Vininspo! podcast

Vininspo! Podcast Episode 41: Kym Milne MW, Global Wine Solutions

Subscribe to edmerrison.substack.comFollow on Instagram: @vininspo.wineWith his teetotal forebears and country-town upbringing, Kym Milne wasn’t an obvious candidate for clocking up airmiles and accolades as one of the world’s most influential flying winemakers. But a thirst for travel, a nose for opportunity and a mild-mannered approach to collaboration have taken him from Bordertown to the furthest frontiers and back again.Kym and I crossed paths only recently, when we judged together at the 2026 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. I’d been told to look out for him by one of his deeply satisfied clients, our mutual friend Anita Goode of the Mount Benson winery Wangolina.I could immediately see the cause of her affection. Kym has the kind of deep well of experience that is unfathomable to most of us, but wears his knowledge lightly. He’s seen it all but listens intently, and while you sense the conscientiousness that has taken him so far, he is clearly light of heart. I couldn’t wait to get him on the podcast.Much of the context for this conversation is filled in as we go, but as always, some references could do with clarification. Mundulla-raised Kym talks about the start of his career at Berri Estates in the Riverland, South Australia. The winery and its wares have undergone changes through the years; it now comes under the Vinarchy banner, formed by a merger of parts of the Accolade and Pernod-Ricard operations. One of his mentors there was Ian Mackenzie, a renowned figure in Australian wine judging and sparkling production, perhaps best known for his time at Seppelt. At Roseworthy, he studied under Bryce Rankine, author of the seminal text Making Good Wine, and the influential NZ viticulturist, Richard Smart. Richard, who died last year, was discussed in my interview with Steve Smith MW for episode 16. Coincidentally, Steve was part of the turnaround at Villa Maria alongside Kym under owner George Fistonich. The Hawke’s Bay brands Esk Valley and Vidal also came under his purview as Villa Maria. Other notable Kiwis who enter the fray during discussions about flying winemaking projects are John Hancock of Morton Estate and Trinity Hill fame, and Warren Gibson, founder of Bilancia and Trinity Hill (Hawke’s Bay), as well as consulting winemaker Alastair Maling MW.Elsewhere in the flying winemaking years, we come across the Bordelais Jacques Lurton, who is associated with various projects from Kangaroo Island to Mendoza, and Hugh Ryman, who has likewise made wine everywhere and is one of the partners, along with British wine writer Robert Joseph, behind wine brand Le Grand Noir.Grants of St. James’s was the UK importer of Villa Maria, through which Kym made important contacts. When it was taken over, Kym was part of the small group that engineered the management buyout of its own-label division, International Wine Services (IWS). Lynne Sheriff MW helped Kym scout opportunities in South Africa, and Reid Bosward (instrumental in the modern iteration of Kaesler) is the Barossa winemaker Kym installed in Stellenbosch.Speaking of Stellenbosch, we also mention a few of Global Wine Services’ present and past clients, namely Rustenberg in South Africa, Hunter’s in Marlborough, New Zealand, and, in Chile, Valdivieso and Errázuriz. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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[Vininspo! Alt. Format] How harvest happens at Dr Loosen

