122 episodes

Wine Blast is a wine podcast with a difference. Susie and Peter are married Masters of Wine and experienced broadcasters who bring wine to life with a smile via interviews with amazing people, provocative chat, food, tips, your questions, gentle bickering and a certain amount of over-sharing. (And yes, they're aware they really need to get out more...) This award-winning, chart-topping pod has been widely featured in international press including The Times, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sun, Evening Standard, Radio Times, Decanter, Wine Folly and beyond. Reviews of Wine Blast say: 'Love these guys (almost as much as wine): educational, invigorating and damn funny too' - 'Relatable, entertaining, light-hearted' (Drinks Business) - 'Best wine podcast out there' - 'A complete tonic for the heart, mind and soul' (Drinks Network). Cheers!

Wine Blast with Susie and Peter Susie and Peter, Masters of Wine

    • Arts
    • 4.8 • 63 Ratings

Wine Blast is a wine podcast with a difference. Susie and Peter are married Masters of Wine and experienced broadcasters who bring wine to life with a smile via interviews with amazing people, provocative chat, food, tips, your questions, gentle bickering and a certain amount of over-sharing. (And yes, they're aware they really need to get out more...) This award-winning, chart-topping pod has been widely featured in international press including The Times, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sun, Evening Standard, Radio Times, Decanter, Wine Folly and beyond. Reviews of Wine Blast say: 'Love these guys (almost as much as wine): educational, invigorating and damn funny too' - 'Relatable, entertaining, light-hearted' (Drinks Business) - 'Best wine podcast out there' - 'A complete tonic for the heart, mind and soul' (Drinks Network). Cheers!

    Going Gaga for Garnacha

    Going Gaga for Garnacha

    It's called 'The Grenaissance'.

    This exhilarating revival of the grape variety known as Garnacha in Spain and Grenache in France, once the world's fourth most widely planted wine grape, which has gone from workhorse to show pony in the blink of an eye. How come? What's changed? Who's leading the charge and fuelling the new wave? And what's this we hear about inherent suitability vis a vis climate change?!

    We ask all these questions and more, focusing on the epicentre of Grenache renaissance: Spain. We hear from leading Spanish wine lights Sara Perez, Fernando Mora, Alvaro Palacios and Norrel Robertson, among others. A fair few delicious recommendations litter the chat, during which we also dwell on love, diamonds, mastication, stems, Samurai - and the will of the cosmos.

    Thanks for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more info, together with all details from this episode including on the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E16 - Going Gaga for Garnacha.

    Instagram: @susieandpeter

    • 53 min
    Grower Champagne with Lea & Sandeman

    Grower Champagne with Lea & Sandeman

    From big brand to fine wine - it's no exaggeration to say that grower champagne has changed the notion of what champagne can and should be.

    Pioneers like Francis Egly of iconic grower champagne Egly-Ouriet have invested huge amounts of time and money prioritising their vineyards, relentlessly focusing on quality and terroir expression in their wines - and ultimately going up against the big Champagne houses. It's a brave move, but one that is reinvigorating the region and attracting many converts to the cause.

    In this episode we chat with Francis Egly and his daughter Clemence to hear their thoughts on why it's important to harvest their grapes ripe, age their bottles extensively and see the process through from growing grapes to selling their wine. We also hear from Charles Lea, owner and director of respected London wine merchant Lea & Sandeman, on how a lockdown trip to Champagne saw him move away from the 'boring' big production houses and embrace the growers' cause.

    Along the way, we provide the context and analysis, and taste through a number of quite stunning grower champagnes - including an exclusive taster of a new Egly-Ouriet wine that's not yet been released on the UK market...

    This episode is sponsored by Lea & Sandeman. We're very grateful to them - and to you for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more info, together with all details from this episode including on the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E15 - Grower Champagne with Lea & Sandeman.

    Instagram: @susieandpeter

    • 44 min
    Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal

    Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal

    Light strike is probably the biggest wine fault you've never heard of. Bigger than cork, bigger than oxidation or anything else.

    That pretty-looking bottle of rosé perched on the bright supermarket shelf in a clear glass bottle? Probably knackered. If it's been exposed to light for a while, it may end up smelling of boiled cabbage, drains, or wet dog. At the very least, its character will almost certainly have been degraded from what its winemaker intended. And that's not what you're paying your hard-earned money for.

    It's nothing less than daylight robbery. In this episode, we explain what light strike is, how fast it happens, and which wines are most at risk. We hear from experts, including the co-author of an illuminating recent research paper, and rage against the fact that the problem seems shockingly prevalent, but so little is being done.

    We even carry out our very own applied research experiment (featuring bottles, funnels, argon gas and a blindfold) which gives unequivocal results. We call for wholesale change - from producers, distributors, retailers - and give clear advice on what we normal wine drinkers should do about all this (barricades, tyre burning and civil unrest are proposed...but not necessarily endorsed).

