Just Another Wine Podcast

Tom presents the three with four courses, each featuring the same dish but presented in distinct ways, the first being a simple rendition focusing on a main ingredient, the second featuring additional elements that echo flavours of certain classic wines. He explains the rationale behind this, and we taste two wines per course, noting how the food affects the wine, and how the wine may affect the food. Opening a bottle of rarely-seen Dard & Ribo’s Crozes-Hermitage Blanc “K” 2023, an energetic mineral-edged Marsanne and an Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2021 (Tom’s suggestion), we assess how these wines match respectively the two different versions of a crab dish. We then sample two iterations of local line-caught sea bass, firstly with a delicate Deep Down Marlborough Sauvignon 2023 and then with a more structured barrel-fermented Concisco from Niepoort 2018 from the Dao region. Just Another Wine Podcast extends its thanks to the team at The Terrace Rooms and Wines at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Doug and Jamie quiz Emily on her various wine buying roles. Firstly, they ask as an importer, whether all her buying choices governed purely by passion and aesthetic appreciation and how important the commercial imperative is in her wine buyer role. They discuss the significance of positive relationships between grower and buyer, ethical sourcing, the importance of mutual respect, good communication and honest feedback, and about what happens when a wine that has been shipped does not measure up for some reason. The three then talk about her role as a consultant wine buyer for a hotel group and how she balances what she prefers to drink to assembling a list that will appeal to the clientele of the establishment in question. They finally ask into how consumers may recognise when they look at a wine list that an intelligent buyer has been at work. Is it the choice of wines, the pricing structure, the presentation of the list? The trio say that often the best lists are the most discriminating ones; they may be shorter and less comprehensive, but every wine is on them for a good reason. Two wines are tasted. A delicious and unusual Posca Bianca from Orsi San Vito in Emilia-Romagna, a biodynamic farm in the Colli Bolognesi zone, made from a blend of Pignoletto, Alionza, Albana and Malvasia from different vineyards of various ages, an assemblage of every vintage back to 2010. The second wine is an unctuous full-bodied (and rather wonderful) Pouilly-Fuissé from Maison Valette, another non-vintage wine, being a blend of 2019-20-21.

Emily, Jamie and Doug discuss the commonly held perception that ageing a wine necessarily makes it more complex.

Rummaging around in Tom Fahey’s wine room at The Terrace in Ventnor, Doug, Jamie and Emily come across a treasure trove of exceptional rosé wines. These are highly-reputed vinous wines that transcend our notion of what rosé is and has become synonymous with: light, pale, filtered wines that barely detain our attention, the triumph almost of marketing style over substance (although they have place, of course).

Emily, Jamie and Doug discuss the implications of climate catastrophe and assess what strategies producers can use to make balanced, drinkable wines such as replanting vineyards in different locations and changing the mix of grapes. They look at the research into disease-resistant hybrid varieties and PiWis and ask whether planting more of these might assist growers dedicated to low-impact sustainable farming. To illustrate the nobility of a hybrid variety the trio crack open a bottle of La Garagista’s Vinu Jancu Reserve 2018, a profound amber wine made by Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber in Vermont from the La Crescent grape followed by a bottle of Some Mondays Are Better ‘Not my king’ an English wine made be sommelier Donald Edwards.

Emily, Jamie, and Doug ask how critics approach the process of judging the quality of an individual wine. The three talk about ratings and marking systems and question their validity. Are they a useful shorthand or a distraction from the real thing (the taste of the wine)? We question what happens when critics taste prestigious cuvées and rare wines and whether feel confident enough to give these low marks when they truly disappoint.They talk about collective tasting and the dynamic of the tasting panel, where a group comes together to calibrate their taste. Finally, they discuss the language we use to describe wine, how we try to capture abstract qualities such beauty and integrity in wines in humble words, and how also wines that gain lower scores on a marking scale might well be the ones we prefer to drink in the end! We conclude that a wine is not necessarily immediately knowable, and that one can only truly evaluate one when one has spent proper time with it. The wines tasted in this episode are a thrilling natural Tsolikouri 2023 from Makaridze in Imereti, Georgia and remark on its qualities of energy and minerality. Later on, we open a bottle of 2007 Bandol Rouge from Château de Pibarnon and are impressed by its grace and comparative youthfulness.

