The astute among you will recognise that I have already recorded a podcast interview wIth José María Fraile of Bodega Tandem. That was at an O'Brien's Wines Fair held at Dublin Castle back in Dec 2019. You can listen to it HERE. I just did. Not bad. Not bad at all! What was missing, however, was Jose's partner in business and winemaker at Tandem, the very gifted Alicia Eyaralar. Well, here they are together in our new podcast and here they are together at the winery: I am a complete fan of the wines of Navarra in Northern Spain. The region offers a uniquely diverse collection of grape types and a great understanding of how to blend from both new and old vines. Then there's the great differences across the region in terms of climate, geology and geographies.  Then there's Tandem! This is a super modern winery bringing grapes in from ancient mountainsides. The team at Tandem does as as little as possible as these grapes are transformed into bottled wines. The result is a collection of finely crafted beauties. Listen in and find out why, and how, Tandem goes about its craft. Enjoy.     The wines of Bodega Tandem are imported to Ireland by O'Briens Wines.

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

Bodega Tandem: Brilliance in Navarra

When WineOnline.ie was launched back in 2007 it was a groundbreaker. The first of its kind always is! There are loads of online wine stores out there now. These weren't there when Anne Mullin and Gerry Fitzsimons developed WineOnline.ie. Indeed it was unthought at the time that their creation would one day be in competition with not just these but also a wide variety of bricks and mortar retailers also.  It is testament to how brilliant WineOnline.ie is that it has not only held its own against allcomers but has also constantly redeveloped itself, time and again, to suit an ever changing winescape. Online events. Off line events. Hampers. Spirits. Gifts. Special Offer cases of wine and more. Much more. In this podcast we explore the world of WineOnline.ie with Will Mullin. What goes on behind the scenes? Where has WineOnline.ie come from? Indeed, where has Will Mullin come from and where do their wines come from .  .  . ! This is entertaining, informative and really, really interesting. Enjoy. 

WineOnline.ie : A podcast with Will Mullin

In this podcast we chat with Fernando Rodríguez de Rivera, of the fabulous Bodegas PradoRey farm and vineyard in Ribero del Duero. PradoRey (Kings Meadow) is the largest estate in the north of Spain - 7km stretch of the Duero river; 520 hectares of vineyard; a hydroelectric dam that dates back to 1858; a dairy farm with 800 Friesian cows; a flock of 1800 Churra sheep; a 3hectare solar panel farm; a 17th century 18 room palace for tourist accomodation and a 16th century chapel. This is mega. The wines are equally impressive!   Ribero del Duero is a fascinating wine producing region. It is high - vineyards might be 1000m asl! This gives the region harsh and tough winters but also spectacular diurnal shifts during the warm summers. And these are Good! The local Tempranillo grape has a small berry and is referred to as Tinto Fino. 90% of the DO is planted to this grape. The resulting wines are big, bold, age worthy and distinctly food friendly. PradoRey  is imported to Ireland by Classic Drinks. 

PradoRey: Ribero del Duero Excellence

LUXARDO is a name that I have always associated with beautifully crafted spirits of the highest quality.    The family has just celebrated its 200th anniversary of being in business. We are honoured to have been joined in this podcast by the Luxardo cousins, Nicolò and Matteo.   The family history is peppered with difficulty and war torn strife. There can be very few companies that have had to see their entire operation completely destroyed by war - then, with extraordinary determination succesfully rebuilt, brick by brick and cherry tree by cherry tree. Original Maraschino Cherries are mouth wateringly exceptional. It's a taste that is impossible to forget. The LUXARDO MARASCA cherry is a unique cultivar grown across the north East of Italy. Each tree is overseen by the Luxardo's.  The Luxardo range is fleshed out by brilliant products such as Limoncello, Sambuca, Triple Sec, Gin and others. None disappoint. Cocktails just aren't the same without a Luxardo present. Have a look at the Luxardo 200th to see cocktails in action! Luxardo advert from 1828

Nicolò and Matteo Luxardo: 200 Years of Excellence

Nugan Estates is a winery based in New South Wales in Australia. It is the 13th largest exporter of branded wines in Australia, a top 20 wine producer and whose wines are imported directly to Ireland by the Musgrave Group. As such the Nugan labels are widely available through SuperValu and Centra stores. In this podcast 3rd generation Matthew Nugan brings us on a journey. Along the way we explore his family's quite brilliant history as farmers all the way to where they have become one of Australia's most successful wine producers. Matthew (above) with winemaker Daren Owers. They won the Wine and Spirits magazine's 2021 Star of Australia and Star Design for their Scruffy’s Shiraz. The range of labels available from Nugan is extensive and impressive. The Nugan Web Site is a trove of information while the Supervalu/Centra shelves are a willing source of the treasure it tells us to explore!  

