A long time ago in a place not so far, far away (Frederick, MD!) Cal Gudeman of Frederick Wine House, Maarten Luyckx owner/winemaker Ch Famaey and Nick Materese of Siema Wines sat down to see if they could create a podcast. The result was a wonderful, rambling rant through all of Cha Famaey's delicious wines as well as several tagental derailments into beer, whisky and whatever free form thoughts meandered into our participants heads. But never the less it was a tremendous amount of fun which kickstarted the LiquidStoryteller Project! Our goal was to gather together some entertaining and knowledgeable industry folks and tell the tale of of favorite drinks and why you should be drinking them!

LiquidStoryteller Project: "New" Grapes for 2025

Rachel & Nick met up with a small group of friends at Vasili's Kitchen in Gaithersburg to discuss some of their favorite under the radar or often overlooked grapes, With thousands of grape varieties throughout the world being made into wine, it's very easy to slip into a mode of consistency where we just drink what we know and never stray from the familiar. But the world of wine will more often than not reward the curious and adventurous drinker!

In this episode we discuss:

Selva Capuzza Hirundo Sparkling

Vignamato Versus

Mil Historias Old Vine Bobal

La Crotta Fumin

Palmento Costanzo Nero di Sei

Monchiero Carbone Printi Roero

With St Valentine's day in the back of our mind, the LiquidStoryteller Project decided to head back to Italy, where the whole holiday first began to manifest itself. Joining Nick Materese of Siema Wines in this episode is Rachel Lipman, winemaker and co-owner of Loew Vineyards, and in her podcast debut Melissa Aellen of Simple Theory and Maryland founding wine family Liganore as we drink through a partially history of Valentine's Day and taste so incredible wines from across the country.

Wines discussed & tasted:

Venturini Baldini Lambrusco Rose (Emilia-Romagna)

Colline del Sole Fiano (Campania)

Loew Vineyards Klara Pyment (Mt Airy)

Loew Vineyards Mazal (Mt Airy)

Simple Theory Barbera (Frederick)

Fattoria Colsanto Sagrantino di Montefalco (Umbria)

Azienda Agricola Elisabetta Brunetti Le Marze (Tuscany)

Champagne! The name alone invokes luxury, celebrations, joie de vivre, lifestyles of the rich and famous (admit it, some of you just heard Robin Leech repeat that phrase in your head...)

It's a stunning drink but not always beloved; sometimes misunderstood and under appreciated...but not on this night!

The LiquidStoryteller was joined by Janet Cam from Les Dames Escoffier,, restauranteur and owner of Beauty Champagne & Sugar Bar, Zena Polin and our very special guest Baptiste Marchal of Champagne Brimoncourt

“Champagne Brimoncourt was founded in 2008 by Alexandre Cornot, an audacious modern-day entrepreneur, who decided to revive this dormant name and build a Champagne House from scratch.

Promoting luxury à la Française, he chose Louis XV’s regent, Philippe d’Orleans as the figurehead of the house. He is known to be the first one who brought Sparkling Wines of Champagne to the royal court of France. For three centuries, Champagne has been synonym of fine tables, subtlety and inspired savoir-vivre. Brimoncourt is our tribute to these for-ever Champagne values: elegance, independence, sharing and lightness.

Following this philosophy, the House has turned towards a search for modern excellence nourished by deep roots in history.

In this episode we take a deep dive into the world of sparkling wine, beginning with Prosecco and Cava before moving on to the delicious wines of Champagne Brimoncourt!

Wines featured:

Villa Chiopris Prosecco

Bodegas Ondarre Cava Millenium

BRIMONCOURT BRUT REGENCE

BRIMONCOURT EXTRA BRUT

BRIMONCOURT BLANC DE BLANC

BRIMONCOURT BRUT ROSÈ

Any discussion about Austrian wines in the DC Metro area, must start with a shout out to the one and only Klaus Wittauer and KWSelections. As an Austrian native, he was one of the first to champion Austrian wine in the USA eventually leading him to start his own import company, which has become the gateway for many wine fans, retailers and restauranteurs to explore this area. The LiquidStoryteller (Nick Materese) is joined by George Photinakis of The Bottle Shop/Beers and Cheers Too and William Van Laaten of Lakewood Country Club/ Downtown Crown Wine & Beer for a quick introduction to Austria, some of its grapes and regions as well as why we are excited to drink all the wines coming from Europe's only nation with vineyards in its capital city!

Malbec: this fantastic French grape hailing from Cahors, enjoyed a meteoric surge in popularity once the drinking public became familiar with the versions hailing from Argentina. In this episode the LiquidStoryteller (Nick Materese) and Rachel Lipman (Winemaker at Loew Vineyards) sit down to offer their takes on this versatile grape. We drink and discuss several different versions and offer our thoughts on them all as well as where we think the grape is headed.

Wines tasted:

Chevalier de Famaey Malbec Rose--FRANCE

Mil Historias Manchuela (Organic)--SPAIN

Château Les Ricaudelles Bordeaux, FRANCE

Bedell Cellars, Long Island, NY

Chateau Famaey Prestige Cahors, FRANCE

Agua de Piedra - Gran Seleccion - Malbec ARGENTINA

Loew Vineyards Malbec--MT AIRY, MARYLAND

Please reach out with any questions or comments and thanks for listening.

2024 was a great year for wine. Join the LiquidStoryTeller and our panel of past guest as we recount some of our favorite bottles from the 2024!