Our guests today are Drew and Daisy Damskey, who join Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Drew’s father and Daisy’s husband Kerry Damskey has been on this show several times, most recently on this episode of March 1, 2023. The first wine in our glasses is a 2023 Semillon, made by Drew Damskey for Palmieri Wines. This white wine grape is relatively common in Hunter Valley in Australia. It is also the grape […]

David Ramey, founder of Ramey Wine Cellars, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. He has been on CWC before, but it was a while ago, on this episode in 2018 and again here in 2019. The weather today is unseasonably warm, but it doesn’t affect Dan’s work. People tell him it seems he has the greatest job in the world. They think he just has to drink wine and write about it. […]

Matt Duffy from Vaughn Duffy Wines is back on California Wine Country. Matt has been on the show before, on this episode last summer. Dan Berger is back after taking last week off to attend the Anderson Valley White Wine festival, which we previewed on a few recent CWC episodes. He was in charge of the Riesling table with 12 different ones. They will hold a Pinot Noir festival in about five weeks, which we will […]

Miro Tcholakov is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell, and Melissa Galliani is also in the studio today.  He operates Miro Cellars and is also winemaker for Trentadue Wines. Miro has been on CWC before, on this episode back on September 9, 2020. and his last appearance was this episode on April 5, 2024. Miro has brought a Chardonnay, the only Chardonnay he makes now. The vineyard belongs to the De […]

Chris O’Gorman and Chris Sawyer are our guests on California Wine Country, to present Pour and Explore at Rodney Strong Vineyards on Feb. 12. Chris O’Gorman is in the studio and Chris Sawyer joins us on the phone. Chris O’Gorman has been on CWC before, his last appearance was this episode last August. It was actually Daedalus Howell’s first CWC episode as full time host of the Drive. Dan has brought one of the wines he […]

Chris Puppione from Puppione Family Wines is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. The last time Chris was on the show was this episode last summer, on June 6, when he spoke to Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Chris has brought four wines that Dan describes as “fabulous” and they are low-alcohol wines. Dan says Chris has had an opportunity to explore the lower-alcohol market. Chris says that people are just […]

Julie Pedroncelli from Pedroncelli Winery is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. She has been on the show before, the last time was this episode of last January. Dan describes the current slowdown in the wine business. The other times that the wine market went soft, there were one or two causes, but today there are several causes. But the benefit to the consumer is, the longer it takes to sell […]

Don Chigazola has brought Colle Ciocco wines to taste and review with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Don’s company Chigazola Merchants imports selected small lots of Italian wines made by small family-owned wineries. He travels to Italy regularly to find wines and to meet everyone involved. Don Chigazola has been on California Wine Country several times, the last time was this episode on June 13, 2025, with wines from the Alto Adige […]

Courtney De Graff, from the Anderson Valley International White Wine Festival joins Dan Berger & Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. She is the executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association. The International White Wine Festival is coming this February 14th through 16th. Courtney was on California Wine Country at this same time last year, for the previous annual festival. Courtney De Graff, of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association talks to Dan Berger and Daedalus […]

Casey Graybehl from Grenachista Wines joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country today. This is Casey’s first time on the show, although we mentioned Grenache as recently as last September on this episode with Oded Shakked of Longboard Vineyards. Grenachista Wines specializes in Grenache, and makes several types and styles of this one varietal. Before getting to Casey Graybehl’s Grenache wines, Dan Berger has brought another cellar dweller this week. It is a […]

Barry Herbst is here to talk about sparkling wines for the holidays on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Barry has been on CWC many times before. For the comparison, here is a show where he brought sparkling wines, recorded on Dec. 29, 2023. He is the wine buyer at Bottle Barn. First, Dan recaps part one, which is here on its own podcast episode page, a detailed talk about Gamay Beaujolais. Then, […]

Dan Berger takes some time to explain Gamay Beaujolais today on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. Later in the show, Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn will be in, to talk about sparkling wines they have in the store for the holidays. That portion of the show has its own podcast episode, right here. Dan has brought a Beaujolais from 2023 from a California winemaker who moved to France. He got tired of […]

Garry Brooks from Brooks Note Winery in the Petaluma Gap is back on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode in February of this year. They begin by tasting the 2023 Chardonnay. It started five weeks late and they didn’t think anything was going to ripen. These grapes are usually picked mid to late September but this time, it was mid […]

Bettina Sichel, the owner of Laurel Glen Vineyard is back in the studio as our guest on California Wine Country with Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell. She was on the show once before, on this episode last May. Bettina has brought a new wine that Dan is tasting for the first time. This is a 2025 Gruner Veltliner from a historic vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, an unusual grape from a historic vineyard. It is most associated […]

Bibiana Ravé, winemaker and co-owner of Shared Notes, joins Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. Bibana has been on CWC twice, first on this episode of August 29, 2019, to talk about her own wine brand Alma de Cattleya. Then, on April 5, 2023, Bibiana and her husband Jeff Pisoni were on this episode, to talk about Shared Notes. Bibiana grew up in Medellin, Colombia and studied enology in France. They are tasting […]

Peg Champion and Brad Whitworth from the Sonoma County Wine Library join Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell on California Wine Country. The Sonoma County Wine Library is reopening and the wine community is celebrating the rebirth of this great resource. They even have an Instagram page, here. The library holdings document the history of wine in Sonoma County, as well as all over. The renovation of the Healdsburg regional library has been a benefit to the […]