Miro Tcholakov from Miro Cellars is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Joy Sterling from Iron Horse is also staying in the studio, from the previous hour. Miro Tcholokov has won many awards for Miro Cellars wines. He has been the full-time winemaker at Trentadue Winery since 1999. This is his 31st year as a winemaker in California. He came to the US as an exchange student and worked […]

Darryl Miller from Dehlinger Winery is the guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He has a background in the wine business, first in Seattle then in California since 1975. He moved to Sonoma County and started his own wine brokerage. There were only 2 or 3 distributors in California at the time. He got some really good wineries together and he could represent them. In 1982 he met Tom Dehlinger […]

Nick Goldschmidt owner and winemaker of Goldschmidt Vineyards is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. The last time Nick Goldschmidt was on California Wine Country was this episode in May of 2018. Goldschmidt Vineyards is active on Instagram and maintains this YouTube channel, where Nick posts updates about his winemaking activities for his own production and for his clients in six countries in the northern and southern hemispheres. The first tasting […]

Lisa Amaroli, winemaker at Benziger Family Winery, and Chris Benziger both join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Chris’ family founded the winery in the early 1970s and Lisa Amaroli has been their winemaker since 1999. Chris Benziger tells the family story. His grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition. After WWII, he came back, legitimized his liquor distribution business, then Chris’ eldest brother Mike moved to California to the Livermore Valley for a […]

Ed and Adam Sbragia, founder and winemaker of Sbragia Family Vineyards, are guests of Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. They have an estate winery in Geyserville and a tasting lounge in downtown Sonoma. Ed Sbragia was the winemaster at Beringer. They allowed him to start his brand while still working there, so he started in 2001. Adam joined him in 2003. Adam learned winemaking from his father and the family all […]

Dan Barwick is in with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. He is the winemaker at Paradise Ridge Winery. They were hit hard by the October 2017 fire but they are open and doing business. They have the perfect locale to do social distance tastings. There is plenty of space there. Steve says they have one of the greatest views in the county from up there. They start with a Sauvignon Blanc […]

Carol Shelton is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. She is a legendary winemaker and is known as the Queen of Zinfandel. Carol Shelton was last on California Wine Country  back in February of 2019, and before that, in December of 2017. Carol is coming up on her 44th harvest. She was one of the first dozen women to graduate in Fermentation Science at UC Davis, in 1978. That was the […]

Steve Rogstad, winemaker at Cuvaison Winery, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Steve Rogstad was last on the show about a year ago. They are open on the patio by reservation only, 10am-5pm daily. They have a large terrace with about 10 tables. They have also started offering curbside pickup and people can take hikes through the vineyard. Cuvaison is a family owned winery. It was founded in 1969 and […]

Joel Aiken, winemaker of Scattered Peaks is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Barry Herbst and his daughter Emily Herbst are also in the studio today. Joel Aiken was winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyard for many years. Beaulieu Vineyard, also known as BV, was founded in 1900 by George de la Tour and his wife Fernande. George de la Tour bought some great vineyards in Napa Valley for $100 or […]

Don Huffman is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Don produces wine under the Rockville Cellars label and he is also an expert in wine closures. Visit Don Huffman’s Twitter page for up-to-the-minute information.  Don Huffman also has this Instagram page. Among other things Don Huffman is the head of Rockville Cellars, a new winery founded in 2018. The name Rockville comes from the name of a small area near Fairfield, […]

Erica Stancliff is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Erica Stancliff is the winemaker for Trombetta Family Wines, which she founded with her mother. Dan Berger is also back in the studio, after Coronavirus quarantine. During the time, he opened a lot of bottles from his extensive cellar. About half of them were no good but the other half were good. Erica Stancliff was on California Wine Country twice last year, in […]

Greg La Follette is back on California Wine Country today, with Steve Jaxon. Dan Berger is still away but will be back. It’s the first proper show in several months, after many weeks off due to Coronavirus precautions. Greg La Follette runs Alquimista Cellars today and he has been in the wine industry since 1984. Before that he was an early researcher on the Aids virus. He wanted to make wine so he moved from LA […]

Today’s California Wine Country podcast is another repeat show in our “Women in Wine” series, because there is no new show today, as our regular schedule is still subject to interruptions due to Coronavirus issues. This episode with Merry Edwards and Heidi van der Mehden was first recorded and broadcast on June 26, 2019. Merry Edwards and Heidi von der Mehden are our guests today on California Wine Country. Tom Simoneau is in with Steve Jaxon while […]

Oded Shakked, owner of Longboard Vineyards, is back on California Wine Country this week, and we also have Tom Simoneau on the phone from his vineyard in Alexander Valley. Tom and Oded were last on California Wine Country in person together on March 28, 2018 (when the picture above was taken). This time due to Coronavirus restrictions, everyone is on the phone. Tom describes the vineyard as of today, where it is 100 degrees, down from […]

Karen Hart from North Bay Biz magazine joins Steve Jaxon today on California Wine Country, to talk about Danica Patrick’s new winery Somnium, which is the cover story in the May 2020 issue of the magazine, the Women in Business issue. Somnium means “dream” in Latin and the name represents Danica Patrick’s dream of having a winery. Barry Herbst, the wine buyer at our sponsor Bottle Barn, speaks to Steve Jaxon about how Bottle Barn is […]

John Jordan, CEO of Jordan Winery, joins Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country, by telephone. Also calling in is Tom Simoneau. They will do a long distance tasting of a Jordan Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon, John Jordan also talks about his Sonoma Safe initiative, where he hopes to help conduct a safe reopening of Sonoma County hospitality businesses. Here is an article in the Press-Democrat about Jordan Winery’s plans for reopening. John Jordan talks about plans […]