How do you start a wine making partnership with Sarah Jessica Parker? It turns out, all you have to do is ask - as long as you have an award-winning wine brand and savvy business partners with years of experience. In this special episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with New Zealanders and business partners Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron of Invivo - where Rob is the winemaker and Tim is the director. After getting their degrees in physiology and one of them starting a pain relief cream business (not a joke), these childhood friends found themselves at a pub in England and hatched the plan for Invivo wines. Years of sweat and grit got them to where they are today, with an internationally known and distributed wine brand, and collaborations with Graham Norton and Sarah Jessica Parker. And in case you think these are just names slapped on the labels, Tim and Rob ensure that Norton and SJP are directly involved in the blending of their wines. Listen in to hear about their fascinating story, how storytelling is at the center of what they are trying to create, and learn more about their motto “Break Dumb Rules.”

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Once again, we present our version of Spotify Wrapped where we review the top 10 and bottom 10 wines we tasted and reviewed in 2024. Some of what we think makes our podcast different from other wine podcasts or wine publications and reviewers is that we share with you both the good and the bad. Most wine reviewers only share with you the wines they rate highly, but we share the wines we think you should avoid as well. We also let you listen into our actual tasting, so you can see how we are examining the wines and what flavors and smells we are getting - in real time. We do not change or adjust our tasting - you get the real real on what we think. And we use normal terms that people can relate to - like apple juice or lemon or cherry Twizzler rather than odd wine terms like quince and cassis. So, for our last episode of the year, you can hear the wines we liked the most and liked the least, and in our show notes, we will share with you the full list of wines we drank and our ratings for each!

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Port is a fun and festive after-dinner drink during the Holidays. But, which one should you choose - Ruby Port or Tawny Port? Have no idea what we are talking about? Then this episode is just for you! Port is a sweet, fortified dessert wine from Portugal, and it comes in a few different styles that are actually pretty different from each other. We talk about what some of the differences are between the two, and we also talk about how Port is made. Curious about what a fortified wine is? Jump in! Want to know what robotic “Port Toes” are? We got you covered! We also taste and review a Ruby Port and a Tawny Port, both reasonably priced, to help you decide which one you should bring to your Holiday shindig. Wines reviewed in this episode: Fonseca Ruby Port, Croft Fine Tawny Porto

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Looking for a show stopping sparkling wine to serve this Holiday? Then look no further than Sparkling Shiraz! This is a sparkling red wine - yes, you heard us right - an honest to goodness red wine made (usually) in the same way that Champagne is made. In case you are wondering, Shiraz is what they call Syrah in Australia, so they are the same wine. Like all sparkling wines, Sparkling Shiraz can vary from sweet to brut, but this is not your grandma’s sweet sparkling red wine. Sparkling Shiraz can be spicy, complex, earthy, and tannic - exactly like the still Syrah / Shiraz you know and love. In this episode, we explore how Sparkling Shiraz is made, reveal that it used to be known as Sparkling Burgundy, and let you know how you should serve it and what food to pair it with. And, we have two pretty different Sparkling Shiraz wines that we taste and review so you can choose something your guests (and you) will love! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Paringa Sparkling Shiraz, The Chook Sparkling Shiraz

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Chenin Blanc is the “it” wine in South Africa, but is it worth the hype? Spoiler alert - if you like an oaky Chardonnay or white wines with some body, you may really like this wine! No one is really sure how Chenin Blanc got to South Africa, or why it has been called Steen there for centuries, but one thing is for sure - if you want to taste some of the best Chenin Blanc in the world outside of France, the first place you need to turn to is South Africa. South Africa makes more than 50% of all the Chenin Blanc in the world, and has a strong reputation today for making excellent wine - but it wasn’t always the case. In this episode, we explore a bit of the history of Chenin Blanc from South Africa, and we taste and review two reasonably priced and easy to find South African Chenin Blancs which we bought at Total Wine (boo!) to see if they are worth your hard-earned money. And a shout out to listener Dominic who suggested this episode. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2024 Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc, 2023 Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc

