The Wine Pair Podcast
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© 2024 The Wine Pair Podcast
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Recommended by Decanter Magazine who call The Wine Pair Podcast fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining! In each episode, husband and wife team Joe and Carmela learn about, taste, and give our honest review of three wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $20 each - and easy to find. Our podcast is made for people who want to learn more about wine, find new wines to enjoy, and just want someone to talk about wine in a fun and funny way that regular people can understand. So, if that sounds like you, you are in the right place!
Contact us at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Instagram: @thewinepairpodcast
Website: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/
131 Episodes
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When we say hidden gem, we are not kidding! When people think of Spanish red wines, they immediately think of Rioja, but don’t sleep on Priorat. Hailing from the Catalonia area of Spain, Priorat is a Grenache-based red wine blend that completely blew away our expectations! Rich, complex, and oh so drinkable, this is a wine that deserves a lot more attention and accolades. And we are guessing you may have never even heard of it! The magic of Priorat is said to come from the unique licorella soils in which is grown. Whatever that magic is, we want more of it. Join us to learn more about this underappreciated red that is considered one of Spain’s great wines. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2020 Gil Family Estates Llicorella Vins Bluegray Priorat and 2020 Cellers Unió Laurentia Priorat.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Pinot Noir can be a polarizing wine - some people love it, and some people just don’t get it. We think that happens for a few reasons. First, most wine drinkers have been trained to think that wines are supposed to taste like Cabernet Sauvignon - big, fruit forward, high in alcohol, and very tannic. Which is just not what a great Pinot tastes like. Second, good Pinot Noirs that have a more classic style are generally not cheap. And that, our friends, is why we do these episodes. Because we want to find good Pinot Noirs - wines that have the classic Pinot tastes and smells of cherry and earth and a light mouthfeel - that don’t cost a lot of money. Some say it is a fool’s errand, but we are bound and determined to help you find a few good Pinot Noirs that are easy on the pocketbook and taste great. Good news! We found at least one in this episode, but you gotta listen in to learn which one! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2021 Cono Sur Organic Pinot Noir, 2021 Paul Mas Réserve Pinot Noir, 2021 Domaine Laroque Cite de Carcassonne Pinot Noir.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
1Believe it or not, 73% of the wine purchased in the United States is sold for less than $8. So, there are a LOT of people drinking those wines! But they don’t often get reviews, and so we thought we would take some time to taste and review some value wines to see just how different they are from slightly more expensive wines. The results: one of the wines was a pleasant surprise and a wine we enjoyed, and one of the wines was probably the worst wine we have ever had on our podcast, and we think it may have burned a hole in our stomachs. But you have to listen to find out which one it was! We explore what makes inexpensive wines so inexpensive and what makes them so popular. This one was really fun to do! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2021 Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon, Bay Bridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Beringer Main & Vine American Cabernet Sauvignon.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Bordeaux is home to some of the most famous - and most expensive - wines in the world. But can you find a great wine at a great price?!? You can!!! There is no reason to spend more than $20 a bottle to find highly rated and very enjoyable wines from this classic region. In this episode, we focus on Left Bank wines, and we bring that up because Bordeaux may be the most confusing and complicated wine region in the world. If you want to learn more about Bordeaux red wines, this is a great starter episode for you. The wines in this episode were quite balanced between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon - two of the Noble Grapes this region is famous for - all had multiple 90-plus ratings, and we found one of the wines knocked our socks off! If you have been tempted to try Bordeaux wines but were either intimidated or felt that you have to spend a lot of money to get a good one, we are here to tell you that definitely does not need to be the case! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2018 Château Prieure de Beyzac, 2016 Château des Mille Anges, and 2019 Château Beaumont.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
