The Wine Makers on Radio Misfits

Our good friend Artie Johnson returned for his third appearance on the show with one request: let’s talk about solutions instead of spending another hour dwelling on everything that’s wrong with the wine industry. As regular listeners know, we’ve always believed one of the best solutions is taking ourselves a little less seriously. So what better episode for that conversation than our milestone 420th episode of The Wine Makers Podcast?

We sat down with Artie and fired up a doobie… er, doozie of a show. Along with an impressive lineup of Le Artishasic wines—including some fascinating new bottlings from the Rocks District on the Oregon side of Walla Walla—Artie brought notes, receipts, and a clear vision for breaking out of the industry’s doom-and-gloom cycle. Better yet, he’s already putting that vision into practice with his own brand. The real question is: will anyone else be bold enough to follow his lead? Especially his neighbors in Napa Valley? You’ll have to listen to find out.

As for reaching 420 episodes, it’s entirely on brand that we somehow blew right past Episode 400 without so much as a mention. So instead, we decided to celebrate a number we know would have made John Myers smile.

More importantly, it’s a chance to say thank you. To the hundreds of guests who’ve subjected themselves to our interrogation. To our spouses, who somehow tolerate our love of hearing ourselves talk. To the entire Sixteen 600 team for everything they do behind the scenes. To Danielle Langlois for bringing a new voice to the show after we lost John. And, of course, to John Myers himself, who made this whole thing possible in the first place.

Most of all, thank you to the thousands of you who keep listening. You put up with the rambling, the occasional technical challenge, and all our nonsense. You buy the wines, visit the wineries, subscribe, leave reviews, and tell your friends (but only the cool ones). Without you, we’d have spent the last nine-plus years just talking to ourselves.

So pour yourself a glass (or roll yourself something)and settle in for Episode 420: The Gospel of Artie Johnson, Part III. [Ep 420]

This week we invited Lee Hodo, a veteran in marketing and promotion of wine and destination brands, who is leading the charge to showcase the amazing wines from this historical yet lesser-known AVA. Lee brought winemakers from three of the top Wineries in the area; Lava Cap, Edio from Delfino Farms and Starfield Vineyards.

At between 1,200ft-3,500ft, elevation is one of the defining features of the region. As air hits the Sierra Nevada Mountains it is forced to rise through orographic uplift. As the air rises, the adiabatic process causes cooling at a rate of around 4 degrees Fahrenheit per 1000ft of elevation gain. As a result, ambient air temperatures in the region are between 10-15 degrees cooler than the Central Valley below.

The complex topography of El Dorado further distinguishes the region as a location for a diversity of premium grapes. As the sun sets, cool air from the Sierra Nevada settles in low lying pockets, creating areas of cold night-time air surrounded by relatively warmer hillside and hilltop sites.

Lastly, the diverse soils offer a panoply of geologic and geographic settings that ensure maximum flavors will be concentrated within the grapes. Primary attributes of soils that are important to growers include, among others: mineral composition, soil texture, soil thickness, depth of root penetration, water retention properties, and resistance to erosion. The bulk of the vineyards in El Dorado are planted in young volcanic, granitic, and slate soils.

www.lavacap.com

www.starfieldvineyards.com

www.delfinofarms.com

lee@leehodo.com

www.thewinemakerspodcast.com

Erin Kirschenmann’s day job is managing editor of *Wine Business Monthly*. After spending her days immersed in the intricacies and moving targets that make up the wine business, she spends her nights curled up with a book and a glass of wine (or two). As both a writer and a wine lover, she naturally began pairing her reading with wines—a moody Pinot with a twisty thriller, for example. A couple of years ago, it occurred to her that there were other bibliophile-oenophiles out there who would love to do the exact same thing, so she founded Novel Pairings.

Novel Pairings exists at the confluence of a book club and a wine club, where quarterly wine shipments align with book selections and monthly gatherings. We sat down with Erin to learn more, find out how she chooses the wines and books, and see if we can do what Petaluma’s finest educators couldn’t: get Brian to read a book.

