Ep 569: The Masters of Vernaccia di San Gimignano Cappella Sant’Andrea with Owner & Winemaker Francesco Galgani
Last fall, I met Francesco Galgani and tried his wines and I was completely blown away. I always think of Vernaccia as a more historical Pinot Grigio -- light on flavor, boring, and not anything to get excited about. But then I visited Cappella Sant'Andrea. HOLY CRAP!! This is the BEST Vernaccia on earth. Francesco and Flavia, the owners and winemakers, are truly the Masters of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. You will never taste Vernaccia like this. In the show Francesco and I discuss the long history of Vernaccia, wine in San Gimignano, why there is so much crappy Vernaccia, and how they do it right. Their Rialto and Prima Luce, especially are stunning. I can't sing their praises more. Two things mentioned in the show: Follow Francesco on IG, he's a brilliant artist: @francescogalgani If you want to order directly from Francesco, and have the wine shipped from Italy, please visit their website: https://www.cappellasantandrea.it/chi-siamo1 and you can contact them for orders and pricing! Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________ This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!
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Ep 568: Alternatives to a Favorite -- Sauvignon Blanc
It's another edition of the "Alternatives to a Fave" series! This time: Sauvignon blanc. As an extension of the Grape Mini-series, for this series I come up with lists of wines that lovers of a specific grape can try as alternatives. Sauvignon blanc is not a one note! It has so many different styles -- from the acidic, minerally, citrus and flinty notes of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé to the tropical fruit, peach, grass, green pepper, and sauteed herb aromas in New Zealand and the blends with Semillon in Bordeaux, there are many, many iterations of this very popular grape. Photo: Sauvignon Blanc in South Africa. Credit: Getty Images from Canva After a brief refresh on the Sauvignon blanc grape, in this show I come up with a list of eight wines that are alternatives -- things like Chablis for the more minerally, flinty substitutes for Sancerre, and then fruity alternatives like Vermentino to stand in for Chilean or New Zealand Sauvignon. I hope, as usual, that this show opens some new doors and gives you new ideas of wines to add to your repertoire! Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________ This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!
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Ep 567: The Wines of Victoria, Australia with CEO of Wine Victoria, Stephanie Duboudin
Stephanie Duboudin, CEO of Wine Victoria, joins to educate us on this state at the southern end of Australia that has a ton of diversity and makes all styles of wine. A boutique winery heaven, Victoria is something you need to know about! Wineries mentioned: Tahbilk Seppelt Mount Langhi Wild Duck Creek Yeringberg Yarra Yering Brown Brothers Pizzini Campbells Chalmers Chambers Rosewood Stanton & Killeen Giant Steps Bindi Wines _________________________________________________________ Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________ Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year! To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes
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Ep 566: The Greats of Bordeaux – Pauillac
Located the middle of the Médoc, 50 km/31 miles northwest of Bordeaux, Pauillac is home to 18 of the 61 châteaux classified 1855, just under a third of the list. There are three first growths, two second growths, one fourth growth, and twelve 5th growths. The first growths are Château Latour, Château Lafite-Rothschild, and Château Mouton-Rothschild. Pauillac is north of St-Julien and south of St-Estèphe with the manmade Landes Forest to the west, sheltering the vines from Atlantic winds. The commune has 1,213 ha/3,000 acres of vines (7.5% of the Medoc) and makes about 7 million bottles a year. The AOC Pauillac is only for still red wines, famous for their balance of power and elegance that is rare in Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends. These wines have strong aromas and flavors but with great acidity and tannin – the best are not overripe or overly tannic -- and are balanced. In this show, I cover everything about Pauillac -- history, terroir, climate, sustainability, and then the top Châteaux. I break it down by terroir, location, and some details on top chateaux and then tell you to save your pennies to get these wines! Here is a link to the 1855 Classification ___________________________________________________________ Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________ Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year! To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes
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Ep 565: Back to Basics – 8 Ideas to Break Your Rut and Discover New Wines
As part of the Back to Basics series, in which I update previous podcasts on practical topics that can be helpful to everyone, I update podcast Episode 28 from September 2011! Rick was the co-host then and it was a much shorter, less detailed show. Image: Assembled on Canva by WFNP Some of the suggestions from those many years ago were great, and some have changed or I’ve augmented them. The goal of this show: to give you some ideas to motivate you to try new wines and new ways to explore. Ideas include: exploring different grapes from the same regions you like, joining a wine club (hint hint: the Wine Access/WFNP Wine Club, going to tasting events, and more! It's a short and sweet re-do of a show from long ago. I hope you get some ideas from it! Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________ This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!
A podcast for people who like wine but not the snobbery that goes with it. I talk about wine in a fun, straightforward, normal way to get you excited about it and help you drink better, more interesting stuff.
About half the shows feature guests and are informal but educational discussions between me and a passionate wine friend –they aren't interviews. All guests are personal friends or friends of friends in wine so like any conversation between friends, we’ll talk back and forth, interrupt each other, laugh and have fun, debate tough questions, voice our opinions, and most of all, enjoy sharing our time together and with you!
The Wine For Normal People book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many local booksellers. Back catalog available on Patreon.com/winefornormalpeople
Ireland