Welcome to your favourite new podcast, Wine Flight! Hosted by Sophia Longhi and Ben Franks. Each week, we interview a new guest with a shared love for wine. Sophia and Ben face off with a flight of wines and we ask each guest to pick a winner at the end of the podcast.
In this episode of Wine Flight, we're chatting to Dan Kirby. Dan is taking on the Master of Wine qualification, the world's most prestigious professional wine title, in the hope to join its ranks of only 414 MWs globally. He crowdfunded his first year's fees after calling out the MW course for its pricey fees, with his crowdfunder backed by Miles Beale, chief exec of the Wine & Spirits Trade Association (WSTA). Dan is a thinker, writer and drinker - as he describes himself on Twitter - and has experience in buying wines, selling wines, and working in a vineyard.
We chat to Dan about how he got into the wine trade, his love for music and time in a band, and the exciting new natural wines entering the market. While we open a series of wines for him to try, we cover all sorts of topics from social media to personality traits. As always, at the end of the episode Dan must pick a favourite wine from the line-up and one of us will be crowned the winner of episode 8!
If you would like to learn more about Dan's journey and sign up for his newsletter, visit Dan Kirby's website here.
The Wines:
Wine 1 - Wine Not? Alsace, France (Sophia)
Wine 2 - Peter Pince Kabar, Hungary (Ben)
Wine 3 - Bojt Egri Bikaver Superior, Hungary (Ben)
Wine 4 - Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa Xinomavro, Greece (Sophia)
Listen on your favourite app, or visit wineflightpod.com for the full series.
This episode was recorded in November 2022.
----
Ben Franks FRSA is the Managing Director of the international drinks consultancy Ben Franks Wine, helping bring brands to the UK market. He is also the co-founder of the multi-award-winning wine merchant Novel Wines and Canned Wine Co., a sustainability-focused alt-format wine business putting Europe's best wines in can.
Sophia Longhi is the owner of wine blog skin+pulp, winner of the IWSC Emerging Talent in Wine Communication Award 2022 and was named one of Wine GB’s Great British Wine Industry Women of 2021. She is an acclaimed wine writer, wine judge and tastings host.
Wine Flight is produced by Ben Franks Wine Ltd and edited by Kat Agg. Follow @BenFranksWine on Twitter, or Instagram. Read all of the latest insights from Ben Franks Wine online.