If you’re like us, French wines can feel so confusing - and that’s exactly why we do these WTF episodes! This week, we dive into a great French white wine called Muscadet, which is not to be confused with Muscat or Moscato (which are, by the way, the same thing). Muscadet is a wine made in the Loire Valley from the grape Melon de Bourgogne - and that’s already more than you likely knew about this wine. Muscadet has been called the ultimate fish wine, and, when made well, is fruity and zippy with a hint of sea water. We love learning about new wines, and we love it when we find another white wine to squeeze into our wine cellar. If you are observing meatless Fridays or just love to be out in the sunshine on a warm day sipping white wine while downing clams and oysters, Muscadet could make your day (and, by the way, that rhymes!). Listen in to learn about other fun stuff like what the f sur lie and batonnage are - we’ll tell you! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Chereau Carre Château de la Chesnaie Muscadet Sèvre Et Maine, 2020 Château de la Ragotière Muscadet Sur Lie Cuvée Amélie, 2021 Trois Versants Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is an easy wine to overlook. It is inexpensive, easy to find, and does not have the cachet that a Chianti or Barolo or Amarone has. But we are here to tell you that you should take a second look at this underappreciated and underrated Italian wine! In this episode, we tasted and reviewed three easy to find and reasonably priced Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wines, and there wasn’t a clunker in the bunch - in fact, we think you should buy them all! Perfect for dinner parties, cookouts, or anytime you want a sure-fire wine that is going to please the masses, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a wine that delivers. And, not only that, it’s fun to say! It is also a wine that can have really interesting flavors - we got not only red fruits and some baking spices, but we also got Twizzler and black tea. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2020 Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, 2021 Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Tralcetto, and 2021 La Valentina Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve wines are meant to compare with wines twice their price, and are said to be top wines from top winemakers in some of the most prestigious wine-growing regions, but just how good are they really? We seek to answer that question to save you time and money. In this episode, we try three different Platinum Reserve wines from TJ’s, give our honest opinion on their taste and quality, and let you know if we think they are worth grabbing the next time you are shopping at your favorite store. We were a little surprised by what we found! We also bring some clarity to French Bordeaux wines, and give a short critique of Trader Joe’s related to the true costs of high-end cheap.Wines reviewed in this episode: Trader Joe’s 2022 Platinum Reserve Saint-Emilion, Trader Joe’s 2021 Platinum Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir, and Trader Joe’s Platinum Reserve Sonoma County Sparkling Brut.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Ok, let’s be honest. Pinotage is a TRIP. It is like no other wine we have ever had before, and is flat out an experience that you have to try. You may not love it, or even like it, but you have to try it. Especially the Coffee Pinotage which in and of itself is an adventure (and is really a thing)! Pinotage is a wine that was invented in South Africa about 100 years ago, and is considered its signature wine. A cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, it has a smell and taste that is unique, interesting, and hard to pin down. Take from that what you will. In this episode, we discuss the wine industry in South Africa, which is bigger than you may think, and give some history about the wine. But mostly we taste and review Pinotage, and, to be transparent, we do not hold back on what we really think. Don’t worry - it’s pretty fun! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2018 Fleur du Cap Pinotage, 2021 Lievland Pinotage, 2021 Barista Pinotage. Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Costco sells a TON of wine, but finding expert reviews of their Kirkland Signature wines can be very tricky. We are happy to help fill that void! Find out why few wine reviewers bother to review Costco Kirkland Signature wines, and where you can find some pretty reliable reviews for those wines. But, most importantly, find out what we think of the Costco Kirkland Signature Russian River Pinot Noir, and how we think it stacks up against some other similarly priced Pinot Noirs that are also easy to find. You might be surprised to hear what we think! We also talk about why we think Costco is great, and not so great, for wine drinkers and wine culture in the US. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2018 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Pinot Noir, 2019 Conscious by Samuel Robert Pinot Noir, 2022 Kirkland Signature Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Josh Cellars wine has been all over social media recently, but the real question is - is it worthy of the hype?!? We gave Josh Cellars an honest-to-goodness opportunity to impress us. We tasted and reviewed three different Josh Cellar wines just to make sure that we were getting a proper sense of the breadth of their products, and the results were . . . meh. Not good, not bad, just sort of meh. Listen to this episode to get our tasting notes - the flavors and scents that we got from the wine, and how ours compare to what other professional raters think - and to get our truthful, no-holds-barred ratings of these wines. Hear why we think Josh Cellar wines are the perfect example of an average grocery store, mass-market, California style wine. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Josh Cellars Chardonnay, 2021 Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, 2022 Josh Cellars Central Coast Pinot Noir. Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
