The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
146 results across all types
- podcast· 11:46· S1E19
ARCHIVE TASTER: The BEST rosé EVER?!
NB : This is archive material first released July 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! Go on. What's the best rosé wine you've ever had? For Lee Isaacs, rosé is 'a crime' and, if you like it, 'you're a bad person' (or, at best, indecisive). Global rosé expert Elizabeth Gabay MW thinks we're too snobbish about the sweet stuff and has had delicious rosés as old as 1959. Majestic's Jack Merrylees thinks the best way to get a party started is with rosé...in magnum. In this episode, we get tickled pink by all this and more, discussing some of our favourite rosés (we're big, big fans), and the likes of Hugh Johnson, Randall Grahm and Kylie Minogue also crop up in proceedings. Forget the best rosé...this may just be the best PODCAST ever. It's certainly the pinkest
- podcast· 7:53· S1E20
ARCHIVE TASTER: Are You Serving Wine All Wrong?
NB : This is archive material first released July 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! It’s like trying to eat your favourite food with tweezers. Or listening to your best tunes with a goldfish bowl over your head. If you buy a nice bottle of wine then serve it wrong, you’re wasting your time as well as money. In this episode, we tackle the thorny issue of how to serve your wine right, with a couple of helpful tips to remember. And it can make your wine taste so much better! Roped in to give their expert views are Master Sommelier Laura Rhys and hotelier Robin Hutson. The discussion covers temperature (including our infamous 20-20 rule), glasses, decanters, gadgets, corked wine, calmness, people and… keeping it real. (Sample quote: ‘Wine’s there to be enjoye
- podcast· 4:44· S1E13
ARCHIVE TASTER: Breaking Burgundy
NB : This is archive material first released May 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Michael Baum is rebooting Burgundy, even under lockdown (which he rails against while being stuck in France, separated from his wife and boys in San Francisco). He explains why he prefers French wine to Californian, and talks about how coronavirus and his tech-based approach may help prompt radical change in wine – which is about getting closer to customers, at a time when close contact is challenging at best. Following on from Michael’s choice of ‘isolation wine’, Susie and Peter whizz through a mini masterclass on how to find good value white Burgundy – that holy grail for wine lovers. There’s even time to mention David Beckham (again…) Wi
- podcast· 3:25· S1E14
ARCHIVE TASTER: Cheering up with Champagne and Syrah
NB : This is archive material first released May 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! In our SHORTEST EPISODE EVER, funny messages sent with champagne deliveries during lockdown come courtesy of The Finest Bubble’s Nick Baker. (Our favourite? A close call between ‘Cheer up!’ and ‘STOP MOANING’.) As the weddings, birthdays and anniversaries continue to see sparkling glasses raised via the internet, we turn to the pressing subject of where to find the best Syrah wines – made in the aromatic, elegant style of the Northern Rhône – from the New World. We touch on Chile, California, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa before alighting back in our small back room with two large glasses of red. Cheers! Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 14 (originally published 19 May
- podcast· 11:12· S1E15
ARCHIVE TASTER: Riesling and the Doctor
NB : This is archive material first released June 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! How to make sense of Riesling? Food is one of the best ways we know to make sense of even the most tricky of wine subjects. So we try out a delicious monkfish and prawn curry as well as some pork terrine to try to get a handle on the grape variety that came top in our survey of the Best White Wine Grapes. (We also talk sourdough – but that’s something else entirely.) Another way to make sense of wine is to talk to the people who make it. One man who embodies the spirit of Riesling more than perhaps anyone is German producer Ernst Loosen. His prodigious mind is a thing of beauty in full flow, and we’re treated to a masterclass of Riesling evangelism (and the odd profanity).
