Skurnik Unfiltered

Noah Dorrance

"If you're really tapped into what wine is, giving back is a very natural extension of that. You realize that wine exists in this harmony with its environment, and if you're not giving back out to that environment, you're like the dead end in the ecosystem. It's important that the ecosystem keeps moving around and that good keeps flowing in all directions." – Noah Dorrance Noah Dorrance's philosophy is clear and consistent: wine is connection. Paying close attention to the weather and the rhythms of the seasons connects him to the health of the planet. Donating a portion of his revenue to local nonprofits helps him connect with his community in and beyond the Sonoma Coast. And involving his wife and teenage kids in the Reeve Wines [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/reeve-wines/] and BloodRoot [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/bloodroot/] projects brings their family closer together. In this week's episode, New York sommelier Mackenzie Khosla guest hosts Noah for a discussion over a bottle of Reeve Wines 'Rice-Spivak' Pinot Noir [https://www.skurnik.com/sku/pinot-noir-rice-spivak-vyd-reeve-wines/]. Together they reflect on ways to find connection, generosity, and intentionality through the making and sharing of wine. Automatically generated transcripts often make mistakes. Find a corrected version here [https://www.skurnik.com/episode-24-noah-dorrance/]. Skurnik Wines & Spirits [https://www.skurnik.com/skurnik/] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/skurnikwines/]

Shane Fraser

"Perfection in a spirit is to do things very consistently and don't change things. I'm certainly not perfect, but I think what we're doing at the distillery is close to the best whisky I've made for a long, long time. It's grain to glass, and it's all grown and made in New York State." – Shane Fraser Tenmile Distillery [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/tenmile-distillery/] in Wassaic, NY is making the closest thing to Scotch outside of Scotland, thanks to their secret weapon, the acclaimed master distiller Shane Fraser from Aberdeen. Tenmile's focus is on American Single Malt Whisky, a relatively unheard-of and misunderstood category only officially defined as recently as 2025.  In this episode with whisk(e)y expert James Pellingra, Shane describes the ins and outs of producing single malt whisky, the advantages of aging whisky in California Pinot Noir casks, and how he defines perfection in a category still establishing its identity. Automatically generated transcripts often make mistakes. Find a corrected version here. Skurnik Wines & Spirits [https://www.skurnik.com/skurnik/] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/skurnikwines/]

Alice Jun

"Sool is an ancient style of rice wine. It has over two-thousand years of documented history. Our style is distinctly influenced by the style of brews that I grew up with—a wilder, more natural, more gastronomical style of Korean wine. And for those who are curious about going deeper, there is always something more." – Alice Jun Alice Jun remembers makgeolli as an important ingredient of her upbringing in the '90s in her Los Angeles Korean American community. Her father, a first-generation immigrant, taught her how to brew the mixed-culture sedimented rice wine at home. His style, brewed from brown rice, was rustic and traditional—much stronger and drier than the lighter, aspartame-sweetened version exported to grocery store shelves, which many in the Korean diaspora had become used to. In this week's episode, Alice tells the story of how she went from bootlegging her father's recipe from her NYC shoebox apartment to starting Hana Makgeolli [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/hana-makgeolli/], the first craft makgeolli brewery in the US, and how the explosion of Korean pop culture and a rapid consumer-driven appetite for craft Asian beverages is changing the landscape of American gastronomy. Automatically generated transcripts often make mistakes. Find a corrected version here [https://www.skurnik.com/episode-22-alice-jun/]. Learn more [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRbhiFQl9bY] about the different types of sool. Skurnik Wines & Spirits [https://www.skurnik.com/skurnik/] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/skurnikwines/]

Ricardo Peñalba

“Wine has always been in change, in movement. The wine that we drink now is not the same wine that was drunk a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago. For a revolution, you have to go back to the past to see what you have missed, and then bring it back.” – Ricardo Peñalba  More than a winemaker, Ricardo Peñalba is a self-proclaimed "wine ideologist." When he's out walking the rows of his biodynamic vineyards in Ribera del Duero, he's thinking obsessively about wine and how it connects humans to our shared history and humanity. In this episode with Max Working, Ricardo shares a bottle of his Ojo Gallo [https://www.skurnik.com/sku/clarete-ojo-gallo-finca-torremilanos-2-2-2-2-2-2-2/] from Finca Torremilanos [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/finca-torremilanos-15/] and explains the region's ties to this traditional clarete style of wine, with an inspiringly philosophical perspective. Automatically generated transcripts often make mistakes. Find a corrected version here [https://www.skurnik.com/episode-21-ricardo-penalba/]. Skurnik Wines & Spirits [https://www.skurnik.com/skurnik/] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/skurnikwines/]

Chris Mullineux

"If a wine is trying to copy somewhere else or be something else, it might taste good, but it needs to have an authenticity and a sense of place to it, and it must be balanced and beautiful to drink. If a wine can put those two concepts together, for me, it's a perfect wine." – Chris Mullineux  For decades, South Africa’s Swartland region was dominated by industrial farming cooperatives that pumped out massive amounts of inexpensive bulk wine and diluted any hint of terroir. It wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that a fresh generation took notice of the gems right under their noses: forgotten old-vine vineyards and, thanks to hundreds of millions of years of tectonic activity, the oldest soils of anywhere on the planet. Chris and Andrea Mullineux, alongside pioneers like Adi Badenhorst and Eben Sadie, helped redefine the region with stunning Chenin Blancs and Syrahs, proving that Swartland wines could indeed deliver a distinct sense of place. Now their movement has grown beyond the Swartland to the broader Western Cape. Independent winemakers from Stellenbosch to Hemel-en-Aarde are dialing in their farming to express a uniquely South African terroir, one that in Mullineux’s case “tastes like sunshine.” In this episode, Chris Mullineux joins Desiree Russo for a flight of wines from three of his projects: Kloof Street [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/kloof-street/], Mullineux [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/mullineux/], and Leeu Passant [https://www.skurnik.com/producer/leeu-passant/]. They discuss regenerative farming, geek out on soil, and survey the unexpected varieties that may come to define the next chapter of South African wine. Automatically generated transcripts often make mistakes. Find a corrected one here [https://www.skurnik.com/episode-20-chris-mullineux/]. Skurnik Wines & Spirits [https://www.skurnik.com/skurnik/] Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/skurnikwines/]