2w ago00:30:43Tap to summarize

Ernst Loosen is one of the most recognisable global figures in wine. This indefatigable ambassador for Mosel Riesling pops up all over the place to spread the gospel according to this most versatile of grapes. Dr Loosen has managed to pull off something special as a brand and a domaine: quality at scale and a range of grand-cru bottlings that faithfully express some of the planet’s most breathtaking sites without costing the earth. There’s plenty there to admire, but as a fan of German precision, I wanted to put a more practical question to Erni this time.Erni has been at the helm of the Dr Loosen estate in Bernkastel since the late 1980s. In his time in charge, he has revived lesser-known, ancient German customs by “innovating” with patiently raised, balanced dry wines while respecting the valley’s traditions with precisely delineated off-dry to lusciously sweet styles. When you take into account that Dr Loosen makes single-site wines from 11 grands crus spread across several villages and encompassing all Prädikats, the logistics get quickly complicated. I just wanted to know: Come vintage time, how the heck does he marshal his pickers to get it all done?What follows is the preamble to the podcast, so if you listen to that, you needn’t read this (although it may help familiarise you with place and category names). Similarly, the video below is the interview segment of the podcast, so if you’re reading this, watch that and ignore the podcast. Got it?!The Mosel Valley is in Germany’s west. It’s named after the Mosel River, which rises as the Moselle in the Vosges mountains in France. In Germany, it twists its way up to join the Rhine River at Koblenz. The Upper Mosel, or Obermosel, crosses the border into Germany and winds its way up to the city of Trier. Around here, you have the famous tributaries of the Saar and Ruwer, both of which are home to famous producers and distinctive wines; this area is referenced in my podcast with Cornelius Dönnhoff and Philipp Wittmann.At the opposite end, at the river’s northern tip, you have the Untermosel, or Terrassenmosel, known for its towering stone terraces. This is where you’ll find Heymann-Löwenstein, in honour of whose renegade founder, Reinhard Löwenstein, I penned this tribute. And in between, you have the Mittelmosel, or Middle Mosel. Here, you will find Weingut Dr Loosen and its famous sites.Erni has grand-cru vineyards—the German is Grosse Lagen—in several villages. Travelling downriver, these are Bernkastel, Graach, Wehlen, Ürzig, Erden, Lösnich, Kinheim and Bremm. Using the German convention of adjectivising the place name and prefixing it to the vineyard name, the Grosse Lagen are Bernkasteler Lay, Bernkasteler Johannisbrünchen, Graacher Himmelreich, Graacher Domprobst, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten, Erdener Prälat, Erdener Treppchen, Lösnicher Försterlay, Kinheimer Rosenberg and Bremmer Calmont.The Mosel is Germany’s oldest winegrowing region, with the Romans bringing vines here 2000 years ago. In 1787, the Archbishop of Trier decreed that Riesling replace all inferior vines in the valley. A century later, Germany’s Riesling wines were the most revered and sought-after on the planet. All kinds of things went pear-shaped for Germany in the 20th century, and it also shot itself in the foot with wine laws that undermined the primacy of good farming and the supremacy of Riesling and other quality grapes. These days, Riesling is back where it belongs: No. 1 in Germany. It accounts for just over 62% of the Mosel vineyard.Mosel Riesling is the world’s most distinctive rendition of this grape, and that distinctiveness is borne of hugely specific circumstances, to which the river valley is key. This is a cool, continental climate at high European latitudes. That makes it marginal for ripening Riesling grapes (please refer to my interview with Jason Lett of The Eyrie Vineyards in Oregon for a fantastic explanation of marginality). Though relatively cool, summer days are long, with, hopefully, plenty of sunlight bringing intense, bright flavours to the grapes, which—though they achieve relatively low sugar and therefore potential alcohol levels—hang on the vine for a long time, developing surprising depth.Because water cools more slowly than land, the river helps extend the growing season by delaying the onset of properly cold weather. It also reflects light onto the photosynthesising vines. On the river’s banks, the vines climb steep slopes, ideal for intercepting more light. As you drive up the valley, it’s obvious that most of the planted slopes share the same orientation, facing predominantly south for maximum sunshine in the northern hemisphere.The soils are mostly slate, although Ürziger Würzgarten is extremely rare with its red volcanic rock. These extremely stony soils retain and reradiate heat. This exceptional set of circumstances combines to ensure slow but complete ripeness in a cool place where acidity will naturally be high and grape sugars comparatively low.The steep, stony slopes are not conducive to machinery, and hand-harvesting is a key Mosel custom that Erni and I discuss: grape selection for different wine styles. Another factor giving rise to strict selection is botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. Humidity from the river gives rise to misty autumn mornings, when the fungus begins to attack the grapes, puncturing the skins and causing water loss, thus concentrating flavours, sugars and acids. So long as the grapes stay otherwise healthy, with warm, stable afternoons to dry them out, this can reap benefits and is the key to nobly sweet wines such as Tokaji and Sauternes.This brings us to the point of this interview. The Mosel Valley is the wine region that most fully exploits the full Prädikat spectrum. So called because the style of wine is predicated on a minimum must weight—that is to say, the amount of sugar in the must at the time of harvest, measured in degrees Oechsle—the Prädikat system spans six categories. Starting with the lightest style, Kabinett, the other five Prädikats, in ascending order of minimum must weight, are Spätlese, Auslese, Eiswein, Beerenauslese (BA for short), and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA).Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese can all be dry; therefore, the amount of alcohol and residual sweetness in these wines varies according to the winemaker’s aims. When Erni talks about declassifying fruit, he means that grapes that qualify for Spätlese and above automatically meet the minimum must weight for Kabinett. In the Mosel, you have the option to “declassify” these grapes to the “lower” category of Kabinett, but Erni explains that this would do a disservice to the category and the customer. (Incidentally, his anecdote about the Vinea Wachau, where declassification is outlawed, involves Emmerich Knoll, who crops up in this Austrian Riesling piece).Beerenauslese and Eiswein have the same minimum must weight and are always sweet; the former relies on botrytis to concentrate its sugars, the latter is harvested when fully frozen. This removes water from the equation during pressing, yielding extremely high must weights. Highly rare, expensive Trockenbeerenauslese is made from the highest-quality, totally shivelled, botrytised berries.The other style we talk about is the GGs, or Grosses Gewächs wines. A GG is the top dry wine from a grand-cru vineyard (Grosse Lage) by a member of the VDP. Dr Loosen, Wittmann, Dönnhoff and Gunderloch are all members of this private band of quality-focused growers. Again, there is more context on this in my interviews with Cornelius, Philipp and Johannes Hasselbach of Gunderloch. In the six-minute video embedded above, Erni talks about the terroir of three of his GGs: Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten and Erdener Treppchen. It’s highly illuminating and not as dry as it sounds, I promise.Finally, Erni mentions some of the estate’s wine-growing preferences here, such as excluding botrytis-affected grapes from the Kabinett and GG wines. The estate’s Kabinett and Spätlese wines always have residual sweetness (as a rough guide, usually just above 40g/L of residual grape sugar for the Kabinett and 60-ish for the Spätlese). The Auslese wines comprise roughly 50% healthy and 50% botrytised berries and come in with roughly 90g/L residual sugar. Remember, though, that such wines have extremely high acidity to balance this.If it isn’t already obvious, Erni is something of a maverick, and he produces a couple of sub-genres of GG that sort of shouldn’t exist. These are dry grand-cru wines with extra ageing in barrel and bottle before release, and they’re labelled GG Réserve and GG Homage.I’d like to extend my thanks to Erni Loosen for the generosity with which he has always shared his time and wisdom, and to the Dr Loosen team, who were responsible for most of the superb images on the video version of this podcast. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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Vininspo! Podcast Episode 40: Scott Wasley, The Spanish Acquisition

