the source to talk to the Napa Valley’s, and probably all of California’s, most famous grape grower, a man who has created as powerful a luxury brand as anyone in Napa without ever having bottled a single commercial wine of his own,...
Jul 15, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this important episode we connect with two of the many women who make up the fabric of Napa Valley's wine trade. We speak with Megan Baccitich, a Healdsburg native and winemaker at the forward-thinking Geodesy Winery, and Ana Diogo-Draper, born raised, and educated in Portugal but in Napa for the last 15 years, and now Director of winemaking at Artesa. We explore why discussions about women in wine are still relevant and necessary, examine the importance of mentorship programs for women such ...
Jul 15, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 49
The Man, The Myth, The Legend. On occasion, the Thieves feature conversations with sommeliers and wine industry leaders with unique perspectives, who are great storytellers, and whose work they admire. In this episode, John and Sara speak with the one and only Paul Grieco, 'General and Manager' of Tribeca's Terroir wine bar in New York City, one of the finest not only in Manhattan but in the whole U.S. Canadian born, Grieco was initiated into hospitality at his family's restaurant La Scala, a To...
Jun 26, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Drink Chenin! In honour of Drink Chenin Day, June 18th 2021, the Wine Thieves make a special trip to South Africa, a global leader in Chenin Blanc production with 55% of the world's plantings. It’s the #1 most planted grape of any colour in the Cape Winelands, accounting for 17.5% of national acreage. The grape has a complicated history but is likely to have been established in the Anjou region of France as far back as the 9th century when it was known as Chenère. It later became known as Chenin...
Jun 18, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 38
The Wine Thieves are thrilled to be back on home soil in beautiful southern Ontario investigating what might just be Ontario's finest and most reliable grape variety, Chardonnay. Of the 51 varieties authorized for VQA production, chardonnay is number one by volume accounting for 13% of total VQA production. This episode gives you an overview of Ontario appellations and sub-appellations, and explanations of some of the major differences we've come to expect from this chameleon grape variety acros...
Jun 12, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 37
An episode devoted to a few lesser known topics relations to New York Wines including growing in the Hudson River Region, Lake Erie and the burgeoning urban winery scene. An historic growing region, the Hudson River Region is one of the oldest established AVAs in the US having received the designation in 1982. It's also home to the oldest commercial vineyard and the oldest continuously active winery, Brotherhood Winery (1839), having survived prohibition by making sacramental wine. Only a 45-min...
May 29, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 36
The Wine Thieves are back in Europe this spring, the ideal time of year to rediscover Portugal's Vinho Verde. Crisp, delicately perfumed, dry to off-dry, low in alcohol and sometimes with the merest prickle of effervescence, these are classic descriptors of this northern Portuguese specialty (and mostly white, but there are rosé and red versions, too). But as we'll discover, there is a great deal more to Vinho Verde than just refreshing spring sips. The Minho region, where Vinho Verde is made, i...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Continuing their journey through New York, John and Sara take a deeper dive into the red wines grown across the state in search of an elusive flagship variety. The Thieves make the call that New York's signature red grape must surely be cabernet franc, even if their wine producing friends are reluctant to say it themselves. Merlot may be more widely planted but it remains a Long Island specialty, pinot noir demands ultra-specific sites, cool syrah shows great promise but lacks critical mass for ...
May 16, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 34
May 7th is Sauvignon Blanc day but we'll be celebrating all week! Join the Wine Thieves at ground zero for new world sauvignon blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand. John and Sara explore its rise to prominence from the first plantings in the 1970s, through to its explosion on the international scene in the 1990s, and now to the current ‘third wave’ (a good third wave, that is) of producers that are breaking rules and leading the country in new stylistic directions. Joining the discussion is James Hea...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 33
The Wine Thieves' weakness for riesling compels them to tarry a little longer in the Finger Lakes region of New York (FLX). Riesling has become a signature grape of FLX, home to 85% of all the riesling planted in New York State. Here it delivers electric, laser-sharp wines the way we like them, bone-dry to sweet, from steep, lakeside slopes on gravelly, shaley, and loamy soils. In this episode, the Thieves get to the bottom of why riesling grows so well here, explore the divergent styles, discus...
Apr 30, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Last fall we interviewed some of the exceptional speakers of the Femmes du Vin Harvest Series and we are delighted to be able to present them to you now. Femmes du Vin is a grassroots women’s organization dedicated to promoting and amplifying the voices of all women in wine. Visit femmesduvin.org to find out more about their upcoming seminar series. In this episode we welcome two special guests: Femmes du Vin founder, new mom and award-winning sommelier Emily Pearce, who tells us about the impor...
