BIG BLEND “WORLD OF WINE” RADIO SHOW
Listen to Big Blend Radio’s Eat, Drink & Be Merry Show focusing on the history of wine, vegan wines, and wine temperature.
Featured Guests:
– Kevin Begos discusses his new book “Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor & the Search for the Origins of Wine.” Who made the first wine, and where? How do so many flavors and aromas come from grapes? What did ancient wine taste like, and what does the future hold for wine lovers? Journalist Kevin Begos, a former MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow and former AP Correspondent, was inspired to seek answers to these questions after a chance encounter with an obscure vintage made near Jerusalem. He began investigating the mysterious vineyard and quickly found himself caught up in a viticultural detective story—complete with false leads, DNA evidence, and rare grapes hidden in remote valleys and plains across the world. Begos quickly realize how little he and his audience really understood about the origins of wine and set out to find the history. The result is “Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor & the Search for the Origins of Wine,” which chronicles Begos’s journey along the original wine routes—starting in the Caucasus Mountains, where wine was first domesticated 8,000 years ago, then down to Israel and across the Mediterranean to Greece, Italy, France, and finally to America, where vintners are transforming local wine culture by cultivating heirloom grapes with new, diverse flavors.
– Frances Gonzalez, founder of VeganWines.com, talks about the world of vegan wines. Natural, organic, biodynamic, and now vegan: a growing number of drinkers want their wine aligned with their values, and Frances Gonzales is bringing it to them. She seeks out wines from small-scale family-owned wineries that are free of any animal ingredients or inputs, from the soil to the vine to the glass. She says these are the vineyards that produce the best wines, period, not just the best vegan wines. Drinking vegans generally already know to avoid wines made with ingredients like isinglass from fish, gelatin from hooves and sinews, chitosan from crustaceans, albumin from eggs, and casein from milk. Frances goes the extra mile (or kilometer) to ensure wines are vegan from the soil to the glass. Not only are there are no animal by-products used in production, she verifies the winery uses no animal-based soil amendments. For her it’s not about being a level 6 vegan (though…she is), it’s about finding winemakers with the time and patience to care for their grapes properly, and craft their wine artisanally.
– Sommelier Hilarie Larson, co-founder of Northwinds Wine Consulting, shares her tips on Wine Temperatures including how to quickly chill a bottle of wine when you need to serve it right away, what happens if you leave a bottle of wine in the car when it’s hot, and of course, the ideal temerature to enjoy various wines. Hilarie’s passion for wine began in the 1970’s while in the European hospitality industry. In 2003 she began her wine career in earnest in her native British Columbia, Canada, working in the vineyards, cellars and tasting rooms of several wineries. A stint with a Canadian winebroker expanded her knowledge of world wines and marketing as did several years working as Resident Sommelier for a Washington State Winery, providing staff education and training.In 2004 she received her certificate from the Court of Master Sommelier and has since acquired her Certified Specialist of Wine and French Wine Scholar post-nominals. Hilarie consults with wine country businesses to develop well trained, educated teams and speaks at trade and consumer events.
Featured Music includes:
– ‘Holy Water’ by Allison August
– “Summer Wine” by Shelley King
– “Wine Headed” by Johnny Mastro & Mama’s Boys
Thank you to this episode’s sponsors:
– International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association, a global network of journalists who cover the hospitality and lifestyle fields, and the people who promote them.
– Jeremy’s on the Hill California Style Bistro, serving farm-to-table food and local beers and wines, up in San Diego, California’s mountain and back-country region.
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