So what exactly IS natural wine?

How to define it - or is that even possible? What does it taste like? Why are we seeing so many natural wine bars, shops and events springing up? Natural wine remains niche yet it seems to be influencing mainstream wine - but how exactly? And why does natural wine get everyone so darn hot under the collar..?!

Join us as we tackle all these burning questions and more with natural wine luminary and RAW WINE founder Isabelle Legeron MW, plus Mel Xenaki from natural Greek wine producer Tetramythos. We find time to taste and recommend a couple of natural wines (though Susie does ask if one wine, 'really is safe to drink?!')

Isabelle talks about receiving hate mail, the difference between a 'living wine' and 'a lifeless product', why 'only natural wine can be great', plus why natural wine means, 'we have to re-frame our expectation of wine.' She calls for more transparency in wine, including ingredient labelling, so people can have the choice, 'to decide: this is what I want to put in my body, or this is not what I want to be drinking.'

Mel admits, 'it's hard to introduce yourself as a natural winemaker - because it can be offensive to the mainstream.' She describes her approach as, 'ethical', and calls for legislation to define and regulate natural wine.

We hope you enjoy the programme! Do let us know your thoughts on natural wine or beyond - contact us via our website or over on Instagram or Twitter.

As ever, all wine details, links and more are on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S3 E18: Natural Wine.

Check out RAW WINE - the global community for natural wine producers and lovers. They have upcoming events in LA and London, among others. You can also find more details about Isabelle's book on natural wine and their new subscription wine club in the US (plus a cheeky discount code).

Tetramythos in Greece has some delicious natural wines we recommend in the show.

Here's the link we mention in the show to the Decanter piece on how wine lovers can help with the crisis in Ukraine.

This episode is dedicated to the people of Ukraine. 

We talk to two leading figures in the Georgian wine scene - John Wurdeman (Pheasant's Tears) and Irakli Cholobargia (National Wine Agency) - to get a sense of what the feeling is in the region, and what wine people are doing and can do to help.

Georgia, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet nation on the Black Sea that has had part of its territory occupied by the Russian military. These people are uniquely qualified to comment on the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine.

There's talk of tension, anger, fear, boycotts and suffering. Wurdeman dubs the conflict, 'fratricide,' but notes Georgians are forced to mute their opposition for fear of reprisals by Russia. Before the war broke out, 70% of Georgian wine exports went to Russia and Ukraine. That will have serious implications.

But it's not all doom and gloom. There is talk of kindness, solidarity, peace and generosity. 'You can see the flags of Ukraine all over Georgia,' says Cholobargia. Winemakers in Georgia are sending wines to Ukrainian importers to help them fund humanitarian efforts.

What's more, Wurdeman's UK importer Les Caves de Pyrene is funding transportation for Ukrainian refugees to stay with winemaking families across Europe. 'So hopefully we can have a little bit of love in an otherwise big nightmare,' says Wurdeman.

We also find time to touch on how and why Georgian amber (or orange) wine is so well suited to food matching, and how Georgia's ancient wine history is informing its present evolution. 

A final thought from John Wurdeman: 'The Georgian format for feasting is where you have an elected toastmaster and different subjects are touched upon: love, parents, children, nature, God, neighbours and so forth. And everyone’s encouraged to expand upon it and have a dialogue. It’s a wonderful way to get to know people, and a wonderful way to solve problems as well. It certainly seems to be more effective than NATO or the UN today! So maybe these international organisations should adopt the Georgian feasting model and we would find peace more quickly.'

If you'd like to support the excellent initiative by Les Caves de Pyrene, click here to access the crowdfunding (JustGiving) page to relocate Ukrainian refugees with winemaking families.

To learn more about Georgia, check out Peter's brand new wine & travel series - The Wild Side of Wine on WineMasters.TV It features everything from neolithic picnics in the middle of a thunderstorm to a winemaking centre for a ghostly cave city. Via Stalin, power cuts, a 400-year-old-vine, a vineyard with 400+ wine grape varieties - and a feast of wine, food and song.

The trailer for this show, plus all the usual details from this episode, are on our website: Georgia 4 Ukraine show notes on susieandpeter.com

Scooter basket. Pet coffin. Vinyl shelves. Zoom stand. Veg storage. Bird box. Fire starters. And, if you're the Prime Minister - for making models in which passengers are, 'enjoying themselves on this wonderful bus...'

Yes, all of these are the creative (sometimes baffling) uses to which wooden wine boxes have been put by creative wine types. 

But why do some wines come in wooden cases in the first place? What are their purpose - and, perhaps more importantly, their implications and their future?

This short & sweet Wine Blast Live version of our podcast is a response to this question from listener Andreas in Switzerland.

We feature input from leading wine producers, including breaking news from Château Langoa Barton in Bordeaux that they will be moving their entire 80,000-bottle production from wooden to cardboard boxes. They may even offer their customers the choice - with a surcharge for wooden boxes going to an environmental charity.

It's a tangent - yes, but a fascinating and fun one. Cheers to tangents!

For the photos (well worth a look) check out the link to our show notes: Boxing Clever on susieandpeter.com

NB: Wine Blast Live is a video-podcast and you can find the video either on our website show notes or on our YouTube channel

You can also connect with us on social media: via Instagram or Twitter.

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 Magic of Taste Science with Charles Spence show notes

Here are the links to Charles' books: 

• Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating
• Sense-hacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living

PS: this episode also features the brilliant winners of our Bordeaux wine giveaway, thanks to everyone for entering, and thanks to the Bordeaux Wine Council for DOUBLING our prizes in recognition of the quality and quantity of entries. Thanks also to Kristin for writing on social media that: 'Susie and Peter are just the right amount of geek.'  🤣

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?!

