In The Vineyard With Podcast

I waited a long time for the opportunity to record this conversation. Iro is a good friend, but she’s a very busy lady! Working in the Summer season as a Sommelier in a seafood restaurant in Chania, and the rest of the year as an Ambassador for the Wines Of Crete Association can be two very demanding roles!

In this conversation we talked about the history of Cretan wines, what grapes are the key grapes and what wines they can make, the key figures (well, apologies for many that were left out. We love you all!), the geography of this big island and more.

So let’s go! Join us to the coast, hills, mountains, stunning vineyard, wines and people of Crete!

In this episode, I was joined by Chef Michael Caines MBE, Chef Owner of Lympstone Manor, Country Hotel, Restaurant and Vineyard alongside his longstanding Operations Manager, Steve Edwards.

It's a hard enough job, starting a Country Hotel, in a rundown building, having to renovate it to a Relais & Châteaux standards, establishing a kitchen and a restaurant worthy of a Michelin star, before any other task is considered.

Planting a vineyard, and especially one destined to make Traditional Method English sparkling wines, with no experience in viticulture or winemaking could be seen as over ambitious at best, or foolhardy at worst.

Michael just knew, after one look at the southwest sloping barren field, stretching from the house, down towards the mouth of the River Exe, that had it been somewhere in France or Italy, that field would be planted to vines.

Join us on this episode, to hear about the complexities of the challenge, the wines produced so far and the ones yet to be released, what other products the vineyard produces, *other forms of fermentations, Michael and Steve's desert island wine (and what dish goes with it!),, And much more.

*   BBC Food- Michael Caines, A Life Through Food

Listen to this BBC Food programme by Dan Saladino, exploring the life of Chef Michael Caines, highlighting, among many others stories, the saving of the Pain De Morvan, the rural French bread Michael first learnt to bake more than 30 years ago and now is baked daily at Lympston Manor.

In this series of conversations, my guest, Amanda Barnes, is taking us on a grand tour of the South America vineyards.

We will first soar over the Andes, to Chile, to discover the famous valleys, such as Colchagua, Maipu and Casablanca. From there we will move north all the way to The Atacama Desert before returning to explore the deep south towards Patagonia.

Our journey will continue to examine the latest trends in Argentina. Yes, it’s not all about Malbec!

 

Finally, in the final segment of our tour, we will delve into what’s happening in the rest of the continent. Brazil, Uruguay, are up and coming wine nations with increasing presence in US and European markets.

 

Peru and Bolivia, with their rich heritage of vine cultivation will feature too, as well as a cameo from Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Salud!

In this series of conversations, my guest, Amanda Barnes, is taking us on a grand tour of the South America vineyards.

We will first soar over the Andes, to Chile, to discover the famous valleys, such as Colchagua, Maipu and Casablanca. From there we will move north all the way to The Atacama Desert before returning to explore the deep south towards Patagonia.

Our journey will continue to examine the latest trends in Argentina. Yes, it’s not all about Malbec!

 

Finally, in the final segment of our tour, we will delve into what’s happening in the rest of the continent. Brazil, Uruguay, are up and coming wine nations with increasing presence in US and European markets.

 

Peru and Bolivia, with their rich heritage of vine cultivation will feature too, as well as a cameo from Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Salud!

In this series of conversations, my guest, Amanda Barnes, is taking us on a grand tour of the South America vineyards.

We will first soar over the Andes, to Chile, to discover the famous valleys, such as Colchagua, Maipu and Casablanca. From there we will move north all the way to The Atacama Desert before returning to explore the deep south towards Patagonia.

Our journey will continue to examine the latest trends in Argentina. Yes, it’s not all about Malbec!

 

Finally, in the final segment of our tour, we will delve into what’s happening in the rest of the continent. Brazil, Uruguay, are up and coming wine nations with increasing presence in US and European markets.

 

Peru and Bolivia, with their rich heritage of vine cultivation will feature too, as well as a cameo from Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Salud!

A few days before Christmas, I got together with my friend, Demetri Walters MW to hear what floats his Christmas drinks boat in 2023.

We talked about the obvious Christmas drinks most of us love, like Port, Sherry (not your Grandma’s) but we also talked about Madeira, Commanderia St. John (Cyprus) and Vinsanto (Greece).

