Created for wine-lovers, this magazine-style podsite explores the fascinating world of wine, full of amazing people and places. Listen in and be part of the wine conversation.
Listen in to hear David Gleave talk to Sarah Kemp about his new book Barolo and Barbaresco, The Primacy of the Vine, which has just been published by Académie du Vin Library. Sarah predicts it will win all the wine writing awards as it is an important book, eloquently written with great maps and quotes from producers that take you right into the vineyard. Sarah also finds out David’s favourite restaurants in the region- vital information for any wine and food lover.
Controversy swirls around the new Michelin Grapes guide to Bordeaux, not least because Château Latour isn’t even listed.. Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp discuss the criteria for the guide, which evaluates estates not individual wines, and give their frank views on the criteria and the selection of estates listed.
Jancis Robinson MW talks to Elin McCoy about the 9th edition of The World Atlas of Wine which is about to hit the shelves. Listen in to find out how she and Julia Harding MW decide which regions need expanding, what needs to be dropped, and how the wine world has changed since Hugh Johnson wrote the first edition in 1971. Find out why Hugh asked Jancis to co-author the book (now it has three authors with Julia Harding MW joining the imprint). “Every word, every mark on the maps, has been examined and updated, moved, rewritten, omitted, added to – we go through it in forensic detail,” Jancis…
Listen in to hear Peter Sisseck, the man who helped change the image of Spanish wine, talk to Sarah Kemp in our latest “Great Wine Lives” series. Discover how as a young man he joined his uncle Peter Vinding Diers in Bordeaux, then joined Zelma Long in California, how he nearly came to work for Paul Draper at Ridge before returning to help his uncle with a project in Spain. He discusses how he created Pingus, the single-vineyard wine in Ribera del Duero, which Robert Parker called “one of the greatest young wines I have tasted” He discusses creating PSI the wine made from 700 plots of old…
The wildfires around Bordeaux have made headlines around the world. Jane Anson, Bordeaux expert and local resident, talks to Sarah Kemp about the impact on the region and the effect on the wine industry. Listen in to hear her first-hand experience of living next to a fire 15km from the city where she lives, and her early thoughts on the possibility of smoke taint in the vineyards closest to the fires.
All the latest news and views from John Stimpfig and Elin McCoy in this month’s Omnibus. Reports on the state of Napa Valley, good and bad, how En Primeur 2025 Bordeaux fared in the UK and US (and which wines did sell through), reaction to Michelin’s guide to Burgundy, weather watch and much more.
Etna is a relatively new region in Sicily which is attracting today’s most dynamic winemakers as well as established names. David Gleave MW has just returned from there and brings us up-to-date with what is going on in our latest 10-Minute Masterclass. Find out the producers to watch and the grapes to look out for.
Jane Anson calls it “the best party in Bordeaux” and it is hard not to agree listening to Sarah Kemp and Jane Anson discuss the 2026 Connoisseur Week where they visited stellar estates including Cos d’Estournel, Pichon Comtesse, Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, Vieux Château Certan, Angelus, Troplong Mondot, Condat and drank legendary wines back to 1945. Find out how the great vintages stacked up, and which vintages they recommend you drink now, and those that aren’t just ready yet. Listen in to hear about a week of glorious wines and people.
Is there still value in Burgundy? Jasper Morris MW, author of” Inside Burgundy”, says yes. Listen in to discover which appellations Jasper recommends to find value in our latest 10-Minute Masterclass.
When did you last see a mature bottle of Bordeaux on a wine list? Sarah Kemp talks to Michael Saunders and Robert Mathias MW of Coterie Holding’s wholesale arm Hallgarten and Novum about “The Cellar Series”, an initiative to put mature Bordeaux back on hotel and restaurant wine lists. Listen in to hear how they have persuaded some of Bordeaux’s classed growths to embrace the hospitality industry, and put Bordeaux back where it belongs, on the table.
