Wine for Normal People

Ep 222: Meeker Wine of Sonoma, CA with Lucas Meeker, the Next Gen of CA Wine

03.04.2018 - By Elizabeth SchneiderPlay

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

This week, Lucas Meeker of Meeker Wine -- a Millennial winemaker who has taken the helm of winemaking and operations at this Sonoma favorite. In his philosophical, intellectual way, Lucas recounts stories of the winery's early days and then discusses everything from additives in wine, to how wine is like vocal range.  Lucas graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University with High Honors in English in 2007, but he returned home to the family winery with plans to eventually head to graduate school. But once he started doing marketing, label design, and cellar rat work, he caught the wine "bug."  He made wines under his own label, Lucas J. Cellars, for four vintages (2007-2010) and honed the craft of winemaking through hands on experience and a passion for reading and learning from his Dad, other winemakers, books, UC Davis, the internet, and his own mistakes. Eventually, he abandoned his plans for graduate school and further dedicated himself to the craft of winemaking. Lucas took over daily operation of the winery in 2010, and after four years as Co-Winemaker with Charlie, officially became Head Winemaker in 2014. Here are the show notes: We chat about the storied history of Meeker, including Charlie's stories from MGM, how he bought the vineyard and how he uprooted Lucas from his Hollywood life to Sonoma We discuss various aspects of the wine industry -- what Custom Crush is and why it's important to wineries like Meeker, the importance of label reading and why some wineries are a sham We wax poetic on the virtue of Merlot and Lucas gives thoughts on wine traditions and their importance Lucas talks about the "magnitude" of wine  and how he parses wine descriptions We talk about Zinfandel and changes in the wine industry in the last 10 years -- including how wine can be altered or honest We have a great conversation about the Meeker philosophy and Lucas's "end zone" We end on a positive note: Lucas's optimism for the next gen of winemakers   ____________________________   Please support this week's sponsor, RXBAR by ordering their tasty products and receiving 25% off! Go to rxbar.com/wine and enter the promo code WINE at checkout to get a quarter off your order!  RXBAR is a whole food protein bar, made with 100% whole ingredients. They label the core ingredients (egg whites, dates and nuts) on the front of the package and the ingredients that make up texture and taste on the back (100% real cacao, coconut, etc.). Beyond being a go-to snack that checks off a number of nutritional boxes, RXBARs actually taste delicious without the fillers, the additives, the chemicals or the added sugar. Give them a try!!!    Get the back catalog on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More episodes from Wine for Normal People