The Big Vin Theory – Details, episodes & analysis

We speak with the legendary Greg Lambrecht, inventor of Coravin. We ask about Coravin market stats, then about his invention process, whether the wine trade needs more innovation, whether science can take away from the 'romance' of wine and much more!

We chat to Amanda Barnes about all things South America. The first 40 minutes or so are just the major regions and funnels that you should be aware of, so this is crucial for any practical students. The latter part we discuss the roles of wine writers, what kind of language is useful and more...

We chat to Cathy van Zyl MW about all things South Africa.  What are the key markers to look out for when funnelling between regions?  How has COVID affected the SA wine industry?  How have the styles and winemaking practices changed over the past few decades?  This episode is absolutely jam-packed with facts and figures, so have a notepad handy!

We talk to Dr Rachel Allison about her research at Cornell University into canned wines.  We ask how reductive compounds can be avoided and what the issues are with wines in cans.  Are there any wines that are not suitable for canning?  Is it a more sustainable packaging?  What steps can winemakers take to avoid VSCs?  And more....

Here are a link to a couple of her papers and presentations.

Canned wine
paper: https://grapesandwine.cals.cornell.edu/sites/grapesandwine.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/images/Research%20Focus2020-1%20FinalA.pdf

3 min talk at Cornell: https://vod.video.cornell.edu/media/2021+Three+Minute+Thesis+Competition-+Rachel+Allison/1_rblzalv7

Glutathione and brine-releasable H2S

paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.1c04885

5 min video talk from ASEV conference:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPilnZBQ7To

We talk to Aileen Sevier, VP Strategy & Marketing, Early Mountain Vineyards.  We ask what they plant and what interesting things they do in Virginina as well as the biggest problems they face and what the future holds.  Aileen talks about her previous role at Terlato and metrics she uses to determine the strength of the brand, as well as giving some personal opinions on the three tier system.  And much more...

We talk to Dr Cain Todd and ask just one exam question - "can one wine ever be objectively better than another?" 

Cain Todd is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Lancaster University (U.K.) and a visiting Humboldt Research Fellow at LMU, Munich. He primarily works on areas in aesthetics and philosophy of mind and perception. He became seriously interested in wine while on the Cambridge University Blind Tasting Team as a student and has since written a number of research and non-academic papers on the perception and appreciation of wine, on olfaction, on expertise and the objectivity of judgements of taste. HIs book is ’The Philosophy of Wine: a case of truth, beauty, and intoxication’ (Routledge 2010).

We talk to Mags Janjo of MJ Wine Cellars about his work as a diversity ambassador and mentor.  Mags recently won the Golden Vines scholarship, and talks to us about how the industry should approach diversity goals, what placed scholarships have as well as commons he sees made in the name of diversity.  We also talk about fragmentation in the industry, what setting up on his own during a pandemic and Brexit was like as well as new regions he finds exciting.

We talk with Tommy Nordam Jensen - CEO of Wiv.  In what has to be a crucial episode for those who want to look into the medium-term future and beyond, we ask what NFTs, blockchain and cryptocurrency actually mean?  How do they work for wine investment?  How does a shared fine wine investment fund of NFTs work for people?  How can NFTs help share wine information for countries like Georgia?  What is the future of wine in the 'metaverse'? And more....

We talk to Nova Cadamatre MW - the first female winemaker MW in the USA about all things winemaking.  What yeasts and processing aids are best?  How do you rescue a stuck fermentation?  How safe is too safe for SO2?  Why is diammonium phosphate like a bag of crisps?  And more....

We talk with Claudio Martell, CEO of Bevica.  Bevica is an ERP Software platform created specifically for the wine and drinks industry.  We ask what ERP means, how much does it cost.  What are the differences for the drinks trade?  How can it be used to show brand strength?  What does AI hold for the future? And more...