Wine Blast with Susie and Peter – Details, episodes & analysis

Climate change is a worry. We get it. But how to do something positive about it, especially as a wine lover? After all, it's not easy knowing which wines to buy to support producers doing the right thing...

Which is where the IWCA comes in handy - International Wineries for Climate Action. This is a bunch of conscientious wine producers who have signed up to stringent, science-based carbon emission audits and committed to reaching net zero by 2050. As well as sharing info and generally being responsible about the environment.

It's ground-breaking stuff and in this episode we get the low-down on the IWCA and hear about ingenious schemes to combat climate change from Familia Torres president and IWCA co-founder Miguel A Torres (the legend!), Sogrape fourth generation member Mafalda Guedes and Ramuntxo Andonegui of Domaine Lafage in Roussillon. We also recommend our favourites from a recent IWCA 'low emission wine' tasting in London.

The word 'extinction' crops up. But so do the words 'resilience', 'happy', 'friendly' and, 'delicious'. So that's nice.

Thanks for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe. Or you can find contact info, together with all details from this episode including full wine recommendations, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E25 - Wines to Combat Climate Change

Instagram: @susieandpeter

It's popular, it's pleasurable - and it's much misunderstood. Rosé is having a moment and yet the myths remain pervasive.

That's our cue to ride to the rescue, busting a host of rosé myths as we go, shooting down cardinal sins from the hip, and urging a radical re-think of rosé all round.

We hear from rosé experts Elizabeth Gabay MW and Ben Berhneim as well as fifth-generation producer Caroline Deforges of the world-famous Clos Cibonne estate in the south of France.

Rosé is often patronisingly dismissed as simple and forgettable. Party plonk best drunk pool-side, ideally while wearing a bikini. And yet, alongside the rise of pink Prosecco and posh Provençal super-cuvées, there's a rosé revolution going on that you really don't want to miss.

As one of our interviewees puts it: 'open your mind' and 'you will be surprised!' So here's to freeing our minds and drinking the sunset! We also recommend a bunch of brilliant rosé wines so you can join in the fun.

Thanks for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe. Or you can find contact info, together with all details from this episode including all wine recommendations, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E24 - We Need To Talk About Rosé

Instagram: @susieandpeter

From big brand to fine wine - it's no exaggeration to say that grower champagne has changed the notion of what champagne can and should be.

Pioneers like Francis Egly of iconic grower champagne Egly-Ouriet have invested huge amounts of time and money prioritising their vineyards, relentlessly focusing on quality and terroir expression in their wines - and ultimately going up against the big Champagne houses. It's a brave move, but one that is reinvigorating the region and attracting many converts to the cause.

In this episode we chat with Francis Egly and his daughter Clemence to hear their thoughts on why it's important to harvest their grapes ripe, age their bottles extensively and see the process through from growing grapes to selling their wine. We also hear from Charles Lea, owner and director of respected London wine merchant Lea & Sandeman, on how a lockdown trip to Champagne saw him move away from the 'boring' big production houses and embrace the growers' cause.

Along the way, we provide the context and analysis, and taste through a number of quite stunning grower champagnes - including an exclusive taster of a new Egly-Ouriet wine that's not yet been released on the UK market...

This episode is sponsored by Lea & Sandeman. We're very grateful to them - and to you for tuning in. We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more info, together with all details from this episode including on the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E15 - Grower Champagne with Lea & Sandeman.

Instagram: @susieandpeter

Where's best for wine travel? (Well - we can dream, can't we?!) The best value bold New World Chardonnays out there? Greek wine? Why no love for Merlot? How to deal with being considered pretentious when it comes to wine?? We answer your burning wine questions and pick our favourite highlights from the 30 episodes to date in this fun, momentous culmination to Season 1 of Wine Blast. And it has been a blast, THANK YOU everyone for listening, supporting, recommending, rating, reviewing and getting in touch. Don't go anywhere because Season 2 starts straight away, we've got lots of exciting new plans to reveal - we can't wait to get started. See you there - and, in the meantime, cheers! 