We’re always looking for new ways to bring wine into people’s lives, and people are always looking for more ways to be in community. Novel Pairings lands at just the right time. Whether it’s the monthly virtual meetups, the growing calendar of live events, the online quizzes, or now a SommSocial wine club, Erin has created an innovative platform—something the wine business needs more of.

When she’s not reading and sipping, Erin is closely tracking the business of wine from her desk at *Wine Business Monthly*. And if you’re not signed up for the DNE, how do you know what’s going on?

Given that this is the Year of Zinfandel, if we were going to pair a wine with this show, we’d suggest popping open a bold, bright Zin and enjoying it.

Novel Pairings

Wine Business Monthly

Daily News Email (DNE)

Instagram: @erinakirsch

Instagram: @novel_pairings

The whole thing started because we couldn’t remember the name of the Executive Chef at Wing & Barrel in Sonoma. One of our listeners that happened to work for Charlie Palmer reached out and suggested that we come for a visit to Appellation Healdsburg and meet the legend in person. We will never forget his name again.

Charlie Palmer is an acclaimed American chef, restaurateur, and hotelier, renowned for pioneering Progressive American cuisine and owning multiple Michelin-starred restaurants.

Charlie Palmer began his professional career at The River Café in 1983, where he became executive chef at age 23 and earned three stars from The New York Times. He trained notable chefs including Michael Mina and George Morrone. In 1988, he opened his flagship restaurant, Aureole, in Manhattan, showcasing regional American ingredients and his signature Progressive American cuisine, which reinterprets classic European techniques using American artisanal products .

Over the years, Palmer expanded his restaurant empire to include Charlie Palmer Steak locations in New York, Las Vegas, Reno, and Washington, D.C., as well as boutique hotels and other dining concepts such as Dry Creek Kitchen, AperiBar, and St. Cloud Rooftop Bar. His restaurants have collectively earned over 20 Michelin stars and multiple James Beard awards. In addition to his restaurants, Palmer co-founded Appellation Hotels, a culinary-first hotel brand, with properties in Healdsburg, Lodi, and planned locations in California and Utah. Each hotel features Charlie Palmer restaurants and interactive culinary experiences. His new cookbook, Wineland, that features many of our friends in wine country, is available now. [Ep 417]

www.charliepalmer.com/books/wineland/

Tess Housholder — Sommelier, Appellation Healdsburg

Tess Housholder is a Sommelier and hospitality professional based in Geyserville, California, with a background in wine education, hospitality management, and event operations. She was recently featured in Vogue Magazine as a Gen Z Somm to watch.

We were excited at the opportunity to speak with a young Somm running a high-profile project in wine country.

@tesshousholder

Winemaker Justin Ennis crafts Freestone wines with a deep attention to detail, capturing the distinct character of each vineyard while balancing the vibrancy of the terroir with a refined, elegant structure. Now, that deep-rooted vision comes to market, as Justin and the winery introduce these vineyard-driven wines to a broader audience for the first time.

“Everything begins in the vineyard. Through hands-on farming and careful attention, we work to bring in fruit that’s expressive and healthy. In the cellar, I practice minimal intervention winemaking so that the site, the varietal, the clone, and the vintage can speak for themselves,” said Ennis. “The wine is already in the vineyard; my job is simply not to get in its way.”

In the 1990s, Joseph Phelps and his son Bill set out to find a place in California’s wine country where they could produce superlative Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The search led him to a place no one suspected – a tiny, unincorporated town called Freestone, tucked away off a quiet highway heading toward the Sonoma Coast. Joe’s peers and friends deemed it too cold, too rugged, too remote for serious winemaking.

Starting May 1, these limited production wines became available in select restaurants and fine wine retailers across the U.S.

freestonevineyards.com

@freestonevineyards

@norcal_wino