Wine Blast with Susie and Peter

Some people say non-alcoholic wine is a contradiction in terms, a blasphemous notion (or just plain disgusting). Others say the world has changed and it could be the saving of wine. 

In this episode, which may ruffle a few feathers, and for which we tested more than 100 bottles (at least one over £100), we ask: is non-alcoholic wine any good? Is it worth our while? Does it taste like wine? Should it even be classed as, ‘wine’? Who’s buying it? And what does the future hold?!

Spoiler alert: we don't see eye to eye on this one. 

Joining us are leading figures in the world of non-alc wine: Maggie and Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger (French Bloom), Will Willis (Zeno) and Paul Beavis (Wild Idol). 

Along the way, we touch on ducks, Dragon's Den, religion, book-ending, April fools, cauliflower noses, bubbles, secret yeasts, gas and air, and zebra striping.

To support the show, enjoy subscriber-only bonus content and discount benefits, access our full archive and get every episode before it goes on free release, subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS at wineblast.co.uk

Thanks for tuning in! We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe. Or you can find links, photos and our top non-alc tips (as promised) on our website show notes.

Instagram: @susieandpeter

NB: This is archive material first released in February 2022 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season Three, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS. Cheers!

At one point, it looked like Covid was going to be the death-knell for Champagne. And then...the bubbles bounced back. Big time. But things aren't quite the same as they were - in intriguing ways...

In this fascinating episode we catch up on all the latest hot topics from this famous and historic fine wine region in northern France with none other than legendary winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon of Louis Roederer (and Cristal).

And he tells us: 'The 21st century is changing everything.'

So what exactly is the 'new' Champagne all about? On the one hand, it's about admitting mistakes (sounds like the 60s and 70s have a lot to answer for). It's also about risk and the potential rewards for pioneers.

We make sure to have a couple of glasses of delicious Champagne wines to hand - entirely for educational purposes, of course. There's talk of drinking glass pyramids, still wines, scallops, happiness, a tornado and the move from non-vintage to multi-vintage (yes, we do explain).

Life is too short for bland champagne! Do you agree?!

Wine Blast Season 3 Episode 14 (originally published 11 Feb 2022)

We're in early-1600s Britain - wine is primitive, often adulterated, never sparkling. Glassmaking is rudimentary, religion is a hot potato - but business is brisk if you're a swashbuckling type with the ear of the king. The scene is set for a technological revolution comparable to that of the smartphone at the dawn of the 21st century...the result of which will be the invention of champagne as we know it today.

We're midway through the story of The Knight Who Invented Champagne - as told by the book's author, Stephen Skelton MW, a viticultural consultant (and former sheep farmer) who recently helped Champagne Taittinger set up their English wine operation, Domaine Evremond.

In this second and concluding instalment, we meet Skelton's mysterious titular hero - Sir Kenelm Digby - as well as the likes of King James I, Admiral Sir Robert Mansell, and one Dr Christopher Merret, who (in a key piece of evidence from 1662) reveals that sugar is being added to wine to make it, 'drink brisk and sparkling.' 

This all adds up to a seminal moment in wine history. 

Yet this story is not as well known as it should be. Something we're putting right here. As well as touching on issues as wide-ranging as 'collops' of bacon, spasmodic rheumatic pains, The Oyster Lunch painting, an intense love affair, cider, Westminster Abbey, a small bomb, the origin of branding, punts and rams' scrotums.

To support the show, enjoy subscriber-only bonus content and discount benefits, access our full archive and get every episode before it goes on free release, subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS at wineblast.co.uk

Use this link to find or buy Stephen's book: The Knight Who Invented Champagne

Instagram: @susieandpeter

Prof Tim Spector OBE is world famous as a leading expert on the gut microbiome - and he tells us that drinking a range of red wines in moderation can be good for our health. So we like him. A lot.

We interviewed Tim in February 2023 for our Wine and Your Microbiome episode (Season 4 Episode 13), a programme that generated national headlines for its eye-opening content. 

But there was more to our discussion than what we were able to feature then so, as an exclusive subscriber-only bonus episode, this is the uncut interview in full.

It includes previously unaired things like how personal our microbiomes are, why we respond to food and drink in such individual ways, the hypothesis of different wines for different ailments, the effect of light on polyphenol production – plus, the red wine tasting Tim was forced to do at 11 in the morning in the hospital!

It's particularly relevant now given our recent Jaw Drop episode with dentist and Master of Wine Dr Ron Georgiou, where we touch on the oral microbiome as well as the gut microbiome. It also ties in our Life or Death? On Wine and Health episode from Season Six.

NB: This is a short taster of the full episode, which is available exclusively for Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. So if you're interested in the microbiome, wine and health more generally, and what Dr Tim has to say, use this link to find out more or subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS. 

Instagram: @susieandpeter

Let's get straight to it: did the Brits REALLY invent champagne? If so, what about Dom Pérignon and all that 'tasting stars' malarkey?! And how on earth can Kings, Shakespeare, Samuel Pepys, Galileo, the Gunpowder Plotters, the Armada, a mysterious knight, urinals, disembowelling and rams' scrotums all be part of the story??!!

Joining us to tie all these seemingly disparate threads together, as well as clear up a whole lot of myths and misconceptions, is Stephen Skelton MW, author of The Knight Who Invented Champagne, the book this episode is based on.

Champagne isn't just a cool drink. It also has an astonishingly rich history behind it - including a technological revolution that Stephen compares to the advent of the smartphone four centuries later. After this episode, you'll never look at this bubbly elixir in the same way again. 

This is a narrative two-parter - don't miss the second and concluding part of the story, which is OUT NOW for Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. 

