The Wine Makers on Radio Misfits

Isabel Gassier is back for one of her semi-annual visits to work on the Sixteen 600 wines, and we dragged her out of the lab for a sit-down with Brian, Danielle, Jasmine and Sam. Normally, when Isabel shows up this time of year, the winery is bustling with end-of-harvest activity. The press is running all day, tanks are getting dug out, wines are going into barrel and extended macerations are in full swing. Sometimes there are even a few fermentations still bubbling away. Not this year. So instead of a harvest visit, this is a blending visit for Isabel, and she brought along some early renditions of future Sixteen 600 wines for us to try. Including a new white blend with a working name that’s equal parts wine quiz, geography lesson and French wordplay. We tasted through those while recapping the 2026 vintage at Domaine Gassier in Costières-de-Nîmes, their corner of Southern France. We got into regenerative farming, old vines, new blends and even the wine Isabel served at her wedding!!! We also spent some time tasting and talking about Enrico Valentine, the brand that was born when Isabel emerged from the lab looking like a wild-eyed mad scientist, carrying a blend of Zinfandel, Grenache and a few other things that had no business being quite so delicious together. So pop open something regenerative and take a listen. And while you’re at it, make sure you’ve got your tickets to S.O.R.B.E.T. 2.0, November 8, 2026, at Fort Mason in San Francisco. [Ep 434] https://sorbetwine.org/ https://www.domainegassier.com/en/ https://www.evwines.com/ @isabelgassierwine

Some wineries make great wine. At Bedrock Wine Co., they also make great winemakers. This week we sit down with the next class out of Bedrock U, Allison Badar and Casey Barton, two of the key players behind Bedrock, who somehow found time between harvests and tending ancient vineyards to build brands of their own. They both took non-linear paths to the wine business, but based on their own wines and their work at Bedrock, they’re clearly here to stay. Allison’s Intertidal Wines are beautifully focused: Carignan from the legendary Evangelho Vineyard, one of California’s most iconic old-vine sites, and Riesling from the remarkably rare old vines of La Jolla del Norte Vineyard in St. Helena. Allison takes us on her journey from professional dancer to raising her pet snail on the backroads of California. Casey’s path to wine also took some twists and turns, from deep-diving into ampelography instead of studying for her college finals and obsessing over wine maps of the world on oil company time, to pounding the pavement with a distributor and ultimately finding herself tending some of California’s most historic vineyards. Fittingly, Helia Wine Company digs old-vine Zinfandel. She’s farming Sonoma’s historic Puccini Vineyard, scythe and all, and putting her own stamp on California’s legacy. So crack open your textbooks and a bottle from some old vines, because class is in session and the next generation of Bedrock U has arrived. [Ep 433]

Keith Beavers is a busy man. He’s a podcaster, wine educator, and tasting director for VinePair, one of the most widely read drinks publications in the world. He also hosts VinePair’s Wine 101 podcast, making the unnecessarily intimidating world of wine a little more approachable. Since Keith was last on the show, he’s been crisscrossing the country, exploring the ever-evolving American wine scene and releasing the first six episodes of The Great American Wine Tour, visiting a half-dozen iconic and emerging wineries along the way. This week, Keith sits down with Bart and Sam to talk about all of that, but let’s be clear, this visit was really about one thing: raiding Phil Coturri’s cellar. And Sam’s cellar, too. Because somehow, despite Keith’s vast experience tasting wines from around the world, he’d never really had the opportunity to dig into properly aged California wine. We decided it was time to fix that. We pull the corks on a few old bottles from Sonoma Valley and the Moon Mountain District, dive into what makes these wines so special, and generally expound on the virtues of California wine with a little age on it. The episode also features a cameo from Phil himself, because there was no way we were going to pilfer bottles from his stash without him showing up to drink them and tell us a thing or two. Along the way, we get into Keith’s adventures exploring American wine, the changing landscape of wine media, and emerging trends in East Coast winemaking, a subject near and dear to Keith’s heart. So sit back, pop a bottle of something American, preferably with a few years on it, and give this one a listen. It’s a fun one! [Ep 432]

Barbara Gorder, Managing Partner and Keynote Chair of the Direct-to-Consumer Wine Symposium, joins The Wine Makers to talk about the event’s 20th anniversary celebration, happening January 19–21, 2027, at the Hyatt Regency Monterey in California. This year’s theme, “The Masterclass,” brings together winery owners, marketers, and industry professionals for 3 days of fresh ideas, practical advice, and conversations about the future of direct-to-consumer wine sales. Featured speakers include sommelier and Maison Noir Wines founder André Mack, Jermaine Stone of The Wine and Hip-Hop Show, and award-winning advertising creative director Vinny Warren. Barbara gives us a preview of what’s planned, including sessions on AI, e-commerce, tasting room sales, hospitality, and customer retention, along with hands-on workshops and plenty of opportunities to connect with others in the wine business. There’s even a cocktail party at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and some golf at Del Monte. The symposium also serves as the primary fundraiser for Free the Grapes!, the nonprofit working to expand legal direct-to-consumer wine shipping across the country. After 20 years, there’s still plenty to talk about when it comes to getting great wine directly into the hands of consumers. [Ep 431] Registration: https://dtcwinesymposium.regfox.com

S.O.R.B.E.T. is back! The Sonoma Organic Regenerative Educational Tasting returns to Fort Mason November 8th, 2026. We sat down with old friends Katie Bundschu Tynan and Morgan Twain Peterson, who together conjured SORBET with our own Sam Coturri when some shit-talking messages about greenwashing vineyard “sustainability” got out of hand and turned into a full-fledged tasting event. SORBET 2025 was a sold-out smash hit. This year, SORBET has grown and evolved. They secured official 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, hosted field days to promote regenerative farming practices in the Sonoma Valley viticulture community, and threw a spectacular, sunset-splashed fundraiser dinner. Now they’re bringing it all back to where it started for one of the most unique and forward-thinking tastings we’ve ever seen. Expect more than 30 wineries and vineyards, hundreds of wines representing dozens of varieties, and every winemaking style you can imagine. What brings them all together? They’re all from Sonoma Valley, and they’re all farmed organically, regeneratively or biodynamically. So sit down, pop a bottle of SORBET-qualified wine and listen in as the crew talks about why they’re excited about SORBET 2.0, what’s happening in the wine world in Sonoma and beyond, and, while we’re at it…all the other events everyone is doing between now and 2027. Cheers! [Ep 430] SORBETWINE.org Tickets Here