Dry Creek Vineyard founder David Stare and daughter Kim Stare Wallace join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. Tom Simoneau is in the studio today. Dry Creek Vineyard was Tom’s Winery of the Year for 2021. This year they celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. They got the front cover of Wine Spectator magazine too. They are one of the last truly private, family owned wineries in Sonoma County. David Stare grew up in Boston, […]
Jeff Pisoni, the winemaker at Pisoni Vineyards is our guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Pisoni Vineyards is located in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation of Monterey County. Jeff describes going to Fresno State to learn enology but learned the craft and the artistic side of winemaking from his father. He was always fascinated by winemaking and the complex interaction between vines and the wine, while his brother was focussed on […]
Donum Estate winemaker Dan Fishman joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today in the studio on California Wine Country. This year Donum Estate celebrates 20 years of making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It was a spinoff of Buena Vista Winery. They sold, but kept their favorite ranch, called Tula Vista, that is down in Carneros. Donum is Latin for “gift” and means that wine is a gift from the land. Anne Moller-Racke came from Germany in 1981 […]
Eric Johannsen, winemaker at La Crema, is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. La Crema has specialized in cool climate wines, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, for 40 years. After a couple of ownership changes, Jackson Family Wines purchased the winery in 1996 and has expanded its footprint from Sonoma County to Monterey County and into Oregon. Eric’s twenty-fifth vintage is coming up, most of them with La Crema. Before […]
Winemaker Nick Goldschmidt is our in-studio guest today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He came from New Zealand and has been making wine in California for 32 years. Nick is the owner of Goldschmidt Vineyards. His studies included civil engineering, organics and biodynamics in New Zealand then a degree in viticulture and a post-graduate degree in enology in Australia. After that he worked in Chile in the late ‘80s and then […]
Bottle Barn wine buyer Barry Herbst joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger to taste and describe some recent competition winners available at Bottle Barn, which is the sponsor of this radio show and podcast. Dan Berger has decades of experience as a wine judge and wine competition manager. This year’s competition season is full of important appointments. Speaking of competition and the upcoming Winter olympics, Dan Berger mentions Ice Wines, some of which are coming from […]
Winemaker Scot Covington and owner Denise Trione from Trione Vineyards join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today, with Harry Duke and Tom Simoneau. Before we get to Scot and Denise, Dan Berger has again brought some wine from his personal cellar. The first one is a 2008 Navarro Vineyards Muscat Blanc. Muscat is not a wine to keep in the cellar for 13 years, but this one was lost. Muscat is an […]
California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke welcomes Paul Mabray, the CEO of a new site called pix.wine “Pix dot wine” that promises to connect people to wines that bring them joy. But first, as usual, we will open show with a tasting of a bottle from Dan Berger’s wine cellar. This one is a 2014 Sauvignon Blanc from the Starborough label, based in the Marlborough district of New Zealand. This Sauvignon Blanc […]
Dan Barwick, winemaker, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, with Harry Duke also in the studio. Dan Barwick is here to talk about being the winemaker at Trecini Winery, and more. Dan Barwick has been on California Wine Country before, most recently this episode of July 21 2021, and also this episode of July 29, 2022. First, we have two bottles from Dan Berger’s cellar. First, a Gary Farrell Chardonnay from […]
Don Chigazola is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Don Chigazola runs Chigazola Merchants, which imports specially selected wines from Italy direct to consumers here in California. He and his son spent the month of September in Italy, meeting current producers and looking for new ones. The first wines come from Benedetti & Grigi, one of his suppliers. First, they taste a Grechetto, named Eros, to honor the grape’s Greek origins. It’s […]
Tom Simoneau joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke on California Wine Country today, to present his 2021 Wines of the Year, including the book of the year and winery of the year. Best Whites Sparkling Wine: Domaine Carneros 2014 Le Rêve Blanc De Blancs, Estate Grown, $120. Every now and then we all need to do something special for ourselves, a new car or a pair of earrings for your beautiful wife. Well that’s […]
Clark Smith joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke on California Wine Country to discuss his book on pairing wine with music. He has published a book called A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music. Clark has been on California Wine Country a few times before, including this most recent episode on September 15 of 2021. Today Clark Smith will tell about his book and his website dedicated to pairing wine with music. But before we begin […]
Greg Morthole is our guest again on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke today. Greg has been on this show twice before, on October 10, 2018 and again in this other episode from January 15, 2020. The Davis Bynum site says “The original Russian River Valley Pinot Noir,” and Steve asks Greg about that. Back in 1973, Davis Bynum was one of the first Pinot Noir producers in Russian River Valley, […]
Will McIlroy from McIlroy Cellars is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Before we begin with Will McIlroy’s wines, they taste a 2014 Sauvignon Blanc from Geyser Peak, which Dan has brought from his cellar. Dan says it’s still all right, in good shape, still tastes like Sauvignon Blanc. Very drinkable, for a 7-year-old Sauvignon Blanc. Dan would never have cellared this one for so long but sometimes a bottle gets […]
Our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today didn’t make it to the studio, so, the podcast will be about two wines that Dan Berger has brought in, one young Rosé and another “cellar dweller” from his extensive personal wine cellar. And we’ll end with a phone call from Barry Herbst. The harvest in California was over two weeks ago in Sonoma County but only ended today, Nov. 17, in Monterey […]
Rusty Eddy and Tim McDonald are back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today. Harry Duke is also in the studio today. The last time they were on this show and podcast was this episode of November 1, 2017, which was all about cool climate wines. Rusty Eddy and Tim McDonald run Wine Spoken Here/Rogue Strategies, a public relations firm that specialized in the wine industry. Rusty and Tim will taste five […]
