Just in time for the holiday season, I review the five ways to get fizz in a wine (on purpose) -- and the wines that result. I discuss regions and styles of different wines in each of the three major categories: Ancestral Method/Pétillant Naturel, Méthode Champenoise/ Metodo Classico, and the Martinotti/Charmat/Tank Method.

From Col Fondo to Method Cap Classique to German Sekt, I offer you new possibilities and sparkling wine types you may not know or think of off the top of your head, but which are all great in their own right and many which are ridiculously affordable (and yes, it's way more than just Prosecco and Cava!).

Photo: The "Underground Cathedrals" in Canelli, a UNESCO site Source: Alta Langa DOCG

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

At the suggestion of Patron John D., in this show I give you a list of 10 great winter whites and review each in detail! I discuss the varied styles, since most regions have multiple versions of these wines, and how to get the bone warmers, not the light sippers. I offer food pairing ideas to boot!

From white Burgundy to Poşip to Savienníeres and Fiano, I've suggested a great white bottle for almost every week of winter! I hope you find the list useful.

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

This time in the grape miniseries -- a refresh on one of my all time favorite grapes -- Riesling. This versatile grape has a long history of quality, and is highly misunderstood by most people.

I review the long and noble history of the grape, starting in 1435 and talk about how it wound up in places like the US and Australia, where it makes world class examples. I cover Riesling in the vineyard, in the cellar, and what makes a wine sweet or dry. I even explain a bit about the International Riesling Foundation scale!

I hope this overview gives you a new apprecaition for this grape that can be dry, sparkling, off-dry, sweet, and everything in between.

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can't go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!

Lying just south of the city of Bordeaux is one of the oldest winemaking regions in the Bordeaux AOC -- Graves. Graves, along with it sub appellation of Pessac-Leognan are covered in this show as two of the great of Bordeaux.

Graves has a wine history stretching back to 100 BCE when the Romans first settled this area and realized that its gravelly (graves=gravel) soil was excellent for viticulture. That was the start and Graves has been continuously making wine for more than 2000 years. I discuss this wonderfully historic area, some of the challenges that it has faced, and the things that make it so special.

Map: Vins de Bordeaux

After discussing Graves, I take on Pessac-Léognan, the northern area of Graves, just south of the city of Bordeaux. It is the home of the most famous châteaux of the southern Left Bank including Haut Brion, the first growth in the 1855 classification.

As with all "The Greats" shows, I cover the history, terroir, grapes and winemaking, and then discuss key châteaux but after this show I encourage you to seek out a bottle of the larger Graves AOC and Pessac-Léognan to see the similarities and differences between each of these regions. I think you will then understand why Pessac-Léognan is so different, in spite of the fact that it is part of Graves!

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

I happen to be in Sicily with a group of Patrons (this could be you if you join Patreon!).

While I was in Verona at Wine2Wine, in 2019, I had the honor to speak with Alessio Planeta, President at Assovini Sicilia and Owner at Planeta Winery

For five centuries and through seventeen generations, Planeta has been active in changing and improving agriculture in Sicily. Alessio Planeta has spent his life dedicated to the study of Sicily and figuring out how to make it a significant force in world wine. With his family, Alessio now has six wineries around Sicily, and they have almost single-handedly put Sicily on the map as a quality player.

Planeta continues its mission to show what Sicily can do and what it's forgotten varietals can bring to the world of wine. They are one of the big reasons we have access to excellent Sicilian wine today.

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

This time I revisit a show from long ago on Wine Etiquette. In this Back-to-Basics episode, I cover the three main places you would use etiquette - a dinner party, a restaurant, and a tasting room.

I address:

The Dinner Party: What to bring a host, a good welcome drink, whether or not to open a bottle that a guest brings, the etiquette of what to do with the last glass in the bottle, and the point in the night to serve your best wine. I also talk about the proper way to pour, how high to fill a wine red or white wine glass, and whether or not to display a bottle you have decanted.

Source: Des Moines Register

The Restaurant: I review every step of wine ordering from perusing the menu to looking at the cork to approving the wine. I discuss the interaction with a sommelier and what to do with large groups, and how to handle a restaurant that serves less than fresh wine by the glass. I touch on giving the waiter a taste of a special wine and some ideas of what to do at a BYO restaurant.

Tasting rooms: When to make a reservation, what to wear, tasting room fees, spitting, commenting/ask questions, and the most pressing question people have: what to tip tasting room staff.

I tried to cover everything, but if you still have questions, feel free to reach out!

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

You will get no better primer on Santa Barbara wine country than in the show. Wes Hagen comes on to school us on his region.

