This week we sit down with one of our favorite winemakers, and cookbook authors, Jennifer Reichardt. Raised on a duck farm, she has been surrounded by bills and feathers from a young age, her family has supplied delicious ducks to all of the best restaurants in California. Her journey pulled her into wine, working for some epic producers, before starting her own label, Raft. Jennifer followed that up with a new project called Little Trouble Wine Co. with her friend Sara Morgenstern. Now she has released her amazing cookbook, The Whole Duck, available this week. Quack Quack [EP254] instagram.com/raftwines drink.raft.wine instagram.com/liberty_ducks libertyducks.com

Who knew that Instagram could get you a guest for your podcast. Well we do of course we don’t know all of these people and that is exactly how we came to meet these guys. I’m not sure the first time I heard about the Stampede Vineyard but on an educational tour of East Lodi a past guest made a point of showing us the vineyard. Join us on this show to continue our education about the vineyards of the Lodi appellation. You can tell that Jeff & John have a deep love and understanding of Lodi, their family started farming in the 1950’s after immigrating to California from Greece.  Planted in the 1940s, the Stampede Vineyard is an own-rooted Zinfandel planting in the toe-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains within Lodi’s Clements Hills AVA. With soils composed of decomposed granite, the Stampede Vineyard lies on a parcel that overlooks an old riverbed on one side, and the Clements Stampede rodeo grounds on the other. We welcome them to the podcast this week to help them launch they new winery project. Yes the growers have jumped into the winemaking side of the business with their “Mediterranean inspired, California grown” wines. We thing they are off to a great start. [EP253] perlegoswine.com instagram.com/perlegos_wine instagram.com/zinyard perlegoswine.com/sign-up

This week on the show we went to Haystack Farm in Sonoma to talk with Farmer Jerome Cunnie and Chef Duskie Estes. Farm to Pantry is a gleaning non-profit organization that rescues produce from farms and backyard gardens in Sonoma County that would otherwise go to waste, and delivers it to families in need—one in three people in Sonoma County is facing food insecurity. They glean produce from over 250 properties, with the help of over 350 volunteers, and deliver it to 85 community partners. The food is out there and Farm to Pantry goes and gets it—they are the bridge between abundance and need. In the case of Haystack Farm Jerome Cunnie and his team farm the ranch which was established to raise fruits, vegetables and flowers to be given away to those that are in need. Wait till you hear the numbers of how many people they are feeding. This is an inspiring show, get inspired, get involved in your community and help feed people. It feels really good to be part of a community like this. [EP252] www.farmtopantry.org www.instagram.com/farmtopantry twitter.com/farm_to_pantry www.instagram.com/duskie_estes www.blackpigmeatco.com www.twitter.com/duskieestes www.instagram.com/thegardenkeeper/ www.instagram.com/haystackfarmsonoma/

This week we sit down with famed Washington winemaker Charles Smith. We discuss his humble beginnings in California, his journeys through Europe, and what eventually led him to Washington. His unique ability to discuss wine and wine-making in a straightforward way has helped him become one of the most successful and famous figures in the business, while maintaining his free-spirited identity. The conversation always came back to the wine, farming practices, and the simple approach to making delicious wines for both collectors and everyday wine drinkers.  This is a good one, grab a bottle and enjoy.m[EP 251]  

This week on the podcast we welcome Andriana Duchworth & Laura McGilley from the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers. We touched on a number of subjects from the upcoming Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival and some of the history behind this great event. The newly available Vinous Sonoma Valley Vineyards maps are finally finished and are really beautiful. These maps are must have for any lover of Sonoma Valley and the historic vineyards. The four of us had also been at the Phil Coturri Wine Grower Dinner at the Sonoma Mission Inn the previous night so we rambled about for a while. [EP250] sonomavalleywine.com instagram.com/sonomavalleywine valleyofthemoonvintagefestival.org instagram.com/sonomavintagefestival

From Napa to Burgundy to washable labels. This week’s show was not really about wine but what does “wine” need to do to be truly sustainable. The work sustainable has been used and thrown around so much it really doesn’t mean anything. I mean spraying a herbicide on the ground directly under your grapevines? Ok, that’s not what this show was about. We had a great conversation about a lot of things. Diana makes wine to two of the most coveted growing areas in the world, Burgundy and Napa Valley. She has installed a system in Burgundy to capture the carbon dioxide from the fermenters during harvest. Her newest project focused on a wine called Snowden Cousins, organically grown grapes with reusable bottles, no foils and water soluble labels. This show will have a part 2 and by that time we hope you will have heard more about this. What would you think about collecting bottles to be reused? Recycling is great but why melt down the bottles, why not reuse them? www.instagram.com/dianasnowsey www.snowdenvineyards.com www.dujac.com/en/the-domain www.portoprotocol.com  

The 3rd Friday of September is one of the best days of the year. We raise a glass or several really nice selections to celebrate one of the best days of the year. We invited two #FOTP  “friends of the pod” to join us. Casey Graybehl The Grenachista shares some new releases and some not yet released wines and a few stories of harvest. We also get a chance to catch up with Sondra Bernstein to hear all about what she has been up to. Let’s just say Sondra has been very busy creating, and has some insight on what the future of wine tasting and marketing might look like. We hope you will open a bottle of Sonoma Valley Grenache and enjoy this week’s show.  [EP248] www.sondra-bernstein.com www.instagram.com/4everkurious www.thegrenachista.com www.instagram.com/the.grenachista

This week on the podcast we introduce you to Sal Chavez, owner/founder of La Luna Mezcal. If you’ve never had Mezcal before, get ready for an education, if you already love Mezcal, you need some La Luna. We go deep on family history and traditions, terroir, fermentation and distillation. The process is fascinating and Sal’s family story is inspiring, we strongly encourage opening up a bottle to sip while listening, and even grabbing some carne asada tacos to enhance the experience. Enjoy [EP247] lalunamezcal.com/usa instagram.com/lalunamezcal instagram.com/saviorpchavez    

This week on the show we answer your questions and you should question our answers… We talk about the upcoming Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival on October 7th & 8th. The Winemakers Podcast is challenging our fellow winemakers to the Grape Stomp Competition, and hope everyone will come to the Grand Tasting on October 8th at the under the stars in the historic Sonoma Barracks on the Plaza. Bart also tells the story of his Amphora Blues.  [EP246] Enjoy the show www.instagram.com/sonomavintagefestival www.valleyofthemoonvintagefestival.org  

James Joiner’s life in journalism has taken from a Cape Cod news room to the Republican National Convention and Willie Nelson’s tour bus but it was a chance encounter with a bottle of Coturri wine set him out on mission. In a career marked with bylines in publications like Rolling Stone, Esquire and the Daily Beast he’s now on a mission to photograph “wine people” all over the world and develop those photos in red wine! The guys sit down and swap stories with one of the wine industries great story tellers, James Joiner. [EP245]