Wine Blast with Susie and Peter
131 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago -Wine Blast is a wine podcast with a difference. Susie and Peter are married Masters of Wine and experienced broadcasters who bring wine to life with a smile via interviews with amazing people, provocative chat, food, tips, your questions, gentle bickering and a certain amount of over-sharing. (And yes, they're aware they really need to get out more...) This award-winning, chart-topping pod has been widely featured in international press including The Times, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sun, Evening Standard, Radio Times, Decanter, Wine Folly and beyond. Reviews of Wine Blast say: 'Love these guys (almost as much as wine): educational, invigorating and damn funny too' - 'Relatable, entertaining, light-hearted' (Drinks Business) - 'Best wine podcast out there' - 'A complete tonic for the heart, mind and soul' (Drinks Network). Cheers!
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Episodes
UK Wine's Counterculture
April 19, 2024 09:00 - 58 minutes - 39.9 MBThere's a new wave of English and Welsh wine producers disrupting the neat and tidy order of the classic UK wine scene. Guerrilla producers - cool kids who aren't afraid to go off-piste and craft dangerous, divisive wines packed full of quirks and kinks. Their attitude? It's better to be naughty than nice. As one winemaker says - he wants to make, 'wines with a cheeky smile.' In this wide-ranging episode we dive headlong into this world of creativity, experimentation and free thinking. Our ...
Sassicaia - The Insider's Guide
April 03, 2024 05:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBNot many wines ascend to the status of 'icon'. But Sassicaia is one of them. The beauty is that it's not a flashy wine - quite the opposite ('old school' might be a more appropriate description). What's more, its ascent to the wine stratosphere is largely accidental - this scented, elegant Bordeaux blend from Bolgheri in coastal Tuscany was only ever intended as a quaffing wine for friends and family on the Tenuta San Guido estate, a farm initially dedicated to breeding horses, growing cro...
Going Gaga for Garnacha
March 21, 2024 09:00 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBIt's called 'The Grenaissance'. This exhilarating revival of the grape variety known as Garnacha in Spain and Grenache in France, once the world's fourth most widely planted wine grape, which has gone from workhorse to show pony in the blink of an eye. How come? What's changed? Who's leading the charge and fuelling the new wave? And what's this we hear about inherent suitability vis a vis climate change?! We ask all these questions and more, focusing on the epicentre of Grenache renaissanc...
Grower Champagne with Lea & Sandeman
March 06, 2024 05:00 - 44 minutes - 30.5 MBFrom big brand to fine wine - it's no exaggeration to say that grower champagne has changed the notion of what champagne can and should be. Pioneers like Francis Egly of iconic grower champagne Egly-Ouriet have invested huge amounts of time and money prioritising their vineyards, relentlessly focusing on quality and terroir expression in their wines - and ultimately going up against the big Champagne houses. It's a brave move, but one that is reinvigorating the region and attracting many co...
Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal
February 23, 2024 06:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBLight strike is probably the biggest wine fault you've never heard of. Bigger than cork, bigger than oxidation or anything else. That pretty-looking bottle of rosé perched on the bright supermarket shelf in a clear glass bottle? Probably knackered. If it's been exposed to light for a while, it may end up smelling of boiled cabbage, drains, or wet dog. At the very least, its character will almost certainly have been degraded from what its winemaker intended. And that's not what you're payin...
Ancient Vines to the Rescue in St Mont
February 09, 2024 05:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBDeep in the wilds of south-west France there's a vineyard that was planted over 200 years ago with unknown vines that may hold the secret to fighting climate change. Join us as we head (virtually) out to Gascony to peer into the mists of wine history and see what lessons it holds for the future. Olivier Bourdet-Pees of the dynamic Plaimont cooperative is our genial, beret-wearing guide, introducing us to grape varieties we've never heard of and explaining how this region has been reinvigora...
ORANGE WINE Part 2: Gimme Some Skin
January 26, 2024 06:00 - 53 minutes - 37 MBSo - orange wine. Is it any good? What qualifies a wine to be 'orange'? Does it sell? And who's going to win our argument about one particularly divisive orange wine?! Dive into the controversial, topical and intriguing subject of orange wine with us as we chat with Saša Radikon of iconic orange wine producer Radikon (who gives us an exclusive revelation about a new project) and nautral wine guru Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrene. We taste (and largely disagree about) orange wines from Mleč...
