Wine Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

In 2015 Tobias moved to Canada, to follow his heart - met his wife and became assistant winemaker with Vineland Estates in Niagara. Having been trained in the northern region of Rheine, Germany Tobias was accustomed to working with cold climate wines. We talk about non-aloholic wine options, Chardonnay vs Riesling, and which foods pair best with fruity vs dry rieslings. Listen now!

This episode we are chatting with Valentina Argiolas of Agriolas Wines. Having been born right on her families winery in Sardinia, Valentina has been surrounded by wine her entire life. Learn about wine varietals that are unique to Sardinia, and how the Argiolas family are using new technologies, including geo-positioning to produce traditional wines.

Spain is considered an “old world wine region” — a blend of tradition and innovation where superb quality goes hand in hand with unparalleled value. Working with indigenous grape varieties, winemakers craft robust reds, crisp whites, lively sparklers and world-renowned fortified wines. Spanish wines have a classification system based on the "Denominación de Origen" (also known as a "D.O." or designation of origin) that indicates where the wine was produced. In this episode, we're joined by Elisa Errea as we look at seven enchanting wine regions across Spain. 

This is Spain Uncorked, a Special Miniseries from Wine Pod. 

Elisa Errea started her career in wine over twenty years ago, working for the Codorníu group (Export and Winemaking) for 10 years. In 2012 she founded The Wine Studio, an internationally awarded Spanish wine school offering WSET qualifications as well as custom training. She's also a strategic consultant for wineries and institutions as well as a lecturer at different master-level programmes and sommelier degrees. She has designed the current wine programme taught by her team at Le Cordon Bleu Madrid. At an institutional level, she’s Rioja Wine Academy academic advisor and also director of ICEX-Wines from Spain official education programme "Unveiling Spanish Wines."

Growing up in hospitality, Alpana's parents wanted her to go to college, and move away from the restaurant industry - but Alpana had other plans. Becoming the youngest female, and first South Asian Master Sommelier in the world and blazing a trail of success with everything she touched.

In addition to being a world-renowned Sommelier, Alpana is a restaurateur, author, and the host of the Emmy Award-winning restaurant review show, Check, Please! As the youngest female to gain the Master Sommelier title, she is also the first person to then renounce their title - listen now to find out why. 

http://www.alpanasingh.com/

Holiday Bonus Episode: Wine Pod hosts, Doris Miculan-Bradley and Adrian Caravello share their favourite splurge and save bottles of wine to indulge in, or gift, around the holiday season.  They share what makes them work with their favourite holiday treats, and why you should consider adding them to your holiday line-up. For anyone who's familiar with Adrian, you might be able to guess what his go-to splurge champagne is.

Born in Montréal, Québec, Élyse Lambert graduated with a degree in hotel management from the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) in 1998 and as Sommelier from L’École Hôtelière des Laurentides in 1999. Now, one of five Master Sommeliers in Canada - Élyse is currently working as a Sommelier Consultant and continues sharing her passion at Radio-Canada’s morning show, Medium Large and has a wine column in Journal de Montreal. Élyse lives in Montreal and consults for private and corporate clients and is often invited to facilitate wine education seminars and to speak at corporate functions in Canada and around the world.

http://elyselambert.com/

Christopher Sealy is the Wine Director for the Alo Food Group and recipient of Best Sommelier by Canada's 100 Best Restaurants in 2019. Having grown up in Guelph, ON and graduating with a degree in French Language and Literature at the University of Toronto, Sealy became interested in the wine industry while living in Paris, working as a photographer and a DJ. 

http://www.christophersealy.ca/about

Johnny Schuler is an author, chef and restaurateur, distiller, and television personality from Lima, Peru. Regarded as one of Pisco's greatest advocates, Johnny's experience and enthusiasm for pisco are evident on his popular television show, Por Las Rutas del Pisco. As the master distiller for Pisco Porton, and a Peruvian Congress Medal of Honour recipient, Johnny has played an integral role in rallying government ministries and the private sector to regulate the pisco industry in Peru.

https://www.caravedopisco.com/mr-johnny-schuler

With a name like Shiraz, it's no surprise that this week's Wine Pod guest won Winemaker of the year at the 2017 Ontario Wine Awards. As the Winemaker at Malivoire for over fifteen years, Shiraz Mottiar's goal is to make fresh, drinkable wines that can be enjoyed at the dinner table on any given day.

If you've ever travelled to the Niagara wine region, you've likely made a stop at Malivoire winery, and perhaps sampled the Ladybug Rosé.

https://malivoire.com/

Gaia Gaja is the fifth generation of her family to work at the GAJA Winery. While Gaia Gaja takes great pride in her family's rich winemaking heritage she is not one to rest on the laurels of preceding generations.   The new generation of Gajas, led by Gaia Gaja, is determined to make all preceding generations proud.

https://www.terlatowines.com/brands/italy/gaja