Category Archives: Uncategorised

Anna Chilton on sustainability in wine, soil health and more

Anna Chilton on sustainability in wine, soil health and more
Here's a recent interview I did with Anna Chilton, who is studying to be a master of wine, and works for an agricultural producer, Camellia. In the podcast we discuss what sustainability means in wine today, soil health and better practices, and what other industries, particularly in agriculture, might learn from the studies and practices…
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Meeting the mad professor of far-north winemaking

Meeting the mad professor of far-north winemaking
If you want to make wine north either Copenhagen or Edinburgh, you should speak with Martins Barkans. He is the man who makes wine on the 57th parallel. That's 57 degrees north. Yes, 57 degrees north. He's spent eight years experimenting with 40 varietals, to make a drinkable wine from his three and a half hectare…
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Thomas Duroux, CEO, Chateau Palmer, on making Bordeaux sustainable

Thomas Duroux, CEO, Chateau Palmer, on making Bordeaux sustainable
A few months back I flew to Bordeaux to interview Thomas Duroux, CEO of Chateau Palmer, an iconic Bordeaux property famous for its history, wines (more Merlot than Cabernet Sauvignon, rare on the left bank) and influence in the region. I'll provide a proper write up of my 30 minute interview with Thomas soon but…
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Consumers and sustainable wine, the Sommelier’s view

Consumers and sustainable wine, the Sommelier’s view
Raymonds Thomsons, manager at Vincents, Riga's most famous restaurant, is also European Sommelier of the year 2017. In this interview we discuss his views on sustainable wine, consumer trends, demands and a few other issues. Listen and enjoy. Here's some the things we talked about: What being a Sommelier means in Europe today. The wine…
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El Grifo, great photos of a Lanzarote vineyard

El Grifo, great photos of a Lanzarote vineyard
"Against the odds" is one of the first few words you see on the El Grifo website. And they are not kidding. It's fair to say their vineyard faces some challenging conditions. A friend of mine visited Lanzarote recently and sent this pictures. Water is a big sustainability challenge for the vineyard, looking at their…
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How to make a simple business case for biodynamic farming practices

How to make a simple business case for biodynamic farming practices
I spend a lot of time talking to people about sustainability, as that's my job. Aside from this blog I work with my colleagues at Innovation Forum on how bigger companies can approach sustainable business practices and make them part of how they work every day. I was chatting with someone today about how we…
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Vineyard land prices in France, 2015

Vineyard land prices in France, 2015
Here's an interesting chart from AAWE, the American Association of Wine Economics, on vineyard land prices in France from a few years back. It perhaps has more to do with economic than environmental sustainability but I still thought it was worth posting. Thanks to Elizabeth Gabay, for posting this on her blog, here.      …
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Andrea Felluga on the wines of Friuli, changing weather and sustainability

Andrea Felluga on the wines of Friuli, changing weather and sustainability
Here's an interview with Andrea Felluga, a leading winemaker in north east Italy for his family business Livio Felluga. We talked about the wines they make at Livio Felluga, the weather, the 2017 harvest, what sustainable wine actually means, climate change and adaptation (old vines adapt much better to volatile weather, he says) and his views…
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