Matthew Nugan of Nugan Estates: a Great Australian Success Story

In this episode I chat with Dave Gifford who set up The Allotment Wine Company last year. Yes, right in the middle of our Covid lockdowns! Brave or Bonkers? Let Chris explain himself all the way from how to get into the wine trade, how to stay in it and how to set up an online wine store. Great story.  Brave. Dave has been in our trade for quite a long time. Many will know him from his time in retail all the way from the ground breaking McCabes on Mt Merrion Ave to the excellent, 'The Corkscrew' on Chatham Street in Dublin. He is well educated with his WSET credentials and knows a good wine when he tastes one. The Allotment Wine Co sells to a private client base and via an online portal. Online Wine Sales is an area that I am always interested in hearing about. It is also an area of growth across the world of wine these days. So, what better place to talk about growth than down at your new, and friendly, Allotment. Enjoy.   

The Allotment Wine Co : New Shoots for Our Wine Trade

Dunnes Stores recently held a fascinating online tasting of its WEINHAUS range of wines produced by the great Reh Kendermann in Germany. The tasting was hosted by Alison Fleming, Master of Wine. It was quite brilliant. We are thrilled that Alison agreed to give some of her time, and to share her expertise in relation to the wines of Germany, with us here at the WinePod. German wine continues to be either misunderstood or not understood at all. What a pity. They produce exquisite wines. Listen in here and find out why. Enjoy.    

Alison Flemming MW: Reh Kendermann and the Wines of Germany

When I visited Vasse Felix way back in 2010 I was bowled over by the quality of its wines. At the heart of this story was its  chief winemaker Virginia Wilcox. If anyone dares to say that there are no winemakers around who can instil their sheer fabulous enthusiasm, extreme dedication and insane ability into their wine year after year after year after .... then they have yet to meet Virginia! Vasse Felix is the founding winery of the unique area that is the Margaret River in Western Australia. South of Perth this is a wine making region that is truly alone in the world. It is also a region that everyone interested in wine, everyone that likes wine and everyone with even a hint of curiosity of what might make one wine more brilliant than another needs to know about. The Margaret River, its wines and Vasse Felix are unique in the world of wine. This is a powerful story, told by an amazing winemaker who brings us wines to dazzle. Vasse Felix is imported to Ireland by Cassidy Wines. 

Virginia Wilcox at Vasse Felix: A podcast from the Heart of the Margaret River.

Gerard Bertrand is a winemaker of tremendous ability. More importantly he is an extraordinary human being. He has the vision of a poet and when he speaks it is uplifting and positive. His eleven great wine estates across the South of France contain the greatest collection of organic and biodynamic vines in the world. Image from The Buyer In this podcast Gerard invites us into his world, a place where he feels uniquely honoured to be a part of. The Gerard Bertrand website is a superb read. It is littered with worldly advice and is richly philosophic. For instance it describes his Clos d'Ora wine as 'Unique and bordering on the sublime, the Clos d'Ora is, more than a wine, a unique experience, a suspended moment in which the intention of its creator, the work of man and animal, the patient power of the plant on the base of the mineral resonates.       The wines of Gerard Bertrand are brought to Ireland by O'Briens Wines. In addition, Dunnes Stores also imports from the Bertrand stable of labels.       

Gerard Bertrand: Peace, Love, Harmony and Exceptional Wine

I have been a long time fan of the work that Wine Intelligence does for the wine trade. It provides us with context and data. Both are vital to our understanding of how the trade works and where it might be heading to next. In this podcast Richard Halstead, COO of Wine Intelligence, allows us to have a look inside his organisation. We hear how it goes about its work towards the three aims of conducting Research, supplying expert Consulting and writing in depth Reports. As with all trades there are many back stories to the wine we buy and the wines we are presented with. The Wine Intelligence story is one of these - and it's a fascinating one. Enjoy.  

