Take a Sonoma County boy and transplant him high in Texas where he can grow grapes and make Texas Wine. Ricky Taylor has some great stories about the trials and tribulations of trying to grow his dreams in the high country of Texas at 5400ft elevation. Needless to say we had fun. Enjoy [EP228] Alta Marfa @altamarfa Altamarfa.com Ricky@altamarfa.com
The guys head into the eastern hills of Napa's Oakville District. Second generation winemaker Maya Dalla Valle let Brian, Sam and John behind the curtains of her family's esteemed Dalla Valle Vineyards estate, where there are no public tastings and there's a waiting list to get the wines. Maya talks about growing up in Napa, the legend of her namesake wine and her path back to the family business. The wines are fantastic and corgi content is top-notch! [EP227]
I don't think there's another guest I quite so enjoy having on the show than Bob Cabral. Back in the days of "Heard it through the Grapevine" Radio show on KSVY I had Bob as a regular guest. And he or Three Sticks have been on The Wine Makers podcast several times. He's just that much fun to talk with. Talk about somebody with a clear definition of what life should be like, Bob's own line Bob Cabral Wines is a beautiful and complete full circle. He set out to achieve this and he is doing so. Bea...
This week we sit down with “TJ” from Ownroot Collective, a wine club that shines a light on small producers, most of which have other jobs that support their passion. Terra showcases two wine makers each month and offers their wines to her subscribers. Then they do a Zoom where they are able to meet the wine maker and ask questions. This is a very unique business model and the wines are carefully selected, each bottle we tried was amazing. Our friend Ben Larks from Idle Cellars, a small wine mak...
This week Kimberly T. Johnson from Philosophy Winery & Vineyard located in Baltimore City Maryland joins us on the podcast. Kimberly, winemaker started Philosophy wines along with her friend and partner Sommelier Denise Roles Matthews in 2018. Working in the Maryland wine industry for over a decade, in many capacities she discovered that wine was her passion. She had finally found her purpose, exploring distinct agriculture (land & soil) and producing high quality wine that highlights di...
Rebekah’s passion for winemaking began when she visited Napa Valley with her parents at just 16, being from Washington DC she didn't grow up around wineries but that trip and a friend of her fathers explaining winemaking and wine tasting to Rebekah piqued her interest. The discussions from that visit left such a lasting impression that she went on to pursue a dual degree in chemistry and biology at Macalester college with the dream of becoming a winemaker. When she started gaining practical expe...
Pushing 80 degrees on a February day at the tasting house wondering if we're just plunging headlong into Summer. Good lord! Jasmine Egan joins Sam, Bart, Brian and John for a Spring Release Dane Cellars party and they cover all thing wine for you organic listeners. Enjoy [EP222]
Viticulturist Jake Neustadt is a bay area native who was attending UC Davis, studying journalism and international relations. Like other stories that we have heard he discovered viticulture and winemaking and how that maybe this was to be his career path. Starting at Rock Wall Winery, some time in New Zealand and then to Ridge winery where he dove deep into old vines. But it's his time at Bedrock that has brought him to the podcast. What likely started out as a conversation about the Old Vine Pa...
Randy Hester, creator of the Lightning wine brand, has taken over Austin Texas by storm. With his family name carried on with the C.L. Butaud line and Frenchy's Rose, Randy and Brooke made the leap from Sonoma to Austin and did it right. 100% Texas wines is obviously a Really good thing in Austin and Randy tells all of the stories on this week's show. We sampled lots of great wines and heard and told lots of old friend stories. Enjoy. clbutaud.com Facebook @clbutaud Instagram @clbutaud Randy's I...
Delmas/SJR Vineyard had a problem. It's a prime Syrah vineyard in the The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA in Walla Walla Valley but extreme winter temperatures were wreaking havoc on the vines and threatening the viability of the vineyard. Rather than keep doing what everyone else did, Brooke Delmas Roberts came up with a radical new way of pruning and training the vines-MHT or Mini Head Trained vines were born. Hear all about their vineyard, their wines and this premier OREGON appellatio...