4w ago01:01:52Tap to summarize

Dubious logic first led Scott Wasley to Spain. First, he figured planes jetting into Sydney for the 2000 Olympics would, once emptied of their sporting spectators, be offering cheap flights back to Europe. And second, he was drinking a slightly stale dry Sherry when that fateful miscalculation fuelled his travel plans with sommelier pal Peter Healy. An Iberian adventure was the seemingly inevitable upshot.What wasn’t remotely inevitable at that stage was that Scott would go on to found Australia’s foremost importer of wines from Spain and Portugal. Based in Melbourne, The Spanish Acquisition hasn’t exactly ridden the Spanish wine renaissance wave over the last 25 years. Instead, the relationship has been somewhat symbiotic, and the pulse of that wave has quickened in tandem with TSA’s rise. Vino de España was barely a puddle in Australia at the turn of the century. In overseas markets generally, modern Spanish wine was far more “modern”—big, ripe, extracted, oaky and red—than it was Spanish. It was only beginning to find its identity and mojo following the slump brought on by the regime of dictator Francisco Franco, who ruled from 1939 until his death in 1975.The new millennium has seen a revolution, and it seems the buzz around Spanish wine is at its loudest right now. My interview with Scott is partly the story of his Iberian Peninsula initiation and partly how the wave has swelled. Along the way, there are many local and personal references, which will be useful to clarify here.The most famous of those are Paul Keating, former Labor Party leader who served as Australia’s 24th Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996, and the late Roland S. Howard, celebrated both as a solo artist and as a member of the Nick Cave-fronted post-punk outfit The Birthday Party. (Scott wore a band t-shirt for the interview.)In the Aussie hospitality scene, Scott mentions working at Universal, the erstwhile Adelaide wine bar of Shaw + Smith winery co-founder Michael Hill-Smith, alongside Scott’s mentor, Duncan Miller. La Corvina is the now-defunct bar in the Melbourne seaside suburb of St Kilda, where Scott was handed the keys by Michael Kennedy.In the same suburb was The George Hotel, whose burgeoning ’90s wine scene was mentioned in my conversation with Matt Paul of the Italian wine importer, Trembath & Taylor, in episode 29. The trajectory of Matt and his former boss, Michael Trembath, is discussed, as is that of my former boss, Patrick Walsh, founder of the importer CellarHand and my guest on episode 4. Further Victorian importers starting around that time were Pinot NOW founder Steve Naughton and Euan McKay, who runs an eponymous wholesaler.Melbourne restaurateurs Andrew McConnell of Trader House and Guy Grossi, who called time on 26 years at CBD institution Grossi Florentino in 2025, also crop up. Other wine friends of Scott’s include former sommelier Peter Healy, who travelled with him to Spain, and Peter Bessey, who was instrumental in the decision to start TSA.A third Peter turns up when we get to Spain: Peter Sisseck, founder of Dominio de Pingus in Ribera del Duero. He forms a monumentally influential trio with Álvaro Palacios and Telmo Rodríguez. The latter two’s projects are so numerous and scattered that it’s hard to keep up, but Álvaro’s name is connected to Palacios Remondo in Rioja, Álvaro Palacios in Rioja and Priorat, and Descendientes de J. Palacios in Bierzo, the last with his nephew Ricardo. Telmo’s famed family estate in Rioja is Remelluri, while other projects include Bodega Lanzaga in Rioja, Ladeiras do Xil in Valdeorras (Galicia), Molino Real in Málaga (Andalucía), Pegaso (Sierra de Gredos) and Al-Muvedre (Valencia).In Jerez that first time, Scott was hosted by Jane Ward of the Sherry bodega Lustau. In Priorat, he visited and counted as an early principal Capçanes, and also met Sara Perez, then of Mas Martinet and later Sara Perez i René Barbier in neighbouring DO Montsant.For more context on the grape varieties Mencía and Albariño, I recommend listening to my excellent conversation with Noah Chichester of the Wines of Galicia Substack for episode 5 (plus a bonus). The Spanish Acquisition website is also a treasure trove of information on Spanish and Portuguese wines.I spoke to Scott on the eve of a Sherry tasting at Prince Wine Store, which also houses a restaurant called Bellota (Spanish for acorn—a food gorged on by pigs that become delicious ham). Speaking of Sherry, Scott has conceived his own, a superb en rama bottling called Albero that sports a label designed by his wife, the artist Leah Teschendorff.And finally, here’s what was on the drinks list for Scott and Leah that night: a sparkling wine from Raventós i Blanc in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Cataluña; a dry, unfortified white from the Palomino grape bottled under the Manuel Antonio de la Riva label, a Sherry bodega revived by Willy Peréz and Ramiro Ibañez; and a red wine based on the Mandó grape from Celler del Roure in Valencia. ¡Salud! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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[Vininspo! Alt. Format] Louis Michel Chablis

