Tag Archives: wine interview

Let’s Taste – Brand’s Laira ‘Blockers’ Shiraz 2014 & Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

On my wine podcast The Vincast I recently interviewed chief winemaker for Brand’s Laira, Peter Weinberg (https://intrepidwino.com/2018/12/20/the-vincast-episode-141-peter-weinberg-from-brands-laira/). Peter spoke a bit about the history of this Coonawarra producer, and something interesting about one of the founders Eric Brand, was that after acquiring the Laira property in 1950 he worked for 16 years as a ‘Blocker’, the Coonawarra name for a grower who sold their fruit and didn’t make wine. This range of wines is named after this period, and I was interested to see how Peter expressed the two most important varieties for the region, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Wines tasted;
Brand’s Laira ‘Blockers’ Shiraz 2014 – RRP $25.00
Brand’s Laira ‘Blockers’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – RRP $25.00

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December 22, 2018 · 3:13 pm

The Vincast with Paul Donaldson from Pegasus Bay Wines

When the Donaldson family established their Pegasus Bay winery in the early 1970s, they were pioneers in the New Zealand region of North Canterbury. Over the past 40 years they have evolved and got better every year, remaining a family-owned and operated business. The second generation of the family are currently at the helm, with all four of their sons in key positions within the business. Paul Donaldson is the General Manager of the winery, making use of his varied experience and expertise in business and finance. I sat down with him when he was in Melbourne recently to hear more about his background and the families endeavours in premium New Zealand wine.

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Paul Donaldson from Pegasus Bay Wines

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The Vincast with Leanne De Bortoli from De Bortoli Wines

In 2018 De Bortoli Wines is celebrating 90 years of wine history in Australia, and as a member of the third generation, Leanne De Bortoli has worked tirelessly with her winemaker husband Steve Webber to take the company to new heights. Growing up in Griffith where the business was founded by her grandfather, she and Steve helped establish their Yarra Valley-based facility in the 1980s and was instrumental in evolving the brand image to a more premium one. In a number of ways and at numerous times De Bortoli have been trend-setters in the wine industry, and as a member of Australia’s First Families of Wine they are well placed to continue producing outstanding wines and having a positive influence.

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Leanne De Bortoli from De Bortoli Wines

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The Vincast with Alice L’Estrange from Cultivar Vinos & George Wines

Alice L’Estrange is undoubtedly a lover of culture and language, so it is unsurprising that she got into wines from Chile. While spending a year living in Mexico improving her Spanish, she gained an appreciation for the purity of farming and natural agricultural produce, but it was her friend Lucy who introduced her to wine. After a fateful evening and a fateful bottle, they decided to do something wine-related, and Cultivar Vinos was that something.

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The Vincast with Lucy Kendall from Cultivar Vinos & George Wines

Lucy Kendall has managed to fit in quite a bit of winemaking experience in a relatively short amount of time, both in Australia and overseas. Thanks to her BFF Alice she got the opportunity to not only make wine in Chile, but also import some to Australia via Cultivar Vinos and give trade and consumers the opportunity to see authentic traditional Chilean wines. More recently she and Alice have been making wine closer to home and are about to launch them under the George brand.

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Lucy Kendall from Cultivar Vinos and George Wines

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The Vincast with Michael John Corbett from Vanguardist Wines

Growing up in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand it is not surprising that Michael John Corbett ended up working in the wine industry, even though he doesn’t come from a wine family. After studying winemaking he had the opportunity to work vintages in Europe, which was where he discovered a great love of the grenache variety. After originally meeting in Hawkes Bay, he joined forces with Burgundian Edouard Maurisset-Latour and his Australian wife Ali to launch Vanguardist Wines, producing incredible wines from the Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale.

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Michael John Corbett of Vanguardist Wines

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The Vincast with Jonathan Ross MS

Though Jonathan Ross always had competitive tendencies, it wasn’t until he discovered hospitality and wine that he truly applied himself and found his passion. From growing up in New Jersey to working at one of the top restaurants in the world, his career has always had an upward trajectory. Soon after relocating to Australia with his fiancée Jane Lopes (who is also a top sommelier), he became a Master Sommelier of which there are currently only 249 in the world. He joins me on this episode of The Vincast to talk about his journey, and his new-found love of Australian wine.

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The Vincast with Nina Caplan

Though her parents are Australian, Nina Caplan was born and has been based in the United Kingdom her whole life. It was her father that first introduced her to wine, though writing was her first passion. She began writing about wine after tackling the arts for many years, but found a great affinity with the vinous particularly as it related to travel. Recently she has had her first book published, a personal perspective on the vines journey through Europe during the Roman Empire, mirrored by her own experiences several thousand years later. ‘The Wandering Vine: The Romans and Me’ is now available via the Bloomsbury website, where you can get a 30% discount on a copy until the end of May 2018, simply by entering the code ‘intrepidwino’ at checkout.

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Nina Caplan

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The Vincast with Loic Avril from Dinner by Heston Melbourne

Loic Avril was destined to work with wine, considering he grew up in one of France’s most historic wine regions, and sharing of great wine and food was always important to his family.  His love of hospitality and restaurants came very early, from the age of ten in fact, and he was determined to follow a path in fine dining. After gaining experience in restaurants in the Loire Valley and northern England, he joined the team at The Fat Duck – at one point considered the best restaurant in the world – and soon received significant attention when he was named the global best young sommelier. When the restaurant relocated to Melbourne for six months he relocated, and decided to stay and run the wine program when it transitioned to Dinner by Heston.

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Loic Avril from Dinner by Heston Melbourne

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The Vincast LIVE with Ben Ranken & Dan Buckle – What are the right grape varieties for Australian wine?

Late in 2017, in conjunction with Ear Buds, I held the first edition of The Vincast Live at Noisy Ritual in Brunswick East and on Facebook Live. Two former guests of The Vincast – Ben Ranken from Galli Estate (Episode 127) and Dan Buckle (Episode 67) from Chandon Australia – joined myself and co-host Nevena Spirovska (Quickie Podcast) to talk about grape varieties in Australia: what are they, why are they, where are they and what are the best ones? I hope you enjoy this chat, as much as the live audience did. Please provide us with some feedback and interest in a future edition.

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Ben Ranken, Dan Buckle, Nevena Spirovska and myself

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