This episode of California Wine Country was originally recorded and published on Dec. 20, 2017. Carol Shelton was last on this show in February of this year. There is no new episode recorded today, Nov. 6, 2019, as we recover from the aftermath of this year’s fires in Sonoma County. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross, which has done so much for Sonoma County again this year to help the community in its […]
(Due to the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, there is no live California Wine Country show on KSRO today. This podcast episode was recorded 4 weeks ago in the show that aired on October 2. Please consider making a donation to the Red Cross which has done so much to help Sonoma County again during the fires this year.) Nigel Westblade is visiting from Australia, sharing some of the wines that he produces as the chief winemaker […]
Louisa Rose joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. She is the winemaker at Yalumba in Australia and one that Dan Berger holds in the highest esteem. We also have a visit today from Mariangela of Della Toffola, one of our sponsors. She tells how Della Toffola was founded in Italy and opened their Santa Rosa, California affiliate in 2009. Even Louisa Rose uses some Della Toffola equipment, in Australia. The company also […]
Donald Patz joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Tom Simoneau is also in again this week, while Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn is busy and not in the studio today. Steve Jaxon asks Donald Patz about Patz & Hall wines and Donald explains that they sold the company in 2016. He stayed on to help run it but they got to a point where he wasn’t sure what more to do so he asked to be […]
Jen Walsh and Ben Fine from La Crema join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger today on California Wine Country. The Jackson family now owns the property. Dan says that La Crema’s brand has taken off in the last five or six years. The wine is great and the prices are fair and their production of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is very consistent. Ben Fine tells about how Pinot Noir went from an afterthought to a mainstay. […]
Today’s guests are Sheila Quince from the Sonoma County Harvest Fair and Tom Simoneau who join Steve Jaxon Dan Berger and Barry Herbst from Bottle Barn. Barry has brought in the three top Sweepstakes Gold Medal winners from the 2019 Sonoma County Harvest Fair. Shelia is the wine judging coordinator for the Harvest Fair. Tom Simoneau has never judged at Harvest Fair. In 1992 Tom won the Best Amateur Wine Sweepstakes award, and Steve’s station called […]
Today’s guests are from Mt. Beautiful Winery in New Zealand, CEO Robert Watkins and Marketing Manager Suzanna Mannion join Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Berry Herbst in the studio. Dan Berger believes this is an exciting time in California when we will start to have more distribution of New Zealand wines here, because they are excellent. Robert says they have distribution now in 38 US states and about 10 export countries. With the US dollar currently stronger […]
Michelle Marquez is filling in for Steve Jaxon today. Dan Berger and Tom Simoneau are both in today as well. Simoneau Vineyards is putting on a Winemaker Dinner at the Bay View Restaurant at the Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay. Today, Tom Simoneau has invited Marco Gallazzo and Luca Duria from the Inn at the Tides. Luca is the chef there and will prepare the dinner that they will serve at the Winemaker’s Dinner […]
Winemaker Clark Smith is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, with some wines he has made from unusual grapes, including the native American variety called Norton. Clark Smith joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. He has his own label WineSmith Wines, he is the winemaker for Diamond Ridge, and also an author and professor. His new book is called Postmodern Winemaking. Clark Smith dropped out of […]
Bob Cabral is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He was last on CWC in June of 2017 and that episode was repeated in March of this year. Three Sticks Wines is a project that Bob Cabral does with Bill Price. Bill also works with Kistler and Gary Farrell. But Bill Price owns the Dorell vineyard and Gap’s Crown vineyard overlooking Sonoma State. Bob Cabral wanted the opportunity to work with the […]
Bibiana González Rave, owner and winemaker of her own label Alma de Cattleya is our guest today, together with Robert Larsen and The Larsen Projekt. Robert has been on the show a few times before. Bibiana was born and raised in Medellin, Colombia, including during some of the most turbulent times there. She went to France to work and study, for 6 years. She came to California in 2004 and she started her brand in 2011 […]
Don Chigazola of Chigazola Merchants is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon. He has just returned from Italy with wines from the region of the Marche (“MAR-kay”) which is located on the eastern side of central Italy, on the Adriatic coast. The Chigazola Merchants mission is to travel the back roads of Italy to find great wines which he buys wholesale and distributes. Don speaks Italian well enough to get into conversations with the […]
Anthony Beckman, winemaker at Balletto Vineyards, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Anthony Beckman tells how his first passion in life was as a newspaper reporter and so he took a BA in Journalism and worked in Washington DC and Philadelphia. Then, the Internet wore down the newspaper business so he worked in Internet startups but spent all his money on wine. He visited some wineries and went back to […]
Our guests are from Sterling Vineyards and Beringer Wines. Tom Simoneau is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon, as Dan Berger is travelling this week. Megan O’Connor, Brand Manager for Beringer. Jim Cawdell is also in. He begins by mentioning Whisper Sisters, a new brand, whose name celebrates the speakeasies. Beringer is the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley. They grew sacramental wine and spirits during Prohibition and continued to operate. They shipped grape bricks […]
Our guest today is Ross Halleck from Halleck Vineyard, who tells his story to Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Steve asks Ross to describe the journey that he and his wife Jennifer have had in the wine world. They planted the vineyard in 1992 and 1993. They were the first vineyard in west Sebastopol. They ordered the root stock out of the yellow pages, and their first vintage won best Pinot Noir in the US. Greg […]
From Cuvaison Winery, Steve Rogstad winemaker and Dan Zepponi, CEO, join Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. The Cuvaison story starts in 1969. Back then, it was all new. If you look at wineries today that were also there 50 years ago, there are only 16, and even fewer that are family owned. A couple of friends Thomas Cotrell and Thomas Parkhill, founded Cuvaison Winery. They were both optical engineers who wanted to […]