Apr 1700:51:12Tap to summarize

The best way to enjoy this episode is to watch the video, which comes complete with subtitles, maps and other visuals. I urge you to watch it; you'll find it at edmerrison.substack.com. Don't forget to follow along with happenings on Instagram, too: @vininspo.wineSo, when Bryan Adams was getting his first real six-string, Guillaume Michel’s grandfather Louis was kissing goodbye to his last oak barrel. Two pivotal moments during the summer of ‘69 right there; one led to a cheesy soft-rock catalogue, the other to a library of flinty, pure Chardonnay. I know which repertoire I prefer.This domaine in the heart of the village of Chablis is a reference point. “Those who favour stainless steel want the purest flavour of Chablis, with the firm streak of acidity and the mineral quality that the French describe as goût de pierre à fusil, or gunflint,” goes the entry in the Oxford Companion to Wine, before declaring: “Louis Michel’s is generally considered to be the epitome of this style.”I’ve known its current custodian, Guillaume, for over a decade and work for his Australian importer, CellarHand. His good humour, exceptional English and incredible vineyard holdings in the historic heart of the appellation convinced me that he is the ideal guest for an in-depth discussion of the lie of the land and the wines it produces.The purpose of this 45-minute video is to start with the historical and geographical basics—climate, topography, geology, etc.—and delve deeper into the subtleties of terroir and how to mitigate challenges to maximise its expression in the glass. Much of this is objective, some is subjective, but I hope it is all, somehow, instructive, adding to a listener’s understanding and, crucially, enjoyment.Guillaume sprinkles the domaine’s specifics through our conversation, but in a nutshell, premier and grand cru wines account for 70% of production at this 25-hectare estate, turning the norm for the region on its head. He owns vines in the Left Bank premiers crus Montmains, Forêts, Vaillons, Séchets and Butteaux (plus a separate parcel bottled as Butteaux Vieilles Vignes), and the Right Bank premiers crus Vaulorent and Montée de Tonnerre. The domaine also produces Grand Cru Chablis from parcels in Grenouilles, Les Clos and Vaudésir.There’s a particularly enlightening segment about flag-bearing premiers crus. This refers to the practice of grouping a family of premier cru sites under a headline or banner climat. Wines carrying the flag-bearer’s name could contain grapes from various sub-climats within the family, or just from the flag-bearing climat or, indeed, a sub-climat within the group that enjoys less fame than the flag-bearer. We discuss Guillaume’s Forêts, Butteaux and Montmain wines, all of which are grown on the Montmain hill. Séchets and Vaillons grow on the Vaillons hill. On the Right Bank, Vaulorent is part of the Fourchaume premier cru grouping, and Montée de Tonnerre is a flag-bearing premier cru.The maps help illustrate this, and my thanks go out to the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) for its assistance with visual material. It is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Burgundy’s wines. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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Vininspo! Podcast Episode 39: Jane Thomson OAM

Apr 901:08:04Tap to summarize

Get every Vininspo! episode as soon as it drops on Substack: edmerrison.substack.com; follow on Instagram: @vininspo.wineJane Thomson still gets grossly underestimated. Her substance, strength and sensitivity—not to mention a grasp of behavioural psychology that is so rare in the industry—make a mockery of those who dismiss her Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society as mere froth and bubbly. When I interviewed her last month, Jane had just returned from New York, where she was a delegate at the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) at the United Nations headquarters. That invitation to the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality came just a couple of years after she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to women in the oenology sector.Nonetheless, there is a sense that—in the fragmented world of wine—the founder and chief executive of the Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society might still go unnoticed in certain circles of the wine community. She is perhaps the victim of a general tendency to pigeonhole people and a more specific, maybe sexist, propensity for wine not to take fun seriously, particularly where women are involved.The enjoyment factor among the 10,000 members of Jane’s organisation belies the fact that it does a great deal of important work. Aside from the value of companionship and moral support, this group has brought attention to various inequalities in the Australian wine scene, from gender pay disparities to grave issues with retaining women in the workforce as viticulturists, cellar hands and winemakers. It also spearheaded the Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA), first held in 2015, which has since evolved into the Australian Women in Wine movement, whose flagship event is the Australian Women in Wine National Symposium. It also supports the wine sector by offering high-engagement tours, tastings, and dinners that drive sales.Jane and I cover all these facets in our conversation, and there is little need for additional context. However, there are some names that mightn’t be familiar to a non-Australian listener. When discussing the launch of AWIWA, Jane mentions wine writer Jeni Port and her 2001 book, Crushed by Women. Among clients of the Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society, Jane mentions Louise Hemsley-Smith, co-owner of Battle of Bosworth in McLaren Vale, and Emma Raidis of Raidis Estate in Coonawarra.We also discuss the path to implementing the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Wine (DEIW) Charter and accompanying Gender Equity Toolkit, developed by industry bodies Wine Australia and Australian Grape & Wine.One positive influence who emerges much earlier in Jane’s life is Australian psychologist, social researcher and writer Hugh Mackay. On the negative side, as our chat turns towards those who promote inequality, Australia’s tiny-minded, right-wing populist political party, One Nation, crops up. Cory Bernardi, Australian politician and leader of One Nation South Australia, is invoked as a “big name”, but maybe you have never heard of him, and hopefully you never will. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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Vininspo! Podcast Episode 38: Stephen Wong MW

