In The Vineyard With Podcast

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.

In this episode I chatted to Nic Van Aarde, winemaker at Oldenburg Vineyards in Banghoek, Stellenbosch, South Africa. You can hear all about the mystical Rondekop Hill, the centrepiece vineyards at the heart of this beautiful estate.

We discussed the Grenache, each vine supported by a rock, against the ferocious wind, the Cabernet Sauvignon, with putting green grass between the rows of vines, the Stone Axe Shiraz and why the valley was called 'Scary Corner' by the Dutch settlers. Join us for a visit to one of the most beautiful High valleys in the Cape, Banghoek. Make sure you hold on to something solid once the wind come rushing over the mountains!

In this episode I was chatting to Christiana Von Arnim CEO of Warwick Estate in Stellenbosch and JD Pretorius, her winemaker.

On a sunny, midwinter afternoon, we sat in the winery's garden to talk and taste their superb range of wines.

It was a pleasure discovering their vision and plans for the future of the Warwick estate as well as how they preserve and maintain what was started by the iconic winemaker Norma Ratcliffe.

In episode 52 we conclude a short visit to northern California, where I already spoke to Cathy Corison, Dave Gates from Ridge Vineyards and Rebekah Wineburg from Quintessa Estate.

Bertus van Zyl, winemaker at Tank garage ( a cool converted Gas station), as well as James Cole Winery and his own project Belong Wine Co, which he started 5 years ago with his wife Alli.

From Stellenbosch to California, through the eyes of Bertus.

Can a bottle of wine change your life? If you are in a receptive mode, the stars are aligned for you and the right questions asked, Yes says Rebekah Wineburg, winemaker at Quintessa. In our latest episode she recalls such an encounter with a bottle of Ornellaia 1998 while having lunch in San Francisco, with her father.

This bottle started her very own 'Butterfly Effect' that led her eventually to be at the helm of one of California's premium estate, Quintessa.

50 Episodes! In this milestone episode, I was chatting with Dave Gates, Head of Vineyard Operations and VP at Ridge Vineyards in Northern California.

We discussed his interesting route into wine from his home farm in Central Minnesota, through agriculture in Southern California, to eventually Viticulture in UC Davis.

Dave is now in his 34th year in Ridge and his encyclopaedic knowledge of vineyards, soils, climates, fruits and the wines they are able to produce is simply awe inspiring.

I asked him about his favourite site (''like choosing children'') and what excites him about Zinfandel in particular, as it is the grape most associated with Ridge (65% of production).

Of course, we mentioned the legendary Paul Draper, founder of Ridge, now in his mid-80's, who is still involved in some key events in the winery's calendar.

we also talked about the challenges of water shortages, the old, engrafted zinfandel vines, his experience as a wine blender and as tradition of the podcast dictates, his Desert Island wines of choice. Enjoy!

In this episode, I chatted with a real Californian pioneer, Cathy Corison, of Cathy Corison Winery in Napa Valley.

Cathy is a champion of Cabernet Sauvignon, who always managed to marry the qualities of power alongside elegance and finesse beautifully. Not an easy fit.

You can hear about her early years as a young winemaker. She spoke of taking on complex and big operations, for which in hindsight, she is happy to admit, they (her and other 20-something-year-old winemakers of the time) should probably not have been responsible.

In our conversation, Cathy was telling the story of what it was like, standing by your fruit and not bowing to the 'Parker trend' of big, overripe and extracted Cabernets of old, in the process forgoing any salary for a decade!

She also described her 'Bench' Terroir, what it is like and how it translates in her wines.

We discussed the challenges of fires and water shortages and the obligatory question of what wine she'd be happy to take with her to a desert island (Cabernet-Sauvignon?... you might be surprised!).

This episode is the first of 4 episodes exploring the people and wineries of Northern California.

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Moshé

''If you include white grapes in a Rosé you can do longer maceration, you can get more texture, more concentration, more roundness, keeps the colour pale. Provence Rose is different, often because of that.''

And that concisely is the whole secret according to Rosé Specialist Liz Gabay MW.

In this conversation we discussed all things Rosé and her brand-new book about the Rosés of South of France. We covered grape varieties, various terroirs, countries, and regions hot on her list of exciting rosé discoveries in 2022 and her own Rosé wine, which she is producing in Slovakia using traditional methods and local grape varieties.

A conversation with Alessio Inama from The Inama Winery in the Veneto region in North Eastern Italy.

Listen to Alessio talking about the Soave Classico, a fantastic wine made from Garganega grapes that portray its Volcanic terroir beautifully. The wine's journey from mediocracy in the 80's to starring in wine lists in some of the world's best restaurants is another subject of discussion.

We hear him talk about the reds, all coming from a hilly region called Colli Berici, further east from Soave, where the grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere, probably the family's most celebrated red grape.

I hope you enjoy the exploration. Please share this episode and use #inthevineyardwith

A long-awaited conversation with Jane Anson, the award winning author and commentator of all things Bordeaux.

It was a pleasure to record this conversation as regular listeners to my podcast will know, I love hearing about the person as much as I enjoy discussing the wines. In the last 20 years, through her work for Decanter and later as an independent publisher, Jane is in many people's eyes the authority on Bordeaux and rightly so. The veteran wine writer John Stimpfig has described her as ''The world's most informed and accomplished expert on the wines of Bordeaux''

Anson's tome Inside Bordeaux was described by Dr Jamie Goode as a ''Category Buster''. In my view it is a must on any wine lover's shelf!

She has won several awards for her writing, including Louis Roederer Wine Online Communicator of the Year 2020, and Born Digital Best Editorial 2020.

Her latest project, www.janeanson.com is a beautiful resource full of information all things Bordeaux and select, elite wines that are traded via the Place De Bordeaux.

In our conversation Jane has mentioned a few places, projects and producers that will be added below in links that you can visit.

Jane's Bordeaux Mentor Week

Chateau La Clotte

Quinault L'Enclos

Cathy Corison

Les Cordelieres – that magical courtyard mentioned by Jane and recommended for picnics and sparkling wines.

Vineyard 2050 – Bernard Magrez experimental vineyard

Liber Pater – the £30,000 bottle of wine

Jane's recommendation of 100% Castets from Rioja is El Espinal , 100% Maturana Tinta ( Castets) from Tom Puyaubert's Bodegas Exopto

And of course… there is Corbieres in Manchester!