If you think you are not a fan of dessert wines, we believe we can change your mind - because we changed our own minds in this episode! Dessert wines are perfect for romantic evenings, but also a great excuse to slow down and extend a meal with family, friends, and loved ones. If you are looking for something special to do this Valentine’s Day, serving a sweet wine to your sweetheart to complement the sweets you bought them is a perfect end to a wonderful evening. And who knows, maybe the evening might last a little longer after you serve them a dessert wine if you know what we mean! In this episode we taste and review three different dessert wines, and we think there is a great choice for you no matter what you are planning to serve or what your particular taste preferences may be. We found a great Port, a fascinating Cream Sherry, and a beautiful sweet orange wine - and any of them are great choices and crowd pleasers. If there is one thing we know, life is short, so don’t skip dessert (along with not drinking shitty wine!). Wines reviewed in this episode: Cockburn's Special Reserve Port, Emilio Hidalgo Morenita Cream Sherry, 2021 Quady Essensia Orange Muscat.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Did you know they make wine in Michigan. Yes, yes it’s true! And not only that, they make REALLY GOOD wine in Michigan. Don’t believe us? Then you need to listen to our interview with Drew Perry from Simpson Family Estates, home of Good Harbor Vineyards and Aurora Cellars and we’ll set you straight! We had the great honor of interviewing Drew who, like a lot of the winemakers we have talked to, did not start out thinking he was going to make wine for a living. And, like many of the winemakers we have talked to, it was a love of both science and art that attracted them to winemaking. Drew’s story is really interesting, and here’s a little tidbit from our interview. Drew was studying viticulture and enology at Michigan State University where his father was the head of the horticulture department, and his Dad canceled the viticulture and enology program while Drew was still in the major! And it just gets better from there! Drew describes winemaking as a scientific art, and talks about how a winemaker has to understand what is going on in the vineyard to figure out what is going to go into your glass. Please join us for this fascinating interview - you’ll learn a ton!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Look, we were skeptical too, but it’s true. Not only do they make wine in Michigan, they are making great wine! If you are like us, you didn’t realize that there is a burgeoning wine industry in Michigan, and that some highly rated wines are coming out of their 5 AVAs. And, in this episode we’ll taste some of these well rated wines and tell you what we think! What is wonderful about Michigan wine is that this is a place where the winemakers know their terroir and are making wines that are well suited to the climate. So, you’ll find lots of great Rieslings and Gewürztraminers, and also some fantastic Pinot Noirs, Cabernet Franc, and great but lesser known wines like Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch that are great fits for the region. If you thought that California, Oregon, and Washington State were the only places in the United States making good wine, tune into this episode and prepare to have your mind blown! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2021 Aurora Cellars Dry Riesling, 2020 Good Harbor Vineyards Pinot Noir Zweigelt, Good Harbor Vineyards Blanc de Noirs.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
The Campania region of Italy, famous for the city of Naples, the Amalfi Coast, and Mount Vesuvius, is also home to many of the most beloved Italian foods - like pizza! - but did you know it is also home to many of the best Italian wines?!? In this Italian wine adventure, we introduce you to a white wine called Fiano that you probably have not heard of but definitely deserves your attention! This is not one of those fly-away Italian Pinot Grigios. No! This is a bigger bodied, rich, and complex white wine that can hold up to many of the wonderful foods that hail from Campania. Do you love fried calamari? Wood fired pizza? Spaghetti con Vongole? Eggplant Parmigiana? Yes?!? Well then you need to pair those awesome foods with Fiano. The great thing about Fiano is that the wine has flavors and texture that can appeal to different palates. It has body but also good acidity, and depending on where it is from, can be anything from a hearty winter wine to a crisp summer sipper. Come join us and learn more! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2020 Claudio Quarta Cantina Sanpaolo Fiano di Avellino, 2019 La Capranera Paestum Fiano, 2020 Terredora di Paolo Fiano di Avellino.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
In the last minisode we settled the question of whether or not size matters, and so in this minisode we are tackling the other big question - does shape matter when it comes to the wine bottle? The answer may surprise you! Wine bottles come in many different shapes, although there is one shape that sort of dominates them all, and the most common shapes are associated with certain regions or certain varietals of wine. Want to look like the coolest person in the room at your next party? Wow your friends and family with your almost magical powers of deduction as you guess what kind of wine they are serving just by looking at the shape of the bottle. Oooh. You’ll be a hit!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
