The Wine Makers on Radio Misfits

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]

Sam walks the gang through the Fall 2022 ‘Phil Sent Me’ releases from Winery Sixteen 600 with a special guest appearance by photographer James Joiner (Google him or just wait for next week’s show). We talk about how the wines were grown and made, how the line-up is chosen and how we talk about wine in general. Tune in and become a Phil Sent Me member today. [EP244]

This week we have Adam Lee the founder of Clarice Wine Company on the podcast. He began working with wine in 1989 at a retail store in Austin, Texas. At the time, he also dabbled in restaurant wine sales, and briefly pulled a bag as a wine distributor sales rep. A few years later, he began working as the Wine Buyer at Neiman Marcus in Dallas. In 1993, he moved to California and, while working in direct sales at various wineries, they started Siduri Wines in 1994. Siduri Wines quickly became known as one of California’s premier Pinot Noir producers and grew from 107 cases in 1994 to 25,000 cases in 2015. In 2015 Siduri Wines was sold to Jackson Family Winery. Clarice Wine Company is a new and truly unique type of winery, combining aspects of an online wine community, a wine education website, and a limited-enrollment wine club. Adam has focused on two Pinot Noir vineyards in the  Santa Lucia Highlands the Garys’ and Rosella’s Vineyards. Did we mention that the wines are delicious? [EP243] www.claricewinecompany.com

Eric Story & Alison Smith Story started their small wine brand Smith Story Wine Cellars in 2014, funded by Kickstarter. Remember when people did that?  They are still sourcing small lots from family-owned vineyards farming organically and working with their other growers to improve quality and moving towards organic farming. Their dog, Lord Sandwich, has his own brand, his own charity and is an Instagram celebrity. We welcome Alison back to hear about what’s new and about the challenges they have faced for the past couple years. [EP242] smithstorywinecellars.com www.twitter.com/smithstorywines www.instagram.com/smithstorywines www.socksforsandwich.org www.instagram.com/sandwichthedoodle (707)494-5575