Ask anyone in Santa Barbara wine about Wes Hagen and they'll tell you he is a legend. He has worked in Santa Barbara wine for 30+ years as a vineyard manager, winemaker, hospitality specialist, wine educator, and sommelier. He has run prestigious vineyards , made wine in amazing wineries (Clos Pepe, J. Wilkes Wines, Miller Family Wines), and then became the go-to guy for creating American Viticultural Areas in Santa Barbara, writing and getting four AVAs approved between 1997-2019. He is also a noted educator, having lectured at many of the top viticulture and enology schools in the US and he is known for his famed TED talk on the History of Wine.

Image: Wes Hagen. Credit: Wes Hagen

Wes is currently the brand ambassador for Native9 wines, a brand representing the Ontiveros family's 9th generation of California farmers.

In the show Wes educates us on Santa Barbara geology and climate, the various Santa Barbara County AVAs and what each grows, the process of petitioning for an AVA, the Santa Barbara wine country culture and how the movie "Sideways" affected it, and his reasons for believing that a downturn in the wine industry is "doom and room", rather than "doom and gloom"! You are guaranteed to learn a ton about Santa Barbara in this show!

Info on how to contact Wes:

Wes Hagen is available through to help guide you through planning a Santa Barbara Wine Adventure: [email protected] or text him at 805-450-2324. Wes's web site: www.weshagen.com Learn more about Native9 Wines at www.native9.com Vineyard Tours and 'Deep Dive' tastings with Wes are available at Native9 by appointment: BOOK A TOUR - https://www.exploretock.com/native9

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can't go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!

It's been 13 years since I've done a grape miniseries on Tempranillo, so it was high time! This grape has come a long way in a decade +, proving that it has more nuance, terroir driven finesse, and versatility than it gets credit for.

Tempranillo is now the third most widely planted wine grape in the world, at 231,000 ha/570,000 acres. It is not widely grown outside of Spain but there are growers in 17 countries making a go of it. That said, 88% of Tempranillo's vineyard area is in Spain and most of it is in the northern central parts, with Rioja and Ribera del Duero as the shining stars.

Photo: Getty Images via Canva

In this show, I go over the DNA and history of the grape and I discuss the many, many names it has. I talk about how it reacts to terroir and its behavior in the vineyard, and why it is so uniquely suited to the special areas in Spain where it thrives. I talk about winemaking and its effect on the grape and then I dive into the aging criteria of Spain (Generico, Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva) before going over the specific regions in Spain, Portugal, and the New World in which this grape does amazing things.

This is one of the most important grapes in the world, and the mini-series is packed with info! Enjoy and go try some different wines, you will be surprised at how different they are based on all the factors I mention in the show. You can test yourself to see if you can figure out if it's the land or the hand of man that has an effect!

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

This week I finish up the communal appellations of the Médoc for our "Greats of Bordeaux" series with Moulis!

Map: Wines of the Médoc

Although the communes of Moulis and Listrac are often seen as one in the same because both are inland and neither is adjacent to the Gironde River/Estuary, this grouping is a mistake.

The wines of Moulis, especially from the Grand Poujeaux plateau next to Margaux, can rival or exceed the quality of the wines from the big name communes on the river -- Margaux, St-Julien, Pauillac, and Saint-Estèphe. Moulis is varied and not all the wines grow on the top terroir, but those that do make exquisite, ageworthy wines that are undervalued. Châteaux like Poujeaux, Chasse Spleen, and Maucaillou make top wines for relatively low prices.

I spend most of the show on Moulis but also cover Listrac. Listrac, in my mind is not one of "The Greats" but it is historic and important. I review the commune and try to point out some of the main reasons I think Moulis and Listrac are so very different, with Moulis earning top billing over Listrac.

This is the final in the Médoc Greats! We have covered Margaux, Saint Julien, Pauillac, Saint Estèphe, and now Moulis. We will move to Graves and Pessac-Leognan next, before ending where we began this series, on the Right Bank!

Enjoy!!

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

This week I return to The Greats series in which I explore the greatest wines in the world and how they became such big deals.

Photo: Vineyards in Chianti Classico. Credit: Unsplash

Chianti Classico, with its 700+ years of history and ideal terroir, is indisputably one of the great wines in the world. In this episode, I cover the long history of Chianti Classico, its ebbs and flows, and its current leaps in quality. I talk about the terroir of the region and why wines here are different from any other in the world and the best pairing with food you could ask for. I address the new Gran Selezione and Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive (UGA) systems, which are signs that Chianti Classico is ever improving.

Several times in the show I make the distinction between Chianti Classico DOCG and Chianti DOCG, so I'll reiterate here -- there is a big difference and it definitely is worth your time to listen and figure out why looking for the Gallo Nero/black rooster on a bottle of Chianti Classico will pay off in the glass!

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can't go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!