I'll Drink to That! Wine Talk

Dominique Lafon is the Managing Director of Domaine des Comtes Lafon, with cellars in the Burgundy village of Meursault. Dominique also founded the Mâcon winery Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, and the Burgundy négociant label Dominique Lafon. He consults in Oregon at Lingua Franca Wines. Dominique discusses his firsthand meetings with some of the greats of Burgundy of a previous generation, people like Henri Jayer, Pierre Ramonet, Gérard Potel, and Hubert de Montille. He also assesses the contribution of his own generation in Burgundy, and talks about the importance of his stint working for Becky Wasserman. Dominique relates the qualities of the Meursault, Beaune, and Volnay crus he vinifies, and gives his observations about the Montrachet vineyard. He gives his opinion on the merits of various cellar techniques, and talks about what is important to him in his own winery and vineyard work in the Côte de Beaune, the Mâcon, and in Oregon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Erin Scala explores the renaissance of winemaking happening today on the Greek island of Crete. Erin narrates a tour through the Crete wine regions near the towns of Heraklion, Chania, and Sitia, and gets answers about grape varieties like Vidiano, Thrapsathiri, Malvasia di Candia, Kotsifali, Liatiko, Plyto, and more. This episode contains interviews with winemakers and wine professionals working on Crete, including: Nikos Douloufakis (Douloufakis Winery) Antonis Dourakis (Dourakis Winery) Zacharias Diamandakis (Diamandakis Winery) Abbot Filotheos Spanoudakis (Toplou Monastery) John Masaoutis (Oenologist) Yiannis Stilianou (Stilianou Winery) Nikos Paraskevas (Paraskevas Winery) Bart Lyrarakis (Lyrarakis Winery) Afshin Molavi (Manousakis Winery) Nikos Gavalas (Gavalas Winery) Maria Tamiolakis (Rhous Winery) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Patrick Comiskey is a wine writer for "Wine & Spirits" Magazine as well as the "Los Angeles Times." He is also the author of the book "American Rhône: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink." Patrick recounts the origins of Rhône grape varieties like Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne in America, and points out some of the winemakers who brought those varieties to prominence in California and Washington State. He provides a timeline for the development of those Rhône grapes in the United States, and discusses some of the market successes and challenges for the wines made from them. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Samuel Guibert is a co-owner and winemaker at the Mas de Daumas Gassac winery, in the Languedoc region of France. Samuel goes into detail about the unusual red and white wines of Mas de Daumas Gassac, a winery that blends Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Tannat and a number of other grape varieties together with Cabernet Sauvignon for their red. Samuel explains the setting of the individual vineyards that compose Mas de Daumas Gassac, the wine history of the surrounding Languedoc region, and the evolution of the winemaking at his winery. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lodovico Antinori is a partner in Tenuta di Biserno, in the Maremma area of Tuscany, and was the founder of Ornellaia in Bolgheri. He is also a partner in Tenuta Campo di Sasso. Lodovico is open and frank in his assessment of his career, discussing his family's position within Tuscan wine, his own important trip to California, and the rise of Super Tuscan wines like Ornellaia. He describes founding Ornellaia with the help of Andre Tchelistcheff, the later influence of Michel Rolland, and the rise to fame of Ornellaia and Masseto. He then discusses what led him to sell Ornellaia to the Robert Mondavi company, and his current projects in the Maremma of Tuscany, in Italy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peter Liem is the publisher of ChampagneGuide.net, as well as the author of the book "Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region." Peter Liem returns to the show for an interview about Champagne. Peter has been tasting the wines of Champagne professionally for twenty years, and has lived in that region for the last ten years. In this interview he discusses the terroirs of the Champagne region, and gives tips for better evaluating the wines.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Doug Frost is both a Master Sommelier and a Master of Wine, who resides in Kansas City, Missouri. Doug does wine and spirits consulting in a range of fields, and works as a wine writer. Doug reflects on his career in restaurants, distribution, writing, and consulting in this conversation, touching on his varied adventures in the wine and spirits trade. He remembers cellar visits in the Rhone Valley, describes the wine scene in Kansas City over the years, and speaks to the changes within the Master Sommelier program. He also articulates his thoughts on hospitality, service, and tasting. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Victor Hazan wrote the book "Italian Wine", which was published in 1982. He also co-wrote several Italian cookbooks with his wife, the late Marcella Hazan. Victor Hazan speaks about his lifelong search for authentic Italian ingredients and expressions, an ethusiasm he shared with his wife of many years, Marcella Hazan. Victor details the start of his wine writing career, and confesses why he left off writing his second book on Italian wine. He also provides portraits of some of the key vintners he met along his travels, such as Antonio Mastroberardino and Renato Ratti. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Becky Wasserman-Hone is the founder and co-director of Becky Wasserman & Co., an exporter of wines from Burgundy and other regions of France and Europe. Becky looks back on her career in this interview, and talks about what would be become a key period for Burgundy, as it increasingly found an audience amongst American consumers. She also recalls some of the keys friends and mentors she made along the way, including Michel Lafarge, Gerard Potel, Hubert de Montille, Lalou Bize-Leroy, Aubert de Villaine, Richard Olney, and others. And Becky divulges her personal descriptions of key Burgundy communes, such as Gevrey-Chambertin, Flagey-Echezeaux, Vougeot, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanee, Beaune, Volnay, Chambolle-Musigny, and more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bill Easton is the proprietor and winemaker at both Easton Wines and Domaine de la Terre Rouge in Amador County, California. Bill describes an era of post-Prohibition California winemaking that has largely disappeared, and explains why he decided to pioneer Rhone grape varieties in a corner of the state that was little known. Bill also is frank about his stylistic choices, and his decision not to embrace the fashionable 1990s style of big wines. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Totte Steneby is the Beverage Manager of Portal Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden. He is also an importer of Burgundy wine into Sweden, and a European brand ambassador for both the Sandhi and Domaine de la Cote wineries of California. A former child actor, Totte Steneby discusses his sommelier career, having worked at a number of top restaurants in Sweden. He shares some of the difficult moments he has experienced during restaurant work as well, including one hard opening gone wrong. Totte also describes the Swedish wine market, which has dramatically changed in recent years. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gianluca Garofoli works with his family at the Garofoli winery, in the Marche region of Italy. Gianluca Garofoli discusses in-depth the wine history of the Marche, as well as the native grape varieties Verdicchio and Montepulciano. This conversation is an insider's guide to the Castelli di Jesi sub-zone of the Marche, and Gianluca provides rich detail about the winemaking there. Vineyard characteristics, vine training, weather conditions, soil types, vintages, and winemaking styles are all covered, as well as the changes in the wines of region over time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Giampaolo Venica works with his family at the Venica winery, in the Friuli region of Italy. Giampaolo Venica describes the Friuli as a region that has changed significantly in recent decades, and which is still in flux today. He notes the many changes in grape plantings and wine styles within the Collio, and questions what types of wines from the Friuli may find resonance with consumers in the future. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marchese Umberto Fracassi Ratti Mentone is the sole producer of a Barolo from the Cherasco sub-zone of Italy's Piemonte region. His family has owned vineyard land in the Cherasco area for centuries, and the Marchese, who is now over 80 years old, tends to the family parcel at the edge of the Barolo zone. This is a rare encounter with the Marchese, who rarely grants interviews. The conversation ranges across decades and even centuries of history in the Piemonte, covering the Roman period, the reign of the Savoy Dukes, World War II, and the great growth of Barolo production in the last few decades. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stephen Brook is a prolific author of anthologies, travel books, and a wide range of wine books published over the last thirty years, including "The Complete Bordeaux," "The Wines of Germany," "The Wines of California," "Wine People," "The Wines of Austria," and "Bordeaux: People, Power, and Politics." Stephen has also been a Contributing Editor to Decanter Magazine since 1996. Stephen revisits his wine writing career in this interview, recounting his adventures and undertakings in several different wine producing countries, and recognizing how those places and the people he has met have changed over time. He also takes a look at the generation he has been a part of within British wine writing, and considers what happens next in his own career and for wine writing generally. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.