The Wine Conversation

Listen in to Omnibus 16 for the latest news and views. This month: A 29-year-old Mexican beauty queen is accused of being behind the “wine heist of the century;” arrests in a major Spanish wine fraud; breakthrough research in dry farming; California celebrates the class of ’72, the wineries which made California wine’s reputation; how Bordeaux’s wildfires may affect the vintage; and lots more.Find out more at wine-conversation.com

In our series “The Next Generation” Elin McCoy talks to Hélène Seillan of Vérité, the acclaimed winery in Sonoma, which produces the highly collectable La Muse, La Joie and Le Désir, which are made from more than 50 “micro crus” across four appellations. Hélène talks about her childhood in South West France where her father made wine for seven châteaux, her move to California as a child speaking no English when her father joined Jess Jackson to start Vérité, how she got the wine bug and her 100-point wines with Robert Parker.

Alice Feiring, a  leader of the Natural Wine movement. talks to Elin McCoy about her new book, “To Fall in Love Drink This: A Wine Writer’s Memoir ”. Listen in as she talks about learning how to smell, how she evaded a serial killer at 14,  why she believes the Natural Wine movement is dead, and the movement she believes will replace it.

How soon will we hear the title “Climate Change Director” as often as “Winemaker? Miguel Torres Snr has been at the forefront of climate change solutions and he has appointed Josep Maria Ribas Portella, an industrial engineer with a Masters in Sustainable Energy Systems as Torres’s Climate Change and Sustainability Director. Listen in to find out what Josep and the team at Torres are doing to combat climate change, find out his views on glass bottles, regulations and much more. A timely and important conversation as we see this month the indisputable evidence of climate change in the fires across Europe.

All the latest wine news and independent views. John Stimpfig reveals why he thinks the Champagne region is shooting itself in the foot over herbicides, Elin McCoy reports on the sale of Joseph Phelps and the trend for other iconic Napa and Sonoma estates to sell out to big corporations, as well as why some wineries won’t be insurable in the future and much, much more.

Elin McCoy talks to Tor Kenward of Tor in our "Great Wine Lives" series – a fascinating conversation from the man who has been at the heart of the Napa Valley since 1977, who brought the great chefs to California, including Julia Child and now makes award-winning Cabernet from Napa’s greatest vineyards.More information at wine-conversation.com

Jane Anson talks to Namratha Prashanth, who left Bangalore after an abusive marriage to create a new life, a new business and a new brand in Bordeaux.

In our “Great Wine Lives” series, Elin McCoy talk to visionary winemaker Paul Hobbs, who is today making wine in four continents. From been chosen by Robert Mondavi as a young winemaker to work on Opus One, helping Nicolas Catena in Argentina, setting up his own wineries, in California, Cahors, Galicia, the Finger Lakes and Armenia, meet the man who really does have a global wine vision.More information at wine-conversation.com

As we celebrate our Great Queen of England’s Platinum Jubilee, we look back on another remarkable Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Jane Anson talks to leading French historian Stéphane Bern about this remarkable woman who taught the English how to drink wine.

Leading Bordeaux expert Jane Anson of www.janeanson.com talks about the 2021 Bordeaux vintage. Jane tasted over 800 wines during En Primeur – she relates her overall impression of the vintage, reveals her star wines, discusses which terroirs did well and which did not, and tells where you can find value for money.Find out more at wine-conversation.com