The James Suckling Wine Podcast (2020)
James Suckling speaking during the 2018 en primeur in Hong Kong.
In 2019, James started a podcast and there are now over 30 podcasts published for your listening pleasure. You can find all the episodes on Apple Podcasts, Apple iTunes, Spotify or stream and download them for later below.
We hope you enjoy these podcasts – and stay tuned for even more reports, videos and articles about the world of wine! Subscribe for more podcasts here.
INTERVIEW WITH DIDIER SÉGUIER OF DOMAINE WILLIAM FÈVRE
Chablis has so much to offer a wine lover with its unique climate and diverse terroirs. Domaine William Fèvre is one of Chablis’ greatest wineries, developed by William Fèvre between 1957 and 1998 and later sold to the Beaune-based winery Bouchard Père. James conducted an interview with Didier Séguier, the current director of Domaine William Fèvre in Chablis. You can listen in to hear Didier describe the characteristics of a good Chablis, explain how the four appellations of Chablis differ from one another, and what he thinks of the 2018 vintage and more. If you’re a subscriber you can also read our 2018 William Fèvre tasting notes by clicking here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – LAURA CATENA
James tasted a range of vintages including the soon to be released Nicola Catena Zapata Mendoza 2017 with the winery’s Managing Director Laura Catena over Zoom on Friday, September 11. Catena Zapata is one of the quality leaders in Argentine wine and James has been visiting and tasting with Laura for years. This latest release of the Nicolas Catena Zapata could be the best they’ve ever made, James said. In this podcast, James and Laura taste the 2017, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2004, and 2003 vintages of Nicolas Catena Zapata Mendoza. They discuss the progression of the wines through the years, talk about co-fermentation, and more. Listen to the full podcast to hear more of the discussion. To read more, and see the wine notes and scores (if you are a paid subscriber), click here.
DISCUSSING SENA’S ‘PERFECT’ 2018 RELEASE WITH EDUARDO CHADWICK
James and Eduardo Chadwick, the owner of Seña winery in Chile, met on Zoom to discuss the new release from the winery, the 2018, which James rated a perfect 100 points. They also compared the current release to three other vintages: 2017, 2016, and 2015. The latter is a 100-point wine as well. Listen to their conversation and hear their thoughts about these vintages, the future of Seña and the importance of biodynamic viticulture in this new podcast. To see the scores and watch the video highlights, click here.
MARCHESI ANTINORI TASTING WITH RENZO COTARELLA
On Monday, August 17, James met up on Zoom with General Manager and Head Winemaker Renzo Cotarella of one of the most famous wineries in Italy, Antinori. They tasted Antinori’s flagship red and white, Solaia and Cervaro della Sala, respectively. It was an awesome tasting with one 100-point wine. The wines included 2017 and 2016 Solaia and 2018 and 2017 Cervaro della Sala. Renzo discussed the successes of all four wines as well as the prospect of the 2020 vintage, which appears to be another hot and dry year. Listen to what was said in this new podcast, and check out the notes and scores on JamesSuckling.com.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – ELISABETTA GEPPETTI & CLARA GENTILI OF FATTORIA LE PUPILLE
James tasted some new releases from Fattoria Le Pupille with owner Elisabetta Geppetti and her daughter Clara Gentili over Zoom on July 24. Fattoria Le Pupille is located in the hilly part of Maremma, a coastal area of western central Italy, and produces one of the most popular Super Tuscans, under the label Saffredi. The 100-point Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi 2012 came ninth in the JamesSuckling.com Top 100 Wines of 2015 and it was included in our 2016 list of Top 10 Super Tuscans. During this Zoom tasting, they started with the Fattoria Le Pupille Morellino Di Scansano Riserva 2017, which James found bright, fruity and balanced. They moved onto the pure sangiovese Fattoria Le Pupille Toscana Poggio Valente 2018. James said noted its elegance and drinkability. They finished with the Fattoria Le Pupille Maremma Toscana Saffredi 2018, which reminded him of traditional wines of the 80s and 90s. You can hear more of what they thought of the wines as well as their opinions on the vintages in this new podcast.
