Fernando Maíllo works in fine pata negra ham as well as wine – lucky man – and has been one of the key figures behind the emergence of the Sierra de Salamanca region in Castilla y León. Listen to us chat about the unique qualities of Rufete, both red and white, how he rescued 131 abandoned vineyards, his love of kite surfing and red Burgundy and his desire to express the terroir of the natural park that surrounds his winery in every single bottle.

To read more about Fernando have a look at the Cámbrico website. You can also follow the bodega on Instagram at cambricowine. 

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

After a 30 year career in banking, Grant Ashton turned his passion for wine into a business, setting up the wine-focused members’ club, 67 Pall Mall, in London. He’s now CEO of a chain of three sites that’s set to expand to six or more over the next few years. Our fascinating chat covered his musical family, how he finds and trains sommeliers, the debt he owes to Coravin, his approach to surviving the pandemic and why his motto is “go big or go home”.

To read more about Grant have a look at the 67 Pall Mall website. You can also follow the club on Instagram at 67pall_mall. 

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Sean Willard engineers menus and wine lists for a living. It’s a fascinating job that involves economics, science, art, psychology – and plenty of number crunching. Our enjoyable chat covered everything from font sizes to daily specials, how the pandemic changed the on-trade for ever, techniques for steering customers away from default choices, the concept of truth on menus and what annoys him most about eating out in restaurants.

To read more about Sean have a look at the Menu Engineers website.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Alessio Planeta is the seventeenth generation of his family to make wine in Sicily. As you’d expect, he’s a man with a passionate interest in the history of the Mediterranean’s largest island. Listen to us talk about Sicily’s different sub-regions, the remarkable quality of its best indigenous grapes, its twenty different civilisations, Lord Horatio Nelson’s love of Marsala and what it’s like making wine on the side of an active volcano.

To read more about Alessio have a look at the Planeta website. You can also follow the winery on Instagram @planetawinery.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Pascal Chatonnet has not one, but two wine-related PhDs. After a 17-year stint as an academic at Bordeaux University, he switched careers to become a consultant and take over the running of his family’s Right Bank estates. Our fascinating chat covered his views on Brettanomyces, cork taint, ripeness and picking dates, his favourite grape varieties – Merlot, Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional – and his enduring love of antiques.

To read more about Pascal have a look at his website. You can also follow him on Instagram @pascalchatonnet.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Hendrik Thoma trained as a chef, but fell in love with wine when he was working at a restaurant in the Napa Valley. It was a decision which led to a very successful career as one of the world’s top sommeliers. Now a journalist, wine importer and videoblogger, he’s a fascinating interviewee. Our chat covered great wine lists, pumpernickel, the craft of good service, meeting Robert Mondavi and what it’s like to write for Playboy magazine.

To read more about Hendrik have a look at the Wein am Limit website. You can also follow him on Instagram @wein.am.limit. 

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Ginny Poval had a successful career as an insurance industry executive before she bought a flower farm called Protea Heights in South Africa that changed her life. Now the owner of a five-hectare vineyard and an award-winning wine brand called Botanica, she’s done things the hard way. Listen to us chat about kite surfing, old-vine Chenin Blanc, vegan compost, the terroir of the Devon Valley and why painting and drawing help her to relax.

To read more about Ginny have a look at the Botanica website. You can also follow her on Instagram @botanicawines.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

A chance meeting with the great Steven Spurrier in Paris convinced Rosamund Barton that she wanted to work in wine. After spells as a buyer and a newspaper columnist in South Africa, she decided that PR was her future. And what a success she’s made of it, working alongside Rupert Ponsonby at R&R Teamwork. Our fascinating chat covered everything from paddle tennis to disastrous press trips, snail racing to badly behaved journalists.

To read more about Rosamund have a look at the R&R Teamwork website. You can also follow the company on Instagram @randrdrinkers.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Larry Cherubino can’t seem to stop winning awards at the moment. He’s flying all over the world to collect them, so I was lucky to track him down for an in-depth conversation in Perth. Our fascinating chat covered his upbringing on a dairy farm, his Italian roots, an overview of Western Australia’s main wine regions, his fascination with clones, his fear of sharks and why someone pulled a knife on him in a southern French co-operative.

To read more about Larry have a look at his website. You can also follow his winery on Instagram @cherubinowines.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Interviewing Christoph Hammel is a lot of fun. Sometimes described as a cellar cabaret artist, he brings a theatrical flourish to everything he does. Our fascinating chat covered the climate and soil types of his native Pfalz, his long term relationship with South Africa, his love of Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, his plans to revive the fortunes of Liebfraumilch and an insight into the wines they served in First Class on the Titanic.

To read more about Christoph have a look at his website. You can also follow his winery on Instagram @weinguthammelundcie.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.