In The Vineyard With Podcast

I waited a long time for the opportunity to record this conversation. Iro is a good friend, but she’s a very busy lady! Working in the Summer season as a Sommelier in a seafood restaurant in Chania, and the rest of the year as an Ambassador for the Wines Of Crete Association can be two very demanding roles! In this conversation we talked about the history of Cretan wines, what gr

In this episode, I was joined by Chef Michael Caines MBE, Chef Owner of Lympstone Manor, Country Hotel, Restaurant and Vineyard alongside his longstanding Operations Manager, Steve Edwards. It's a hard enough job, starting a Country Hotel, in a rundown building, having to renovate it to a Relais & Châteaux standards, establishing a kitchen and a restaurant worthy of a Michelin sta

In this series of conversations, my guest, Amanda Barnes, is taking us on a grand tour of the South America vineyards. We will first soar over the Andes, to Chile, to discover the famous valleys, such as Colchagua, Maipu and Casablanca. From there we will move north all the way to The Atacama Desert before returning to explore the deep south towards Patagonia. Our journey will cont

In this series of conversations, my guest, Amanda Barnes, is taking us on a grand tour of the South America vineyards. We will first soar over the Andes, to Chile, to discover the famous valleys, such as Colchagua, Maipu and Casablanca. From there we will move north all the way to The Atacama Desert before returning to explore the deep south towards Patagonia. Our journey will cont

In this series of conversations, my guest, Amanda Barnes, is taking us on a grand tour of the South America vineyards. We will first soar over the Andes, to Chile, to discover the famous valleys, such as Colchagua, Maipu and Casablanca. From there we will move north all the way to The Atacama Desert before returning to explore the deep south towards Patagonia. Our journey will cont

A few days before Christmas, I got together with my friend, Demetri Walters MW to hear what floats his Christmas drinks boat in 2023. We talked about the obvious Christmas drinks most of us love, like Port, Sherry (not your Grandma’s) but we also talked about Madeira, Commanderia St. John (Cyprus) and Vinsanto (Greece). Demetri is a renowned world expert on fortified wines, so we

Wine books. The wine world would be poorer without them. A good wine book is not just a vinous guide or a reference. It is often a companion, a walking pace way of telling a wine’s story. And what could be nicer than sitting comfortably, I’m thinking by the fire, it is December after all, holding and reading a book about the region or the very winemaker responsible for the liqu

This episode wasn’t planned. Sometimes, the best things happen without much planning. A spontaneous and inspired action can often lead to a much more memorable encounter or experience. I was visiting Tiago Alves De Sousa, one of the Douro’s most influential winemakers and a good friend, in his winery and vineyards high up on the slopes above the river Corgo, northern Portugal,

In this episode I was driving in the car with Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, co Owner of Gaia Winery in Nemea, in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. Later, we walked through the Agiorgitiko and Verzami vineyards, chatting about this beautiful region and its wines.

In the episode I was in the vineyard with Alex Starey, winemaker at Keermont Vineyards, in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Keermont is located in a long narrow valley that is tucked between the Helderberg and the Stellenbosch Mountains. Right at the tope of his vineyards, near an open pool feeding from the local spring, we sat on a sunny mid-winter day to chat about this relatively ne