So if you'd like to listen to the next instalment right now, as well as support the show, enjoy subscriber-only bonus content and discount benefits, access our full archive and get every episode before it goes on free release, subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS at wineblast.co.uk

Instagram: @susieandpeter

NB: This is archive material first released February 2022 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season Three, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS. Cheers!

Did you know that just changing the light and music can alter how you perceive a wine by up to 20%? Ever wondered why that bottle of holiday rosé was such a crushing disappointment when you got it home? 

High-tempo music can make a dish taste more spicy - lower-pitch sounds bring out bitterness in wine. (Though, 'we can't turn water into wine musically...yet.') Rubbing velvet versus sandpaper can change how you perceive a wine's body. Even the microbiome in our gut and mouth can affect our perception of a wine.

Welcome to the curious world of Professor Charles Spence - experimental psychologist and one of the world's foremost experts in multisensory perception. He follows on from what the Italian Futurists pioneered in the 1930s (and they, according to Spence, 'recommended turning up to dinner parties in pyjamas made from satin, silk, velvet and sandpaper, and eating the food without cutlery by burying your face in the plate while rubbing your neighbour's jim-jams...')

This is the first in a series of programmes we'll be doing on wine and food. Before we launch into the delicious nitty-gritty, we wanted to understand the world of taste and flavour in more depth.

So here we dive into the world of smell, sound, touch, sight, taste, atmosphere, glassware, bottles, genetics - and the future.

In the mix are hyper-directional speakers and sound showers, 'spit-in-bag' dinners, parosmia, artificial reality and drinking liquid gold.

What Spence finds 'intriguing' are, 'those potentially transformative or magical experiences that you might get by combining wine with food or music.'

This is our kind of science - and this fascinating episode serves as the perfect launch-pad to leap into the delicious world of food and wine. Bon appetit!

More details, photos and links are on our website: The Magical Science of Taste with Charles Spence show notes

Wine Blast Season 3 Episode 15 (originally published 25 Feb 2022)

When we drink wine, we tend to focus on how it tastes, rather than what the wine is doing to our 'tasting gear' (mouth, teeth, tongue, gums, throat, saliva...even oral microbiome). Truth is, wine does have a pretty big impact on all that stuff - and, just as importantly, all that stuff can influence the way we taste wine too.

Step forward Dr Ron Georgiou MW - a rare beast: dentist by day, Master of Wine by night. Like almost no one else, he can tell us what effect wine has on our mouths and teeth - and also, how we can keep our personal tasting apparatus in pristine condition so we can taste wine to the absolute max.

This is an eye-opening episode that every wine lover needs to hear. Wine can damage our mouths - but there are ways to mitigate or prevent the dangers. Plus, the top tips in this programme can help you become a better taster.

We also share our approach - plus how we'll be changing in the light of this episode. (We told you this podcast would change your life...)

To support the show, enjoy subscriber-only bonus content and discount benefits, access our full archive and get every episode before it goes on free release, subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS at wineblast.co.uk

Instagram: @susieandpeter

SUBSCRIBER BONUS TASTER: As Rioja turns 100, Spain's most famous wine region finds itself at a crossroads. Should it stick with tradition and what’s made it world famous? Or should it adapt and innovate, in order to appease the modernists and face up to climate change and shifting consumer trends?

One memorable trip to Rioja and tons of tastings later, we sit down to get to grips with what Rioja even is these days, what it’s trying to do, what it’s getting right – and wrong. And along the way we make sure to highlight and recommend the kind of Riojan wines and producers getting us excited.

This episode is packed full of information, insight and opinion on what is one of the world's favourite wine regions - but which is changing fast.

NB: This is a short taster of the full episode, which is available exclusively for Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. So if you're a fan of Rioja and want the lowdown plus our personal top tips, use this link to find out more or subscribe to Wine Blast PLUS. 

Thanks for tuning in! We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe. Or you can find links, photos and producer recommendations on our website show notes.

Instagram: @susieandpeter

NB: This is archive material first released January 2022 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season Three, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS. Cheers!

They're hotbeds of innovation, experimentation, affordability and sustainability. For as much as they fly under the radar, the Côtes de Bordeaux are instigating and leading a dynamic kind of change in the world's largest fine wine region.

So what are the Côtes de Bordeaux? Where are they? And who are all these mostly family-run, smaller-scale producers who together produce 1 in 10 bottles of Bordeaux?

In this, the concluding instalment of our three-part sponsored mini-series on Bordeaux, we dive in to find out more about the intriguing world of the Côtes de Bordeaux. We hear from Bordeaux expert Jane Anson and chat to Pauline Lapierre of Château Haut-Rian, plus we recommend some great value wines along the way.

Wine Blast Season 3 Episode 13 (originally published 28 Jan 2022)

NB: This is archive material first released October 2021 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season Three, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS. Cheers!

Did you know Bordeaux used to be mainly white, not red wine? 

And that there's a universe of delicious diversity (and great value) to be discovered among the dry and sweet whites of Bordeaux (not forgetting the fizz)?

This is the second part in our mini-series in association with the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) and we dive headlong into the fascinating world of white Bordeaux. We talk to the brilliant Laure de Lambert Compeyrot of Chateau Sigalas Rabaud as well as 'renegade' winemaker Olivier Cazenave of Chateau de Bel. Bordeaux expert Jane Anson also makes a cameo appearance.

The episode also features the ULTIMATE breakfast cocktail (involving Sauternes and blood orange), masochism, robots, 'heavy metal' orange wine, the 2021 vintage, earthworms the size of snakes, rescuing Muscadelle, loving 'the game' and some amazing value wine tips. 

By way of bonus, both Susie and Peter break into what might be loosely described as 'song' at different moments.

Wine Blast Season 3 Episode 4 (originally published 22 Oct 2021)