ORANGE WINE Part 1: The Resurrection
January 12, 2024 06:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MB'Please can you do an episode on orange wine?' pleaded listener David. 'It's not just hipster wine! These are some of the finest wines in the world...' How could we resist? Orange wine is topical, misunderstood, controversial... It's also an intriguing story featuring a wine style lost in the mists of time being painstakingly resurrected by a handful of brave pioneers in the face of stiff opposition. So we leap headlong into this arena, asking the all-important questions like: what even...
A Southern French Feast
December 29, 2023 06:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBWine. Food. Merriment. And a touch of southern French sun. That just about sums up this episode. We're exploring Occitanie - the sun-kissed southern French region that stretches from the western Rhone through Languedoc and Roussillon into South West France. Taken as a whole, it's the world's largest vineyard and makes around 5% of global wine output. In the past, these regions have been criticised for focusing on quantity over quality and being out of touch with the modern wine world. B...
Our WINES OF THE YEAR (2023)
December 15, 2023 08:00 - 53 minutes - 36.5 MBOur Wines of the Year format has grown into this riotous, rollicking rollercoaster of a show which we humbly offer up for your amusement and delectation. This is no shopping list. Nor is it a chest-beating exercise in showing off how #wineblessed we are. This episode is the story of a year in wine: a celebration of special bottles and special times, set against the backdrop of news, views and a lot of laughter. Featuring in this wine-soaked adventure are Dutch nuns, kiwis, Homer Simpson...
Ukraine: Wine not War
December 01, 2023 06:00 - 49 minutes - 33.7 MBOdessa Black. It's the name of a (Ukranian) grape variety. But it could almost be code for the desperate times the people of Ukraine are living through. In this episode, we explore the history and current context of Ukraine, hearing first-hand insights from Tania Olevska of the Ukrainian Wine Company and Svitlana Tsybak of the Beykush winery. Despite the chaos and devastation in Ukraine, wine represents a point of hope, an expression of Ukrainian culture, terroir, identity and resilience....
The New Face of Languedoc
November 17, 2023 06:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBLanguedoc is a wine region on the move. Sure, it's a huge region with plenty of history, some of it troubled. But there are things happening in Languedoc wine now that are innovative, surprising, intriguing and...well, delicious. In short, it's well worthy of our attention. In this episode, sponsored by AOP Languedoc, we chat to writers Rupert Millar and Rosemary George MW, and we also hear from wine growers Benoît Bertrand (Domaine de Malavieille) and Jenia Vermillard (Domaine Ampelhus...
The Ten Wines Never to be Without
November 03, 2023 06:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBWe're going full-on Moses mode in this episode, nailing down the ten wines you should always have at home. Of course, personal taste plays a part. You want to have wines to hand you're going to reach for - which means your favourite styles. But beyond that, it helps to have some expert insight into the bigger picture in order to always have delicious, affordable and useful wines when you need them. Our primary objective is joyous everyday drinking. But also: what works best with food, v...
Ageing English Fizz - How, Why and What
October 26, 2023 05:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBEnglish sparkling wine. We all know it's good. But how well does it age? And could this be the secret to unlocking even greater quality from what are already exciting wines? We do our best to answer these questions and more with the help of several large glasses of very fine mature English fizz - and top winemakers Cherie Spriggs and Brad Greatrix (Nyetimber) and Corinne Seely (Exton Park). We also hear the views of Clément Pierlot, cellar master at Champagne Pommery and its English of...
Ventoux: Next Century Wines
October 13, 2023 05:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBIt's a wine region variously described as, 'dynamic', whose wines are undergoing a quality 'revolution', and memorably compared to South Africa's uber-cool Swartland. It's also got a big old mountain on its picture postcard. Not to mention truffles galore. This is Ventoux. And we want to take you on a journey of discovery, to meet the people, explore the places, get a feel for the wines...and generally understand why Ventoux is worth your time and attention. The mountain, it turns out, ...
The Six BEST Wine Books
September 28, 2023 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34.4 MBWhat are the wine books every wine lover should own? We thought about it. We argued. We drank some wine. Argued some more... And then we decided: let's go for it. No messing around: choose just the six BEST books every wine lover needs, whether enthusiastic newbie or jaded expert. It wasn't easy. But this is the DEFINITIVE listing. A lot of thought and research went into this. Even some reading. Along the way we came across some bits that stopped us in our tracks. Like Hitler's secret w...
