The Four Top: Wine News and Culture

Katherine is speaking at a wine celebration in Croatia this week, so we've dug a classic episode out of the vault for you. This engrossing, and at times shocking, episode deals with everyone's least-favorite, most-used herbicide: Roundup. It is the perfect pairing for Earth Week, so please enjoy! 

Here it is, folks; our episode about Roundup…but it’s so much more than that. We dive into regenerative agriculture, climate action, and the fight over how to grow grapes on a rapidly changing planet.

Rounding out our expertise this week are Dr. Jamie Goode, an award-winning wine journalist, plant biologist, and the author of I Taste Red: The Science of Tasting Wine; and Anna Brittain, the founder and executive director of Napa Green and Napa RISE.

Martín Reyes, MW continues his residency in part two of our exploration of alcohol metabolization. We get into enzymes, dopamine, and orgasms in this occasionally off-kilter discussion of how our bodies deal with alcohol. All aboard our very adult Magic School Bus!

Martín Reyes, MW is back for a two-episode arc! We've got science, dad jokes, and questionable man-made sound effects on this one. Join us as Katherine and Martín dig in to how alcohol is metabolized in our bodies in part one of this two-parter.

Neo prohibitionists have the ears of health officials. It turns out old vines can travel. We've got a climate change game show for you. Yet another wine brand has been bought by its founder. These are the wine news stories we're following this week.

A winemaker takes back his brand from a big ol' private equity firm. A surprising amount of American wine is not actually American. Organic wine importers are completely freaking out, and we don't blame them. Washington State is throwing British Columbia a lifeline. These are the four wine news stories we're following this week.

A winery uses AI to sexy up its team, do backflips, and oh yeah, sell wine. Californians are scrambling for last resort fire insurance. We've definitely identified the economic sweet spots for the wine industry. The curse of the blue nun has been lifted. These are the wine news stories we're following this week.

Sheep counting has gotten out of hand. Cheese is on the chopping block. Wine retailers love registries. Ukrainian wine abides. These are the four wine news stories we're following this week.

Snow in the Sierra Nevadas. Saboteurs in Spain. The French court says, "mais non," to predatory negociants, and we have all been speaking Latin all wrong. These are the four wine news stories at our table right now.

Martín Reyes, MW is back, and he’s brought some friends. With their help, we get into misleading claims from the W.H.O, the health effects of wine, and how moderation may just be good for you.

Joining us this week are Dr. Laura Catena, a Harvard and Stanford trained biologist and physician, fourth generation vintner, and the managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata in Argentina; and Dr. Miles Hassell, a specialist in Internal Medicine, the author of Good Food, Great Medicine, and a professor at Pacific University.

Mystery subpoenas hit some of the Napa Valley's biggest names. Someone claims to have tapped into the zillennial zeitgeist. British Columbia has been frozen out, and Rioja is sounding a bit more charming. These are the wine stories we're following this week.