Demetri is a renowned world expert on fortified wines, so we could talk about those for hours! I’m not sure if I can find any 1803 Sercial though.

However, when it comes to mulled wine, we were not singing from the same hymn sheet 😊

Maybe I have been drinking the wrong kind of mulled wine all these years.

Demetri shared with me his fantastic recipe for mulled wine which is published on my Patreon page (link below) and I’m going to give it a go this Christmas to see if my opinion can be changed!

Finally, there were some great questions from our Patreon friends:

Andrew Newbury asked about the best wine pairing for a traditional turkey.

Matt asked us to consider whether or not a Snowball is an acceptable aperitif.

To Ian’s mischievous question of ‘How much can we drink’, Demetri recommended listeners to ‘push the proverbial Christmas boat out’. His philosophical answer is a wise piece of advice!

If you want to get involved in my conversations in the Vineyard With then sign up to the Patreon membership and you will get advance notice of my scheduled interviews and the opportunity to add a question or two of my guests.

Demetri's Glorious Mulled Wine Recipe

www.patreon.com/inthevineyardwith

Wine books. The wine world would be poorer without them. A good wine book is not just a vinous guide or a reference. It is often a companion, a walking pace way of telling a wine’s story. And what could be nicer than sitting comfortably, I’m thinking by the fire, it is December after all, holding and reading a book about the region or the very winemaker responsible for the liquid in your glass? With our world shifting with alarming rapidity to the ether of cloud knowledge, the books produced by a relatively new UK wine publication house, Académie Du Vin Library, are worth celebrating.

Hermione Ireland is the Managing Director and Publisher of Academie Du Vin Library and in this episode, she tells us about what led her to her role and the kind of books she is proud of publishing.

The creation of the inimitable Steven Spurrier, Academie Du Vin Library is a unique publication house, specialising in books that tell a story. Books that tell a drink’s story, such as This fantastic book all about Sherry A life story, such as Jean Michel Cazes’s From Bordeaux To The Stars, a regional or a specific estates’ story, such as Hermione’s desert island wine, Chateau Musar.

For the Academie Du Vin Library’s website, visit https://academieduvinlibrary.com/ Patrons of my show, head to Patreon to discover your discount code created especially for you. There’s still time for that perfect Christmas present!

This episode wasn’t planned. Sometimes, the best things happen without much planning. A spontaneous and inspired action can often lead to a much more memorable encounter or experience.

I was visiting Tiago Alves De Sousa, one of the Douro’s most influential winemakers and a good friend, in his winery and vineyards high up on the slopes above the river Corgo, northern Portugal, a couple of weeks before harvest 2023. With me were my partner, Jeanette, and our friends Sam and Miles. I felt inspired to record Tiago’s words and did so on my mobile phone. It was almost a group discussion and you can hear multiple people asking questions.  Apologies for the quality of the recording as well as various interfering sounds ( trumpets and drums from a nearby marching band, numerous scooters and loud explosions from fireworks... in bright sunshine !!). 

Please consider supporting my podcast and becoming a Patron. I look forward to seeing you there!   www.patreon.com/InTheVineyardWith

 

In this episode I was driving in the car with Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, co Owner of Gaia Winery in Nemea, in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. Later, we walked through the Agiorgitiko and Verzami vineyards, chatting about this beautiful region and its wines.

In the episode I was in the vineyard with Alex Starey, winemaker at Keermont Vineyards, in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Keermont is located in a long narrow valley that is tucked between the Helderberg and the Stellenbosch Mountains. Right at the tope of his vineyards, near an open pool feeding from the local spring, we sat on a sunny mid-winter day to chat about this relatively new estate.

Keermont was bought by current owners Mark and Monica Wraith in 2003. they originally planned to plant vineyards and sell the grapes but a chance introduction to Alex changed that.

A single barrel was made in 2007 and since the results were so good the green light was given to make more wine under the Keermont label.

Since 2007 the estate under Alex’s leadership is going from strength to strength with emphasis on Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot with some petit Verdot and malbec too. The range includes an excellent Chenin Blanc as well a white blend that includes seven varieties.

Enjoy hearing the personal story of a wine maker returning home from making wines abroad to make wines in his childhood valley and the story of an estate that is less than 20 years old.