Marlborough at 50: A wine story worthy of Hollywood
September 15, 2023 05:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBThis is a tale of deception, daring, disaster...and deliverance. It also features skinny sheep and wine robots. It's the story of Marlborough, the iconic New Zealand wine region which is celebrating its 50th wine birthday, after vines were planted by Frank Yukich in August 1973. Yukich had risked personal financial ruin getting to this point. 'Wines from here will become world famous!' he declared. Shortly after which most of the vines died from drought. But no adventure story is witho...
The John Malkovich EXCLUSIVE
September 08, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 37 MB'My wife suggested we make wine. I think in the hope of cutting down our wine bill...' It's classic John Malkovich. The wit as dry as his aged Provençal Pinot Noir rosé (yes, you read that right). In this epic episode, we get to know John Malkovich the famous actor of stage and screen - but also John Malkovich the fashion designer, the theatre director, and most importantly John Malkovich the wine producer. This truly is a man for all seasons. But Malkovich seldom abides by convention - ...
LIVE Q&A - sulfites, party wines, climate change, top wine tourism tips and being pretentious
August 17, 2023 05:00 - 38 minutes - 26.4 MBThis bonus episode may be the last in the current season (4) but it's also a first - the first time we've ever recorded the pod in front of a live audience! A lovely bunch of people came together in our home town of Winchester to drink a glass or two of fine Hampshire fizz and bombard us with searching questions, from which wines we'd recommend for a large and varied dinner party crowd to the implications of climate change for wine. They even asked us what were the most pretentious wine de...
The Microbial Face of Terroir
August 07, 2023 07:00 - 42 minutes - 29.4 MBThis episode opens by linking Oppenheimer, Covid-19 and wine - and proceeds to go big by focusing on the small stuff. Microbes. The invisible world of yeasts, bacteria and beyond. We're just starting to understand how important microbes are in terms of defining wine style and quality. Sure, yeasts ferment grape sugars into alcohol. But they also do a whole lot more, as fascinating new research is revealing. Previously, many definitions of 'terroir' (what might be defined as a wine's 's...
Germany's Pulling Power
July 14, 2023 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBDid you know that Germany is the third largest producer of Pinot Noir in the world? Or that one in three Riesling vines in the world grow in German vineyards - and much of these are making dry, increasingly terroir-driven wines these days? There's much that's surprising, or perhaps unexpected about German wine right now. For long the sector under-performed - but a series of changes since the late 1980s (a process that's still ongoing, accelerated by climate change) has re-invigorated Germ...
The Mystery of Minerality
June 30, 2023 05:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBIt's a wine word almost everyone uses - but no one really knows what it means, what causes it, or where it's come from. It makes some people angry, it leaves others mystified - but some adore the term and can't get enough of it. Is this yet another example in wine of (as one listener calls it), 'superstition, witchcraft and myth' that is nothing more than, 'absolute b*llocks'?! Welcome to the big 'minerality' mystery. In this episode, we dare to dive headlong into the snakepit of confus...
Portugal's Fine Wines: Here Be Treasures
June 16, 2023 08:00 - 50 minutes - 34.8 MBWe all know port. But there’s a whole universe of fine Portuguese table wine out just waiting to be explored. It’s far less known but certainly no less exciting…so we dive in. Peter’s fired up after a recent trip to host a masterclass in Porto, where he tasted wines back to 1978 and recorded with a selection of Portugal’s top wine talent, from Dirk and Daniel Niepoort to Sandra Tavares, Luis Pato, Susana Esteban and Tomas Roquette. Once back, he made sure to call in some special wines to t...
No Schist Sherlock: How Wine Gets Rocks Wrong
June 02, 2023 05:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MB‘From virtually any soil a high-quality wine can be made. The use of geology to promote the quality of a wine is thus merely a marketing tool.’ This is an episode that may ruffle a few feathers. We speak to two wine-loving geologists, Professor Alex Maltman and Dr Geert-Jan Vis (the latter responsible for the quote above). Both of them raise serious questions about the line the wine world often endorses about how geology (think: limestone, schist, granite) influences wine. Vis calls the...
