A conversation with Joyce Lin, sommelier, artist and food and wine pairing specialist. Joyce grew up in Taiwan and resides in New York City. She is a creative educator on social media, YouTube and her website, sipwithjoyce.com. Whether you prefer wine, cocktails, beer or bubble tea, there's something for everyone in this episode. Joyce and Rose Thomas discuss pairing creativity with a wine career and how encountering new cultures increases wine pairing skill. Which Italian wines go with Sichuan hot pot, Taiwanese fried chicken, stewed pork with garlic and five spice powder, or whole steamed fish with scallions, ginger and red chili pepper? You're going want to take notes--and you may want to write them on your shopping list!

Rose Thomas interviews Andrea Rossi, president of the Consorzio of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Silvia Loriga, who works at the Consorzio, translates for Andrea. She also describes the medieval city where she was born in such a captivating fashion, Rose Thomas planned a trip to walk through the Porta di Bacco as soon as possible. Big news from the Vino Nobile DOCG is the new Pieve system, geographical subzones that should be rolled out on the labels of Montepulciano's top wines starting in 2024. The wines from Montepulciano—a place in Tuscany—are based on the Sangiovese grape. They are not to be confused with wines made from the Montepulciano grape popular with winemakers in the region of Abruzzo. 

Rose Thomas reports from a month on the road for Modo di Bere, a trip that’s taking her from Texas to New Mexico to Italy. After sharing a phrase from Salerno that she was taught by winemaker Silvia Imparato, RT relays similar advice from Elmer Yazzie, an artist and teacher who recently organized the third annual Indigenous People’s Day Trail Ride in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. Elmer’s full interview will be published later on the Modo di Bere YouTube channel. Wherever this week takes you, don't forget to look around.

If you love this show and want it to continue, please support Modo di Bere on Patreon! www.patreon.com/MododiBere

Shelly Wilfong, host of the podcast This is Texas Wine, takes Rose Thomas through the map of the USA's fifth-largest wine producing state. Rose Thomas likes Shelly's podcast so much, she scheduled a trip to Texas to learn more. Texas is larger than France, with diverse terroirs, beautiful tasting rooms, talented winemakers and the occasional prize saddle. Check out Shelly's podcast and her excellent website full of resources for the Texas-Wine-curious: https://www.thisistexaswine.com/

Welcome to Season 2 of Modo di Bere! Rose Thomas returns from a summer of research and adventure, kicking off the season with a collection of hangover sayings from around the world. Rose Thomas defines "modo di bere" and shares her journey as a Nebraskan folk singer, Minnesota bartender, New York City sommelier and Italian dialect enthusiast. 

On the road for Modo di Bere, Rose Thomas records the story of how she overcame her trepidation about driving in Italy and Spain and embraced the thrill of the wine tour driving that brings her such adventures as meeting mules at midnight on a mountaintop in the Sierra Nevadas. She shares the elements of winery tours, lessons learned when renting cars overseas, and how falling in love with wine is to fall in love with the landscape.

Ersilia Prosperi, the composer of the Modo di Bere theme music, and her illustrious producer Amy Denio play together in Ou, a band that sings in a myriad of dialects. This episode includes clips of Ersilia's compositions for Ou in Spanish, Italian, French, Sardo, and Pygmy. Ersilia, Amy and Rose Thomas swap naughty toasts and discuss the various personalities expressed through different languages and different instruments. This is the second Modo di Bere episode to date where someone (Amy) says she learned Italian so that she could understand what everyone was laughing about. Download this episode for opinions on the philosophy expressed through Italian humor, language as a compositional choice, musical responses to geopolitics, and the desires of an egg as expressed in the language of Ersilia's Sardinian homeland. Wait til the end for a new composition Ersilia made just for Modo di Bere! [This episode references strong language as well as strong drink.]

Why does Rose Thomas joke that Italy is "sommelier kryptonite"? Is there hope for wine students staring down this complex country? Of course there is! Enter the new Modo di Bere sub-series The Boot in 20. For each of Italy's 20 wine regions, Rose Thomas asks an expert to bring the map to life. Her guests identify major grapes, wines, soils and microclimates. They tell us stories about each region's history, consider the future in terms of climate change, and share advice about planning a visit!

Are children really better at learning language than adults? Is an unknown language a "barrier," or a door to another culture? What is an idiom, anyway? Lindsay Szper and Rose Thomas refer to Hannah Arendt on the mother tongue, James Baldwin on good bread, and the power of friendship to learn a language and to repair the world.

Lindsay mentioned this 15-minute video on Youtube by Robin Waldun that summarizes the Benjamin essay. Reflections on the French word maman come from Waldun’s video.

Lindsay Szper and her pals believe the best way to learn language is through friendship. Modo di Bere agrees! Lindsay is a language teacher and a language learner by vocation. She’s studying language pedagogy at The New School and working on a masters in Oral History at Columbia. In this deep, funny, sweet and smart interview, Lindsay tells Rose Thomas about the community-based language school she started with her friends. She also shares stories about her remarkably multilingual grandparents, the playground "exam" for the language Lindsay invented as a child, and tons of incredibly encouraging advice for acquiring--no, developing!--new language skills. Stay tuned for the second part of the interview!