The Grape Nation

Tira Johnson migrated east a decade ago to work in wine and hospitality at some of NY’s best, including Beauty & Essex, Crown Shy, Terroir, and Crown Club at Barclays, to name a few. Along the way she received her Somm certification. Tira is now the Wine Director at Ilis, from Mads Refslund, a Co-Founder of Noma. Ilis’ much anticipated opening in Brooklyn is truly one of the most fascinating and unique dining experiences today. Tira’s love for wine is only superseded by her true love for dogs!  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Pepe Raventos’ family has been around for a long time, like since the 1400’s. Pepe is a 21st generation winemaker at Raventos i Blanc in Spain. His family led the development of Penedes into one of the world’s leading sparkling wine regions in Conca del Riu Anoia. Pepe traveled to Burgundy, the Loire, Germany, and the US to hone his craft before settling in to the family winery. Pepe creates pure wines that speak from their origin, making wines with minimal intervention and a focus on minerality.  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

As the year winds down and we celebrate the holiday season, we want to make sure you are drinking and gifting the right wines and Champagnes. We asked three of our expert friends to guide us through the myriad of wine and bubbly choices out there. We will be talking with Jhonel Faelnar, Katja Scharnagl and Aldo Sohm. Get your pen and paper out for some great recommendations.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Josh Greene is the long time Editor, Publisher and owner of Wine and Spirits Magazine. Josh also serves as its critic for Napa Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Rioja, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He has traveled extensively to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and throughout the US. You can also find feature stories and commentary by Josh in each issue. Josh Greene is always generous with his time and is appearing for the seventh year on The Grape Nation for “2023, The Year in Review”.  Photo Courtesy of Sam Benrubi.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Stacked, jacked and whacked with every award, including a James Beard, Food and Wine’s Best Chef, LA Times Best Restaurant of the Year, and a NY Times America’s Best Restaurants, Justin Pichetrungsi is the second-generation owner of Anajak Thai in California. More importantly, he is preserving the legacy of his family’s 40-year-old restaurant along with transforming it. After 10 years at Disney as an Art Director and Imagineer, working on Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar, he left to join his family restaurant when his father became ill in 2019. Justin’s innovation and love of natural wine have made Anajak one of the great food and wine destinations in America.  Image Courtesy of Sam Benrubi.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Ray Isle hails from “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, and is the son of an English professor, and he probably pissed his dad off after leaving academia to pursue wine writing. He is the Executive Wine Editor for “Food and Wine” and the Wine and Spirits Editor for “Travel and Leisure”. He has been on the beat for over two decades covering wine, spirits, and cocktails. Ray is a journalist, sought-after speaker, and now author. His brand-new book, “The World in a Wine Glass: The Insider’s Guide to Artisanal, Sustainable, Extraordinary Wines to Drink Now”, is an extensive and personal tome on the great natural wines and their makers from around the world. Photo Courtesy of Sam Benrubi.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Isabelle Legeron needs no introduction to The Grape Nation audience. She is a Master of Wine, author, founder of Raw Wine, and the Raw Wine Fairs, a wine consultant, and she oversees the Raw Wine Club. She is a true advocate of organic farming practices and proper living wines. Raw Wine is coming to NYC Nov. 12 & 13, Toronto Nov. 15th, Montreal Nov. 18th & 19th and Berlin Dec. 3rd. Isabelle has four Raw Wine Fairs scheduled through June 2024, including Tokyo and Copenhagen.  Photo Courtesy of Sam Benrubi.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Chiara Pepe is a third-generation winemaker in Abruzzo Italy. Her grandfather’s grandfather made home wine in the basement dating back to the late 1800’s, eventually becoming Emidio Pepe in 1964, one of the most highly regarded and sought-after wines in the world. Chiara, along with her mom and sister run the winery with Chiara overseeing the land, vines, grapes, and cellar. She farms biodynamically with no intervention in the cellar and is a magician with Trebbiano and Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo. She is in NYC to pour at the Karakterre and other events.  Photo Courtesy of Sam Benrubi.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Champagne runs through Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon’s veins. A native of Reims, in Champagne, he received his degree in viticulture and oenology from the University of Montpellier. He joined the Louis Roederer Champagne House in 1989 working in Tasmania and the Anderson Valley before returning to France, eventually overseeing all vineyard and winery operations. Jean Baptiste is the Chef du Cave and EVP of Champagne at Louis Roederer. He is one of Champagne’s most pioneering winemakers with his holistic approach to the vines and wines.  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Daniel Johnnes is a true wine hero. He spent four decades in wine and hospitality with Daniel Boulud and Drew Nieporent at New York’s finest restaurants. A true Francophile, Daniel has shared and promoted his love of French wine to all of us. He has received two awards from the French Government and is also James Beard Award winner. At The Grape Nation, we like to say “We Bring Wine to the People”. Well, Daniel Johnnes has become the greatest example of that by way of his wine fetes or festivals, La Paulee, La Fete du Champagne, La Tablee, his Pressoir Wine Experiences, and as an importer. Jersey born, Bombay raised, Raj Vaidya’s love of Burgundy, Champagne and Rhone wines eventually brought him together with Daniel Johnnes. Raj is a highly accomplished Sommelier and Director of Operations for Pressoir. Before Pressoir, Raj worked at the finest wine restaurants in the country including the Ryland Inn, Cru, Gary Danko, and ran the wine program for a dozen years with Daniel Boulud. Raj and Daniel are gearing up