Wine Intelligence - a podcast chat with Richard Halstead

Peter Dauthieu is a Director at Ehrmann's, a leading distributor across the UK and Ireland. He is based in Jerez, is MD of Viniberia and responsible for Viniberia Almacenista which consolidates the sherry range sold by Ehrmann's in the UK. Peter has worked  in the wien trade  since 1997 - at Ehrmann's Wines aand also as Export Director at CVNE. In 2002 Peter graduated with a Wine MBA from Bordeaux University. I originally approached Ehrmann's through their distributor, United Wines, with a view to explore the 'BeefSteak Club' wines. I have a great admiration for companies that can develop value brands that in turn deliver very drinkable wine. The BeefSteak label does just that! Peter very quickly changed my mind by pointing out that, as he lives in Jerez (and is quite the Sherry expert), I might begin the Ehrmann's story with a podcast on almacenista sherry with an additional focus on his family's long association with the great sherry bodega, Williams and Humbert. (BeefSteak to follow at a later date ... ) Yes Please! You never have to ask me twice when it comes to talking about what is probably one of the most exciting wines and wine regions in the world.   

Ehrmanns and Sherry : a podcast with Peter Dauthieu jr

I took part in a Virtual Wine Tour of Lanzarote recently. It was brilliant. What an extraordinary landscape! This image is from Turismo Lanzarote. Watch the video HERE before you listen to this podcast with Ollie Horton of Wine Tours Lanzarote. It brings it all alive! Wine Tours Lanzarote was set up by Ollie Horton, an English man from the Channel Islands. (He does, intriguingly, mention that there was an Irishman involved also ...) The business seemed like a great idea for someone with a background in  - surfing and finance! Well, it was. Why? Because Ollie knew the island backwards, had taken a genuine interest in its unique wines and craft beers. He could see there was a gap in the market. His potential customer base would be found hidden amongst the hundreds of thousands of sun seeking tourists who flocked in from the UK and Ireland every year. Bingo. It worked. And why not - Lanzarote has some of the most extraordinary vineyards in the world built into its slopes of ancient lava flows. Then Covid hit. Tourism ceased and the Lanzarote Wine Tours business crashed.  Not to be deterred Ollie set up Lanzarote Virtual Wine Tours along with an online wine shop - Wine Shop Lanzarote. They work hand in hand as when you buy a virtual tour you are also sent a bottle of wine from the Island.    The wine shop is top class. It gathers the best products from a number of the island's best wineries and allows you to mix and match. Delivery was initially a UK and Ireland only service but has since expanded across the rest of Europe. This podcast has a slight echo feel to Ollie's voice - but, then, he was speaking to us from an island! Enjoy.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------- While all restaurants in Ireland were closed until Christmas 2020  many reopened. That was great news - Open Again. Then we heard that they had to close once more - on Christmas Eve. Tough times, Tough times indeed. Here's hoping for a more successful business environment in 2021. Hopefully after Easter? was the Hope. Now it's likely mid June - outdoor dining only.... We should remember that many of these, including the wonderful Monty's of Kathmandu, are family businesses. They are often small and brilliant and need our support more than ever. Keep Safe and Keep well.  Kevin Ecock's WinePod is brought to us with the assistance of the Santa Rita Wine Room at Monty's of Kathmandu - an excellent place to host your next event or celebration. Contact Shiva at 01 -6704911 or HERE at the Santa Rita Wine Room web page.

Lanzarote Wine Tours and Wine Shop: A Fabulous Experience

Sinead and Liam Cabot run an excellent wine distribution business, Cabot and Co., in Westport, Co. Mayo They also run an excellent vineyard and wine production business, (Roka is the brand) in Slovenia. At one time they also operated an excellent wine store in the IFSC in Dublin. Clearly, while they are defined by excellence they can also be defined as a couple who are willing to travel the long mile to find it. The recording for this podcast caught up with the Cabots just after they had driven 2,500kms to their vineyard. It is in Kog in the Stajerska region of eastern Slovenia.  We began with the obvious! How do you do it? Why? This quickly moved on to the history of their venture and finally the wines. What a great story. True passion. Genuine emotion. 'Roka' means 'Hand' and the three wines that I have recently tasted are excellent, memorable and unique to their origin and production. The Cabot website has a fabulous piece on the vineyard and its wines written by Tamlyn Curran. Read it HERE.   Roka is on sale in Ireland across many select wine stores. It sells out every year. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- While all restaurants in Ireland were closed until Christmas 2020  many reopened. That was great news - Open Again. Then we heard that they had to close once more - on Christmas Eve. Tough times, Tough times indeed. Here's hoping for a more successful business environment in 2021. Hopefully after Easter? was the Hope. Now it's likely mid June - outdoor dining only.... We should remember that many of these, including the wonderful Monty's of Kathmandu, are family businesses. They are often small and brilliant and need our support more than ever. Keep Safe and Keep well.  Kevin Ecock's WinePod is brought to us with the assistance of the Santa Rita Wine Room at Monty's of Kathmandu - an excellent place to host your next event or celebration. Contact Shiva at 01 -6704911 or HERE at the Santa Rita Wine Room web page.

