foppiano gm rob mcneill

Foppiano Vineyards GM Rob McNeill and Nova Perrill, winemaker

Foppiano GM Rob McNeill and winemaker Nova Perrill, are both guests on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Rob was on this CWC episode on August 29, 2018 and Nova has been on the show three other times, the most recent was this episode of October 26, 2022. Nova became the Foppiano Vineyards winemaker in 2014 and Rob became GM in 2017. Rob had made sparkling wine and he wanted to make some at Foppiano, […]

oded shakked returns

Oded Shakked returns with wine from Longboard Vineyards

Oded Shakked returns to California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, with three wines from Longboard Vineyards, for tasting and discussion. In the first portion of today’s show, Dan Berger is on his way in, against inclement weather and traffic. They get right into the history of the name and Oded admits that he would never have chosen this name if he had known it would be such an important brand so many years […]

friuli chigazola

Friuli Wines with Don Chigazola

Don Chigazola has brought wines from Friuli today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Friuli is the region of Italy in the north-east, bordering on Slovenia. He has been on the show several times, most recently on this March 2022 episode all about wines from the Alto Adige region. Don begins by retelling the story of how his company Chigazola Merchants works. He travels the back roads of Italy looking for small […]

redd collection

Mike Carpenter and The Redd Collection

Mike Carpenter, founder of The Redd Collection, is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Before we hear about the Redd Collection, Dan Berger has brought a wine for tasting, but not his usual cellar wine. It is a Donnhoff Riesling from Germany that he purchased recently at Botte Barn. It begins a bit sweet but finished dry. Everyone likes it!. Mike Carpenter explains that he is a wine retailer and […]

2023 harvest fair

2023 Harvest Fair winners at Bottle Barn

Barry Herbst is in the studio on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, with 2023 Harvest Fair winners at Bottle Barn. Dan Berger was also on this episode back on October 2, with a first report on this year’s Harvest Fair winners. Barry Herbst says that the public tasting at Bottle Barn last Saturday was well-attended. Almost all the winning wines from the 2023 Harvest Fair are there, in the middle of the […]

kunde family winery

Kunde Family Winery

Jason Kunde from Kunde Family Winery joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger in the studio today on California Wine Country. Jason’s father Jeff was a guest on California Wine Country on this episode back on May 31, 2017. Dan Berger has brought another bottle from his gigantic collection, but this time not from the cellar, because he has just bought it. It is a 2022 Riesling, from Donnhoff in Germany that has some residual sugar, but […]

kenwood vineyards

Kenwood Vineyards winemaker Mark Beaman

Kenwood Vineyards winemaker Mark Beaman joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger in the studio today on California Wine Country. The last time Kenwood Vineyards was on CWC was this episode of July 19, 2018, with the previous winemaker Pat Henderson. Dan Berger has brought another cellar wine today for tasting, a 2002 Riesling. It shows how Rieslings can age well. They are fresh and fruity when they are young but they also age very well and […]

harvest fair 2023

Harvest Fair 2023 Winners with Dan Berger

Dan Berger is in the studio today with Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country to talk about the Sonoma County Harvest Fair 2023 winners. Dan Berger is in the studio today with Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country to talk about the Sonoma County Harvest Fair 2023 winners. The winners have been announced at the Harvest Fair website and in the PD. Dan explains that it is a competition all for wines made from grapes grown […]

lynmar estate

Lynmar Estate Wines winemaker Pete Soergel

Pete Soergel, winemaker for Lynmar Estate Wines, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country today. Dan Berger has brought another bottle of wine from his gigantic cellar. Recently he has brought in a lot of well-aged Sauvignon Blancs. But this is a 2019 white Pinot Noir from Aniello in the Patagonia region of Argentina. This wine is four and a half years old. It was made to be consumed earlier and is still […]

taft street winery

Mike Martini of Taft Street Winery

Mike Martini, winemaker at Taft Street Winery, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine Country. His last time on the show was last year around this time, on this episode of August 24, 2022. Taft Street is open Friday through Sunday 11:00 am to 4:30 pm. They are a relatively small operation so they made a decision not to run a big room, but guests are welcome and encouraged to bring a picnic and […]

langhart and hill

Langhart and Hill co-founder Dennis Hill

Dennis Hill, co-founder of Langhart and Hill wines, joins Steve Jaxon on California Wine Country. Larry Van Aalst is in for Dan Berger, who is travelling this weekend. Larry has had a long career in wine, he was an educator and a Sommelier and worked in the university and junior college and with PBS, all related to wine. He even worked in the prune harvest back when that was the dominant fruit in Sonoma County. This […]

winesong mendocino

Mendocino Winesong

Winesong, Mendocino’s unique celebration, is the subject today. On Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, Janice MacDonald visited California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger, to talk about the 38th edition of Winesong for 2023, set to take place on Sept. 8 & 9, a week later. Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, there we no recording made of that episode. The show notes below refer to that lost Sept. 1, 2023 show. But for the […]

barwick trecini

Dan Barwick, Trecini Wines winemaker

Dan Barwick, Trecini Winery winemaker, joins Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger on California Wine C0untry, back on the air after summer vacation. Today California Wine Country returns to live radio on a new day, Friday, and on our new station, Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM in Sonoma County. The Drive with Steve Jaxon is back on the air, weekdays from 3:00-6:00 PM on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM and also streaming live online at TheDrive955.com. Dan […]

clark smith wine music

Pairing Wine with Music according to Clark Smith

Clark Smith joins Steve Jaxon, Dan Berger and Harry Duke on California Wine Country to discuss his book on pairing wine with music. This episode was originally recorded December 8, 2021. This is the last week of Summer vacation for The Drive and California Wine Country. This is the last repeat episode before next week. Starting Monday August 21, The Drive returns to live radio, on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, Mon-Fri 3-6. California Wine Country […]

redwood empire whiskey

Bottle Barn Spirits Dept plus Redwood Empire Whiskey

This is the second-to-last week of Summer vacation for The Drive and California Wine Country. In 2 weeks, starting Monday August 21, The Drive returns to live radio on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, Mon-Fri. 3-6pm. California Wine Country will be moving to Fridays. Our first new live show of the Fall season will be Friday, August 25. This podcast episode features Jason Schneider, Bottle Barn spirits chief and also the GM, along with Lauren Patz […]

bacigalupi vineyards

Tom Simoneau with Bacigalupi Vineyards

As The Drive and California Wine Country are still on summer vacation, here is a repeat episode where friend of the show Tom Simoneau has brought guests from Bacigalpui Vineyards. This episode was originally recorded on May 18, 2022. Katey Bacigalupi Row and Nicole Bacigalupi Dericco join Tom Simoneau today on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. The Bacigalupi family owns and operates Bacigalupi Vineyards. Their parents Helen and Charles Bacigalupi, purchased 125 […]