Mar 2601:14:48Tap to summarize

Get all these stories as soon as they drop bt subscribing to ed.merrison.substack.comFollow on Instagram: @vininspo.wineThere’s a moment in our interview where Stephen Wong talks about playing twin tracks of his life in tandem, a micro-focused intellectual yin and an expansive, warmly hospitable yang, perhaps. Had the yin lacked the yang, perhaps he would have remained a respectable barrister and had his life mapped out for him, just as it was for his Singaporean boarding school classmates. As it happened, chance encounters with Central Otago winemakers and a student job in a Thai restaurant turned this brilliant mind onto wine, in all its aesthetic, scientific, historical, sociological and cultural glory. Wine fought the law, and the wine won.Stephen is a Wellington-based Master of Wine, and Wine Sentience is effectively the business banner under which he carries out his roles as consultant, educator, wine judge, reviewer, presenter, and more. I’ve known of Stephen for a long time, but we finally met in November 2025 as panel chairs at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show in Mildura. Each of our conversations felt tantalisingly short because so many interesting threads emerged, demanding to be tugged on. I suspect everyone who speaks to Stephen experiences the same thing.No surprise, then, that this conversation ran a little long. There are quite a few names that come up; I will try to cover most of them in these show notes. Among early influences in New Zealand, Stephen mentions his fellow MW and Real Review contributor Jane Skilton, as well as winemaker Carol Bunn (once dubbed the queen of Central Otago Pinot), wholesale wine rep Christine Comerford, hospitality doyenne Wendy Morgan (née Hillyer), late wine critic Raymond Chan, late industry giant John Follas, Gibbston Valley founder Alan Brady and Quartz Reef winemaker Rudi Bauer (both in Central Otago).Speaking of the Master of Wine, Stephen mentions the first seminar he attended in Australia, hosted by Andrew Caillard MW, at which he encountered Ned Goodwin MW, Andrea Pritzker MW (my guest on episode 2) and Sydney sommelier Sophie Otton. Dr Liz Thach MW is the wine writer he namechecks from his eye-opening first trip to Napa.In the segment about “natural wine”—taken here to loosely connote wines free from additions or compulsions to be strait-laced adherents to the edicts of the conventional or mainstream scene—Stephen mentions the influential MW and RAW Wine founder Isabelle Legeron MW. Henry Hariyono, then of Artisan Cellars, was the influential natural wine and grower Champagne aficionado who introduced Stephen to the wines of Jacques Selosse and Marie Courtin. The wines of Joško Gravner and the late Stanko Radikon are mentioned when we talk about the inaptitude of the existing wine lexicon to describe orange and natural wines; the same goes for the Pinot Noir of Burgundy’s Philippe Pacalet.On a more traditional level, great Côte d’Or producers include Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Domaine Armand Rousseau, Domaine Georges Roumier, and Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier. The expression Parker wines refers to the oft-cited, outsized influence of the critic Robert Parker (founder of The Wine Advocate) and his penchant for big, rich, ripe wines.Finishing with the contemporary New Zealand scene, Stephen mentions the recent deaths of Dog Point co-founder James Healy and Tim Finn of Neudorf, whose wife Judy joined me for episode 34. Elephant Hill (Hawke’s Bay), Seresin, Fromm and Churton (all Marlborough) are cited as famous wineries for sale. When Stephen talks of the rise of the cru or lieu-dit in New Zealand—sites that make a name for themselves with wines of consistently high quality and discernible character—he mentions Churton, as well as Wrekin (Marlborough), Calvert (Central Otago) and Two Terraces (Hawke’s Bay), as well as the terroir-led endeavours of Smith + Sheth and Pyramid Valley, both of which count Steve Smith MW (episode 16) as their modern mastermind.In other matters, Stephen mentions reviewing the VDP’s Grosses Gewächs (grand-cru dry bottlings) wines; you can hear more about Germany’s VDP from my chat with Cornelius Dönnhoff and Philipp Wittmann. Finally, we have a fascinating discussion about alternative ways to convey and communicate wine, where Stephen talks about the tech solution he worked on, Stompy/TasteMPR, with his old university friend, Andy Williams. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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Vininspo! Podcast Episode 37: Felicity Carter, Drinks Insider