Lyle Fass is devoted to wine and sneakers. He's devoted, emotionally, scientifically and financially. His devotion would verge on manic if he wasn't so good at it. Never one to shy away from a story or an opinion, Lyle joins the Wine Makers via Zoom from Manhattan and breaks down, what he looks for in wine, how he finds and how he sells and tells us what he really thinks about natural wine...and Nikes. [EP 218]
This week's show is brought to you by Zoom. Yes we are temporarily recording by Zoom because of COVID worries, but hope to be back live with a new guest next week. This week we opened it up to listener questions, a vineyard update and Sam has more nice words about the loss of Phillpe Cambie. Thanks to all of your support and we look forward to a great year. [EP217] Cheers!
Ever wonder why one wine label hits you and others just don't? Or how a label can actually represent what's really in the bottle with all of the wine's particular characteristics? Well, Tim Gatto has a lot of answers for you and it's a fascinating discussion. We explore how winemakers hit And miss the mark everyday and what you should look for in the wine aisle. [EP216] Enjoy! tim@gatto.design gatto.design
To say Hardy thinks about wine different than all of us is a understatement. He seems thinks about life differently. The amount of energy, soul and excitement he has and spreads when talking about wine is infectious. Hardy shares stories about how he went from high tech to low intervention wines and now to Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!!! [EP215] Grab a glass of wine and hang on tight. Cheers! www.winecoyeah.com @winecoyeah @dirtysouthwine
This week on the show we talk with Brad and Glenn about their time working for Mr. Mondavi. Brad got his winery job at Charles Krug working harvest in 1967, while there he accepted a second job working at the then new Robert Mondavi Winery in 1970. Perhaps the only person who has worked in both Mondavi cellars at the same time. Shortly thereafter Brad was promoted to Cellar Foreman, it was shortly after that time he interviewed Glenn Workman for a cellar position, after an extensive interview Gl...
Ambassador James D. Zellerbach founded Hanzell Vineyards in 1953 with a vision to create wines that could compete on the world stage and he picked an amazing piece of property in Sonoma Valley. Over the past 68 years there have been some stellar teams at Hanzell. Today we talked with part of the current Hanzell Farm team. Both Jason and Brandons path to Hanzell is best told in their own words. Which is the story of how Hanzell has evolved from being a vineyard and a winery to a farm that continu...
Will Bucklin and his family have long and notable history in Sonoma Valley. However that history is dwarfed by the history in their 150 year old vineyard, Old Hill Ranch. While tasting through the incredible line up of wines Will makes from the vineyard his mother and step-father saved from demolition nearly 50 years ago, we tried to capture some of te storied history of both the place and the people. Mostly we ended up talking about Grenache—and after nearly 2 and half hours we were all left wa...
Returning to her second home from France, Isabel brought the rains, her wit and wisdom back to Winery Sixteen600. Isabel is the winemaker for A Duex Tetes (along with Philippe Cambie and Phil Coturri) and we tasted samples from Oakville and the Rossi Ranch Grenache from the latest harvest. Phil Coturri joins us a for a bit of organic farming insights.We give thanks for our listing in Wine Business Monthly as 2021 Industry leaders that made us all feel quite good. Enjoy the show! [EP211]
You might know Gustavo as the Winemaker at Scribe here in Sonoma Valley. Did you know that he and his wife Jackie their own wines under the Orixe Sotelo label? Focusing on Spanish varieties grown here in California. Or as they say it "singular wines from Alta California". This is a good one and we hope you will not miss the chance to try their inaugural wines. www.sotelowines.com @sotelo.wines @tintodecalifornia
Those of us in the wine business know this company and likey access something they publish on a daily basis. Looking for a job? Want to know the latest insider news? How about an in depth report on barrel producers, yeast cultures or on supply chain issues. This is the place to start. Cyril Penn (Editor in Chief) has followed the U.S. wine industry as editor of Wine Business Monthly for nearly two decades. In that time, Wine Business Monthly has emerged as the leading provider of information to ...