Texas born Byron Bates has been a part of the NY wine scene for almost 30 years. He is truly one of the champions of natural wines. After bringing in and introducing his restaurant customers to smaller, family, artisanal producers, he went on to start his own NY based wine importation company, Goatboy Selections. To help further promote these producers, Byron founded the Wild World Wine Festival in 2019 with events in NY and Texas. This year Wild World is in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on Oct. 30th, including dinners, seminars, and a walk around tasting.  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Bay Area native, Shelley Lindgren never strayed far from home. She attended cooking school and cut her teeth in hospitality in SF, further pursuing her passion for wine. Since 2004 she is the Co-Owner and Wine Director of SF legend A16. Shelley is a leading voice on Italian wine and is responsible for exposing her customers and the rest of us to the new wines from the “other” regions, grapes, and winemakers of Italy. She has won the James Beard Award for her Outstanding Wine Program at A16, has written two cookbooks, makes wine at Tansy, and most importantly is a mom. Her new book “Italian Wine; The History, Regions, and Grapes of an Iconic Wine Country”, is now available everywhere. Because of Shelley, you will eventually taste Fiano, Falanghina, Aglianico, Taurasi, Coda di Volpe, Gragnano, and more.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Ariel Arce is no stranger to The Grape Nation. She has joined us to talk about Air’s Champagne Parlor, Tokyo Record Bar, the opening of her concept restaurant Niche Niche, her Champagne book, “Better with Bubbles”, and now the new outpost of beloved Roman restaurant Roscioli. Alessandro Pepe comes to Roscioli NY via Rome with a varied background including comedy, acting, waiting tables, Somm, and is the founder of wine bar Rimessa Roscioli in Rome and NYC. Roscioli is now open at 43 MacDougal St. in NYC.  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

The Alto Adige is one of the smallest wine growing regions and also has become one of the country’s TOP white wine regions. This unique Alpine landscape is ironically kissed by the hot Mediterranean sun in the Summer. Many of the vineyards are planted on hills and steep mountainside altitudes, producing fresh and aromatic wines. Along with the wine estates, there are over a dozen cooperatives successfully representing thousands of small winegrowers in the region. The focus is towards quality, not quantity, working with over 20 varietals including some of the best Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Schiava and Lagrein you will ever taste. We were based out of Bolzano, the largest city of South Tyrol and the Capital. We visited, dined and tasted wine with over a dozen wineries and Cooperatives. I will let the wine people of the Alto Adige tell their story. This is part-two of a two-part series. On this episode, we will be talking to Clemens Alois Lageder, Proprietor, Alois Lageder Est

I recently traveled to Northern Italy to visit the Alto Adige wine region, also known as Sudtirol or South Tyrol, near the Swiss and Austrian borders at the foothills of the Dolomites. The Alto Adige is one of the smallest wine growing regions and has become one of the country’s TOP white wine regions. This unique Alpine landscape is ironically kissed by the hot Mediterranean sun in the Summer. Many of the vineyards are planted on hills and steep mountainsides, producing high altitude, fresh and aromatic wines. Along with the wine estates, there are over a dozen cooperatives successfully representing thousands of small winegrowers in the region. The focus here is towards quality, not quantity, working with over 20 varietals including some of the best Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Schiava, and Lagrein you will ever taste. We were based out of Bolzano, the largest city of South Tyrol and the Capital. We visited, dined and tasted wine with over a dozen wineries and cooperitives. I

This will be the first Artificial Intelligence wine podcast with ChatGPT, and we will use the platform to help us conduct the interview with Dan Petroski. Brooklyn’s own Dan Petroski made his way west to settle in California. In between, he attended Columbia, NYU Biz School, had a career in marketing, finance and advertising, spent time learning wine in Sicily, and more. Once in Napa, he made his way to Larkmead Vineyards in 2006. At one point, Dan was juggling two wine brands; He left Larkmead to focus on his Massican wines, a true devotion to Italian white wines made in California.  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Raj Parr no longer needs an introduction. He is one of the most prolific wine people in the world. His legendary palate, his instinctive winemaking, and his commitment to regenerative farming have steered him to his passion, Phelan Farm in Cambria, California. Raj has traded his nomadic global lifestyle for that of a resident farmer, making soulful, spiritual wines.  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Ontario’s own Nicholas Gizuk grew up around a wine-loving family. With an interest in fermentation and chemistry, Nick graduated from the Niagara College Wine and Viticulture program. He went on to intern at wineries in Canada, eventually working harvests in the Barossa Valley in Australia and Marlborough, New Zealand. He returned to Canada to work at Inniskillin, Niagara in 2013, working under winemaker Bruce Nicholson and becoming head winemaker in 2021. Nick stresses “We must respect the fruit and terroir, as that is the foundation of every great wine. Our job, as winemakers, is to guide those grapes with as little intervention as possible into the bottle.” Nick and Inniskillin are most recognized for their world-class Icewine.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

Jon Bonne is no stranger to The Grape Nation. This is his third appearance on the podcast, and he's here to discuss his new and third book “The New French Wine”. Jon is an award-winning author and journalist; his background includes MSNBC, Decanter, a decade as Wine Editor and Chief Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, author of “The New California Wine, and “The New Wine Rules". Jon is currently Managing Editor at Resy covering dining, restaurants, and wine pretty much everywhere it’s served!  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.

What’s in a name, well, if you are a Zabar, that’s about as ubiquitous as pizza in NYC. Born and raised in the city, Eli Zabar is part of the legendary family synonymous with food…and now wine. Eli separated from his brothers and family to follow his own vision in the ‘70’s: creating a food and wine empire. He is a tireless innovator and has created some of the most unique food and wine concepts in the country. Eli’s Table just reopened with seasonal fare and one of the largest old world wine collections in New York. So, the question begs to be asked, how does a guy approaching 80 have so much energy?  Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Grape Nation by becoming a member!The Grape Nation is Powered by Simplecast.