Another Bottle Down

On today's show, Jessica meets up with Simon Kelly, export manager of te Pā winery in Marlborough, New Zealand.  Te Pā means "at home" or "the home" in Māori, and the owner and founder Haysley MacDonald can trace his family history to the early Māori settlers who landed on Wairau Bar 800 years ago.  Simon explains how Haysley went from selling most of the fruit from the his land to larger wineries and then the path to make and bottle all estate wine. 

Simon has extensive experience in the wine industry and really breaks down the state of the Kiwi wine industry from the meteoric rise of Sauvignon Blanc to perhaps a lack of recognizing individual regions within the broad category.  Enjoy this episode with a plate of briny oysters and, of course, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Links:

Te Pā winery website: here.

Banville Wine Merchants (importer of te Pā): here.

Recent Wine Enthusiast coverage of Māori owned wineries: here.

Alessandro Marini is head winemaker at Tenuta Luce in Montalcino.  Originally coming from the Marche, Alessandro spent time working at wineries in California and then Bordeaux, where he also obtained his Enology degree.  Tenuta Luce was originally conceived as a partnership between the Frescobaldi family and Robert Mondavi and was the first winery in Montalcino to produce a blend of Sangiovese and Merlot.

Jessica and Alessandro explore Montalcino in depth and how Luce occupies a special place in the winemaking landscape. 

Links:

www.tenutaluce.com

Importer to the US:  Vintus.com

On today's bonus show, Mark and Jessica chat with Denise Silverman, the Executive Director of the Wine and Food Foundation, based in Austin, TX.  Mark and Jessica will be on stage providing color commentary on many auction lots during the gala evening on November 2nd. Denise explains all of the ins and outs of the auction from its origins, to the featured winemaker Kathryn Walt Hall, to the festivities the evening of the event.

With over 70 live auction lots, this is one of Texas's premiere wine events.  There is still a few days left to get tickets:

https://winefoodfoundation.org/events/2024rfw/

On today's show, Jessica catches up with Laura Rhys, MS from Gusbourne Estate in Kent, England.  Laura has long been an advocate of promoting traditional method English sparkling wine and now works as Global Brand Ambassador for Gusbourne.  She also is part of the winemaking team involved with blending of the base wines for the assemblage as well as the final disgorgement blends. Jessica and Laura dig into all things Brittish bubbles from the history of English wine to the various terroirs of southwest England and the future of the industry.

https://www.gusbourne.com/

Also, there are just a few days left to get tickets for the Wine and Food Foundation's Rare and Fine Wine Auction.  Tickets here.

On today's show, Jessica visits the icon property of Ornellaia, situated on the Tuscan coast in Bolgheri.  She tastes through their beautiful wines with the new Director of Winemaking, Marco Balsimelli.  Marco joined the executive team at Ornellaia and Maseto in January 2024 and comes from a rich background that spans various wineries in Tuscany and Bordeaux, and most recently he worked for Eric Boissenot's oenological consultancy that advised on winemaking for more than 150 properties in various countries.

More on the wines of Ornellaia here.

US Importer Vintus's producer profile with Marco's full Bio here.

Tickets for the Wine and Food Foundation's Rare and Fine Wine Auction here.

Pietro Russo is the third Master of Wine in Italy and part of the group of Italian MW's who are now being referred to as the "Three Muscateers" (coined by Stevie Kim of VinItaly).  He grew up in the region of Marsala and after travelling the world and making wine in other countries returned to Sicily to make wine at Donnafugata.  In 2024, he transitioned from official winemaker of Donnafugata to consultant and started a project based on old vine Grillo called Officina del Vento.  Jessica digs into all facets of passing the MW exam along with the genesis of this new project all about high-quality and camaraderie. 

Donnafugata website: https://www.donnafugata.it

Pietro Russo on the Master of Wine website: https://www.mastersofwine.org/pietro-russo-mw

Announcement of Officina del Vento: here.

On today's show, Mark catches up with Jeremy Hart, co-founder of Somm.ai.  

Jeremy Hart is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, specializing in sales, brand management, and strategic marketing.  He managed over 400 SKUs from 56 brands across six states while covering national accounts for a renowned importer for seven years.

He co-founded Inknowlogy Marketing Agency, created his wine brand Explicit Content, and holds the significant role as the Chief Strategic Marketing and Co-Founder at Somm.ai. Jeremy is dedicated to pushing the beverage industry's growth and promotion through data-enhanced methods.

Somm.ai website: https://www.somm.ai/

On today's show, Jessica catches up with PIerangelo Tommasi who is the Managing Director of Tomassi Family Estates and one of nine family members who make up the 4th generation of the wine company.  Pierangelo delves into the family history, how their roots are planted in the Valpolicella, and the family's need and desire to expand to other regions across Italy.  Currently, there are 8 different estates across Italy with 800 hectares (close to 2,000 acres) of vineyards and various partnerships in other regions. 

Pierangelo is such an advocate for the region and what he calls the 'contemporary' style of Amarone, which focuses more of freshness and elegance.  He also believes the message of Amarone should the emphasis of vineyards and terroirs over the process of appassimento (the drying of the grapes).

References:

Tommasi Family Estates Website

Famiglie Storiche Website

Antica Bottega del Vino

Jessica and Mark follow up the last episode on Piedmont with a more in depth discussion of Alta Langa while focusing on one of the pioneers of sparkling wine in Piedmont, Enrico Serafino.  Our guest, Erika Abate, is the export manager of Serafino and has spent her entire life steeped in the wines of Piedmont.  We dig into the origins of the Alta Langa apellation, the particulars of growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in this non-continguous and high-elevation region, and the how these sparkling wines are positioned to be some of the most prestigious in Italy.  We cap off the conversation with Serafino's work with the unique biotype of Nebbiolo, Picotener.

More info on Enrico Serafino here: https://www.enricoserafino.it/en/

On today's show, Jessica digs into Piedmont with wine writer and educator David Way.  David spent the last 4 years traveling to Piedmont and researching the widest array of topics including the famous icons of the Langhe, the more obscure regions and varieties further afield, various winemaking technologies, and the fascinating story of the sparkling wines of Alta Langa.  With various anecdotes from the book writing process and some travel tips, David and Jessica bring the piedmont with all of its complexities alive.

David is also one of the people responsible for writing and editing the WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) reference books.  Jessica and David chat about the book writing process and the need to stay on top of this ever changing and evolving industry.

More information and useful links:

The Wines of Piedmont.  Published by the Académie du Vin Library

Wine Friend by David Way- David's personal website and blog

WSET Reference Books