This week the guys converse about a wide variety of topics and answer listeners questions. Did you know archaeologists have unearthed a 1500 year old wine production facilty in Israel ? Does Petrus taste better after spending a year on the International Space Station ? Did the SF Giants collude with weathermen in LA to knockdown Dodgers potential home runs ? We cover it all this week. Enjoy the show!!! [EP208] winerysixteen600.com danecellars.com sonomasommwines.com
Sam, Bart and John are joined by Tanner Walle from Valley Bar and Bottle and cover all things harvest, shortages and Fall Releases from Dane and Sixteen600. Lots of listener questions and the Bix Clan is heading for Sonoma! [EP207]
This week we are celebrating International Grenache Day with The Grenachista, Casey Greybehl, who's entire portfolio consists of nothing but Grenache Noir and Grenache Blanc. This is one of our favorite days of the year and the bottles on the table far outnumbered the people on the show. From Pet-Nat to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we drank it all. Enjoy !!! grenachista.com @the.grenachista @internationalpirateday
David Rossi is a Jersey Boy who used to make wines in his basement, literally flying in fruit from different parts of the world to make 10 gallon batches to experiment with. Now known as one of the top producers of world class Pinot Noir in California, we discovered some of his favorite wines are the aromatic whites he crafts from cool sites up north. Having taught himself, he knows just about everything you should not do when making wine and his witty sense of humor is sharper than his skill se...
It's all about harvest on The Wine Makers this week. Whites are rolling in and reds are coming up as we speak, the days are long but everybody is excited for a great vintage year. Brian has roussanne on the line and Bart's got Chenin coming up. Brian has a French Rose' dinner coming up at the Fairmont and damn if we aren't going to show up...with a reservation, not crashing it. Cheers and Enjoy. [EP204]
This week we sit down with Tony Biagi, one of Napa and Sonoma’s star winemakers. He is listed as winemaker at Hourglass, The Vineyardist Family, Amici Cellars and his own Patria Wines and consulting winemaker at Lasseter Family Winery, Jada Winery, Caliza Winery and Alma Rosa Winery. However if you ask Tony, the2020 Vinous Winemaker of the year, he prides himself most in mentoring young winemakers who lead these estates. While his career arc lines up with the rise of Napa Cult Cabs but if you re...
Birdhorse represents a vision for the future of California wine-making, a vision anchored in a passion for diversification And they make some really nice wines. Striving to use under-represented varietals Corinne Rich and Katie Rouse sure make good use of their backgrounds including Bedrock University and Scribe to turn out a diverse line of wines from Arneis, Verdelho and Valdiguie varietals and more. [EP202]
Sam, Bart and John do a bit of reminiscing about the podcast, all of our friends and listeners who made it possible and all of our incredible guests. And of course Ed Silha plays the best role as The Podfather himself, Despite drought, fires and pandemics we're still at it bringing you the very best of Sonoma winemaking. Cheers and Enjoy!!! [EP201]
This week we welcome Prema Behan from Three Sticks Wines and Nicole Garzino from the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers. Prema is the Director of Operations at Three Sticks and the current President of the board of the Vintners & Growers. Nicole is the new executive director of the Vintners & Growers. Three Sticks is a favorite past guest of the podcast, so we wanted to check in about what new with them. If you haven’t check out our episode with winemaker Bob Cabral it’s not to be miss...
This week on the Wine Makers Pod-Two professors from Bedrock University, AKA Cody Rasmussen of Desire Lines Wines and Reid Griggs of Tidings Wines, visit to Bart, Brian and Sam for a conversation ranging from the microbiome of vineyards to the wine selection in Iowa college towns. Cody is the Associate Winemaker at Bedrock Wine Co. where Reid worked in 2016, one of his many internships at high profile wineries. Both are among the best and the brightest of California’s young winemakers. We dig in...