- podcast· 5:10· S1E8
ARCHIVE TASTER: China's hangover
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! It’s a sobering post-coronavirus outlook for wine in China, according to Shanghai-based Sophie Liu. She tells of a stable situation as people re-emerge from lockdown but a bleak panorama for the wine business. Sticking with the heavy-hitting theme, Susie and Peter explore the delicious topic of Amarone, exploring the reasons behind its highly distinctive style and heady price tag. They also ponder the pressing issue of which wines are best to bathe in, and revel in their status as unlikely instigators of marital bliss (of sorts). Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 8 (originally published 17 April 2020)
- podcast· 5:31· S1E9
ARCHIVE TASTER: Michelin Meals on Wheels
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! What to do with a Michelin-starred restaurant that was due to close down shortly after coronavirus struck? If you’re Roger Jones , you re-purpose it to deliver monkfish and lobster dhal or wild mushroom and truffle risotto free of charge to local residents in need. That, and deliver some proper wines to an elderly mum who lives in rural Wales. To honour our guest, we throw ourselves into the kitchen, rustling up a very seasonal wild garlic and asparagus risotto. Which is really an excuse to find some delicious spring-like wines from the cellar – cue Sauvignon Blanc in abundance, plus a cheeky English Bacchus. And Peter has a confession for Susie... Wine Blast Season 1 Epi
- podcast· 7:08· S1E10
ARCHIVE TASTER: Torn in the USA
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! Bartholomew Broadbent is a wine importer on the eastern US seaboard and he has seen ‘atrocious declines in business’ since coronavirus restrictions began. He lightens the tone by singing Monty Python songs (always look on the bright side of life…) and has a few choice words to say about Trump. Meanwhile, in California, Eric Baugher of Ridge Vineyards muses on challenges and opportunities before choosing an ideal quarantine wine that, ‘just kind of lifts your spirits’. Sounds like something we could all use. Finally, listener Liz calls in with a question about Lodi wines and we respond by cracking open some delicious bottles. Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 10 (originally publ
- podcast· 3:56· S1E11
ARCHIVE TASTER: Cape Fears
NB : This is archive material first released late April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! South African wine is in turmoil. The government has banned the sale and export of wine as part of its strict coronavirus lockdown and, while restrictions will eventually be eased, Cape producers are in shock: reeling from the long-term effects and implications of this dramatic intervention. We hear the views of three producers – Kathy Jordan (Jordan), Charles Back (Fairview) and Andrea Mullineux (Mullineux and Leeu Family) at this critical and challenging time. There’s also time for a quick BBQ ( braai , Cape style) complete with a mouth-watering line-up of South African wines to recommend. Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 11 (originally published 29 April 2020)
- podcast· 8:39· S1E12
ARCHIVE TASTER: The BEST white wine grape is...
NB : This is archive material first released May 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! We asked a simple question on social media: what are your top 3 grape varieties for white wine? The reaction...blew us away, with a torrent of fascinating responses from all around the world featuring more than 100 different grape varieties - not to mention fighting talk, bonding, football analogies and cheating. We got a bit carried away with this podcast - it's our favourite one so far - but there is something for EVERYONE here: laughter, tears, David Beckham, sherry, scholarship (in the form of the fascinating expert Dr José Vouillamoz and his definitive tome Wine Grapes ) and controversy. Talking of which, we give the DEFINITIVE verdict on the best white wine grape vari
- podcast· 7:12· S1E6
ARCHIVE TASTER: Help 4 Hospitality
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! How wine supplier Berkmann is tearing up the rule book to help stricken restaurants – and buying director Alex Hunt MW reveals his other passion by sharing tracks from his latest (brilliant) album Closing Ceremony. We unwrap some snazzy new glasses from Jancis Robinson to taste Prosecco, Gruner Veltliner, Gredos Grenache, Ozzie Syrah and Barolo from the Help4Hospitality line-up. Plus, Susie has a confession… Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 6 (originally published 10 April 2020)
- podcast· 3:43· S1E7
ARCHIVE TASTER: Paul Hobbs in California
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! Flying winemaker Paul Hobbs can’t fly. As one of the foremost globe-trotting wine consultants, he reflects from his base in California on the challenges of making wine remotely and offers a tip on Zoom etiquette (‘wear a shirt and work pants’). He confesses to being nervous and reveals his ideal quarantine wine. Meanwhile listener David asks us whether he could be happy with just one glass for all wine styles rather than the many he currently owns. Our response is fulsome and even involves an experiment we lined up…which of course involves drinking some nice wine too. Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 7 (originally published 15 April 2020)
- podcast· 3:01· S1E1
ARCHIVE TASTER: Australia on Fire
NB : This is archive material first released March 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! The catastrophic bushfires of early 2020 were a traumatic reminder of the ongoing challenge of climate change in the world’s driest continent. And yet Australia has never made finer wines across a dizzying range of styles than today. So what’s the future for Australian wine – boom or bust? After all that, we cook up some delicious curried meatballs, inspired by Ozzie chef Bill Granger, and argue over whether a Clonakilla Shiraz or Jim Barry Clare Riesling go best. ‘Alcohol’ is the starting point for our Wine A-Z education blast, then Mark from down under asks which wines he should keep (making it clear he doesn’t want any of the ‘science'). Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 1 (
- podcast· 5:06· S1E2
ARCHIVE TASTER: Wait, wine can be a career?!
