Cool climate wines are the theme of today’s show, as Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger welcome Tim McDonald and Rusty Eddy of Wine Spoken Here PR, a public relations firm located in Napa, California specialized in the wine business. Today we will taste wines from two cool climate wineries that are represented by Rusty and Tim. The first is Qupé Winery, located in the Central Coast of California near Santa Barbara. Bob Lindquist of QUPÉ Winery was […]

Rick Sayre, Vice President of Winemaking at Rodney Strong Vineyards, joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Barry Herbst on this week’s show. Rick has been at Rodney Strong Vineyards 38 years ago, which is when Dan Berger started writing his wine column. Steve asks Dan to tell about Rodney Strong Vineyards and he tells how the Klein family owns the property now and that Rick has been making high quality wine there for a long time. […]

The first show since the fires opens with Steve Jaxon saying, “We are bold, we are brave, we are committed, we are resilient, we are Sonoma County Strong.” Steve welcomes Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn who says they have reopened, after being closed for a week. Dan Berger came out unscathed and Steve was evacuated two days but he is back home now. Today’s special guest is Rene Byck from Paradise Ridge Winery, which was burned […]

We have no new show this week due to the wildfires here. For this week’s podcast, here is the debut of Dan Berger on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon, also joined by Tom Simoneau, from August, 2016. Dan Berger joins California Wine Country for the first time today. Steve introduces Dan who has been a wine columnist since 1976 and has lived in Sonoma County since 1986. He is the author of four books about […]

Sbragia Family Vineyards and Mark Tchelistcheff join Steve Jaxon, co-host Dan Berger, Tom Simoneau and Barry Herbst today. Ed Sbragia of Sbragia Family Vineyards is introduced, with his son Adam. Ed was the winemaker at Beringer Winery for a long time but now he has started his own family winery. Mark Tchelistcheff is the grand nephew of the great André Tchelistcheff, widely known as the godfather of wine in California. He has produced a documentary film […]

Keith Adams of Wm. Cofield Cheese, Joy Sterling of Iron Horse Vineyards and Dan Towers of Ehret Family Winery join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. California Wine Country today is live at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa where there is a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the show’s home station KSRO and also the 60th anniversary of the hotel, a Sonoma County landmark. Dan tells how cheesemaking has made a return to greatness in Sonoma […]

Robert Larsen and Josh Silvers are today’s guests. Robert Larsen is back to talk about the wines of The Larsen Projekt and his other work in the wine business. Also with us is Josh Silvers, super chef, owner and chef at Jackson’s Bar and Oven. Steve mentions that the Larsen Projekt is spelled with a K and Robert tells how his wife designed the package and came up with the name. They found that there was a […]

Don Chigazola of Chigazola Merchants and Melissa Hotchkiss, sommelier at Sea Thai Bistro are today’s guests who join Steve Jaxon, co-host Dan Berger and Barry Herbst of Bottle Barn. When commenting on a Riesling, Dan Berger often says that when the flavor and acidity are just right, it would go very well with some spicy Thai food. Today we have Melissa Hotchkiss, sommelier at Sea Thai Bistro in Santa Rosa, who brought some delicious Thai food to taste with […]

Today Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger welcome Najine Shariat of Goguette Bread in Santa Rosa. They are a traditional French country style bakery that specializes in levain (starter)-based, long fermented organic, French style breads. Also in the studio today are Karissa Kruse, President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers and Erik Miller from Kokomo Winery First, they open a Kokomo Winery 2013 Blanc de Blancs, a sparkling wine. Dan explains that this is a good example of […]

Pinot Noir is the subject of the day, as this week we are live at Bottle Barn’s Pinot Noir Tasting at the Hyatt Vineyard Inn. Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Barry Herbst are at the California Wine Country table at the Hyatt for the show’s first remote broadcast. The guest list includes Suzanne Hagins of Horse & Plow, Maria Lentini of Brack Mountain Wine Company, Robert Mueller of Mueller Winery and Drive Hall-of-Famer Dr. Dave McCuan. […]

Megan Schofield, winemaker for Robert Mondavi Winery, joins Tom Simoneau, Dan Berger and Steve Jaxon, who are all excited to have a 2014 Robert Mondavi To Kalon I-Block Fumé Blanc to taste, which is a rare treat. Steve asks Tom to tell about Mondavi and how Robert Mondavi had a falling out with a brother about the direction of the family winery. He started it in 1966. He brought Napa Valley into the forefront, was the […]

We have two guests today: Miro Tcholoakov of Miro Cellars http://mirocellars.com/ Jim Morris from Flanagan Wines http://www.flanaganwines.com/ We begin by tasting a German Rosé, from Pffefingin, a Blanc de Noirs, which Dan calls basically a Pinot Noir with virtually no color. It has a copper color, or almost tan. Bone dry, lots of acidity, silky smooth, says Steve. Steve introduces today’s first guest, Miro Tcholakov, owner and winemaker of Miro Cellars who has brought some of […]

Today’s pre-show guest is Rex Pickett, author of Sideways. The main show guest is Trevor Durling, Winemaker from BV, Beaulieu Vineyard. In the live segment before CWC begins at the top of the hour, Steve and Dan visit with Rex Pickett, author of Sideways, the book, movie and now stage play. Then after the main show, we will hear more of Steve’s interview with Rex Pickett. First, Dan tells that somebody called him on the telephone […]

Bob Lindquist, Qupé Winery’s winemaker, is today’s main guest. First, Steve Jaxon welcomes Tim McDonald to the studio with Barry Herbst and co-host Dan Berger. At the start of the hour they are waiting for the arrival of Bob Lindquist of Qupé Winery, who is, “…one of the great winemakers in America,” says Dan Berger, right off the bat. (Bob is driving up to Santa Rosa from Santa Barbara, and will arrive during the show.) Dan […]

Without their expected guest today, Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Barry Herbst taste and discuss Chardonnay and Burgundy, and also discuss the value of acidity in wine and how the wine market changes from year to year especially when a great vintage like 2015 is about to hit the stores. The CEO of Kendall-Jackson, Rick Tigner, was supposed to be coming in to explain the Wine Country Tour de Fox Ride, on Saturday, August 26, a […]

William Knuttel, winemaker of William Knuttle Winery and partner in Ottimino Wines, Square Peg and other labels as well. (We thought we were featuring Ron Rubin Vineyards but Ron was a late scratch.) Bill has also just launched Knuttle Family with his son and daughter. He also recently started Square Peg Winery, with his partner, who needed his own brand and had Pinot Noir growing by his house near Occidental. Ottimino is a Zin from Sonoma […]