By The Glass

The tariffs on European wine went into effect back in October 2019 and created problems for importers, distributors, and sommeliers. Even once the tariffs were suspended in March of 2021, the wine industry is still dealing with their consequences. In this triple-decker episode, Chris chats with different wine professionals about the way their businesses handled this transatlantic clusterfuck.

First, Chris speaks with importer Pierre Gastaldello of Bobo Selections about the vulnerability of natural wine in this moment. Then, Chris gets the perspective of a mid-sized distributor by talking to Britania Perez of Victory Wine Group. Finally, Steven McDonald of Pappas Steakhouse discusses how the tariff-pandemmy combo changed the way he builds his BTG program and Burgundy verticals.

If you wanna listen to this episode in medias res, below are the time-stamps for each guest:

01:20 Pierre Gastaldello 

33:15 Britania Perez

56:08 Steven McDonald

We've made it one year, gang! To celebrate the BTG Poddiversary, Chris checks in with Adele Corrigan of 13 Celsius wine bar and Ricky Taylor of Alta Marfa winery. Both Adele and Ricky fill us in about the turbulence of the past twelve months. It's a double-guest episode for you double-vaxxed listeners out there. Cheers!

Mick Craven is a brash Aussie making vineyard-designated wine under his eponymous label to showcase the potential of old vines in Stellenbosch. He met his wife while working harvest in Sonoma, and they proceeded to travel from Domaine Dujac to Syria to South America to the Golan Heights before settling down in coastal South Africa. In this episode, Mick drinks a lot of beer and talks to Chris about skin-fermenting Pinot Gris and Clairette Blanche, contextualizing South African winemaking, and comparing braai to barbecue.

Nick Wong is the Chef de Cuisine of UB Preserv, one of Houston's most celebrated restaurants. Before moving to Houston in 2018, Nick worked in NYC and SF at restaurants like Gramercy Tavern, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, and Incanto. For his BTG convo, Nick talks about staffing a kitchen amidst capacity reductions, adding rice cakes to his Szechuan-style crawfish boils, sourcing local produce after February's winter storm, exploring EDM TikTok, supporting Chinatown, and navigating Asian-American stereotypes in a kitchen. 

To learn more about the organizations Nick references in the episode, use the links below:

Chow Down in Chinatown

https://www.facebook.com/groups/chowdownhouston/ 

https://www.instagram.com/chowdownhtx/ 

Food is Love HTX

https://burgerchanhtx.com/food-is-love

https://www.instagram.com/foodislovehtx/ 

Jurgen Gouws makes minimal-intervention wine in the Swartland under the Intellego Wines label. For BTG's first ever South Africa episode, Chris chats with Jurgen about the country's drought several years ago, the 2021 harvest, the collaborative spirit of Swartland, his PetNat experiment, the movement away from over extracted Pinotage, his approach to skin-contact Chenin Blanc, his love for Normandy Cider, South African grilled meat, natural winemaking, and the importance in drinking wines from around the world.

Kerith Overstreet is the winemaker and proprietor of Bruliam Wines in California. She sources Pinot Noir from Petaluma Gap, Santa Lucia Highlands and Russian River Valley. Prior to pursuing a wine career, Kerith completed residency and fellowships in pathology — her father said she had to graduate med school before making wine.

In this episode, Kerith discusses winning gold in the Houston Rodeo Wine Competition, maintaining relationships with growers in sought-after vineyards, producing elegant Zinfandel, developing meaningful relationships with wine buyers across the country, and self-medicating with Russ & Daughters smoked fish.

Gio LoGrasso is the General Manager of Uchi, a Japanese restaurant in Houston, Texas. After regaining electricity last week, Gio met with Chris to discuss the winter storm’s impact on his restaurant and his home. They discuss winterizing a dining room, dealing with other weather-related crises like hurricanes and floods, and finding a work/life balance in the hectic world of hospitality.

Jasper Smith is the founder of Son of Man and makes Sagardo-style cider in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge. For this episode, Jasper discusses applying Basque cidermaking techniques to the heirloom apple varieties he sources from the orchards around Mt Hood. He also discusses spontaneous fermentation, Gipuzkoa mythology, the beer-wine binary, his love for Loire Valley Pineau d'Aunis, his culinary career, and favorite cider pairings.

Visit Son of Man's website to sign up for their “Club Sagardo” DTC service or to learn where the tall boys of cider are available in your local market. 

Álvaro de la Viña started his Spanish natural wine import company in 2013. For today’s Texas Txotx-themed episode, Álvaro discusses the regional differences in Txakolina production, the challenges securing organic certification in Getaria, Selections de la Viña’s foray into South America, and his love of conservas.

Álvaro's wine and conservas can be purchased through Light Years in Houston and Lolo in Austin. Wines featured in today's episode include Jon Goenaga G 1200 from Getariako Txakolina and Ulibarri Artzaiak from Bizkaiko Txakolina. 

To learn more about conservas, read the New York Times feature on Álvaro's  Conservas Braseadas Güeyuma. Also check out episode 27 of this podcast, when we spoke with seafood company Jose Gourmet and importer A Priori Foods...

Itziar Insausti is the winemaker of Doniene Gorrondona, one of the wineries responsible for reviving txakolina production near Bilbao through the creation of the Bizkaiko Txakolina DO in 1994. Itziar works with 100+ year-old vines of indigenous Basque grapes like Hondarrabi Zuri, Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia, and Hondarrabi Beltza. For this episode, Itziar walks Chris through the regional differences in the three Txakolina DOs, the challenges farming organically in such a humid climate, as well as her experimentations bottling without sulfur and aging red txakoli.  

This episode was made in coordination with Texas Txotx, a state-wide celebration of Basque Cider and Wine. The next few episodes will focus on these unique beverages. Visit www.texastxotx.com to learn more!