    In this episode we hear from  Panagiotis Arapitsas, Deepika Koushik, Liz Gabay MW, Brad Greatrix and Tom Stevenson. Our thanks to them - and to you for tuning in. 

    We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more info, together with all details from this episode including on the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E14 - Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal.

    Instagram: @susieandpeter

    • 46 min
    Ancient Vines to the Rescue in St Mont

    Ancient Vines to the Rescue in St Mont

    Deep in the wilds of south-west France there's a vineyard that was planted over 200 years ago with unknown vines that may hold the secret to fighting climate change.

    Join us as we head (virtually) out to Gascony to peer into the mists of wine history and see what lessons it holds for the future. Olivier Bourdet-Pees of the dynamic Plaimont cooperative is our genial, beret-wearing guide, introducing us to grape varieties we've never heard of and explaining how this region has been reinvigorated after making some of, 'the worst wine in France 40 years ago'.

    This episode is sponsored by AOC St Mont and features a number of wines including Plaimont's iconic Vignes Préphylloxeriques bottling. 

    We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more info, together with all details from this episode including on the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E13 - Ancient Vines to the Rescue in St Mont. Thanks for tuning in!

    Instagram:

    @susieandpeter

    • 49 min
    ORANGE WINE Part 2: Gimme Some Skin

    ORANGE WINE Part 2: Gimme Some Skin

    So - orange wine. Is it any good? What qualifies a wine to be 'orange'? Does it sell? And who's going to win our argument about one particularly divisive orange wine?!

    Dive into the controversial, topical and intriguing subject of orange wine with us as we chat with Saša Radikon of iconic orange wine producer Radikon (who gives us an exclusive revelation about a new project) and nautral wine guru Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrene. We taste (and largely disagree about) orange wines from Mlečnik, Vagabond and Dario Prinčič. Peter also gets very excited about his, 'lamb litmus test'.

    This is the second and final episode in our epic two-parter on orange wine. You don't need to listen to the first episode to enjoy this one, they stand alone. But Episode 1 features Mateja Gravner and Simon Woolf, author of the brilliant book Amber Revolution.

    We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more details to get in touch on our website (link below). All details from this episode, including full listings of all the wines featured in the show, are on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E12 - ORANGE WINE Part 2: Gimme Some Skin. Thanks for tuning in. Here's to the joy of wine - and cheers to you!

    Instagram:

    @susieandpeter

    • 53 min
    ORANGE WINE Part 1: The Resurrection

    ORANGE WINE Part 1: The Resurrection

    'Please can you do an episode on orange wine?' pleaded listener David.

    'It's not just hipster wine! These are some of the finest wines in the world...'

    How could we resist?

    Orange wine is topical, misunderstood, controversial...

    It's also an intriguing story featuring a wine style lost in the mists of time being painstakingly resurrected by a handful of brave pioneers in the face of stiff opposition.

    So we leap headlong into this arena, asking the all-important questions like: what even IS orange wine? Where did it come from? Why is it misunderstood and controversial? How does it relate to natural wine?

    And ultimately: is orange wine actually any good?!

    In this first instalment in a two-parter on orange wine, we talk to orange wine expert Simon Woolf, author of the brilliant book Amber Revolution: How the World Learned to Love Orange Wine. 

    We also hear from Mateja Gravner of the iconic Friuli-based orange wine producer Gravner. And we recommend a couple of good value orange wines:


    Santa Tresa Insieme Orange 2022, SicilyBurja Estate Zelen 2022, Slovenia 
    Do also check out the second and concluding part of our orange wine 'fest' where we talk to natural and orange wine guru Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrene, and renowned orange wine producer Saša Radikon. Plus we get into a fight over a particularly divisive orange wine...

    We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more details to get in touch on our website (link below).

    All details from this episode, including full listings of all the wines featured in the show, are on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E11 - ORANGE WINE Part 1: The Resurrection

    Thanks for tuning in. Here's to the joy of wine - and cheers to you!

    • 51 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
63 Ratings

63 Ratings

Fan of itsgr82bme ,

Witty Wine Banter with a lovely accent to boot.

Is there anything more enjoyable than listening to a British Couple banter about wine? Probably not, so have a listen and enjoy hearing about all things wine.

Cheers,

chaya_loves_wine

Sawyer917 ,

Gift yourself this podcast.

I have worked at a winery in Oregon, USA and though now that is well behind me I still love to listen, to chat, and enjoy wine speak. Susie and Peter are so much fun to listen to. It feels like the famous George Burns and Gracie of wine. The way their podcast is presented is light hearted and not too serious. What a fresh breath of air in our apocalyptic world in 2023 . Keep up the fun and be certain you have found a new listener in the USA. A bonne santé.

Robb LeBlanc

Dzxdssth ,

What a treat

I have been searching for an informative and fun wine podcast. Had a few false starts elsewhere and then I discovered Wine Blast. I am delighted to have found Susie & Peter. This is an enjoyable and informative podcast, not dull and not frivolous. Binge listening to it from the beginning, and thoroughly enjoying the experience.

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