Wine experts Emily Harman, Jamie Goode, and Doug Wregg talk about the very nature of perception itself, how we may be influenced (and deceived) by the colour of wine, how ambient sound and even our feelings at a given time can alter our sensitivity and receptivity towards a given wine. They remark on the different approaches to (blind) tasting according to whether you’re a relative novice or a full-fledged wine professional. The trio explore the relative notions of subjective and objective assessment and ask whether it is right for appellation boards and judging panels to set a standard for taste “correctness” and how this might exclude a whole raft of interesting and unique non-conformist wines. Doug blind tastes Emily and Jamie on two wines, the first being Renaud Boyer’s old vines Bourgogne-Aligoté (2022 vintage), a previously unfashionable grape variety that is gaining an excellent reputation amongst the wine-loving community. The second is not a wine at all, being Ripple, a natural cider from Egremont Russet apples by Little Pomona in Herefordshire. Our two intrepid tasters are not deceived, despite the “vinosity” of the product!

Join Emily Harman, Jamie Goode, and Doug Wregg as they talk about why wines are becoming more expensive and ask what constitutes value-for-money these days. The trio examine wine margins in restaurants, question why they are (undoubtedly) increasing and explain some of the reasons why this may be the case. We mention some of our favourite places to drink good value wine and why progressive mark-ups encourage customers to drink more interesting wines. Conversely, fixed gross-profit margins are pushing more and more wines out of the pocket of the average consumer. They observe that emerging regions and lesser-heralded grape varieties can provide great value discoveries. To this end, the gang taste a white wine made from Thierry Navarre in Saint-Chinian called Lignières Blanc, a mix of rare and “forgotten varieties” including Ribeyrenc Blanc, Clairette du Languedoc & Grenache Gris, and agree this style of wine overdelivers for the price point. As an alternative to Burgundy, we open a bottle of 2018 Storm “Ignis” Pinot Noir from the relatively cool-climate Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in South Africa.

Jamie, Doug and Emily look at different types of wine “vessels” ranging from stainless tanks to various types of wooden barrels and finally concrete vats and terracotta pots (amphorae, qvevri and so forth). They talk about the art of the cooper and suggest that (used sympathetically) oak barrels can both shape the wine as well as being the conduit to transmit a sense of terroir, whereas clumsy use of wood will obfuscate the true nature of the wine. The gang taste three examples of wines fermented and aged in different vessels. Firstly, a clay-fermented-and aged 2013 Muscat from the De Martino tinajas project in Itata, southern Chile. Then a biodynamic Arbin Mondeuse from Louis Magnin from the 2003 vintage, all in stainless tanks. To finish, to illustrate the effect of oak-ageing, we sample a Torres Mas La Plana 2018 from Penedes. Wines tasted this episode: Muscat Tinajas, De Martino 2013 Itata, Chile Arbin Mondeuse, Louis Magnin 2003 Savoie, France Mas La Plana, Torres 2018 Penedes, Spain

Join Doug Wregg, Emily Harman and Jamie Goode as they discuss wine icons, wine unicorns, and the secondary market.

Join Doug Wregg, Emily Harman and Jamie Goode as they discuss the pros and cons of the appellation system.

Jamie, Doug and Emily attempt to define the slippery concept of terroir and surmise how a specific place (microclimate, aspect, biodiversity and soil) may be transmitted into the final wine and why it might be desirable for wines to convey their origins.

Join Doug, Emily & Jamie as they dig into the topic of wine flaws and faults.

Meet our three podcast amigos: Doug Wregg, Emily Harman and Jamie Goode. Learn about their journey from humble amateur wine sleuths into the professional wine world. This is a getting-to-know you session; expect plenty of gentle banter. Halfway through the trio taste a 2017 Laski Rizling from Zorjan, a biodynamic and natural producer making wine in Stajerska region (Slovenian Styria) and marvel at its unique golden-amber colour, textural depth and almost rustic soulfulness.