Roka: The Cabots - from Westport to Slovenia

Kanonkop Pinotage is reckoned to be one of the finest wines made.  It's wine makers have been awarded Best Winemaker in the World on many occasions. It is that brilliant In this podcast we chat with Deidre Taylor of Kanonkop. We first met Deidre at a small tasting hosted in Dublin three years ago by their Ireland agents, Findlaters. It was a small occasion for such a big wine and to make things difficult the room was dark. Regardless, both Deidre and the wines of Kanonkop shone into my tasting book as Outstanding and Exceptional. Testament to all great wines is that they really do bring joy (and light) into all occasions! Kanonkop is is in the majestic Stellenbosch vine growing region of South Africa - famed for it's red wines. Hear in this podcast why they say this is 'Where the Big Guns Roar' or why they can quote Robert Parker as saying, 'If ever you meet a cynic who claims that Pinotage cannot make great wines, then pour them a glass from Kanonkop and they will soon change their mind'.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------ While all restaurants in Ireland were closed until recently many reopened. That was great news - Open Again. Then we heard that they had to close once more - on Christmas Eve. Tough times, Tough times indeed. Here's hoping for a more successful business environment in 2021. Hopefully after Easter? was the Hope. Now it's likely mid June - outdoor dining only.... We should remember that many of these, including the wonderful Monty's of Kathmandu, are family businesses. They are often small and brilliant and need our support more than ever. Keep Safe and Keep well.  Kevin Ecock's WinePod is brought to us with the assistance of the Santa Rita Wine Room at Monty's of Kathmandu - an excellent place to host your next event or celebration. Contact Shiva at 01 -6704911 or HERE at the Santa Rita Wine Room web page.

Kanonkop Pinotage: Deidre Taylor on the Jewel from South Africa

Our Podcast episode #6 was with Clive Weston of Nautilus Wines of New Zealand. That was recorded at their Ireland agents' office, Cassidy Wines, in Dublin. It was this week all the way back in 2019! How everything has changed since then. What has not changed is that Nautilus Wine Estate of Marlborough in New Zealand continues to make some of the finest wine available. Their website says it all: The Striking Nautilus Shell - it's shape expressing natural beauty and mathematical perfection is our inspiration to create a collection of expressive, textural precisely crafted wines. We are very pleased here to present a new podcast with Clive Weston. This was recorded last week via Zoom during the grape harvest in New Zealand - Vintage 2021. During our discussion we touched on this years harvest, new developments at Nautilus and New Zealand wines in general. We also tasted a few wines! Follow each of these wines in the podcast. Note that, while my photography skills are not the best, the very clear and youthful colour of the 2015 Pinot Gris is noticeable. Both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were supplied for the podcast by Nautilus while the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris By Cassidy Wines.  Nautilus Pinot Gris 2015 Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc 2019 Nautilus Southern Valleys Pinot Noir 2017 GOLD at the NZ Royal Easter Show Nautilus Chardonnay 2019 GOLD at the NZ Royal Easter Show Each wine is spectacular with the Chardonnay taking the honours for me. It is bright, alert and simply packed in much the way a good apple tart might be - layers on layers of adventures in fruit and texture! Nautilus is a proud member of the Family of Twelve - Twelve Exceptional New Zealand Wineries.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------ While all restaurants in Ireland were closed until recently many reopened. That was great news - Open Again. Then we heard that they had to close once more - on Christmas Eve. Tough times, Tough times indeed. Here's hoping for a more succesful business environment in 2021. Hopefully after Easter? We should remember that many of these, including the wonderful Monty's of Kathmandu, are family businesses. They are often small and brilliant and need our support more than ever. Keep Safe and Keep well.  Kevin Ecock's WinePod is brought to us with the assistance of the Santa Rita Wine Room at Monty's of Kathmandu - an excellent place to host your next event or celebration. Contact Shiva at 01 -6704911 or HERE at the Santa Rita Wine Room web page.

Clive Weston of Nautilus Wines: Among the Very Best from New Zealand.

Kevin Ecock talks wine, explores wine, and tastes wine with experts from across the world of wine. This is the Wine Pod.

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Kevin Ecock's WinePod

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