GrapeRadio

Jancis Robinson has been writing about wine since 1975, authoring some of the world’s most respected books on the subject. She is a wine correspondent of the London Financial Times, and the first non-trade Master of Wine as well an OBE. She considers herself a contemporary of Robert Parker, as well as the author [...]

Alice Feiring should be no stranger to those who follow the personalities in the world of wine. An unapologetic Francophile and something of a firebrand, Alice considers herself “the leading Natural Wine Advocate in this country,” which puts her in direct conflict with influential wine critic Robert Parker, and those who seemingly favor Parker’s [...]

We decided to make a trek up to Sonoma County to visit with a few personalities from the Kendall-Jackson stable of wineries. Our first stop was to visit with Melissa Stackhouse, winemaker for La Crema. The love for farming came naturally for Melissa, having spent summers on her grandparents’ farm in rural Minnesota. But, it was [...]

In wine growing, the word “sustainability” gets bandied about frequently. So, what’s it really mean? Obviously, sustainability is the ability to continue on…to endure. So, with wine growing the term will usually mean that the grower uses farming methods that are least likely to harm the environment in general, and the farm [...]

Wines from Alsace – are they more German or more French? Well, they’re a little of both, owing not the least to its geographical location on France’s eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany. Vines have been cultivated in Alsace for more than 2,000 years, thanks to the [...]

Named after a logging camp in the idyllic region of California’s Santa Cruz Mountains, Bonny Doon Vineyard began as one man’s attempt to wade into wine with both feet and hands. As with many of us, Randall Grahm’s journey began innocently enough. Mix in a little Beverly Hills upbringing, a UC Santa Cruz [...]

Although it is considered New World, Chile has been growing wine since the 16th century, when the Spanish conquistadors brought vitis vinifera vines with them during their colonization of the region. About the mid-18th century, several French grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carmenère were also introduced to the region. Chile’s five viticultural [...]

The name Bouchard Pere et Fils should be a familiar one to all fans of the wines from Burgundy. Tracing their wine roots back to the Eighteenth Century, the Bouchard family began as wine merchants in Beaune, purchasing their first vineyard in 1731. Over the course of time, Bouchard Père et Fils would [...]

Human nature is a funny thing. Many people (but especially guys) really want to appear to be “in-the-know” or always right about numerous things – the business world, politics, cars, sports, restaurants, and of course…wine. Just ask a fellow wine geek about his latest acquisition, and he’ll likely be able to go on [...]

Mention Champagne to people, and their eyes just light up. Thoughts of New Year’s Eve, wedding toasts, and other celebratory events jump immediately to mind. But, Champagne is a wine, first and foremost, and shouldn’t be relegated to some once-in-awhile beverage. So, how does one find out more about its versatility? Well, fortunately, we’ve invited [...]

Each year, Hospice du Rhône produces an exciting three-day wine event that is regarded as the single most educational and enjoyable gathering of international Rhône wine producers and enthusiasts. Attendees are treated to four in-depth wine seminars, a well as wine tastings and some great meals. But, arguably the most valuable aspect of this [...]

The California Pinot Noirs that tend to draw the attention of the critics and enthusiasts are ones that are single vineyard bottlings that stick their chest out and claim to be terroir-driven. In truth, the wines are often highly extracted, high in alcohol, generously oaked, and darkly colored, so loud and powerful that terroir [...]

It should come as no surprise that one of our favorite things to do is taste wine. Well, Grape Radio’s Rusty Gaffney (aka, The Prince of Pinot) invited us to take part in a tasting of wines from Oregon’s Shea Vineyard – specifically, the wines made by Shea Wine Cellars from Estate fruit. [...]

Shane Finley had been bitten by the wine bug. So, in 2001 he decided to ditch the New York corporate insurance world and try his hand at something different – making wine. After contacting Wells Guthrie at Copain to ask about an opportunity to intern, Shane packed his worldly belongings and headed for [...]

Justifiably recognized for his creation of the famous wine list at Windows on the World restaurant, Kevin Zraly is also a wine author and wine educator. He recently celebrated his 33th anniversary as the founder and teacher of the immensely popular Windows on the World Wine School that has graduated over 19,000 students since [...]

Understanding Italian wines always seems to represent a stumbling block for most Americans. Aside from the obvious language issues, there are a substantially wide variety of wine regions and grapes in the country. So, we felt it was time to call in an expert to break things down for us. Antonio Galloni’s [...]

With 2009 drawing to a close, the GrapeRadio bunch thought it might be interesting to have a little round-table discussion about the changes that the past year brought to us – and there were plenty of changes! The economy certainly led the parade, and to a large extent directed many of the events that followed [...]

Each year, Hospice du Rhône produces an exciting three-day wine event held in Paso Robles, California. Regarded as the single most educational and enjoyable gathering of international Rhône wine producers and enthusiasts, attendees are treated to four in-depth wine seminars, two large-scale wine tastings, in addition to some great meals. But, arguably the [...]

With a resume that reads like road map to success, it is absolutely no wonder that award winning chef Michael Chiarello has accomplished so much in the world of food and wine in such a relatively short period of time. Born and raised in California, Michael has known what he wanted to do [...]

At our recent visit to the 2009 Pinot Days in San Francisco, we spent some rewarding time at the focus tastings that have become a hallmark of the SF event. These tastings really ‘get into’ the wines of each producer, with an introduction to the vineyard as well as the specific growing area by [...]

Kumeu River Wines was established in 1944 when Mick and Katé Brajkovich and their son Maté first came to the small country settlement of Kumeu, about 20 km northwest of Auckland City, New Zealand. When Mick died in 1949, Maté and Katé continued to tend the vines and make the wine. In 1958 Maté [...]

George M. Taber is author of the “Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris Tasting,” a book chronicling the famous tasting where American wines bested the French in a blind competition. George has also authored “To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine [...]

Enjoy part 2. Click Below to Play the Show: Part 2 Show #251 B (46:13 min 33MB)

It’s always a pleasure to visit Northern California’s Wine Country. There’s so much to see and do – as well as taste and smell. With this in mind, we were quite pleased to accompany a small group recently, and head up to Napa and Sonoma to visit to with some familiar wineries; plus, [...]

It’s always a pleasure to visit Northern California’s Wine Country. There’s so much to see and do – as well as taste and smell. With this in mind, we were quite pleased to accompany a small group recently, and head up to Napa and Sonoma to visit to with some familiar wineries; plus, [...]

Henri Gouges is an important figure in the history of Burgundy. Along with Marquis D’Angerville, he waged war against fraud in Burgundy in the 1920s, in the 1930s he helped delineate the crus in Burgundy for the Institut National d’Appellation d’Origine, and in 1933 challenged the negociants by bottling his wine at the Domaine [...]