Santorini - Wines to Save an Island
May 19, 2023 05:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBSantorini's future is in jeopardy. This ancient, famous island vineyard risks being lost beneath the tourism industry's bulldozers. So how can its wine community fight back? By making exceptional, characterful, inimitable wines and selling them to the world, that's how. In this episode (our 100th Wine Blast programme, appropriately enough!) we dive into what makes Santorini's wines as distinctive and unique as they undoubtedly are. From the steely, majestic dry Santorini Assyrtiko to the ...
Santorini - Wine's Jurassic Park
May 05, 2023 08:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBLet's go on an adventure to a place variously described as, 'Like being shot to the moon with a glass of fine wine in your hand' and where, 'you basically have the personality of an active volcano in your glass.' Santorini is arguably the ultimate wine destination - a windswept, arid, infertile outcrop of an island in the glittering Aegean Sea. Stunning - but bleak, and where the memory of one of the most violet volcanic eruptions in human history can not only be seen but also tasted in you...
News & Views – Re-Writing Wine’s Ancient History, Silly Money Wine, Drops of God & More
April 21, 2023 05:00 - 38 minutes - 26.8 MBWhat wine news is worthy of your attention? How should you warm up your (fine) wines in an emergency? What wines are really worth paying silly money for? And which wines should we have loved...but didn't? These are just some of the questions we dive into in this Listener Q&A episode, where we respond to your brilliant comments, feedback and questions. And we field one other question too: are we even married to each other?! No spoilers here... Suffice it to say that along this particularl...
Ahead of the Curve with New Zealand Chardonnay
April 07, 2023 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBChardonnay polarises people. But times change and this is a grape that's moved on - arguably nowhere more so than in New Zealand, which in recent years has started to deliver quality, diversity and great value in spades. It's timely, too, given the supply shortages and booming prices of the wines from Chardonnay's motherland in Burgundy. We're Chardonnay superfans and we've been licking our lips at how far and fast New Zealand Chardonnay has evolved lately. So it's exciting to hook up with...
The End of the Hangover?
March 24, 2023 06:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MBCould it be true?! No more hangovers is a tantalising notion, a Holy Grail for many drinkers. But how could this happen, and what would it mean for the world of booze and wine? Join us as we dive headlong into the enthralling world of hangover hacks (including at least one credible ‘remedy’) and explore the new breed of so-called functional drinks, which promise to deliver the buzz of booze without the bad effects. But do these functional drinks and hangover hacks actually work? We put our...
Australian Pinot Noir Comes of Age
March 10, 2023 06:00 - 48 minutes - 33.4 MBEvery wine lover craves great Pinot Noir. Burgundy is ever pricier and scarcer. So where to look? Australia might not seem the obvious destination for Pinot Noir. It’s better known for hefty reds (think: Shiraz, Cabernet), historic styles like Hunter Semillon or its heroic ‘stickies’ (sweet and fortified like Rutherglen). And if there’s a Burgundian variety closely associated with Oz, it’s Chardonnay. And yet…over the last few years, Ozzie Pinot Noir has come on leaps and bounds to captu...
Wine and Your Microbiome - A Recipe for Health?
February 24, 2023 06:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBThis podcast is GOOD FOR YOU! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise... In this mind-blowing episode we have an exclusive interview with the world-famous Professor Tim Spector, expert in the human microbiome - this population of friendly microbes that lives inside all of us and which acts almost like an extra organ, boosting our immune system, fighting disease and even influencing our mental health. According to Spector, these microbes are so numerous and influential that we're all effectivel...
The New Beaujolais
February 10, 2023 06:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBStuff is going down in Beaujolais. Natural wine is a hot trend. Beaujolais Nouveau is re-inventing itself. The top sites have never made better wine. A new generation is revitalising the scene. Geological research has revealed eye-opening results. And growers aren't afraid to throw caution to the wind (Côte Rôtie barrels and Sciacarello anyone?!) Phew. It's also newsworthy: the region is submitting its first ever application for the top sites to be designated Premier Cru, the highly-prize...
Burgundy - The Tipping Point?
January 27, 2023 06:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBHas Burgundy gone bonkers?! Off the back of a nightmare 2021 season, wines are in shorter supply than ever - so prices have gone through the roof. Again. The wines are unquestionably good. That's what Burgundy does. But as the region's wines gradually become ever-more scarce and atypical - and ever-less affordable - how long will wine lovers stick with Burgundy? Will we look back in 20 years and say: that was the tipping point when Burgundy finally lost touch with reality?! These are jus...