What do you do if dry January - or some other dry month - is on your list, but you don’t want to give up wine? First, you need to listen to this podcast! We had the great pleasure of interviewing Duncan Shouler from Giesen Wines, and spoke to him in-depth about their zero-alcohol wines. Like many of the winemakers we talk to, Duncan did not start out to be a winemaker. In fact, he started out in marine biology and was surfing before finally listening to his calling. Duncan spent most of his career making “regular” wine, which is probably why his non-alcohol wines taste so good. In this episode, we talk to Duncan about how zero-alcohol wines are made, what the Spinning Cone process is to remove alcohol (sounds intimidating, but it’s not!), and why zero-alcohol is a category that is growing in popularity. Like all good wine, Giesen Wine is meant to be paired with food, and this is especially true for their zero-alcohol wines. Curious?!? Then listen in to learn more!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Welcome to our end of the year retrospective, review, and wrap for The Wine Pair Podcast! In this episode we review our highest and lowest rated wines of the year. Believe it or not, in 2023 we tasted and reviewed about 120 wines, and out of all of those wines, just a handful got ratings of 9 or 10, or got ratings of 4 or under. If you are looking for a list of great wines to buy, or bad wines to avoid, this is the perfect episode for you!Some fun things we found as we reviewed these wines. First, Joe tends to grade a bit harder on the lower end of wines than Carmela does. Not a surprise there since Carmela is the nice one!Second, Carmela tends to rate white wines just a bit higher than Joe, and Joe tends to rate red wines just a bit higher than Carmela.Third, our top rated wines are a good mix of red, white, rosé, and sparkling, and also a good mix of wines from around the world. We have wines in the tip top of our ratings from France, Spain, Italy, and the United States. No matter what wine you like, we think you’ll find one represented in our “best of” review.And for our worst rated wines, well, they all happened to come from the state of California. Which is not a huge surprise because they make A LOT of wine in California, but also because we tend to find the style of California wine that makes it on the grocery store shelves lacking in subtlety and elegance. What we call “punch-you-in-the-face” wines. Finally, we’ll tell you why we think our reviews are more useful and reliable than the 100 point professional ratings - and it’s mostly because we share with you when we like and don’t like a wine, and the pros do not!Join us for a super fun ride, and we would love to hear what your favorite and least favorite wines were this year, too!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Buon Natale! The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American tradition that got an interesting send-up in Season 2 of The Bear. How accurate is the “Fishes” episode of The Bear to our family Christmas Eve seafood feast? Well, let’s just say there are a few similarities and some really important differences. For starters, our family doesn’t throw nearly as many forks as they do in The Bear - but you gotta listen in to learn more! We are revisiting this amazing meal again this year because, although last year we found some great wines to serve, there are lots of different wines that are great pairings with seafood and the Holidays. Of course, all of the wines we selected are Italian, but one of them is a sparkling red wine, and the other is an Italian white wine we are betting you may never have heard of, but is a great option for those of you who love a bigger-bodied Chardonnay, but are looking for something new, and something Italian. Unisciti a noi per questo episodio divertente e festoso! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Caruso & Minini Naturalmente Bio Catarratto, 2021 La Cappuccina Soave, 2019 Pederzana Gibe Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro. Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Think you know Prosecco?!? Not so fast! We bet you didn’t know that most of the Prosecco you are drinking is on the sweet side. Who cares, you say? We love it no matter what, you say? In this episode we are going to tell you why you should care, and why you should be seeking out the BRUT Prosecco! You dig?!? We all know that the Holidays are made for celebrations, and celebrations are the perfect opportunity to pop open a bottle or two (or three or four) of Prosecco. But this year we are begging you, beseeching you, to take the extra minute to find the brut Prosecco, rather than the dry or extra dry. Why, pray tell, does it matter? Well, the sweeter Proseccos, while fun and tasty, often mask a lesser wine. The brut Proseccos don’t have as much sugar to mask the sometimes lower quality, and so you are getting a better sparkling wine experience. Seriously! We wouldn’t lie at this time of year. You think we want to end up on the Naughy List? Are you nuts?!? We also talk about why the name Prosecco and the name of the grape it’s made from called Glera are kind of recent inventions. But you’ll have to listen in to find out more. It’s like an early Holiday gift! Wines reviewed in this episode: Bisol Jeio Prosecco Brut, Zardetto Prosecco Brut, Le Colture Fagher Prosecco Superiore Brut.Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Who doesn’t love buying wine at Costco? But have you ever wondered if the Costco Kirkland Signature wines are worth their low cost? Wel, that’s what this series of episodes is all about! On our last Costco “date” (and you need to listen in to understand what we mean by that) we picked up one of their Kirkland Signature K Vine Syrahs, and then we bought two other reasonably priced and well reviewed Syrahs to see how it compares. Did it win the challenge? You have to tune in to find out! We also talk about the difference between Syrah and Shiraz (they are the same wine and grape, but there can be some nuanced differences between the two), and the pros and cons of shopping for wine at Costco. And, a little incentive to listen in - Joe actually had some challenges while recording this episode - and we’ll tell you all about it. Let’s just say that Joe owes Carmela BIG TIME! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2021 Kirkland Signature K Vine Syrah Frenchman Hills Vineyard, 2021 J. Lohr Estates South Ridge Syrah, 2021 Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi ShirazContact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
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