In The Vineyard With Podcast

In this episode I was talking to Benjamin Spencer about the wines of Mount Etna, in Sicily, Italy. This is part 1 of 2, you can hear Ben telling us about his love affair with Sicily and Mount Etna in particular. The grapes and vineyards of the mountain. Nerello Mascelese, Caricante and much more...

My original conversation with Anselme and Guillaume Selosse. My questions in English, answers are in French.

An interview (in English) with one of the world's most original and visionary winemakers, Anselme Selosse and his son Guillaume Selosse. We discussed his early days beside his father, the decisions that led him to move to biodynamic viticulture. A fascinating description of his wines from individual plots (lieu-dits) and his view of retirement.

In this conversation I was talking with Cedric Mousse, from the Champagne of Mousse Fils in the village of Cuisles in the Vallee de la Marne.

Mousse is a Meunier specialist with incredible terroir driven Champagne ( and a beautiful Ratafia too!) that has followers the world over.

One of the rising stars of Champagne, Jean-Marc Sélèque was talking to me about his vineyards and wines, his Polish origins, convincing his family that investing in the vineyards and a new winery are justifiable long term decisions, the uniqueness of the Coteaux Sud D'Epernay and what is behind his winemaking philosophy.

In this episode, I was chatting to Arthur Larmandier about the family estate their beautifully crafted wines.

You can read more about the visit and the wines on the website or via Instagram @in.the.vineyard.with

www.inthevineyardwith.com

www.larmandier.fr

In this episode I hosted two of the leading experts on the wines of the East Mediterranean. Demetri Walters MW and Adam Montefiore.

We hear about the ancient wine routes and the fame those wines achived in the ancient world.

Fast forward to the more recent history of the last 400 years and the Ottoman rule and how it affected the region.

The 60's and 70's with East European tankers filling up on cheap wine in the port of Limasol, the association of Israeli wine with Kosher, sweet red wine, the cycle of the wine calendar in the Arab world and much more!

Native/indigenous grapes. Wine styles. Opportunity for marketing and educating the world of wine on the beauty of these wines took of course, centre stage.

Enjoy!

In this conversation, Justine Tesseron, of Chateâu Pontet-Canet in Pauillac, Bordeaux, is telling the story of the family's arrival from Cognac back in 1961. The purchase of Pontet-Canet and raising it to one of the most desired Pauillac wines in the last 20 years with glowing reviews.

We talked about the decision to go organic and the move to full biodynamic viticulture; the experimentation with amphora and what it meant for the wines.

Lastly, Justine introduced details of their latest project, the Californian Bordeaux blend produced from vines planted by the late comedy genius Robin Williams in his Villa Sorriso, on Mount Veeder.

The wine, called Pym-Rae is a honouring the vineyard's name, chosen by Williams, after his children middle names.

I visited Thibault Liger-Belair in the beautiful ''Les Saint Georges'' Vineyard and in the cellar of his new winery on the edge of Nuits-St-Georges, in December 2019.

We discussed Biodynamic viticulture in Burgundy, his decision to abandon Paris at an early age and move back to his ancestral vineyards of Bourgogne. His mission, to give Nuits-St-Georges its first Grand Cru vineyard, changing the status of the Premier cru vineyard Les St Georges. Explaining that the name of the village (Nuits) was changed in the 19th century to bare the name of its best terroir (Saint-Georges).

Thibault was keen to tell me about his love to Cru Beaujolais and working with Gamay (some vines there are 110 years old) and vinifying it in Nuits-St-George with the utmost respect to the individual plot.

Israrel's most eminent wine ambassador, Adam Montefiore spent an engaging hour in the lead up to the Jewish New Year talking to me about the evolving Israeli wine scene. We discussed the history from the mid 19th century, before the first Jewish settlers arrived and brought with them European Viticulture. Kiddush wines (sweet reds) and how the industry emerged from their unsophisticated image in the 80's. The innovations that came in the following years, to this day, with around 300 wineries of various sizes and vineyards planted from the northerly, snow covered Mount Hermon to the Negev desert in the south. This episode was sponsored by Kedem Europe, the UK's largest importer and distributor of Israeli wines. Find them at www.kedemeurope.com for wholesale or for your nearest stockist.