Giles Cooke MW started his career at Majestic, before working for Scottish merchant Allied Wines for 30 years. Since 2011, he’s also had his own distinctive brand in Australia, called Thistledown Wines, which is currently enjoying its most successful year ever. Giles has championed old-vine Grenache Down Under, especially from McLaren Vale, making elegant wines that are picked “on the way up” as he puts it, and he’s finally reaping the rewards.
To read more about Giles have a look at the Thistledown Wines website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @giles.cookemw.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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43:45
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43:45
Cork Talk with Amanda Thomson
Amanda Thomson was a successful TV journalist, interviewing the likes of Salman Rushdie and George Clooney, when she decided to give it all up and move to Paris to study wine. After making her name with the Skinny Champagne brand, she’s since developed a range of non-alcoholic wines under the Noughty label. I caught up with her to talk about spinning cones, bananas, Zebra striping, Steffi Graf and what makes a great entrepreneur.
To read more about Amanda have a look at the Noughty website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @noughtyamanda.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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41:58
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41:58
Cork Talk with Andy Neather
Andy Neather worked at Friends of the Earth in the late 1990s, and it turned him into an environmentalist. Now a freelance journalist, he’s just co-authored a very timely book about wine and sustainability with Jane Masters MW. His research took him all over the world, looking at the effects of climate change and the broader challenges facing the wine industry. There are no easy answers, he says, but Rooted In Change plots a way forward.
To read more about Andy have a look at his website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @andrew_neather.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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41:41
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41:41
Cork Talk with Natasha Hughes
Beaujolais suffers from a lot of myths that “don’t stack up”, according to Natasha Hughes MW, whose new book about the region is the most comprehensive yet. We sat down to talk about Beaujolais Nouveau, the characters of the ten Crus, the influence of the so-called Gang of Four, Gamay’s underrated diversity, the rise of Crémant de Bourgogne, the difference between semi and full-on carbonic maceration and so much more.
To read more about Natasha have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @latashmw.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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48:12
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48:12
Cork Talk with Simon Farr
Simon Farr’s career in the wine business spans 50 years, a half century that’s seen him work in vineyards, retail, wholesaling and the fine wine as well as investing in a pioneering venture in South Africa. A serial entrepreneur who says he’s a “very quick learner, eventually”, he has strong and well-founded views about Bordeaux en primeur, shifting demographics and why the younger generation is less scared of wine.
To read more about Simon have a look at the Cru website.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
Sverige