NB : This is archive material first released March 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! Wine is many things to many people. But credible career path (or second career) isn’t often one of them. We set the record straight by talking to young people who’ve made a brilliant job of making wine their career. And someone who made it their second career after defecting from finance. We discuss how wine can make a fantastic career, including how we both made the leap. Having worked up a thirst, we rustle up some student classics – spicy sausage pasta plus the easiest home-made pizza EVER – and line up a selection of value Aldi wines (spoiler: not all go down well but there is a great bargain to be had). Our Wine A-Z takes in biodynamics before Warren asks how to tell
- podcast· 4:34· S1E3
ARCHIVE TASTER: Domaine of the Bee
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! The first of our Wine Survival Guides – small antidotes to the current coronavirus chaos, where wine people tell their stories, detailing challenges but also sounding notes of joy. Via the magic of Zoom, Justin Howard-Sneyd MW of Domaine of the Bee explains how the lockdown in France has motivated him to appeal for help, and the ‘extraordinary, humbling’ response that followed. He also talks us through online tastings, magnum Jenga, Wine Gogglebox and re-purposing a Bryan Adams’ classic for the times. We then find delicious wines to go with a creamy dhal with turmeric-roasted cauliflower. Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 3 (originally published 1 April 2020)
- podcast· 5:30· S1E4
ARCHIVE TASTER: Emotions run high in Chile
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! In our second Wine Survival Guide, we chat with Chilean winemaker Viviana Navarrete of Viña Leyda before recommending Majestic wines that are not only delicious and different but also ideal for the coronavirus lockdown. Viviana is understandably emotional and tired – she describes 2020 as the toughest vintage of her 20-year career. The reason? It’s all about the people, and her family. But she highlights the quality of Pinot Noir as a major positive and says the fact this was a hot, early vintage was a blessing in disguise given they can get the harvest done and dusted before any further restrictions are announced. She also reveals her ideal quarantine wine… Wine Blast Se
- podcast· 5:37· S1E5
ARCHIVE TASTER: Singapore locks down
NB : This is archive material first released April 2020 and re-published here as a teaser for Wine Blast Season One, which is available in full to Wine Blast PLUS subscribers. To find out more or sign up to enjoy the full range of member benefits, including archive access, follow this link to Wine Blast PLUS . Cheers! As Singapore goes into lockdown, renowned writer and publisher Poh Tiong Ch'ng reflects (from a beach) on the local and global implications of coronavirus. Including some eye-opening thoughts about the prospects for the global restaurant and hotel trade. He also has a somewhat surprising choice as his ‘quarantine wine’. We then cheat when it comes to finding a wine for delicious porcini pasta, committing heresy by looking beyond Italian wines to things that are both left-field and pretty indulgent. This episode even comes with a free book download… Wine Blast Season 1 Episode 5 (originally published 8 April 2020)
podcast· 49:02· S7E34Wine Travel - The Inside Steer
Wine travel is a BIG THING right now. Everyone's at it. Wine tourism typically accounts for around a quarter of your average winery's revenue these days. It's predicted to generate US$138 billion by 2033. One producer says it's going to 'save' wine. People are excited - and intrigued. So what's the story? This episode is your inside steer on how to do wine travel right. First things first: where best to go, from headliners like Napa, Douro, Stellenbosch and Rioja to lesser-known gems like Slovenia, Elqui and Aosta. And then there are questions like: how to wangle your way into iconic producers who aren't normally open to the public? How to avoid falling asleep in your soup or falling out with your travelling companions? What are the best wine festivals and events? What's the proper visiting etiquette and wardrobe?! Providing fascinating answers and all kind of useful tips and insights is wine travel guru Cindy-Marie Harvey (of Love Wine Food). We throw our two cents into the pot, plus
podcast· 47:01· S7E33News + GB Wine Update & Tips
Stalin's Wine Cellar has been found...Wine seems to be better for you than other booze (even when it comes to keeping men looking young)...Gen Z aren't shunning alcohol, as feared...Why GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are bad news for wine...And how Joan of Arc may have enjoyed a cheeky taste of Pinot Noir. We discuss all this and more in our regular news recap - as well as engaging in our usual Guess the Missing Word in the Wine Headline tomfoolery. We also give a short tribute to Sam Neill: outstanding actor, brilliant wine grower, and wonderful human being who will be much missed. Also in this episode is an update on English and Welsh wine, given we're fresh from co-chairing the WineGB Awards 2026, so full of insights and top wine tips after tasting some 380 UK wines blind. We highlight some of our favourites from the tasting, especially those majoring on good value for money (NB: not the same thing as cheap). Thanks for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us