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This week we had the honor and privilege to sit and talk with Leslie Frelow and Aamira Garba, two amazing women making waves in the wine world. Leslie calls herself the Owner & Chief Discovery Officer of The Wine Concierge, and that title is perfect because she seeks to sell wines from boutique wineries owned by women and underrepresented groups. Aamira is the CEO and Winemaker for LoveLee Wine who built her wine brand from scratch after deciding that she was tired of living the “checkbox life.” Leslie and Aamira share with us how they each came to careers in wine through passion and perseverance, and both of their stories are examples of grit, determination, hard work, and talent. We think after you hear from them you’ll want to learn more and experience what each has created. 

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Picpoul translates to “lip stinger” in the original dialect, and this is not your typical high acid white wine. In fact, we were pretty surprised by this wine overall. It had more body (read: alcohol) than a typical zippy white wine, and more body as well. Although it is often called a summer sipper, this wine felt more like a fall wind-breaker. Picpoul is not a commonly grown wine grape, and does best in Mediterranean climates like where it is from in Languedoc in the south of France. We explore a bit of this wine and wine region’s long history, and learn about how this wine is made and a bit about the winemakers themselves. If you are a white wine lover, or even if you are white wine curious, this is a great episode for you to expand your wine horizons. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Domitia Picpoul de Pinet, 2022 Domaine Font-Mars Picpoul de Pinet.

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You may think that Rosé is a summer wine, made for sipping by the pool - but did you know it is the perfect pairing for Thanksgiving?!? We ain’t sh*&^ing you! The kind of Rosé you serve matters, because after all Rosé is a way of making wine, and so the grapes in the Rosé and the style in which it is made make all the difference. And so in this episode, we talk about what to look for in a Thanksgiving wine, and in a Rosé wine for Thanksgiving in particular, and we have three amazing Rosé wines that will work out perfectly with the whole meal. Bird? Check. Stuffing? Check. Mac & Cheese? Check. Mashed potatoes and gravy? Check and Check. This episode also saw a couple of our highest rated wines of the year, so don’t be a turkey - listen in! We won’t steer you wrong! And you may find that you want to serve all three of these wines this year - and we won’t stop you! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2023 Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Rosé, 2023 Scaia Rosato, Hubert Meyer Crémant d'Alsace Brut Rose'

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We generally have pretty good luck with Kirkland wines, and we put our good fortune to the test in this episode by tasting the 2022 Napa Valley Red Blend vs. two other Bordeaux-style blends. How did the Kirkland wine do?!? Well . . . we don’t want to give too many spoilers, but let's just say that we gave it a fair shot. We also dig into what exactly Bordeaux-style blends are because, let’s face it, when a wine says it is a “red blend” that could mean a whole bunch of things. So, we demystify what Bordeaux-style blends are and how to tell if a wine is one, and we also go into some detail about the difference between wines made in Bordeaux and wines made in Napa Valley - two of the most famous and highly prized wine regions in the world. While they share a lot of similarities in terms of the grapes they use, they are pretty different when it comes to winemaking, and we tell you why.  2022 Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Red Blend, 2021 Market Vineyards Derivative Red Wine,  2019 Château Michel de Montaigne Bergerac Bordeaux Blend.

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Bread & Butter Wines is one of the fastest growing wine brands in the United States, but does that mean they are any good? Even more importantly, are these wines worth the price? And because these wines rarely show up in the ratings and reviews of the major wine publications, we figured we’d do you a solid and share what we think. In this episode, not only do we taste and give our totally honest review of three different Bread & Butter wines, we spill the tea on what we think is the allure - and the problem - with these mass produced wines. Let’s just say the goal for wine brands like Bread & Butter is consistency over everything else. And for some people that is exactly what they are looking for, and for others, it is just not enough. You may agree with our assessment, or you may totally disagree, and not only is that absolutely fine with us, we want to hear what you think! We don’t pull any punches, and we hope you won’t either! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Bread & Butter California Chardonnay, 2023 Bread & Butter Sauvignon Blanc, 2022 Bread & Butter Cabernet Sauvignon.

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