Sniff Sip Repeat

Wine enthusiasts love to celebrate wine holidays and Shiraz Day is July 22nd, so today we are going to talk about the dark and lovely flavors of this spicy little grape. We'll talk to somm Ferdinando Mucerino about the myths, the reality, the flavors and more and we'll pour Syrah and Shiraz from France, Australia, and South Africa.

Father's Day and summer are both just around the corner, so we're going to talk grilling and grilling wines as well as cooking with kids and urban farms! Our grilling expert guest is award-winning chef and restaurateur, Chef Tim Hollingsworth, known most recently for his Los Angeles restaurants Otium downtown and C.J. Boyd's Barbecue at the Field L.A. as well as for his previous tenure of 13 years at Thomas Keller's French Laundry, including four years as Chef de Cuisine. Tim wowed audiences worldwide when he won Netflix's global culinary competition on the series The Final Table, regaled us with inside stories about being filmed for the Pixar movie Ratatouille, and shares his tips for cooking with kids. As a fun Father's Day primer, we talk dream grilling setups and taste three wines from our collection and hear flavor notes and Tim's perfect pairings.

In this episode, we have a very special unboxing review of our wine club Spring Assortment of wines to help you get the most out of every sip. We walk through each bottle in the box to offer you detailed flavor notes, regional insights, behind-the-bottle stories, and, of course, perfect pairings.

This Friday May 7th is Sauvignon Blanc Day, so we’re going to do a deep dive on one of the most popular varietals there is and taste three wines from our collection. I’ll get technical with Ferdinando Mucerino, our resident somm, to find out everything there is to know about this beloved grape. We’ll hear some history, learn about the flavor notes and popular styles, then taste a few of their wines from our collection.

Also, because Sunday is Mother's Day in the US I'll be joined by Jake from Wine Insiders for a couple of phone calls to our moms.

It's nearly Earth Day and today’s episode is all about sustainability and wine. I'm speaking with Mickael Alborghetti, the CEO and founder of Ethic Drinks. Mickael is the grandson of Burgundy winegrowers, the son of an environmentalist, and is himself an experienced wine negociant. He recently launched a venture that blends the wisdom of his upbringing with his passion for the environment to create a company offering quality wines that are vegan and planet-friendly. With supply chain innovation all the way from the vineyard through packaging to transit, they are the first carbon-neutral wine company in France.

We’ll chat all about his company, then taste a few of their wines from our collection.

It's nearly Easter and today’s episode is all about Italy. I'm speaking with Gaetano Peragine, Managing Director of Straitalian, who represents winemakers across Italy and manages vineyards from Piemonte and Veneto in the north, through Tuscany and Abruzzo, all the way to Campania, Puglia, and the island of Sicily in the south. We talk about everything from explosions and bank robbing to doves, lamb, Nutella, and wine. We’ll taste four Italian wines from our collection and hear detailed flavor notes, behind-the-bottle stories, and, of course, perfect pairings.

Wine Insiders is celebrating our 39th Anniversary this year, so for today’s episode we’re going to go old-school, then old-world. For our Anniversary edition, we are going old-school to introduce you to our very first ever Wine Insiders panelist, Chris Hoel. We’ll hear his origin story, a journey from wine newbie to sommelier at the French Laundry, a restaurant created by legendary chef Thomas Keller’s in the heart of California wine country. Next, we’ll go old-school and journey back to 1982, the year our very first customers placed their orders for wine and a famous vintage year for Bordeaux and Burgundy. Finally, we’ll talk about these world-renowned appellations in France, then taste the flavors of both with four excellent wines from our collection.

In today’s episode, I have a conversation with Alex Dale, founder of Radford Dale, an innovative winery in the western cape territory of South Africa. We explore South African winemaking discussing its origins and its post-Apartheid transformation to become a leading new world region. We’ll taste three wines from our collection and hear detailed flavor notes, behind-the-bottle stories, and, of course, perfect pairings.

In this episode, we have a very special unboxing review of our wine club Winter Assortment of wines to help you get the most out of every sip. We walk through each bottle in the box to offer you detailed flavor notes, regional insights, behind-the-bottle stories, and, of course, perfect pairings.

For our pilot episode today, we’ll be talking about a country that deserves a lot more attention for its winemaking than it currently gets—Hungary. We’ll talk about their most noteworthy regions, native grapes, we’ll taste some wine along the way and finally share our Valentine’s (or Galentine’s) pairings.