We use our wine festival (formerly Wine Festival Winchester, this year Wine Festival Online) as a springboard to talk English wine, wine education, making a wine festival happen in lockdown, events in general and how normal people engage with wine. We chat to acclaimed English winemaker Emma Rice of Hattingley Valley, Erica Dent of Enjoy Discovering Wine and Tony, who has a great story to tell about his own personal Damascene conversion to wine. As Tony puts it so brilliantly, 'Things have got out of hand.' Join us at Wine Festival Online on Sat 28th November, when things could definitely get out of hand.

So what's the BEST red wine grape variety? Ever? We asked you - and you replied in your droves, more than a thousand of you sending in weird and wonderful suggestions from all over the world. Thank you! We've compiled the results, and the funny comments and goings-on, and you can hear the results in this fun episode. We name names so see if you get a mention! (Sorry if not...) We also find time to talk to legendary Yarra Valley producer Timo Mayer (who's clearly obsessed with Trollinger - listen to find out why). We throw numbers and stats about like, well, confetti. And we name check a few good bottles by way of recommendations too (can't have you going thirsty). 

We've reached a tipping point in environmental terms. Not just in terms of biodiversity, climate change, pandemics and the like - but also in the media. Recent releases showcase this trend - from Kiss the Ground (Netflix) to Extinction: The Facts (BBC/David Attenborough) and The Food Programme's English Pastoral episode. All are powerful, terrifying, inspiring calls to action - and made us think about wine's place in all of this. Given we all share personal responsibility for this crisis, should we only buy sustainable wine? Should we both, as professional wine communicators, only recommend sustainable wines? What even is sustainable when it comes to wine? Can (or is) wine taking a lead in this regard - or not? We all need to be asking questions - of ourselves, the products we consume, the lifestyles we lead. And we can be positive, and much good can come of this. Including delicious, sustainably produced wine in a biodiverse, stable, healthy planet.

So what's been happening to wine during lockdown? It's the BIG question on everyone's lips - and the answer is not what you might expect. We dive right into the debate, throwing about facts, figures and opinions as we go. It does seem as if people revert to the familiar in times of crisis - and we're not afraid to treat ourselves a bit either. With this in mind, we launch a Twitter hullabaloo then taste test the biggest of all wine brands (car crash? Maybe...) After all that excitement, we go to the other end of the spectrum and get views from historic club The Wine Society and 'counter-cultural' wine bar and shop Diogenes the Dog. It's another wine rollercoaster of an episode - hop on, and don't look down.

Chile is a wine scene stuck on fast forward. Many of the most exciting projects lately have been developed in the country's deep south, where the cooler conditions mean more elegant, refreshing wines (and respite from a decade-long drought). And these aren't projects for the faint-hearted: we visit a new vineyard on a remote island 1,200km south of Santiago - and another on the side of a smoking volcano. It's not just about terroir, either - southern Chile is home to indigenous Mapuche communities, where poverty and disputed land rights (among other issues) have long been bones of contention with the Chilean state and industry. But now, alongside pioneering vineyards aiming to champion the south's remarkable terroirs, wine is providing new hope of social unity as a new project is launched by Viña San Pedro Tarapacá in association with the local Mapuche community in Buchahueico. It all makes for a compelling and intriguing future - one we explore in this episode. (We also announce the winners of our WineGB giveaway!)

There is FREE medal-winning wine to be won for UK-based wine lovers in this episode, which ties in with the virtual ceremony for the Wine GB Awards 2020. Tune in for more details! Also to hear Susie’s views, in the wake of the trophy announcements for these awards, on what, where and who are providing the real excitement in English and Welsh wine right now. There are also some up-to-date stats on English and Welsh wines to share. The concluding part to Judging Britain’s Best Wines Part I.