How To Be a Better Wine Lover
January 20, 2023 06:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBSelf-improvement - via a wine glass. With a side helping of 'vinous Kama Sutra'. But we're getting ahead of ourselves... In our last episode we explored what we wine lovers want from the year ahead. In this programme we flip the camera round and take a look how we can be better wine lovers. Suggestions like 'drink better' inevitably crop up. But so do more thought-provoking tips such as, 'Pair food with wine, not the reverse,' 'Give a bottle of wine that we love to someone who isn’t expe...
The Year Ahead: A Wine Lover's Wish List
January 13, 2023 05:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBSo what do we all want from wine in the year ahead? What's top of our wish list for wine in 2023? For some it's drinking better (or simply more) wine. If possible, for less money. Others are hoping Pinot Noir proves to be a miracle cure and will be prescribed by doctors... More realistically, combating climate change, responsible political engagement with wine and an end to the war in Ukraine inevitably feature. And what of no-alcohol wine? The rise of organic and biodynamic viticultur...
Selling Net Zero Wine - Pipe Dream or In The Pipeline?
December 22, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 48.6 MBWine is good. We want a good future for wine - and the planet. But wine has been described on this pod as, 'the villain in the climate story.' So what gives - and how to turn this around? One UK wine retailer has sent out a rallying cry - aiming to be carbon neutral by 2024 and net zero across its entire business by 2040. This retailer wants, ‘to be the most sustainable, ethical and responsible wine retailer in the world.’ These are big aims - and they belong to The Wine Society. So Pete...
Matching Food and Wine: The ULTIMATE BURGER
December 09, 2022 05:00 - 14 minutes - 9.94 MBWe're not kidding. This is the ULTIMATE burger. Especially if you're a wine lover... Yes we've got the patty and the brioche bun. So far so straightforward. But the killer ingredients? A tawny port reduction ('wino's ketchup'). Blue cheese. Umami paste. And to top it all off? Truffle mustard mayo. So yes, in this fun episode we attempt to answer that HUGE question: what wine to drink with your burger?! After much research, thought and drinking of wine, Susie was inspired to create this ...
Our WINE(S) OF THE YEAR!
December 02, 2022 05:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBWOTY?! Don't mind if we do... Welcome to our TASTIEST show of the year (and that's saying something!) In 2022 we're focusing on value to give you some ideas of delicious but affordable wines to suit the season's revelry. No spoilers but we've got wines from France, Spain, Italy, Argentina, South Africa, USA, New Zealand - even Austria and England. (We did start off with just one Wine of the Year but couldn't help ourselves throwing a few more outstanding wines into the mix...) Dive in to...
Matching Food and Wine: Fish Pie!
November 25, 2022 05:00 - 9 minutes - 6.6 MBThis is not just any old fish pie. This is LUXURY fish pie. And we've got some properly luxuriant wines to match... There's nothing worse than a dry, eggy, potato-drenched fish pie. Our version uses smoked fish, chunky prawns, mustard, cream and cheddar - so we need some seriously high octane wines. No sense fooling around: this is rich white wine territory. One of our favourite styles of all. We choose two classic grape varieties that work really well across a range of styles - Chardonnay...
Red Dawn: English Wine and Climate Change
November 11, 2022 05:00 - 54 minutes - 37.7 MBA new report predicts climate change will see English red wine becoming the norm rather than the exception as part of a global shift that will upend the world's wine map as we know it. It's a tough one to get your head around. On the one hand, these are exciting times for English winemakers. On the other, climate change represents an existential threat to humanity. Plus, although rising temperatures making wine more viable and diverse in the UK, climate change is also bringing unpredict...
Matching Food and Wine: Spaghetti Bolognese!
October 28, 2022 04:00 - 9 minutes - 6.3 MBIt's a mid-week classic. But the BIG question is: what wines work best to make your spag bol taste like MAGIC?! We tackle this weighty issue like the true gannets we are, featuring some delicious Italian reds (Montepulciano + Valpolicella Ripasso) as well as more quirky pairings, from a South African Syrah to a Chilean Pais. All the while talking through WHY things work as much as the specific wines themselves. (Oh, and there's mention of Pinky and Perky too - listen to find out more...) ...
