Raj Parr no longer needs an introduction. He is one of the most prolific wine people in the world. His legendary palate, his instinctive winemaking, and his commitment to regenerative farming have steered him to his passion, Phelan Farm in Cambria, California. Raj has traded his nomadic global lifestyle for that of a resident farmer, making soulful, spiritual wines.

Ontario’s own Nicholas Gizuk grew up around a wine-loving family. With an interest in fermentation and chemistry, Nick graduated from the Niagara College Wine and Viticulture program. He went on to intern at wineries in Canada, eventually working harvests in the Barossa Valley in Australia and Marlborough, New Zealand. He returned to Canada to work at Inniskillin, Niagara in 2013, working under winemaker Bruce Nicholson and becoming head winemaker in 2021. Nick stresses “We must respect the...

Jon Bonne is no stranger to The Grape Nation. This is his third appearance on the podcast, and he's here to discuss his new and third book “The New French Wine”. Jon is an award-winning author and journalist; his background includes MSNBC, Decanter, a decade as Wine Editor and Chief Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, author of “The New California Wine, and “The New Wine Rules". Jon is currently Managing Editor at Resy covering dining, restaurants, and wine pretty much everywhere it’s...

What’s in a name, well, if you are a Zabar, that’s about as ubiquitous as pizza in NYC. Born and raised in the city, Eli Zabar is part of the legendary family synonymous with food…and now wine. Eli separated from his brothers and family to follow his own vision in the ‘70’s: creating a food and wine empire. He is a tireless innovator and has created some of the most unique food and wine concepts in the country. Eli’s Table just reopened with seasonal fare and one of the largest old world wine...

Fifth Generation Sonoman, Russel Bevan left town to study Philosophy at Gonzaga University, logically leading him to a job in the dental field in the Midwest. A fortuitous transfer sent him back west where wine things started happening for him. Russell became a prolific wine forum nerd and columnist for Wine Spectator Magazine before settling into his own wine gig in N. California. Russell is the proprietor of Bevan Cellars and a sought-after wine consultant stacking up numerous 100-point...

Bedford Stuyvesant’s own Marvina Robinson left the neighborhood to attend Norfolk St University, an HBCU. Her love of the bubbly started when she would come home between semesters and pop some champagne with her friends to celebrate. Marvina attended Columbia University, receiving her Masters to work in finance in risk management. Her love for Champagne was strong enough to take some risk, pack in her career, travel to France, and start B. Stuyvesant Champagne in Brooklyn as one of the few...

Ken Pahlow has spent over two decades on the Oregon wine scene. He worked at and with some of the best people in the state including Dom Lafon at Evening Land, Patricia Greene, and St. Innocent. Ken also logged time on the sales and distribution side at Evening Land, Vin de Garde, and Galaxy. With a little coaxing from his wife and now partner Erica, he started Walter Scott Wines in 2008, producing their first vintage in 2009. He now makes his wines at Casteel in the Eola-Amity Hills. Ken...

Cristina Mariani May is a third-generation winemaker. Her grandparents emigrated from Italy to the United States in the early 1900’s. Ironically, her father and uncle headed back to Italy in the late ‘70’s to create Castello Banfi in Brunello di Montalcino, now the largest contiguous vineyard in Europe. Cristina joined Banfi in the early ‘90’s and has been the President and CEO since 2018. Cristina is one of the most powerful women in wine and oversees import, distribution, and wineries in...

This week we are going to talk about Bordeaux 2020. The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux was recently in NYC with over 100 wineries pouring their new 2020 vintage. I got a chance to speak with six different wineries from different regions in Bordeaux and the consensus is the 2020 vintage is excellent, the third in a trilogy of great vintages after 2018 and '19. This was a walk around tasting with hundreds of people and wineries in midtown Manhattan. It was a little noisy and frenetic, but...

Not your typical winemaker, Bibi Graetz was surrounded by a family of visual artists, studying art and not wine. He grew up in a medieval castle in Tuscany surrounded by vineyards. With no formal training, Bibi started making wine in the late 1990’s, and by 2000 he was making his own wine with a passion for old vines and Sangiovese. Merging his two loves, Bibi has created the labels for his highly sought after and critically acclaimed wines.

Nathan Kendall, a Finger Lakes native, has been making wine at his eponymous Nathan K winery for over a dozen years. He has traveled the world to fine-tune his craft, including Sonoma, New Zealand, Australia, Oregon, and the Mosel in Germany. He also makes wine at Hickory Hollow and at Chepika with Pascaline Lepeltier. Nathan is part of a new generation of Finger Lakes winemakers bringing passion, innovation, and technical skills to their wines and the region.

Shana Clarke is a freelance writer based out of New York City, specializing in wine, Sake, and travel. She has WSET Level 3 certification and is a certified Sake Sommelier. Her writing has appeared in Fortune, Wine Enthusiast, Departures, and Saveur to name a few. Shana is also a wine marketing consultant for major wine entities. Shana Clarke just released her new book, “150 Vineyards You Need to Visit Before You Die”.

Eric Asimov is the long-time wine critic of the New York Times. His wine column, “The Pour”, appears every Wednesday in the Food Section of the Times in-print and online. Eric recently concluded almost 9 years and 100 columns of his “Wine School”. Post-Covid times have allowed Eric to travel around the world, taste wine, and meet the winemakers for the first time in years. He has published numerous books and shares the torture of the NY Jets with me.

