Second Press: A Wine-ish Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

welcome to second press. we’re glad you’re here.

so, this is the place.

here’s a little teaser trailer to give you want a quick look at what we’re up to. the first proper episodes go live in march, and we’ll be here every two weeks after that. 

at its heart, it’s a wine-ish podcast for the curious and the kindred. we’re aiming for informal interviews, wine trade insights, and honest drink recommendations. it’s about the people, the culture, the business, and everything in between.

we’ve got some great guests coming on those who really know their way around a vineyard, winery, website, or classroom. we’ll be telling stories and discussing the wine news, talking to the people that define the industry from the inside out.

we just happened to record the kind of chats we'd be having with our wine-ish friends anyway.

you’ll be able to listen to second press on spotify or apple or wherever you usually go for that sort of thing, but we’ve made substack our home if you want to get involved in the conversations.

thanks for joining us. we’re quite looking forward to seeing where this goes.

https://secondpresspodcast.substack.com/

having survived the gauntlet of the master sommelier exam and years with the legendary gerard basset, laura rhys is arguably one of the most technically accomplished people in the uk wine trade.

in this episode, we bypass the loud business of the wine world to talk about the quiet, methodical work of bubbles with laura. we dig into the geeky reality of why english wine has finally stopped being a novelty.

nearly 11 years acting as the global face for gusbourne, laura brings a vulnerable kind of expertise to the table, proving that you can be world-class without being a bore about it.

https://secondpresspodcast.substack.com/

jamie goode joined us for episode three, bringing nearly two decades of sunday mail columns and a phd’s worth of wine science to the table. we mostly ignored that to talk about his hand-coded html origins in the nineties and his questionable commitment to blue guitars.

equally comfortable lecturing on then details of wine faults as he is writing for a older sunday newspsper audience. we dug into how he balances that technical approach with a consumer-facing lens, plus a shared distraction for guitars that has nothing to do with viticulture.

it’s an honest look at a guy who was an "early mover" before early movers were a thing. for the full breakdown on book writing, diy websites, and why he finally hung up the newspaper column after nineteen years, head over to the substack.

https://secondpresspodcast.com/

dan and anna spooner began their master of wine journey together, study groups and hard work, neither of them have passed yet though, showing how tough the process is, anna has had a baby or two, but dan has no excuse.

anna reflects on her background  in wine pr and marketing, with freixenet and the wine society during the pandemic where she scooped up awards by creating online tastings for a their at-home community.

dan questions her recent move to france and her love of the outdoors in provence. anna shares the reality of starting a new podcast focused on wine tourism and the patient, tactile process of teaching her whippet to hunt truffles.

for the technical detours, extra bits dan usually cuts out, like the full story of anna's attempts to cook for her uni student friends, and to join the conversation with us, find us at https://secondpresspodcast.com/

anne mchale mw joins us for our first proper conversation.

we trace the path from classical singing in ireland to the master of wine title. we dig into the psychology of wine education, her work mentoring wset diploma students, and why she launched diplomatherapy.

for the technical detours, extra bits dan usually cuts out, like the full story of anne’s time as a backing vocalist for the wine trade band "skin contact", and to join the conversation with us, find us at https://secondpresspodcast.com/

a hidden sinkhole cellar, the baffling plan to rebrand claret, and author henry jeffreys on the unfiltered gossip of english wine. we discuss his book 'vines in a cold climate' and the dream of substack.

in episode five, brad and dan navigate a particularly eccentric week in wine news, from the discovery of a forgotten cellar beneath a sinkhole to the identity crisis facing bordeaux’s most famous export.

we had a brilliant chat with henry jeffreys, author of the award-winning vines in a cold climate. henry discusses why he prioritises the 'b******g and gossip' of the industry over technical data, the reality of writing about english winemakers before they knew who he was, and his experience co-hosting intoxicating history with tom parker bowles.

expect an honest look at the landscape of wine writing, the merits of substack, and why the english wine scene is finally moving past its city-boy-in-a-gilet phase.

for the full show notes, including specific wine recommendations, links to henry’s work, and the results of the sinkhole investigation, head over to the substack.

https://secondpresspodcast.substack.com/

episode six of the second press podcast is a look into the current state of the industry, from the health debates surrounding processed foods versus a glass of wine to the curious world of counterfeit wine. 

we’re joined by chris wilson of gutter and stars winery, an urban winery operating out of a 19th-century windmill in cambridge. chris mulls over his transition from music journalism at jockey slut and covering the nfl for the daily mirror to winemaking, bringing a storytelling sensibility to both wine and writing.

all his fruit is sourced from essex’s crouch valley, one of the best places in the uk for chardonnay and pinot noir, and how his background in the arts influences his, one-off labels named after tracks by the stone roses and roxy music. it is an exploration of "vulnerable expertise" in a marginal climate, proving that characterful wine doesn't require anything traditional.

australian wine, ant & dec, and pondering on when his memoirs are coming out.

episode seven of the second press podcast takes a deep dive into the broader, often weirder, world of wine media, professional splurging, and the 40-year career of matthew jukes.

we open with a masterclass in celebration as rory mcilroy drops $45,000 on a single wine dinner. from salon 2015 to lafite 1990, we break down a list of unicorn wines that actually makes sense to those in the know. we also tackle the mainstream media’s obsession with "unusual" viticulture, discussing why biodynamics is the global norm, not a fringe mystery.