Inside the Fort Knox of Wine
October 14, 2022 11:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBFancy joining us as we break into the Fort Knox of wine?! It's an old mine and former munitions dump in the middle of the English countryside that now holds over 9 million bottles and £1bn+ of stock. It's one of the biggest such storage facilities in the world and one (whisky) bottle stored there recently sold for £1.2m. Only downside? Security is tight. And you have to climb up 157 steps to get back out. Good thing Peter was actually invited in - and had a 'sustaining' lunch before the jo...
Matching Food and Wine: 'Green Pizza'!
September 30, 2022 04:00 - 8 minutes - 6.1 MBFirst up: what on earth is a GREEN PIZZA??!! Well, it's a summer vegetable tart. But we couldn't quite bring ourselves to have that as our title. So we ran with 'green pizza'. Which it...almost is. What it definitely is, is utterly delicious comfort food. As well as going superbly well with a whole range of wines. So our kind of dish. It cries out for a fresh, crisp white. Particularly those made from Sauvignon Blanc...but not exclusively. Here's what we went with: Villa Maria Taylor'...
Wine Blast is back! Season 4 Trailer - with BEST BITS
September 23, 2022 11:00 - 7 minutes - 5.23 MBSusie and Peter are back! Still Masters of Wine, still married (the wine helps) and still serving up thrills and spills for your general delectation. Season 4 dives right back in where they left off, and promises tons of great wine content, thought-provoking angles, top guests, listener questions answered, opinion, food, recommendations - and of course a lot of fun too… So welcome back - or welcome. This podcast is for everyone with an open mind and a healthy thirst. No need to catch up,...
Matching Food and Wine: Lamb!
August 12, 2022 02:00 - 10 minutes - 7.58 MBSo: what wine to pair with your roast lamb? Our answers might surprise you. Lamb is a classic in the wine matching pantheon. But it's not as easy as it may first seem. In fact, we'd argue a lot of supposed matches are way off the mark. Lamb is a very delicate red meat so needs a specific kind of wine to get the best out of the combination. Sometimes (in fact, really quite often) the best style of wine to pair with lamb is.....white. Failing that, an elegant red - but beware even the so-...
Matching Food and Wine: Curry!
July 22, 2022 07:00 - 10 minutes - 7.13 MBCurry. We all love it. So what's the best wine to drink with it?! Here be answers. As well as a bit of chomping (sorry), mention of whipping (no idea how that came up) and of course delicious wines all in the mix. This is a short-form Live episode, the first in our food-and-wine matching mini-series brought to you in association with Wine Club by Majestic. It's also available in video format so if you'd like to see us in action, check out our YouTube channel: Susie & Peter On Wine. The ...
Why Bother Matching Food and Wine? (Here's Why - and How)
July 14, 2022 05:00 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MBSome people say choosing the right wine for your food (or vice versa) is too complicated. Or that it's all nonsense, so not worth bothering with - just go with whatever you fancy. We beg to differ - in the most strident of ways. We've both spent more than 20 years matching wines to food on TV, radio, events, podcasts and print. We know food is one of the best ways to make sense of wine, to learn more and to get beyond the pretentiousness - by focusing on basic flavours and personal pleasur...
Wine from the Arab World
June 24, 2022 04:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBAghi Ourad is a Brit of Algerian descent who wants to change the way we think about wine from the 'Arab world' (his phrase). Places like Algeria and Lebanon, where wine production has a surprisingly long history but currently operates in a challenging environment for religious, social or economic reasons. Such wines from Muslim-majority countries, in Aghi's view, are under-appreciated and yet offer great interest and value for wine lovers. So he's set up a business, The Other Grape, to sel...
The World's BIGGEST Wine Competition
June 10, 2022 10:00 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBFancy tasting 18,000+ bottles of wine in a week? Humping and dumping 73,000+ bottles? Herding 250+ international wine judges? Dodging bottle crushers and giant wormeries? And, after all that, the real question is: what's it all for?! We go behind the scenes at the world's biggest wine competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), to tackle these very questions and issues. What even is a wine competition? What's the point? What does it mean when you see a medal or award on a bottl...
Armenia's Ambition: ancient, conflicted, hopeful
May 27, 2022 07:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MBArmenia is not the first country to spring to mind in terms of wine. But this is one of the most ancient winemaking cultures in the world. The broader Caucusus region - including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, is where the winemaking vine is believed to have first been domesticated. By way of proof, a 6,000-year-old winery was unearthed in the Areni-1 cave complex in the Vayots-Dzor region of Armenia. And the country may have anything up to 1,000 different species of vitis vini...