The Arizona Wine Monk Podcast

In this podcast, I hang out with the three founding members of the AVA (Arizona Vigneron's Alliance): Kent Callaghan, James Keenan, and Todd Bostock. These men have set it upon themselves to unify the Arizona industry and glean some insight into what our future may hold. This Question and Answer session was held at the Gazebo at the Verde Valley wine festial. Take a listen!

A month ago, I bought myself a bottle of the Three Wells distillery Gin, made with Arizona botanicals. I don't know much about cocktails, but Gary does... so he made some with me and we proceeded.... okay, I proceeded... to get pretty schnockered. Here's some instructions on cocktails, a little bit of history about cocktails, and us having fun, with an Arizona-made spirit. It was a super-windy day, so I apologize the audio isn't the greatest.

In this podcast, I hang out with David Day of Canton Cooperage, where we talk about the process of making wine barrels, what happens to wine while resting in a barrel, and why you would want to age wine in a barrel in the first place. We drink the 2013 Viognier from Rune Winery, as well as the Marselan from Cellar 433 (which impressed him immensely). Be sure to check the parent blog for some cool diagrams!

Gewürztraminer is one of the noble varietals of Alsace, and I decided I needed to compare one of these classics of the Old World to Arizona Stronghold's major award winner, side-by-side. And then one from Rhode Island too. Because I was there.

In this podcast, I sit with my friend Lacey Ritter who works with Merkin Vineyards, talking Albariño.

I love how I said this podcast would "probably" be posted three weeks after the winter solstice. "before the inauguration." I am clearly the biggest slacker EVER.

Anyway, here's another podcast I recorded with Gary--waaay back in December. Spoilers for Rogue One... if you haven't seen it yet. Also warning for some political grumbling. I'm normally pretty apolitical, but some commentary and discussion occur over wine.

For the Arizona Wine Monk's Very Special Arizona Statehood Day Podcast... Or, I guess, Valentine's day Podcast also, whatever, or the St. Tryphon's Day podcast... all three? Sure, why not?... you all finally get to meet my girlfriend, Elizabeth (Bess) Karner, who wishes to be known as The Cider Wench, forthwith.

More importantly, in this podcast, Bess meets Malvasia Bianca, my longest-lasting relationship and girlfriend wine, in the form of the 2011 Private Reserve from Freitas Vineyards, or as she calls it, "Captain Tightpants Bianca." As you may know, this is one of my favorite Malvasia vintages in Arizona, period. We also have fun talking about her experiences at the AWGA Gala dinner and awards ceremony, and her impressions of Arizona and our wines, as well as general nerdy things---fans of C.S. Lewis' more obscure works, especially, should also take a listen.

This wine has been reviewed before on the Arizona Wine Monk blog, so take a look at the original review as well.

Happy Arizona Statehood Day, guys! And happy feast of St. Tryphon the Pruner as well. And, um, St. Valentine's day if you're Catholic (We Orthodox don't celebrate him technically until July).

This is a bit of a long podcast, but it was a fun one to record, and was made entirely spur of the moment. Amber came into the tasting room, told me she was studying wine in Italy, we had a great time talking wine, and she said she loved Vermentino. It just so happened that I had a Vermentino made by Rob Hammelman, one of the best winemakers in Arizona. I offered to bring it by her hotel later if she'd be willing to record a podcast, and the rest is history.

The other bottle that's imbibed over the course of this podcast is the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Southwest Wine Center, that was amphorae fermented and underwent carbonic maceration, a la Beaujolais style. She was interested in what the students were doing there, and I thought this would be the best demonstration I could make, as I thought this particular wine was quite fascinating.

I sent a couple bottles back with her to take to Tuscan winemakers, and she's promised to let me know what they think!

This is also the first podcast with one of the new opening things that have been submitted for the contest; this one is by Derek J. Power.

Enjoy, guys!

This podcast has been a long time in the making. I've been planning this particular podcast for almost two years now, and now it's finally here! In this podcast, veteran guest Cami Barnella and I drink with Kimberley Meyers, the winemaker for Dektown Cellars. The focus in this podcast is on Barbera, with both the Fancy Foreign Language Blend and Hail to the Queen among our starred wine guests for this recording. Of course, as all of my podcasts do, it very quickly degenerates into mayhem--but I'm assuming that's why you all still listen. Welcome.... to the Barbera Podcast!

In this podcast, which I've affectionately referred to as the *expletive* merlot podcast, I sit with some friends of mine who are involved with the Southwest Wine Center and we taste some Merlot from all over the world.

We had a lot of engaging conversation about why Merlot in Arizona can be so strange, about Sideways, growing conditions in Bordeaux and California, and the like. All in all, it was a great tasting panel, and I hope we can do another worldwide wine tasting soon. Such tastings are very useful for putting Arizona wine within a proper context.