The Wine Conversation

Elephants in the vineyard? Buddhist pickers who won’t kill insects eating the grapes? Just some of the challenges Michael Juergens faced establishing the first winery in Bhutan. Elin McCoy talks to him about how he, as a business consultant who loved to run marathons, play drums in a punk band, fell in love with wine and ended up on the wine world’s wildest adventure.

Jane Anson talks to Maureen Downey, a global expert on wine fraud, about the extent of wine fraud in the industry today. She discusses how organised crime has become involved and turned it into a big business, why it has become easier to counterfeit wine and how she ended up becoming an expert in this field and being called “the Sherlock Holmes of wine”.

Karen MacNeil talks to Elin McCoy about the newly released third edition of “The Wine Bible”, which has sold over a million copies. Listen in to hear how a girl from an Irish Catholic family who didn’t drink wine, had no books, nor music left home at 15 to become the US’s most famous wine educator. Find out what advice she offers women in the wine industry today, discover how she compiled the new edition, what was put in and what was left out, and which were her greatest surprises (spoiler alert – South of England sparkling). A wonderful hour of great conversation from a woman who started her tasting career by being told she could only attend the tasting group if she didn’t talk…

Olivier Bernstein is one of Burgundy’s new bright stars. He talks to Elin McCoy on how he left his family’s classical music business and decided to make top Burgundy. Find out how he came to establish himself as a micro-negociant with a sensational range of Grands and Premiers Crus of the Côte de Nuits, and set a record price for his jeroboam of Romanée St-Vivant when auctioned by Cult Wines. Listen in to hear Olivier’s story and the different path he took to realise his dream.

Baron Éric de Rothschild talks to Sarah Kemp in a wide-ranging and candid interview about his life in wine. He reveals his earliest memories of Château Lafite, talks about the decisions to buy other estates, including in Chile and China, his views on wines as brands and a memorable lunch with Greta Garbo and the Worker’s Cooperative. Plus much, much more.

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Leading Bordeaux expert Jane Anson of www.janeanson.com talks about the new Saint-Emilion classification which has just been released. Discover the criteria used, who are the winners and losers, and why she thinks certain châteaux missed out on being promoted. She discusses how the classification has been mired in controversy in the past and explains how important the classification is to the estates and today’s consumers.

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Amanda Barnes, author of the award-winning “The South America Wine Guide” talks to Sarah Kemp about the discoveries she made during the ten years she researched her book. Find out which varieties she champions and the regions she believes are South America’s Grands Crus of today.

Listen in to Omnibus 16 for the latest news and views. This month: A 29-year-old Mexican beauty queen is accused of being behind the “wine heist of the century;” arrests in a major Spanish wine fraud; breakthrough research in dry farming; California celebrates the class of ’72, the wineries which made California wine’s reputation; how Bordeaux’s wildfires may affect the vintage; and lots more.

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In our series “The Next Generation” Elin McCoy talks to Hélène Seillan of Vérité, the acclaimed winery in Sonoma, which produces the highly collectable La Muse, La Joie and Le Désir, which are made from more than 50 “micro crus” across four appellations. Hélène talks about her childhood in South West France where her father made wine for seven châteaux, her move to California as a child speaking no English when her father joined Jess Jackson to start Vérité, how she got the wine bug and her 100-point wines with Robert Parker.

Alice Feiring, a  leader of the Natural Wine movement. talks to Elin McCoy about her new book, “To Fall in Love Drink This: A Wine Writer’s Memoir ”. Listen in as she talks about learning how to smell, how she evaded a serial killer at 14,  why she believes the Natural Wine movement is dead, and the movement she believes will replace it.