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. 

Essi Avellan is a journalist and Master of Wine who probably knows more about sparkling wines than anyone else on the planet. I caught up with her from her base in Helsinki to talk about single vineyard Champagnes, autolysis, cork age, tasting bubbles, the best fizz regions outside France, her preference for fresher over oxidative styles, the impact of climate change and the future of grape growing in Finland.

To read more about Essi have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Instagram @essiavellan.

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. 

Originally trained as an engineer, Greg Lambrecht is an innovator, inventor and entrepreneur who works in the medical as well as wine sectors. Listen to us chat about needles, noble gases, super glue, karmic debt, how he came up with the idea for the Coravin wine preservation system, the dos and don’ts of using one, his love of running and how at least one First Growth Bordeaux château showed him the door.

To read more about Greg have a look at the Coravin website. You can also follow the company on Instagram @coravin.

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. 

Yves Cuilleron took over his family’s estate in Condrieu and Saint Joseph in his early twenties. In the space in of just three decades, has turned it into one of the France’s star names. Our fascinating conversation covered his love of Viognier, the difference between the two banks of the Rhône river, clones of Syrah, including Serine, his Californian joint-venture and his ongoing experiments with historic grapes such as Durif and Dureza.

To read more about Yves have a look at his website. You can also follow the domaine on Instagram @caveyvescuilleron.

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. 

Since he arrived in the country in 1991, Philip Cox has transformed the image of Romanian wine. Having first tried his hand at selling beer, he bought a run-down winery and 600 hectares of vineyards and hasn’t looked back. Today, his company – Cramele Recas – sells more than 30 million litres, using international as well as local grapes. He’s an outspoken innovator and entrepreneur, who has always believed in listening to consumers first.

To read more about Philip have a look at the Cramele Recas website. You can also follow the winery on Instagram @cramelerecaseu.

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.