In our final episode of The Judgement of Paris, Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig discuss the impact of the historic tasting, and discuss with Patricia Gallagher, Bo Barrett, Brian St Pierre and Hervé Berland how it affected the world’s wine industry. We find out from Bella how Steven viewed it, and hear from Steven himself on why, for him, wine is a way of life.
May 24th 1976 – a day when a tasting in Paris changed the wine world. Listen in to Part 3 of the story of the Judgement of Paris to hear from two of the people who were actually in the room, Patricia Gallagher and Bella Spurrier. Discover Mike Grigich’s reaction when he received a telegram to say Chateau Montelena had won the white wine flight and find out how Baron Phillipe de Rothschild’s reacted when Château Mouton Rothschild came second to an unknown Californian wine, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. Plus the backlash against Steven Spurrier who became persona non grata in many French vineyards…
“We weren’t always welcome because they thought we were French”. Bella Spurrier recalling her trip to California with Steven while sourcing the wines for the Judgement of Paris. Listening in to part two of the History of the Judgement of Paris to hear the remarkable tale of how the tasting came about, and how the wines were chosen. In this episode, Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig talk to Bella Spurrier, Steven’s wife who accompanied him on his trip to California, Patrica Gallagher, Steven’s director of the Academie du Vin who came up with the idea for the tasting and Bo Barrett of Chateau…
The most significant wine tasting in history celebrates its 50th anniversary. Join us for the first episode in a special four-part series on “The History of the Judgement of Paris”, hosted by Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig. Exclusive interviews with Bella Spurrier, Steven’s wife, Patricia Gallagher, director of the Academie du Vin, Bo Barrett, owner of Chateau Montelena, Brian St Pierre, media director at the Wine Institute of California in the 70s and Hervé Berland, ex- Managing Director of Château Mouton Rothschild, and a recently discovered audio of Steven Spurrier discussing how a tasting…
Listen in to Omnibus for this month’s biggest wine stories with John Stimpfig and Elin McCoy. Find out what the talk of Napa Valley is, discover Elin’s Bordeaux 2025 wine of the vintage, how Spring frosts have affected Champagne, which wines are hot in New York and much more.
As Bordeaux châteaux start to release their prices for the Bordeaux 2025 vintage, Sarah Kemp talks to Tom Burchfield, Head of Market intelligence at Liv-ex about the market, and asks the all-important question – what needs to happen to make this campaign a success? Listen in to find out how the market is right now, which château released and has been a success, and the key criteria for making the campaign a success.
Bordeaux 2025 – the verdict is in. Sarah Kemp talks to Jane Anson about her views on the 2025 vintage after tasting over 800 wines. She discusses how the vintage ranks compared to previous vintage, names her wine of the year and potential best value wine of the year. It is not a homogenous year, but there are some truly great wines. Listen in to hear from the woman who is regarded as the world expert on Bordeaux. Essential listening to anyone thinking of buying Bordeaux 2025.
Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp are halfway through the Bordeaux 2025 tastings, with Jane having tasted over 500 wines, and Sarah trying to catch up with 250. Listen in to hear their thoughts so far on the vintage, find out what’s new this year, and a sneak preview of some wines that have impressed. There is a special subscription discount offer to www.janeanson.com site, which will have full tasting notes and analysis of the vintage released on April 30th. Wine Conversations listeners can save 15% by entering the code GEP2515.
First report on Bordeaux 2025 from Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp. In their first En Primeur podcast they describe the vintage, which despite on paper looking like 2022, is in fact quite different in character. 2025 has the lowest yields since 1991, and neither Sarah or Jane can remember a vintage quite like it. Concentrated fruit and low ph are two of its characteristics. They believe you can’t make generalisations about appellations; this really is château by château. Listen in to hear their first thoughts on Bordeaux 2025.