podcast· 57:12· S7E32Pays d'Oc Part 2 - Future Proofing
Pays d'Oc wine was created in response to a French wine crisis in the mid-20th century - fast forward half a century and another crisis is facing the world of wine. So can the innovative, forward-thinking, 'iconoclastic' spirit that's at the heart of the Pays d'Oc category help not only French wine but also the wider wine world?! That's what we're exploring in this second and concluding part of our Pays d'Oc mini-series, hearing from leading local producers like Maison Le Breton , Domaine Gayda , Ricardelle de Lautrec and Domaine de Sauzet . We're talking things like agroforestry, ancestral varieties, light-weighting, chillable reds, PIWIs, wine tourism, funky blends, lower alcohol wine - and the importance of fun. We even meet a handsome rooster along the way... Thanks to Pays d'Oc IGP for sponsoring this mini-series and thanks to you for tuning in! We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe . Or you can find all details from this episode
podcast· 51:16· S7E31Pays d'Oc Part 1 - Land of the Free
We're on the road again. This time, diving into Pays d'Oc IGP - we're talking scenic southern France, and a little-known but intriguing origin story involving California, Algeria, violence, desperation, stubborn visionaries...and victory rescued from the jaws of defeat. Oh, and 'Liberté!' Helping us paint the picture are Jacques Gravegeal (an exclusive interview, rare for an English language show), Olivier Simonou and Gerard Bertrand . Fascinating people, all with a unique story to tell. From a standing start in 1987, Pays d'Oc IGP now sells around 21 bottles every second across 170+ countries. It's a stunning (and rare) vinous success story, and one that's transformed the fortunes not just of an entire region, but also a national treasure in the shape of French wine. In this programme, we get to grips with how it all came about, the challenges involved in making it happen, and the exciting recent developments for a category where innovation 'is in the DNA'. Thanks to Pays d'Oc IGP for
podcast· 10:47· S7E30The Greatest Chardonnay Showdown TEASER
SUBSCRIBER BONUS TASTER : 27 wines - 18 top tasters - an epic blind tasting featuring just one grape: Chardonnay. From all around the world - Grand Cru Burgundy to vintage champagne via Western Australia, Sonoma County and even Japan. Who would be the big winners? And, more importantly, why?! That's what we're getting into in this intriguing subscriber-only bonus episode on The Greatest Chardonnay Showdown blind tasting at the London Wine Fair 2026. We were both privileged to be part of the stellar judging panel - so what were our considered thoughts, did we agree with the overall results...and did we even agree with each other?! Seasoned listeners may already have an instinct where this one is heading...suffice it to say there are opinions aplenty, some consensus but also a fair amount of healthy disagreement. Ultimately, hopefully, it all makes for an informative and thought-provoking episode about one of our (and the world's) favourite grape varieties. NB : This is a short taster of
podcast· 46:21· S7E29The Judgement of Paris 50 Years On
Fifty years on from the historic Paris tasting that revolutionised wine - what's changed? And what will that mean for the next 50 years?! Those are the searching questions we're asking (and attempting to answer) in this special episode to mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976 where unknown Californian wines triumphed against the French greats in the centre of the wine universe at the time, the capital of France. We're re-telling the story behind that momentous event - partly to clear up some misconceptions that still persist, and partly because it's just a damn good story. (Proof of that being all the many articles and books on the subject - not to mention the Hollywood film, Bottle Shock , and now even an opera...) We're helped in this task by Chateau Montelena CEO Bo Barrett , who adds his eye-witness testimony, trademark good humour and intriguing insights to the tale. But this episode isn't just a re-hashing of events half a century ago. We'r
podcast· 58:10· S7E28Natural Wine RELOADED
Is natural wine dead? Or is it thriving? What even IS natural wine these days?! Most importantly, what's next for this multi-faceted yet misunderstood category? Helping us answer these searching questions are writer and winemaker Rachel Signer , journalist Simon J Woolf and wine producer Ben Walgate . We also indulge in a bit of impassioned debate between the two of us - this being a particularly provocative topic. (It's not every episode that moves Peter to use the phrase, 'complete bollocks', and Susie to say, 'cheeky middle finger', but here we are.) For example, did you know that the very term 'natural wine' itself is an unfortunate mis-translation? Are you familiar with, 'organic-PLUS' viticulture? Why hybrids may be the next big thing for natural producers? That natural wine is a philosophy, not a style? How the natural scene has influenced conventional wine? And the fact there's a new category of 'natural-adjacent' wines emerging..? Click on this link and use the code WINEBLAST