The Grape Nation ends the season with Champagne and Bubbly recommendations from the best in the business for the holidays and beyond. We talk to Robin Wright, Beverage Director at Ci Siamo; Yannick Benjamin and Heidi Turzyn, Proprietors of Beaupierre Wines and Spirits and Contento Restaurant; Aldo Sohm of Le Bernardin & Aldo Sohm Wine Bar; Annie Shi, Partner at King Soho and Jupiter; and Josh Greene, Editor and Publisher at Wine and Spirits Magazine. Heritage Radio Network is a listener...

Josh Greene is the longtime Editor and Publisher of “Wine and Spirits” Magazine. Josh has traveled extensively to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. He is a critic for those regions and South Africa along with writing feature stories and commentary. “Wine and Spirits” Magazine also presents their Top 100 Tasting annually. Josh and his team evaluate over 15,000 bottles every year.

Alex Schrecengost has spent almost two decades working in wine, spirits, hospitality, luxury goods, and PR. She has worked closely with such iconic brands as Romanée Conte and Biondi Santi at Wilson Daniels. The Pandemic created an opportunity for Alex to start mission driven businesses to help the workers in hospitality and the consumer alike. Alex founded Virtual with Us and Culture with Us, a black owned business. Katja Scharnagl hails from the Wachau Region of Austria and grew up...

On this very special episode of The Grape Nation, Sam sits down with Harold Langlais of Château Le Puy, live from Raw Wine 2022 in Queens. Sam and Harold discuss the history of Le Puy, their growing practices, and how they stand out from other natural wine makers. Château Le Puy lies on 54 hectares in three parcels in Saint Cibard, France, on the same rock plateau as Pomerol and Saint-Emilion, a place known in ancient times as “The Plateau of the Wonders” because of the excellence of its wines.

Isabelle Legeron is the author of “Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally.” She is France’s first female Master of Wine. Isabelle created RAW WINE, the world’s largest community of low-intervention organic, biodynamic and natural wine producers, supported by fairs, a wine club and online shop. Isabelle has long advocated organic farming practices and proper living wines. Isabelle Legeron is a true maverick and crusader for natural wine, and her influence...

Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe Eselbock are the proprietors and wine makers at Gut Oggau, their winery in Oggau in the Burgenland region of Austria. They restored a 17th century winery and now farm biodynamically. They created a unique family of wines by field blending the grapes of the region. Christian Tschida is a fourth-generation winemaker in the Burgenland region of Austria. Christian farms organically and biodynamically with incredible attention to detail in the vineyard and the...

Chase Sinzer has been around…in a good way. He has worked with Union Sq Hospitality Group at Maialino, with John Fraser at Narcissa, David Chang at Momofuko Ko where he met now chef/partner Joshua Pinsky, and received 2 Michelin stars. Chase hit the west coast at Michael’s in Santa Monica, and Caesar Ramirez’s Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare and did a little retail at Crush Wine, both in NYC. Chase Sinzer and Joshua Pinsky followed on a plan and fulfilled a dream opening Claud, a European...

Born in Pennsylvania, but now a British-American living in France, Aaron Ayscough made his way out to LA at the young age of 23, and even to his surprise, became a prominent Italian wine buyer with famed pizza chef, Nancy Silverton. Looking for an escape a few years later, Aaron headed to Paris working in fashion and organically, no pun intended, made his way into the thriving natural wine scene. He hung with all the Paris natural wine luminaries before moving to Beaujolais where he got a...

Karen MacNeil is an award-winning wine speaker, consultant, journalist, educator and author. When I say award-winning, I’m talking an Emmy and a James Beard Award among others. She has her own line of stemware and publishes her weekly newsletter and website, Winespeed. Karen just released the fully revised and updated 3rd Edition of “The Wine Bible,” selling upwards of a million copies; it is one of the best-selling wine books ever.

Sam Coturri is a fourth generation wine guy hailing from Sonoma royalty dating back to the '60's. His dad Phil started a farming company in the late '70's practicing thoughtful and organic farming from the get-go and continues to be one of the most sought-after vineyard minds in wine. Sam worked in PR, political campaigns, and cannabis before he joined Winery Sixteen600, the family winery as Proprietor in 2011. The winery focuses on single vineyard wines and Rhone varietals in the Moon Mtn....

Jorge Riera has been a fixture on the NY wine and restaurant scene for over 20 years. His commitment to, knowledge of and influence in natural wine dates back to 360 in Brooklyn, Balthazar, The Ten Bells, Wildair, Contra and Frenchette in NYC. His wine lists characterize natural wines at their best, featuring predominantly small growers and makers. Jorge introduced an all-natural only wine list at the highly acclaimed Frenchette in Tribeca almost five years ago. Continuing to work with his...

For over two decades, Alice Feiring has been the original and honest voice of Natural Wine. She cut her teeth on Manischewitz and mastered her way to Morgon…and Barolo! Alice is an award-winning wine writer, prolific author, publishes her natural wine newsletter, “The Feiring Line”, and just released her sixth book, To Fall in Love, Drink This: A Wine Writer’s Memoir, a journey of love and wine from her childhood to the Pandemic.