Mar 1300:57:01Tap to summarize

Don't miss an episode! Subscribe on SubstackInstagram: @vininspo.wineFelicity Carter is in demand. It would probably be better for us wine-lovers if she weren’t—but if anyone is fit to report on a wine industry in crisis, it’s this globe-trotting journalist who’s made it her business to cover the business of wine from all angles..Australia-born Felicity resides in Germany, where she served for many years as the editor-in-chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International. She joined the publication when it had 800 subscribers and, harnessing a team of correspondents, turned it into an indispensable trade magazine read in 38 countries. The publication closed in June 2025, four years after Felicity called time on her 12-year stint there.These days, Felicity reports on all things drinks on her Substack, Drinks Insider, which has a podcast element. Last year, she won the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award for Best Audio for an episode that aired on its sub-podcast, Wine + Health. The subject of that episode was the alcohol J-curve—the idea that moderate consumption has a positive health impact, while harms rise precipitously as intake increases. Felicity’s robust interview with Professor Tim Stockwell, who has become the central figure in attempts to debunk the J-curve, is highly recommended and can be found here.Felicity and I discuss this subject at length, as well as the serious harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption and her mission to provide balance to an argument that is increasingly skewed towards “denormalising” drinking and treating alcohol like tobacco. Another fascinating area of Felicity’s reporting has been on the reinvention of historic temperance groups as public health bodies, such as Movendi International. We speak about how an alliance of activists, scientists and NGOs attempts to influence policy.One strong voice on the other side of the argument is Argentina’s Dr Laura Catena, the physician and fourth-generation vigneron who serves as managing director of Bodega Catena Zapata in Mendoza. Felicity mentions Dr Catena when she reels off her recent speaking duties. We also discuss another source of balance to this argument: Unati (University of Navarra Alumni Trialist Initiative), which seeks to establish whether there is such a thing as healthy drinking via a randomised clinical trial.Our conversation also delves into marketing, a key subject on the Question of Drinks podcast that Felicity co-hosts with the UK-based founder of Wine Intelligence, Lulie Halstead. Marketing and research also fall within the remit of London-headquartered fine-wine think tank Areni Global. Felicity is the group’s editorial director and alludes to Areni Global co-founder Nicole Rolet. We discuss a recent research project undertaken by Areni executive director Pauline Vicard in collaboration with Berry Bros & Rudd, 67 Pall Mall and LVMH Vins d’Exception.A couple of other references that need explaining are Edward Slingerland’s book, whose excellent subtitle I couldn’t recall, Drunk—How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilisation, and Felicity’s interview with Kirk French, the Penn State professor who developed the hugely popular Anthropology of Alcohol (aka Booze and Culture) course. We also mention T-shirtgate, a mischievous reference to the controversy surrounding a group of future leaders of the Aussie wine industry—the Coonawarra Vignerons’ Next Crop cohort—who landed in hot water for appearing in a photograph wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan Drink More, Die Younger. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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[Vininspo! Alt. Format] Wittmann & Dönnhoff

Mar 601:06:52Tap to summarize

“1663 is just a number,” Philipp Wittmann tells me, and in some ways it is. But also, 350-plus years of growing fruit in your village is likely to give you some kind of edge. The Dönnhoff family’s farming roots in the Nahe are shallower—a mere 270 years—and it’s true that it was Cornelius’s father, the preternaturally gifted Helmut Dönnhoff, who shot this estate to fame. Cornelius and his friend Philipp are among the world’s best growers of white wine, and their ideas have all the cut, clarity and refreshment factor of their Rieslings.This fantastic conversation took place when the men heading Weingut Wittmann in Westhofen in the Rheinhessen and Weingut Dönnhoff in the Nahe were visiting their Australian importer, CellarHand—my part-time employer, whose support made this episode possible. We sat down for an hour-long chat in which I grilled them on their respective regions, villages and sites, their approaches to Riesling and ‘the Burgundy varieties’ (Weissburgunder or Pinot Blanc, Grauburgunder or Pinot Gris, plus Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) and their overarching thoughts on German and global fine wine that professes to express its origin.Though, of course, there is specific and esoteric material here, I have deliberately recorded this with a broad audience in mind. Yes, those with an interest in German wine have the most to gain, but as is always the case with Vininspo!, I fervently believe that these topics provide context for a broader appreciation of wine and the world—a lens through which to view it with more colour, definition and delight. This episode should serve as a conversation starter, or furtherer, in itself.Speaking of context, though, it’s best to go into this knowing a few things about the estates and their wines. Weingut Wittmann is situated south of Nackehnheim, the Rhine-front Rheinhessen region from which Johannes Hasselbach hails, and east of Oberhausen an der Nahe, home of the Dönnhoff estate. Eleventh-generation winegrower Philipp has vines in a couple of Grosse Lagen (grand-cru designated sites) in Nierstein, the neighbouring village to Nackenheim, but his main vineyard sources are in Westhofen, where you’ll find his Grosse Lagen Aulerde, Kirchspiel, Brunnenhäuschen and Morstein. He has one other grand cru, Höllenbrand, on the similarly limestone-rich soils of Gundersheim.Philipp is married to the hugely talented Eva Clüsserath, whom he met at the famous Geisenheim University in the Rheingau region on the right bank of the Rhine, north of Nahe/Rheinhessen. Eva is in charge of her family’s Ansgar Clüsserath estate in the village of Trittenheim in the Mosel Valley. We briefly discuss these wines.Cornelius Dönnhoff’s sites in the Nahe Valley are only about a 45-minute drive west of Philipp, but the soils, climate and landscape are very different. The Nahe River snakes its way up to join the Rhine at Bingen, opposite Rüdesheim in the Rheingau. Cornelius lists his villages/sites as you head up the river, i.e. heading south/southwest from its confluence with the Rhine. We talk about the following vineyards: Höllenpfad in Roxheim; Kahlenberg and Krötenpfuhl in Bad Kreuznach; Dellchen and Kirschheck in Norheim; Klamm and Hermannshöhle in Niederhasuen; Leistenberg and Brücke in Oberhausen; and Kupfergrube and Felsenberg in Schlossböckelheim.With his Nahe vineyards severely hit by frost in 2024, Cornelius sourced grapes from Philipp and from their friend Nicola Libelli, winemaker at the Dr Bürklin-Wolf estate in the Pfalz region, to the south of Rheinhessen.We inevitably discuss German wine labels and law, but please don’t be put off! It is articulated well. There is some discussion of the notorious German Wine Law of 1971. This enshrined the practice of predicating (hence the word Prädikat) German quality levels upon the ripeness of the grapes at harvest.Kabinett is the lightest, followed by Spätlese and Auslese. Crucially, all these wines can be dry or sweet, depending on the winemaker’s choice. (Usually, it boils down to whether he or she decides to stop the fermentation before the yeasts consume all the sugars.) Since Auslese is made with the ripest grapes, the sweetest ones can be fully sweet or luscious, while Kabinett tends to be dry, off-dry or semi-dry, and Spätlese is never sweet enough to be a dessert wine.The Germans also refer to these wines with residual sweetness as “fruity”, as opposed to dry. Dönnhoff is a master of all these styles, and Cornelius explains the challenge well. Eiswein, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese are the ripest Prädikat styles, all lusciously sweet, and the latter two are made with nobly rotten (botrytised) grapes.Wittmann and Dönnhoff are both members of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter). This is an association of 200-odd winegrowers, whose mission in recent decades has been to address some of the “unfortunate consequences” of that ’71 law. We discuss these in the podcast, along with the VDP’s aim to emphasise origin and quality grape-growing practices as key determinants of quality. The VDP quality pyramid contains four ascending tiers as fruit origin decreases in size and increases in pedigree: Gutswein (estate), Ortswein (village), Erste Lage (Premier Cru) and Grosse Lage (grand cru). A VDP member’s top dry wine from a Grosse Lage is labelled as a Grosses Gewächs or GG. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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Vininspo! Podcast Episode 36: Jason Lett, The Eyrie Vineyards

