Wine for Normal People

As part of the Back to Basics series, in which I update previous podcasts on practical topics that can be helpful to everyone, I update podcast Episode 28 from September 2011! Rick was the co-host then and it was a much shorter, less detailed show. Image: Assembled on Canva by WFNP   Some of the suggestions from those many years ago were great, and some have changed or I’ve augmented them.   The goal of this show: to give you some ideas to motivate you to try new wines and new ways to explore. Ideas include: exploring different grapes from the same regions you like, joining a wine club (hint hint: the Wine Access/WFNP Wine Club [https://www.wineaccess.com/normal], going to tasting events, and more! It's a short and sweet re-do of a show from long ago. I hope you get some ideas from it!    Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] _______________________________________________________________   This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal [https://www.wineaccess.com/normal] to sign up!  https://www.wineaccess.com/normal

On the heels of my trip with a group of Patrons to Campania, I wanted to do a show on Taurasi while it was still fresh in my mind.   Taurasi, a small (472 ha / 1,166 acres) DOCG region, is indisputably one of Italy’s greatest red wines along with Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, Chianti, Vino Nobile, and Montefalco Sagrantino. Taurasi, made of the ancient Aglianico grape, is in Campania, more specifically in hills northeast of Irpinia/Avellino and is centered around the town of Taurasi, a small town with a 10th-century castle that was rebuilt by the Normans.   Over the 17 towns within the denomination soils and altitudes range dramatically. Higher altitudes create complex, more acidic styles due to a longer growing season with great diurnal swings. Towns with more clay create extremely tannic wines, while those with sand have certain warmth and fruitiness that makes them easy to drink in their youth. There are a multitude of styles and, with soils in the region layered like a lasagna, the flavors you get from the Aglianico grape depend largely on the site on which it grows.   Aglianico is a misunderstood grape, as is Taurasi as a wine. Aglianico is a red with complex, terroir driven flavors of dark fruit, red fruit, spice, black pepper notes, and excellent acidity and tannin. Taurasi, made from a biotype of Aglianico that is particularly dark-skinned, small berried and flavorful makes exquisite wines that have the aging capability of a Barolo or Bordeaux.   The grape translates the terroir into the bottle and both where the grapes grow and who makes the wine determines the style – it’s an area you could explore for ages and keep discovering new expressions of Aglianico. In fact, Taurasi is called the “Barolo of the South” for nuance and depth of flavor, and variation of its terroir. In this show I cover the extensive history of the region, with all its ups and downs, the climate, altitudes, and land and then discuss the expression of the Aglianico grape and why it makes such fascinating wines.   If you haven’t had a Taurasi, get on it. Vis a vis other top wines, it is insanely affordable (top wines are less than US$100) and it is a wine that will hold your interest with every sip!   Certainly for its history and for its quality, Taurasi is one of the great wines of the world.   Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] _______________________________________________________________   This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal [https://www.wineaccess.com/normal] to sign up!    https://www.wineaccess.com/normal

This week I go in depth on one of the best value regions of Portugal -- Alentejo. These wines are mainly blends and they are as easy on the palate as they are on the wallet -- a perfect combo!  Photo: Vineyards in Alentejo outside of Évora. Credit: WFNP   Located in southern Portugal, a two hour drive east of Lisbon, Alentejo is huge -- representing almost one-third of the Iberian nation. Although in the past the region was known only as the breadbasket of Portugal and as the world's largest supplier of cork (nearly half of the world’s  corks come from Alentejo's cork trees), today the region is experiencing a wine renaissance. After a rocky history, Alentejo has grown and its reputation has expanded with it.    Known for fruity, lush and plush red blends (about 75% of the wine) of grapes like Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez (Tempranillo), Trincadeira, Alfrochero, and Castelão, there are some higher end versions that sometimes contain Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah as well. The whites are in the minority and are fruity, soft, yet balanced blends as well. The tropical, tangerine noted and soft Antão Vaz is Alentejo’s most important white with Arinto used for acidity, Fernão Pires for aroma and soft textures and Roupeiro for aroma as well.  Map: Rota dos Vinhos, from the Wines of Alentejo [https://www.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/en/]   This show covers all the bases on this fascinating region -- from its turbulent history to the climate, terroir, and the many DOPs that each have a distinct identiy.    Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] _______________________________________________________________   This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal [https://www.wineaccess.com/normal] to sign up!  https://www.wineaccess.com/normal

This is the second in the Greats series on Bordeaux. This time, the first, most southerly, and most famed commune of the Médoc, Margaux. Surely this is one of the world’s greatest regions, with the only major appellation with a château named after the region, Château Margaux. Margaux is a 1,500 ha/3,700 acre communal appellation on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, 25 km/15 miles north of the city of Bordeaux in the Médoc. Margaux is the largest Médoc AOC, representing 9% of Medoc vineyards and an average of 6.5 million bottles yearly, depending on vintage. Due to its size, the region has varied soils, and that means that as much as people like to generalize about Margaux being elegant and pretty, it’s not as simple as that.   In this show, I cover everything about Margaux -- history, terroir, climate, sustainability, and then the top Châteaux. I break it down into digestible bites and try to convince you that these wines are certainly something that you must try!    H [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_Wine_Official_Classification_of_1855]ere is a link to the 1855 Classification [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_Wine_Official_Classification_of_1855] Here are the Châteaux that are open to the public [https://margaux-wines.com/wine-tourism/]   __________________________________________ Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] _______________________________________________________________   This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal [https://www.wineaccess.com/normal] to sign up!  https://www.wineaccess.com/normal

Fred Peterson [https://www.petersonwinery.com] has been making wines in Sonoma County for more than 40 years.  While attending UC Santa Cruz, he took a job in a classmate’s family vineyard in Mendocino County and he found his passion. He left Santa Cruz, and used the rest of his GI Education benefits to attend UC Davis. https://www.petersonwinery.com Photo: Peterson Winery [https://www.petersonwinery.com]. Credit: Wine for Normal People   Fred got his bachelor’s degree in Viticulture and Enology in 1978. And after managing vineyards for a large winery in the Central Coast, he moved to the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma in 1983. That same year, he planted a vineyard and built his house on Bradford Mountain.   In 1987, Fred hung a shingle on a red barn off of Lytton Springs Road and Peterson [https://www.petersonwinery.com] was born. The winery is no longer in the red barn, but it remains an important part of their history and is represented on every wine label with a back drop of Bradford Mountain, where the Peterson Estate Vineyar [https://www.petersonwinery.com]d is located. Photo: Fred Peterson. Courtesy of Peterson Winery [https://www.petersonwinery.com]   In this (super dorky) show Fred takes us through some of the fascinating history of how philosophies about terroir and soil have changed since he started as a grower and winemaker in the early 1980s and how he has managed to be a leader in sustainable, but not dogmatic sustainable farming and winemaking.  Fred was one of the first voices in Sonoma to promote low intervention farming and winemaking. It shows in the wines!   Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople [https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople] _______________________________________________________________   This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal [https://www.wineaccess.com/normal] to sign up!  https://www.wineaccess.com/normal