Shows
Just Another Wine PodcastClimate ChaosEmily, Jamie and Doug discuss the implications of climate catastrophe and assess what strategies producers can use to make balanced, drinkable wines such as replanting vineyards in different locations and changing the mix of grapes. They look at the research into disease-resistant hybrid varieties and PiWis and ask whether planting more of these might assist growers dedicated to low-impact sustainable farming.
To illustrate the nobility of a hybrid variety the trio crack open a bottle of La Garagista’s Vinu Jancu Reserve 2018, a profound amber wine made by Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber in Vermont from the La Crescent grape fo...2025-07-1549 minJust Another Wine PodcastWine Critics or Judging the CriticsEmily, Jamie, and Doug ask how critics approach the process of judging the quality of an individual wine. The three talk about ratings and marking systems and question their validity. Are they a useful shorthand or a distraction from the real thing (the taste of the wine)? We question what happens when critics taste prestigious cuvées and rare wines and whether feel confident enough to give these low marks when they truly disappoint.They talk about collective tasting and the dynamic of the tasting panel, where a group comes together to calibrate their taste.
Finally, they discuss the language w...2025-06-191h 05Just Another Wine PodcastBlind Wine Tasting: The Pros and Cons of tasting wine blind.Wine experts Emily Harman, Jamie Goode, and Doug Wregg talk about the very nature of perception itself, how we may be influenced (and deceived) by the colour of wine, how ambient sound and even our feelings at a given time can alter our sensitivity and receptivity towards a given wine.
They remark on the different approaches to (blind) tasting according to whether you’re a relative novice or a full-fledged wine professional. The trio explore the relative notions of subjective and objective assessment and ask whether it is right for appellation boards and judging panels to set a standard for ta...2025-06-0549 minJust Another Wine PodcastThe Price of Wine: Is good wine becoming too expensive?Join Emily, Jamie, and Doug as they talk about why wines are becoming more expensive and ask what constitutes value-for-money these days.
The trio examine wine margins in restaurants, question why they are (undoubtedly) increasing and explain some of the reasons why this may be the case. We mention some of our favourite places to drink good value wine and why progressive mark-ups encourage customers to drink more interesting wines. Conversely, fixed gross-profit margins are pushing more and more wines out of the pocket of the average consumer. They observe that emerging regions and lesser-heralded grape varieties can provide...2025-05-1953 minJust Another Wine PodcastVesselsJamie, Doug and Emily look at different types of wine “vessels” ranging from stainless tanks to various types of wooden barrels and finally concrete vats and terracotta pots (amphorae, qvevri and so forth). They talk about the art of the cooper and suggest that (used sympathetically) oak barrels can both shape the wine as well as being the conduit to transmit a sense of terroir, whereas clumsy use of wood will obfuscate the true nature of the wine.
The gang taste three examples of wines fermented and aged in different vessels. Firstly, a clay-fermented-and aged 2013 Muscat from the De Martino tina...2025-05-0757 minJust Another Wine PodcastOf Icons and UnicornsDo rare wines and luxury brands deserve their lofty reputation and price tag?
The expressions icon wines and unicorn wine are bandied around willy-nilly by the wine trade. Emily, Jamie and Doug discuss about what these terms actually mean and cite examples of wines with an inflated reputation (and whether it is merited). We speculate why wine becomes a collectible and plaything to show off on socials and mention the grey market in regard to wine trading and how it inflates the price of certain wines, putting them beyond the reach of average consumers.
We sip (and...2025-04-1657 minJust Another Wine PodcastHow do you like them appellations?Is the system of denominating origin fit for purpose in the modern wine world?
Delving into its pros and cons Emily, Jamie and Doug discuss whether the current appellation system is still relevant and if setting standards to reach a common denominator of quality results in excluding those artisan growers who show initiative, originality and are often the real defenders of regional heritage (yet whose wines are not deemed typical by appellation standards).
The trio ask whether having appellation connotes a wine that is true its terroir or is more to do with establishing a stylistic uniformity...2025-04-011h 02Just Another Wine PodcastTerroir TalksHow place speaks through wine!
Jamie, Doug and Emily attempt to define the slippery concept of terroir and surmise how a specific place (microclimate, aspect, biodiversity and soil) may be transmitted into the final wine and why it might be desirable for wines to convey their origins.