Apr 25, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 31
The Wine Thieves continue their journey through New York, venturing into the best known wine region of the 4th largest wine producing state in the USA, the Finger Lakes AVA. Encompassing 11 slender, glacially carved, finger-like lakes running roughly north-south, this diverse region may be best known for its riesling, but John and Sara discover just how many more grape varieties are actually planted. From widely-praised cabernet franc, to delicate pinot noir, stony chardonnay, plus grüner veltli...
Apr 16, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 30
The world clearly loves New Zealand sauvignon blanc, but some industry insiders believe that pinot noir and chardonnay just might be the country's best expressions. In this episode the Wine Thieves speak to two of New Zealand's legendary producers, also counted among the world's best pinot and chard artists: Sherwyn Veldhuizen of Bell Hill in North Canterbury, and Blair Walter of Felton Road in Central Otago. Did you know that Pinot Noir is New Zealand's most widely planted red grape, accounting...
Apr 11, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 29
The New Zealand wine industry may be focused on just a handful of grapes, but in this episode, the Wine Thieves go hors-piste in search of the unexpected. New Zealand enjoys a surprisingly wide range of climate zones - more than you might think - making the country suitable for far more than just those headlining grapes, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and chardonnay. Last week we looked already at syrah, a small but quality player on the NZ wine scene, and this week we explore more diversity, going...
Apr 02, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 28
The Wine Thieves find themselves in a New York state of wine as they begin a new series investigating the disparate terroirs and wealth of wine styles in the only US state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Long Island is their first destination, a stone's throw from New York City. This maritime-influenced region was first planted with grapes in the 1600s, and has been producing wine commercially for almost 50 years. Its sandy-gravelly soils and moderate climate make it a ...
Mar 29, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Syrah might offer a quick return on investment in New Zealand but it may just be another grape that puts New Zealand on the world wine map in the future. In this episode the Wine Thieves are in conversation with Kate Radburnd of Radburn Cellars and Warren Gibson of Trinity Hill, two of New Zealand's top syrah producers, as they attempt to unlock the secret of this dynamic grape variety that is anything but sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir. Syrah is grown throughout the country from Wai...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 26
The earliest-known written record of Riesling dates back precisely to March 13, 1435 in Germany, in the cellar log of Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen in Rüsselsheim, a town just south of the Rheingau. The log notes a purchase for 22 shillings of “ seczreben Rießlingen in die wingarten – “Riesling cuttings for the vineyard”. That’s why March 13th has been officially designated as Riesling's big day, and this year, 2021, mark's its 586th birthday. Deutschland is its undisputed home, accounting for...
Mar 13, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 25
The Wine Thieves begin a new virtual adventure to Aotearoa , the "land of the long white cloud" , more commonly known as New Zealand. In this first episode, John and Sara get a handle on what sustainability means to Kiwi grape growers, 96% of which are certified by Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, or SWNZ. Along with their special guest, Dr. Ed Massey, General Manager Sustainability at Wines of New Zealand, they get to the bottom of the concept of Food (or Wine) Miles. The country is very fa...
Mar 04, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 24
The Wine Thieves get their hands dirty with a star quartet of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano producers to learn why and how soil matters most to sangiovese, more than any other production parameter. Weighing in from their estates in Montepulciano are: Andrea Lonardi of Tenuta Tre Rose, Luca Tiberini of Tiberini, Luca Corrado of Boscarelli and Antonio Zaccheo of Carpineto. Sangiovese can be delicate! It can also be hearty, tannic, high acid, soft and approachable. A chameleon that is impressively r...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 23
At some point in every wine lover's deepening obsession , they fall down the cartographic rabbit hole. If you've fallen prey to this map-centric preoccupation, don't miss this episode of Wine Thieves. John and Sara speak with mapmaker straordinario Alessandro Masnaghetti, founder of Enogea, publisher of the world's most detailed maps of wine regions. More than just practical tools, these are works of cultural significance, humanizing and preserving a living landscape. But they do also help us to...
Feb 20, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 22
This week the Wine Thieves head to Tuscany and more specifically to the DOCG of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Italy's first DOCG and "the king of all wines" according to poet Francesco Redi. They foolishly consider rolling an empty barrel 600m up to the top of the medieval hilltop town of Montepulciano (in the "annual Bravio delle Botti"), to take advantage of the sweeping views of the Val d'Orcia and Val di Chiana, the latter home to Chianina cattle and source of the legendary Bistecca alla Fio...
Feb 12, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 21
