(This week CWC is off due to a live Golden State Warriors basketball game on our home station KSRO in Santa Rosa. For the podcast, here is a reprise of our  Aug. 9, 2017 show featuring Rex Pickett, author of Sideways, and Trevor Durling, winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyard.) Today’s pre-show guest is Rex Pickett, author of Sideways. The main show guest is Trevor Durling, Winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyard. In the live segment before CWC begins at the […]

We welcome Pierre and Monique Seillan from Verité Wines today. Tom Simoneau, Dan Berger and Barry Herbst are all in today with Steve Jaxon. Pierre is a Vigneron, a winemaker and vineyard master. Tom has watched him take great care with his vines, separating the clusters by hand to get them perfect sun exposure. Pierre and Monique met Barbara and Jess Jackson 25 years ago in Bordeaux. Pierre makes wine in France, Italy and Sonoma County. […]

(Due to NBA basketball on home station KSRO, there is no new CWC show today. For this week’s podcast here is a reprise of this June 2017 show.) Bob Cabral is here to taste and talk about the three wines that comprise the launch of his own new winery, Bob Cabral Wines. He has worked at De Loach and Kunde and others, was winemaker at Williams Selyem (from 1998-2014) and is now at Three Sticks Winery. Tom […]

Tom Simoneau has brought David Ramey and the Ramey family in to join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today on California Wine Country. Barry Herbst is back from a trip to France where he visited all of the Boisset family properties. Boisset wines were mentioned on Tom Simoneau’s 2018 Wines of the Year show last December.) David’s wife Carla, their elder daughter Claire, who has worked in the family business for six years and her brother […]

Erik Miller from Kokomo Winery visits Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Kokomo Winery is named after Erik’s hometown in Indiana. Kokomo started in 2004 and Erik was working at a winery in Dry Creek. He is now up to his 17th harvest. After taking a business degree from Purdue University in Indiana, he learned winemaking in the cellar, with some classes at UC Davis (but not a winemaking degree). Erik also […]

On California Wine Country today, Dan Berger is back from 3 weeks in New Zealand. Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn is also in, with Steve Jaxon. In New Zealand it is the end of their Summer. They had warm weather and a really early harvest. The whole situation in New Zealand has changed, in terms of wine. Dan has visited there 10 times in the last several years and has followed their growth.  Dan shipped about […]

(This episode of CWC was first heard on March 29, 2017. There is no new show this week due to NBA games on KSRO. We’re back with a new show next week.) Eileen Crane, the CEO, founding builder and winemaker from Domaine Carneros joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Tom Simoneau. Today Eileen Crane tells about being hired thirty years ago to build and open Domaine Carneros and how it became one of the most famous and important […]

From Trombetta Family Wines, today’s guests are Rickey Trombetta, proprietor and CEO and her daughter Erica Stancliff, their winemaker. Erica grew up in Forrestville while her parents were home wine makers. Her father was a full time engineer. In the 1990s her mother got a call from a friend. They did a lot of charity events for Pace Memorial Hospital and others. There was a new winemaker in town, who turned out to be Paul Hobbs […]

Tom Simoneau this week has brought two guests from Silver Oak Cellars, David Duncan, proprietor, chairman and CEO and Nate Weiss, vice president of wine growing. Barry Herbst is also in. Tom says Silver Oak is maybe the original cult Cabernet Sauvignon producer in the Napa Valley. 1972 was the first vintage. They made the 1972 through 1976 before they started selling the 1972. (They still wait 4 years to release so they just released their […]

Carol Shelton, winemaker of her very own Carol Shelton Wines is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Carol Shelton is back on California Wine Country this week after a 14 month absence. She is called the Queen of Zinfandel. Dan tells about her great success with finding its character without having to be very high in percentage of alcohol. She also makes Petit Syrah and a white wine from Rhone grapes […]

Today’s show features Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, with Sarah Quider, the executive winemaker, Rebecka Deike, the red wine maker. They have brought several wines for tasting. Joining Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger are Patrick Mukaida, Ferrari-Carano’s director of hospitality and Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn. Ferrari-Carano is Tom Simoneau’s Winery of the Year for 2018, which was announced on our end-of-the-year show, a month ago. Don and Rhonda Carano came from Reno and had a hotel and […]

Jed Steele of Steele Wines is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, with Pete Foppiano sitting in again for Steve Jaxon. Jed Steele has been making wine for fifty years and Dan Berger has known him for a long time. Jed’s colleague Rusty is also in the studio today. Dan remembers that Jed made the first Ice Wine in California in 1975 and again a year later. It was made […]

Anthony Beckman, winemaker at Balletto Vineyards is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Pete Foppiano is sitting in for Steve Jaxon this week. Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn is also in. Balletto Vineyards will produce 19 different wines this year. There are 9 single vineyard Pinot Noirs, 5 different Chardonnays, Pinot Gris, Rosé, Syrah and Gewurtz. They have a new Pinot Noir vineyard, which they planted 3 years ago and […]

Nicole Salengo, winemaker at Berryessa Gap Vineyards, is our guest today on California Wine Country. Robert Larsen, the winery’s PR director, is also in. Robert Larsen worked at Rodney Strong Vineyards. Now he runs The Larsen Projekt, a PR agency specialized in the wine business, representing Berryessa Gap Vineyards and ZAP, the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers. He was introduced to the Berryessa Gap Vineyards Zinfandel at “ZIN EX,” the Zin Experience in San Francisco, which is […]

Bill Nachbaur from Acorn Winery is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Their first tasting is a 2014 Sangiovese, whose label suggests several Italian food pairings. Dan Berger explains that Sangiovese is a variety that very few Californians want to make, because we get so much sun that we can’t avoid having a plump wine. Californians like that the acids will drop out of the wines, but “…this one is […]

Tom Simoneau is on California Wine Country this week to present his 2018 Wines of the Year, with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. There are a lot of wines to describe and a few to taste, so we get started right away. After each wine, you will find links to the wineries’ websites. Tom Simoneau’s website is http://winecountrylive.com/. Winery of the Year Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery This stunning property in the deep end of Dry Creek Valley […]