Wine consumption is at its lowest since the early 1960s, and one reason is that the younger generation isn’t drinking wine. One company that is addressing this is Goedhuis Waddesdon, the bluest of blue-chip British wine merchants, who have set up The Goed Wine Collective, a club for under-35-year-olds. Sarah Kemp talks to the company’s Harry Tennant and Tilly Loughton, both in their 20s, on how the club works (spoiler alert – it’s free), how they recruit young members, the events they put on, and the language needed to engage their generation. A fascinating look into the under-35-year-old…
Listen in to hear Sebastien Pradal talk to Elin McCoy on how he came to be the wine consultant to the hit Apple TV series “Drops of God”. As the wine consultant, he worked with the script writers and actors to ensure that all the facts and wine details were correct, as well as choosing the wines and winery locations. A fascinating conversation on how this hit wine TV drama came together.
Jane Anson discusses the extraordinary relationship between the USA and Bordeaux as the US begins to celebrate its 250th anniversary of independence. Listen in to hear about the Founding Fathers' love of Bordeaux, and why Jane believes that Benjamin Franklin rather than Thomas Jefferson was the true advocate for Bordeaux. Discover the châteaux which had US connections and meet the extraordinary people in Bordeaux who helped the War of Independence.
Join David Gleave MW for a deep dive into the wines of Barbaresco in our latest 10-Minute Masterclass. Discover the vineyards to look out for on the label, the best producers and the upcoming names to watch. Expert advice from one of Italy’s foremost authorities.
Listen in for our latest 10-Minute Masterclass on Chassagne-Montrachet with Burgundian guru Jasper Morris MW author of Inside Burgundy and www.insideburgundy.com. Discover the vineyards to know, the producers to watch, the four bands of Premiers Crus, its terroir – and find out why it is frowned upon for producers to marry someone across the main road!
“We are having a reckoning of the US wine industry.” Elin McCoy reports. Vineyards being pulled up, wineries for sale, wineries closing, exports falling, grim news from the US in this month’s Omnibus. There is, however, a bright spot – Taylor Swift’s love of Sancerre has made the wine fly off the shelves. Elsewhere, John Stimpfig reveals that the EU and New Zealand have concluded trade agreements with India (the first took two decades, NZ’s agreement took 9 months), a big market opens up for and Indian wine lovers can look forward to more choice. In Argentina the government has torn up 973…
“I would say St Estèphe is one of Bordeaux’s most exciting appellations right now” Listen in to our latest 10-Minute Masterclass with Jane Anson to find out why she believes this is an appellation worth looking out for. Find out about its history, the producers and the names to look out for.
He is known around the world as “Mr Riesling”. He fired the workforce during his first vintage, threw a book of how to make wine at the one person left, and started his mission to restore Riesling’s fine wine reputation. The man, of course, is Ernst Loosen and he talks to Sarah Kemp for our “Great Wine Lives” series. Frank, funny and totally unmissable.
Discover the amazing people visited and great wines drunk when Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp visited Tuscany on the inaugural Tuscany Connoisseur Week. Find out which wines (and producers) captured their hearts and why Tuscany is now top of the list for wine collectors. Glorious armchair travel to one of the wine world’s most exciting regions.
Listen in to our first Omnibus in 2026 for all the latest wine news and views with John Stimpfig, Elin McCoy and Sarah Kemp. This month, we look at Michelin’s new wine guides where they are reviewing producers, not wines, and ask how are they actually going to work? Artificial intelligence has entered the wine world with ChatGPT recommending wineries to visit, with predictable results. Burgundy has had a bumper few months in the auction world, we review the main events of 2025, say goodbye to some great wine names, check out the fraud scene and welcome terroir-driven Chinese wine in the US.…
Listen in to hear Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp discuss their 2025 Wines of the Year. After a year of travelling the vineyards, going to tastings and dinners, they have both chosen eight wines, and a few are on both of their lists. Jane’s top 50 are on her site www.janeanson.com and full tasting notes of Sarah’s choices are on www.wine-conversation.com From legendary wines to good value wines, find out what has thrilled them this year.
About The Wine Conversation
Created for wine-lovers, this magazine-style podsite explores the fascinating world of wine, full of amazing people and places. Listen in and be part of the wine conversation.
The Wine Conversation is a English arts & books podcast from The Wine Conversation. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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