The trio pop open two bottles and enjoy a mineral Sakkie Mouton Colombar from Olifants River in South Africa and wax lyrical about a stunning Pinot Noir care of Kelley Fox (Maresh Vineyard Golden Crowned Sparrow Block) that sings the song of its beautiful vineyard.
This episode includes:
...2025-03-2057 minJust Another Wine PodcastYour Faults, My Flaws!Can flawed wines actually be delicious?
Is there a clear scientific line in the sand between faults and flaws or is it blurred by personal taste?
Should we examine flavour as something apart from the wine being the aggregate of chemical and microbiological transformations?
We’re talking about faults which are definitely faults - and flaws which may be a matter of opinion or tolerance. We discuss brett, VA and mousiness and excess sulphur in wines and how we each feel about these various faults/flaws.
We also test drive a bottle of Ch...2025-03-051h 01Just Another Wine PodcastIntroductions with Doug, Emily and JamieMeet the three amigos!
Meet our three podcast amigos: Doug Wregg, Emily Harman and Jamie Goode. Learn about their journey from humble amateur wine sleuths into the professional wine world. This is a getting-to-know you session; expect plenty of gentle banter. Halfway through the trio taste a 2017 Laski Rizling from Zorjan, a biodynamic and natural producer making wine in Stajerska region (Slovenian Styria) and marvel at its unique golden-amber colour, textural depth and almost rustic soulfulness.
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Looking Into WineBiodynamic Viticulture practises and principles with Douglas Wregg Les Caves de PyreneIn 1924, Rudolf Steiner presented his Agriculture Course to a group of 111, farmers in Poland. Steiner spoke of agriculture to ‘heal the earth’ and he laid the philosophical and practical foundations for such differentiated agriculture. Biodynamic agriculture is now practised internationally as a specialist form of organic agriculture.Steiner’s Agriculture Course comprised just eight lectures presented over a ten-day period. The path from proposal to experimentation, to formalization, to implementation and promulgation played out over a decade and a half following the Course.It needs to be understood that in the 1920s chemicals usage in agriculture was gr...2021-03-0538 min
Interpreting Wine PodcastEp 124: Doug Wregg on Oregon WinesShow notes The modern Oregon Story Wine 1: Ovum, Off the grid riesling, 2016 Wine 2: A.D Beckham, Amphora Pinot Gris, 2015 Wine 3: Kelley Fox Wines, Pinot Noir, 2015 Oregon wines in London Contact details www.lescaves.co.uk Douglas.wregg@lescaves.co.uk http://blog.lescaves.co.uk/ www.therealwinefair.com www.twitter.com/lescavespyrene www.instagram.com/lescavesdepyrene Intro and outro...2018-06-2646 min
Interpreting Wine PodcastEp 29: Doug Wregg Tasting | Terroirs Bar, London | Wine Talking & TastingShow notes (0:30) Wine number 1: 2016 Pamhogna Weiss, Andert Wein (14:20) Wine number 2: 2017 Testalonga Baby Bandito, Follow your dreams Contact details Douglas.wregg@lescaves.co.uk http://blog.lescaves.co.uk/ www.lescaves.co.uk www.therealwinefair.com www.twitter.com/lescavespyrene www.instagram.com/lescavesdepyrene Intro and outro music The New Investors http://newinvestors.dk/ Contact: glenn@velournet.dk Interview details Guest: Doug Wregg – Marketing and Buying Director, Les Caves de Pyrene Location: Terroirs Wine Bar, 5 William IV St, London, WC2N 4DW Date: 13 February, 2018 Follow: www.instagram.com/interpretingwine www.facebook.com/interpretingwine2018-03-1030 min
Interpreting Wine PodcastEp 28: Doug Wregg on Training | Terroirs Bar, London | Wine TalkingShow notes (0:30) Wine training for Terroirs (7:40) Wine training for the public Contact details Douglas.wregg@lescaves.co.uk http://blog.lescaves.co.uk/ www.lescaves.co.uk www.therealwinefair.com www.twitter.com/lescavespyrene www.instagram.com/lescavesdepyrene Intro and outro music The New Investors http://newinvestors.dk/ Contact: glenn@velournet.dk Interview details Guest: Doug Wregg – Marketing and Buying Director, Les Caves de Pyrene Location: Terroirs Wine Bar, 5 William IV St, London, WC2N 4DW Date: 13 February, 2018 Follow: www.instagram.com/interpretingwine www.facebook.com/interpretingwine2018-03-0920 min