Feb 2601:08:41Tap to summarize

I don’t remember when I first became aware of Eyrie’s existence. It just isn’t possible to interact with Pinot Noir obsessives without this domaine coming to your attention. It owes its existence to a pioneering pinotphile who bet the farm on the entirely untested potential of the Dundee Hills to grow wines whose long-lived beauty would resonate across the globe. The Willamette Valley is now one of the stars around which the Pinot world revolves, and The Eyre Vineyards lies at its core.Vininspo! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.My first conversation with Jason came a couple of years ago. It was an information-gathering exercise back then; the kind of chat where you’re digging for facts, not words of wisdom. But I was struck by how clearly his thoughts—from an incisive, open mind that didn’t profess to be right about everything—deserved to be weighed by a far wider audience.The estate was founded in 1965 by David Lett and his wife, Diana. It’s impossible to talk about Eyrie without delving into the character nicknamed Papa Pinot, and Jason shares plenty of insight on the estate’s foundations. The handover of the reins was a protracted, sometimes difficult, process, and Jason took the lead at Eyrie in 2005. That was three years before David’s death, after which Jason and Diana continued as co-owners. He pays tribute to his mother’s enormous contribution here.If Oregon hasn’t been on your radar, this conversation offers excellent insight and context. However, a few names warrant explanation. Jason talks about what David Lett learned at the University of California, Davis, including his close friendships with men who went on to establish estates in the Willamette Valley: Charles Coury (Charles Coury Vineyard) and Bill Fuller (Tualatin Vineyards). He also mentions David Adelsheim, who worked at Eyrie and went on to found Adelsheim Vineyard in 1971, the same year that Bill Blosser, also mentioned, planted the first vines at Sokol Blosser in the Dundee Hills.Jason refers to Victor Pulliat’s book, Mille Variétés de Vignes, Description et Synonymies, which was instrumental in David Lett’s choice to plant Melon de Bourgogne, Muscat Ottonel, Meunier, Riesling and Gewürztraminer alongside his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These were classified as Period One grapes, meaning they could ripen in the coolest climates where winegrowing was considered viable. Jason has since opted against Riesling and Gewürz and added Trousseau, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chasselas to the roster. This last one was noticed by prominent Swiss viticulture researcher and family friend, Werner Koblet.Other important influences referenced are André Tchelistcheff, the long-serving winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyards, a star who led the post-Prohibition flowering of the Californian wine scene. Becky Wasserman-Hone, meanwhile, was the barrel broker-turned-influential importer who inadvertently got Eyrie noticed on the global stage. She was instrumental in facilitating the Letts’ friendships in Burgundy. In that Pinot motherland, Michel Lafarge (Domaine Michel Lafarge in Volnay), Gérard Potel (known for his mythical wines at Domaine de la Pousse D’Or) and Lalou Bize-Leroy (Domaine Leroy) are mentioned. Looming even larger, thanks to their faith in Oregon’s terroir, is the Drouhin family of Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune and Domain Drouhin in the Willamette Valley.The Eyrie wines are not currently being imported into Australia, which is a dreadful shame. I hope someone will be game to take up the mantle. In any case, The Eyrie Vineyards has a tasting room in McMinnville, Oregon. I’ve never visited, but I hope to one day. I know the Lett family and their team would love to see you, so get there if you can. “In a region of increasingly opulent tasting rooms, the historic Eyrie Vineyards keeps the focus on the beauty inside the glass,” was Wine Enthusiast’s verdict. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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Vininspo! Podcast Episode 35: Giuseppe Vaira, G.D. Vajra