the heart of the episode is a sit-down with matthew jukes. from retail to saturday night tv with ant and dec, matthew shares his journey of "accidental brilliance." we discuss his 100 best australian wines initiative, the truth about margaret river chardonnay, and how his non-alcoholic jukes cordialities is changing the booze-free game.

as the english wine trade faces a debt-fuelled crossroads and france prepares to uproot thousands of hectares of historic viticulture, this week we dig into the reality behind the press releases.

we sit down with richard siddle, co-founder of the buyer and former harpers editor, to discuss his journey from optics to becoming a key voice in trade journalism. siddle shares vulnerable expertise on how the industry actually buys and sells, why ai lacks the guts for true analysis, and surviving redundancy. an honest look at global trends moving the needle in commercial winemaking and trade logistics.

skip the generic wine fluff and try not to get the sack.

[00:00] – intro: bank holiday vibes and the reality of redundancy.

[01:09] – news: english wine at a crossroads, debt, exports, and the price of growth.

[03:28] – news: national careers week and the breadth of hospitality.

[04:35] – news: france uprooting 28,000 hectares and the tragedy of old vines.

[06:11] – introducing richard siddle: trade journalist and co-founder of the buyer.

[07:18] – the journey from optics to grocery retail to harpers.

[09:24] – the birth of the buyer: finding a gap in the market with peter dean.

[11:32] – actual news vs. press releases: setting a different agenda.

[13:53] – defining the role of the buyer in the producer-to-glass chain.

[15:10] – interview highlights: sir john hegarty at the groucho club.

[16:22] – the difficult ones: terry leahy and lord rose.

[17:46] – the ai impact: why interpretation and "guts" still matter more than facts.

[21:32] – how ai might encourage braver, more risky journalism.

[22:38] – personal life: liverpool fc, family, and the south african cricket mishap.

[25:51] – wine dinners: why the reverential atmosphere is often "painful".

[28:01] – the perfect pour: wine at home, guinness in the pub.

[28:56] – why everyone calls him "chief" (and the chief constable story).

[31:00] – post-interview recap: the "journalist's angle" on wine.

[31:40] – vineyard update: blending light reds and the stress of frostwatch.

[32:27] – brad’s week: wine society tasting and matt gant.

[33:59] – wrap-up: football round tables and substack community reviews.

this week we sit down with christelle guibert, who shares her brilliant journey from decanter tasting panels to stepping away as chief executive of the iwsc to focus on direct hospitality mentorship.

we chat about running unvarnished experiments on expert judges, the scientific reality of palatal fatigue, and why she decided to personally buy out the uk sommelier of the year competition. stay curious, but perhaps don't get up on stage to compete unless you're really ready.

we're also joined by alexandre ambassador for aop picpoul de pinet, to talk about their upcoming trade tasting on june 8th in london. link to register is over on the substack.

***

00:35 - brad and dan recap a relentless week and outline the bumper double-interview show.

00:53 - trade news: analyzing the commercial impact of the c&c bibendum and matthew clark merger.

01:56 - industry push: winegb's campaign to embed independent merchants into english wine week.

02:57 - trade logistics: expectations and plans for the upcoming london wine fair.

03:15 - international news: taittinger launches its official 2026 world cup champagne.

04:16 - interview: welcoming christelle guibert to the second press studio.

04:26 - a casual sidebar into the acoustics of dan’s ancient wooden accordion.

05:03 - christelle’s backstory: moving from france to boodles and the early mentorship of steven spurrier.

06:07 - building decanter’s tasting department from scratch during the early digital boom.

07:56 - media evolution: managing institutional trust and developing global wine awards.

09:29 - the ethics of blind tasting: running duplicate bottle experiments to test judge reliability.

10:23 - academic collaboration: partnering with will lowe mw to study judge performance data.

12:28 - sensory fatigue: the operational decision to cut maximum wine flights per panel.

13:01 - modernising the iwsc brand and using the pandemic reset for structural changes.

14:39 - the global judging program: moving evaluation panels directly into regional wine hubs.

17:04 - giving back: taking over the uk sommelier of the year competition.

18:14 - community and mentorship: tackling industry burnout and long hours in hospitality.

20:07 - previewing the intense, public pressure of the live sommelier finals in july.

21:45 - raw winemaking: christelle buying cheap land in muscadet to vinify with vincent cahier.

24:08 - lifestyle balance: restaurant exploration and the love of authentic gastronomy.

25:44 - the ultimate bottle: defending grower champagne from agrapart as a serious food wine.

26:30 - interview: alexandre freguin ambassador for aop picpoul de pinet.

29:25 - regional geography: painting a picture of the lone white appellation by the étang de thau.

30:08 - consumer fondness: why the uk market prioritises unpretentious, high-acid white wine.

31:21 - commercial philosophy: balancing necessary complexity with pleasurable, simple everyday drinking.

31:58 - trade event preview: breaking down the logistics for the upcoming picpoul all day tasting.

33:24 - cross-border battle: details on the live france versus england chef and sommelier off.

33:50 - terroir connection: matching maritime salinity with local oysters and immediate freshness.

35:11 - ambassador networks: the value of authentic regional voices over corporate pr fluff.

36:00 - post-interview recap: trade diaries from the canadian embassy and flights to mendoza.

37:46 - wrap-up: addressing substack community feedback, family football tips, and closing out.