I wanted to add a quick note on this episode to provide some context for our conversation. Partway through the live recording, I mentioned a rumor I had heard about a vineyard manager being “disappeared” by ICE that week. It took the conversation in a very important direction, but at the time we were recording, we still didn’t know much. Now we know his name: Moises Sotelo. This episode was recorded the night before the “No Kings” protests across the country, and this horrifying story is in larg...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 14
And now for something completely different . . . today Chad's recording solo in the guise of an imaginary public access radio show where he pairs wine with music. Imagine your college radio station, late at night, when they let pretty much anyone have their own show. The wine in question: the 2025 Iruai Summer Release, paired with songs from their respective playlists (available on Spotify). Pack your bags for a Summer excursion, hop in your jalopy, and tune into Moondog FM to help you plan how ...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 13
On today's show, we have the delightful Emily Weber and Nina Kravetz of Sonoma County's Big West Wine Fest. We explore the role of the wine fair in the natural wine movement, the complex task of getting a wine fair off the ground, and the inherent psychic terroir of bringing together all the elements of community, agriculture and art paramount to a successful festival before wine even enters the chat. If you're curious what to expect regarding the weather or the crowds the weekend of the event, ...
Jun 02, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 12
I'm honored to have on the show the chief wine critic of the New York Times, Eric Asimov. Eric's writing has been a huge inspiration to me since my earliest days in the wine industry, and has been formative to how I think about and appreciate wine. Eric wrote a really great piece in the fallout of some of the splashy reporting around recent big announcements regarding health and alcohol consumption, and I couldn't think of a better person to bring on the show to parse this complex topic with. We...
Mar 14, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 11
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 dif...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 10
I'm thrilled to have Alice Feiring on the show: a prolific writer and natural wine advocate, as well as a profound influence on my own burgeoning journey in the wine world. We chat about the interesting moment natural wine finds itself in, framed from the timeline of her first book when the term "natural wine" was obscure, to its unprecedented rise to a level worthy of co-opting and commodification, to our present day and the backlash the nebulous term "natural wine" is currently facing during t...
Jan 20, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Today on the show I'm excited to bring on Patrick Cappiello of Monte Rio Cellars. We talk about navigating the choppy waters of the difficult wine economy since his call to action this Spring to drink more domestic wine. We explore the unhelpful infighting going on in the progressive wine world over dogmatic use or disuse of sulfur and filtration. Patrick tells us about some of the producers he fell in love with as a young sommelier whose wines transcend traditional notions of terroir for him. I...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Summer Break is over, and the time has come for more podcasts. I had a blast catching up with my friend Daniel Souder of Iris Read — the coolest spot in Cincinnati after Skyline Chili. Daniel is a talented restaurateur and wine curator, who has exhibited thoughtful versatility navigating the chaotic food and wine world, and always in pursuit of celebrating quality and authenticity. We talk about the strange moment we're all adapting too in the wine industry, the mysterious fingerprint a winemake...
Sep 03, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In case you were confused by the title, Sara literally is recording this podcast on horseback. We also go deep on this precarious moment in the California wine industry, we talk about how our mentors wines carve their way into our souls, Evan regales us with his Dad's close encounter with GOAT MAN, and we let the Tarot decide the direction of H2 for Ruth Lewandowski Wines. ..................... Beaming to you live from the beautiful city of Telos, below the majestic Mount Shasta, behold the fift...
May 24, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 6
I'm so happy to have on the show, an old friend and inspiration: Martha Stoumen. Martha makes some of the purest and most joyful wines around, and brings a lot of warmth and wisdom to the conversation. We shoot the shit, and go deep on growing a natural winery while navigating a wine industry in constant flux. Is the "fashion" influence on natural wine good or bad? Can we drink less, and justify spending more on authenitc wine? Can a the taste of a wine preserve a cherished memory in amber? Tune...
Apr 19, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Taking a break from your regularly scheduled programming to hang out with you lovely people, and talk about the 2024 Iruai Spring Release (live on the website today!). The new wines include: 2023 'Shasta-Cascade' White 2023 Oregon Rosé 2023 'Road Opener' Savagnin Rose Musqué 2023 'Bloom Phase' Red 2022 'Steelhead Run' Syrah LINKS: Buy some wine: https://iruaiwine.com/wine...
Apr 02, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 4
So excited to have on the delightful Eric Moorer of Gemini in Washington D.C. and the "Crooked Crown" Substack. We talk about the state of wine retail, and hybridizing wine shops and bars. Eric has a really eloquent way of sensing the musicality in wine, and we explore the idea of "sonic terroir" in individual wines and wider wine regions. We also delve into his new substack: "Crooked Crown," and what inspired him to start it up. No spooky stories today, but Eric humored me and let me give him a...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 3
I'm so excited to have my friend Hardy Wallace on the show. It's no exaggeration to say that I most likely wouldn't be making wine today if it weren't for this man. Hardy has an infectious way of tapping into all the reasons wine should be celebrated and shared, and an ever pioneering perspective on what wine can be. Hardy and his wife Kate make the incredible Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! wines, and you can now go taste with them in person at their groovy tasting room in Sonoma. ................
Feb 14, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Beaming to you live from the beautiful city of Telos, below the magestic Mount Shasta, behold the first episode of Psychic Terroir . . . a wine podcast about the mystery of wine, and all of its wondrous and strange qualities that can't be deduced on an Advanced Sommelier Exam, or quantified into a magazine's number score. I couldn't ask for a more appropriate first guest, Adam Vourvoulis is a dear friend, and a fanstastic winemaker under the moniker Vin de California in Pasadena. Adam and his wi...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 1