Feb 1201:00:45Tap to summarize

Giuseppe Vaira is one of those tireless torchbearers whose faith in his region is matched by an exemplary work ethic, the uniformly beautiful results of which constantly justify and fuel that belief. It’s a virtuous cycle that has seen many people fall in love with the Langhe through these wines.The first time I met him was at the family winery in Vergne when I was taking time off from an assignment at a trade fair in Milan. He’d just landed home from a trade trip in steamy Singapore, jet-lagged and jaded from pouring Nebbiolo in 35-degree heat, when my family and I were halfway through a tasting. His mother, Milena, told him we were visitors from England. He plunged immediately into consummate host mode.I have the good fortune to know him pretty well now, having worked with the family’s wines for the past seven years with his Australian importer. This conversation took place at the end of January 2026 at the start of a five-day trade visit. It should be easy to follow, but it is useful to have a handle on the estate’s makeup, as well as the Piedmontese luminaries that crop up.G.D. Vajra was founded in 1972 by Giuseppe’s father, Aldo. It takes its name from Aldo’s father, Giuseppe Domenico Vaira, even though he did not work in the wine industry. (The family name is written with an ‘i’; a printing error in the early days led to the adoption of the ‘j’ styling.) It was, in fact, on Giuseppe’s great-grandfather’s farm that Aldo had his first taste of vineyard work. Aldo and Milena are still involved in the business, which is headed by Giuseppe and his siblings, Francesca and Isidoro (Isi).Vergne is in Barolo, one of the 11 communes that make up the Barolo production area. This commune is home to the family’s most famous vineyard, Bricco delle Viole, as well as Coste di Rose. G.D. Vajra also produces Barolo from the neighbouring commune of Novello (the Ravera MGA or Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva). In 2009, the family purchased the Luigi Baudana estate in Serralunga d’Alba on the eastern side of Barolo, and we speak about the climatic and geological differences between these two areas. Broadly speaking, the soils of the east are generally referred to as Serravallian (the term Helvetian was formerly used), while Tortonian soils characterise the northwestern communes of Barolo and La Morra, which are closer to the Tanaro River. While acknowledging the inadequacies of these generalisations, the former tend to feature less fertile, yellow-grey compacted sand and clay, and the latter, younger, more fertile blue-grey marl.Giuseppe and I discuss a range of grape varieties, from lesser-known heirloom grapes making a comeback to the more celebrated mainstays that enjoy solid reputation on international wine lists. In the former camp are the likes of Naschetta, Slarina, Chatus (aka Nebbiolo di Dronero) and Freisa. Anna Schneider and Stefano Raimondi are the renowned ampelographers associated with the University of Turin who have helped identify and revive some of these traditional, forgotten varieties. On the more mainstream front, we talk about the three key reds: Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo, this last responsible for the Barolo and Barbaresco wines that are the pride of Piedmont.In our chat, I refer to an anecdote that came up in Aldo Vaira’s appearance on Levi Dalton’s I’ll Drink to That podcast. It concerns an encounter with some late legends of Barolo: Aldo Conterno (his brother Giovanni also gets a mention), Bartolo Mascarello (whose daughter Maria Teresa is mentioned) and Dogliani great Quinto Chionetti. (As an aside, the Vaira family also produce wines from Piedmont’s Dogliani region under their Monterustico label.) Beppe Colla, whose name is synonymous with the great Prunotto wines and who later founded his own Poderi Colla label, appears a couple of times. Angelo Gaja, Beppe Rinaldi and Bruno Giacosa, each attached to an eponymous label, also crop up. Of them, only Angelo Gaja is still alive.Our conversation also dips into a couple of cultural areas. One concerns the so-called Barolo Boys and the 1980s divide that opened up in the area between the aforementioned modernists and traditionalists, the former espousing the use of smaller, newer French oak barriques for softer, slow-maturing wines as opposed to the more backward, reticent, slower-maturing wines traditionally aged in larger, older Slavonian oak botti. And, a different slant on aesthetics, we discuss the influence and artworks of Father Costantino Ruggieri, who designed the G.D. Vajra winery’s beautiful stained glass windows, and Gianni Gallo, whose gorgeous works adorn the family’s labels, as well as those of Vietti and Bruno Rocca. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit edmerrison.substack.com/subscribe

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