More details, photos and recommendations are on our site: The New Champagne with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon show notes

Say hi on social media: Instagram or Twitter.

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 3-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.

What's more, we have a GIVEAWAY! So, if you want to win a mixed case of 6 bottles of fine Bordeaux, just recommend us to a friend and then let us know. Either tag a friend in a social post of ours (details below) or email us (details on our website).

OR click here to leave us a quick voice message via SpeakPipe (super easy - don't forget your contact details though!) 

We'll pick a winner by Monday 14th Feb. Entrants must be 18+ and deliveries can only be made within the UK. All competition details can be found on our website. 

Thanks for listening!

Tune into our previous episodes on Bordeaux, full of fascinating chat, opinion and interviews, which also feature everything from bats to non fungible tokens via robots, ‘heavy metal’ orange wine and the ULTIMATE breakfast cocktail:

• Bordeaux in 2021 - Wine Blast S2 E19
• Bordeaux's White Bank - Wine Blast S3 E4

More details, photos and recommendations are on our site: Getting to know the Côtes de Bordeaux show notes

Reach out to us on social media: via Instagram or Twitter.

Everything you need to know about the Burgundy 2020 vintage - in just 5 minutes!

It's a pretty special vintage (at least something good came out of that otherwise catastrophic year...)  But is it better for white or red wines? Was it warm or cool, big or small, what styles of wine can we expect? And, most importantly, what of the prices?!

In this quick-fire Q&A, Peter puts Susie on the spot, challenging her not only to sum up the wines in just 5 words but also to drink (Burgundy, of course) while she thinks - sometimes even while she's talking. 

And Susie has some quite eye-opening responses...

More details, photos and recommendations are on our site: Burgundy 2020 Brief show notes

This podcast is also available as a video: Burgundy 2020 Brief on YouTube

Reach out to us on social media: via Instagram or Twitter.

Listen to our previous (full) episode on Burgundy here: Burgundy in 2021

Wanna hear us get humbled and schooled? Interested in exploring whether expensive really means better when it comes to coffee and wine? Or how we're getting it wrong when it comes to storing coffee and wine?!

This is a collaborative episode in which we get together with Scott and Jools from the brilliant Adventures in Coffee podcast. We give them a blind wine tasting, they serve us a blind coffee tasting. Hilarity and humiliation ensue - as well as lessons about how to get the biggest bang for your buck in both.

There are tips, confessions, jeopardy and fun galore in this crossover episode. There's even mention of plastic beach balls, 'de-gassing' and 1974 Barolo. Enjoy!

Do check out the brilliant Adventures in Coffee podcast!

Buy our delicious English sparkling wines, with all profits going to the Marine Conservation Trust charity via this link: The Big English Wine Adventure.

Show notes and details are on our website: When Coffee Dorks Meet Wine Nerds on susieandpeter.com

You can also find us on social media: Instagram or Twitter.

Wines featured in this episode:

• Viña del Cura Rioja 2020, 13% (was £5 at time of recording, now £6.75, Tesco) 
• Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2016, 14.3% (from £13.99, Majestic) 
• López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rioja Reserva 2009, 13% (From £29.99 for the 2008, Majestic)

So: the big question. What to drink when you're not drinking?!

In this short Wine Blast Live, we share our favourite non-alcoholic concoction, one which goes some way to replicating the joy of wine. It's based on Aecorn Bitter, which is made using (unfermented) English sparkling wine grapes mixed with botanicals, mixed with Fever Tree Aromatic tonic plus ice and orange.

We also share a few other options. Including ways to be 'damp' rather than dry - eg by choosing naturally lighter alcohol wines, and perhaps drinking a bit less of them too. Like Riesling, or Hunter Semillon, or a fabulous Sicilian Catarratto...(well, we couldn't bring ourselves to do a whole episode of Wine Blast without some mention of proper wine!)

We touch on the evidence, which suggests a global trend towards increasing moderation on an ongoing basis rather than periods of abstinence. One of the reasons for this has to be the emergence of ambitious, high-quality non-alcoholic drinks over the last few years, a category which is growing fast (and includes the likes of Aecorn).

So: if you want a day off, our 'Anti' cocktail is a great option! Enjoy the pod.

If you have a wine question or challenge you'd like us to tackle, get in touch!

Reach out to us on social media: via Instagram or Twitter.

Check out the video of this podcast, and subscribe to our YouTube channel while you're at it, via this link: A Drink to Dry on YouTube

Details of all  products, plus a full transcript, are on our show notes: https://susieandpeter.com/podcast-episodes/season-three/a-drink-to-dry/

Listen to our previous (full) episode on Dry Drinking here: https://susieandpeter.com/podcast-episodes/season-two/dry-drinking/ 

Wine investment is booming - particularly since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Regular headlines champion it as giving greater returns than not only the major equity indices but also other so-called 'alternative' investments like gold, cars and handbags.

But what exactly is wine investment? Why do it? What are the potential gains and pitfalls? What kind of returns and time-scales are we actually talking? How to get the most out of it? And what does the future hold?

In this sponsored episode with fine wine merchant Oeno, we quiz Director of Wine Justin Knock MW as well as Chief Portfolio Manager Sid McNamara-Rajeswaran on all the above and more.

If you're interested in finding out more about wine and wine investment, please contact [email protected] or see www.oenogroup.com

Show notes and transcript are on our website via this link: Investing in Wine on susieandpeter.com

Catch up with us and say hi on Instagram or Twitter - we'd love to hear from you. Cheers!