This time, an outstanding interview with Oded Shakked of the small Russian River Valley producer, Longboard Vineyards. Although he's been making wine for most of his life in California, Oded is originally from Israel and has a global perspective on wine, winemaking, and wine business that's refreshing and fascinating. He's fantastic and all his wines are delicious, well-balanced, and all are made to accompany food. 

 

Here are the show notes: 

• Oded shares his amazing story, from being a kid in Israel to discovering surfing, traveling the world, and then winding up at UC Davis in Sonoma to study winemaking.
• We talk about what things used to be like in Napa and Sonoma, and what a winemaking degree from UC Davis gave to Oded that was so valuable.
• Oded discusses his love of Sonoma and why it's so special to him. 
• We discuss the changes that have occurred over the years in Sonoma and what Oded has seen in the food and wine scene -- for good and bad. 
• Oded is a deep thinker. We tap into some of that brain power when he discusses his philosophy on food and wine, and how it helps him makes wines of balance
• Since he is one of the few winemakers in California that does a full line of still wine and also makes a Methode Champenoise sparkling wine, he uses this unique experience to tell us the differences in mentality you need to make each type of wine (a very cool discussion). 
• We chat about Syrah (Oded's is stunning!) and why it isn't as popular as it should be.

All in all a fascinating conversation with a great winemaker, a guy with great perspective on the last 30 years in Sonoma, and an all around nice person!

Go visit Longboard when you're in Healdsburg: https://www.longboardvineyards.com