TASTING TENUTA ARGENTIERA’S VENTAGLIO 2015 & 2016
Located in the Bolgheri district on Tuscany’s coastline, the estate of Tenuta Argentiera has vineyards positioned on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean toward Corsica. It is neighbored by some of Italy’s most famous wineries: Guado al Tasso, Ornellaia and Tenuta San Guido (Sassicaia). In 2018, their Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore 2015 took the second spot on our list of top 100 Italian wines. On July 13, James did a Zoom tasting with the group to taste the Ventaglio 2015 and 2016 wines. These two new single-vineyard reds, based on cabernet franc, represent the best of Tenuta Argentiera’s production in terms of location, pedoclimatic conditions and grape quality. Both wines had good balance and precision, and James commented that the wines had “superb” tannin quality which was beautifully integrated into the wines. You can hear more of what they thought about the wines in this podcast.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – PETROLO’S LUCA SANJUST
On July 17, James tasted some new releases from Petrolo with Luca Sanjust over Zoom. James has been tasting wines from Petrolo with Luca for more than 30 years. Back in 1996, a young James convinced Luca to bottle some pure merlot that they had picked late and forgotten about. This is how the pure merlot sensation that we now know as Galatrona came to be. Although today Petrolo produces a number of excellent wines (some of which James tasted during this tasting) it’s Galatrona that is sought by collectors around the world. The latest Galatrona (Petrolo Valdarno di Sopra Galatrona 2018) did not disappoint either, with James noting its balance, purity and complexity during the Zoom tasting. Luca also revealed that their 2018 is a throwback to the original roots of Galatrona. Listen to the full podcast to hear what they had to say about the wines and hear more of their thoughts on the 2018 vintage in general.
100-POINT G4 LEADS STRONG PENFOLDS RELEASE
The annual Penfolds release in Australia is always highly anticipated, and this year it was flowing with quality and had something for everyone. Executive Editor Nick Stock was the first to taste the wines outside of the Penfolds team. He tasted with Penfolds Chief Winemaker Peter Gago at their Magill Estate restaurant in South Australia and was joined by James Suckling for a Zoom tasting of a trio of important releases, Bin 389, Grange and G4, the latter of which is a stunning combination of great Grange vintages and scored a perfect 100 points. You can listen to the tasting on this podcast and hear them discuss how the harvest impacted the quality of the wines, how they differ to other vintages, and their thoughts on the wines in general. For the full write-up, click here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – LAMBERTO FRESCOBALDI, MARCHESI FRESCOBALDI PRESIDENT
Listen to James taste a selection of wines from the 2016, 2017 and 2018 vintages with Lamberto Frescobaldi, head of the Marchesi Frescobaldi group. He did the tasting over Zoom on Friday, June 26. Starting with the Leonia Brut 2016, which James described as a “beautiful dry sparkling wine with very fine beads”, Lamberto went on to explain how the estate created this to be a “full meal wine” – one you can drink with your main course, just like any other wine. They also tasted the Nipozzano Riserva 2017, which surprised James with its freshness despite coming from a very hot year. And also the Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Rialzi Gran Selezione 2016. They tasted many other wines too including the Luce 2017, the Castello Pomino Bianco Benefizio Riserva 2018, the Frescobaldi Tenuta Di Castiglioni Giramo 2017, and more. To watch video highlights, click here, and listen to the tasting session below.
THE MAGIC OF BRUNELLO INTERVIEWS
The Magic of Brunello features interviews from leading winemakers who are dedicated to making Brunello di Montalcino one of the great red wines of the world. The audio is taken from the JamesSuckling.com production filmed by Hollywood director James Orr which is about the history of one of Italy’s best and most coveted wines, and the region it comes from (click here to watch the documentary). Brunello is a red wine that was first made in the Montalcino area in the early 14th century. The name Brunello evolved into the designation of the wine produced with 100 percent sangiovese grapes. Listen to the podcast to hear the stories from some key Brunello producers such as Enrico Viglierchio from Castello Banfi, Tancredi Biondi Santi from Biondi Santi, Giacomo Neri from Casanova di Neri, Lamberto Frescobaldi from CastelGiocondo, Daniel Fabbro from San Polino, Vincenzo Abbruzzese from Valdicava, and more.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – FREDERIC FAYE OF CHATEAU FIGEAC
On June 5, James tasted the Chateau Figeac 2019 barrel sample over Zoom with winemaker Frederic Faye. James has been tasting with Faye for years. Figeac is one of Bordeaux’s oldest wineries, dating back to the second century when a Gallo-Roman villa was built on the estate. The Manoncourt family has owned Figeac for more than 125 years. While Figeac isn’t technically a premier grand cru classe A, its wines are always some of the best of the vintage. Listen to the tasting session below and hear Faye compare the 2019 and 2018 vintages and reveal that their new cabernet franc is one of the best they have made in 10 years. He says it is a new reference for them. This is part of an extensive en primeur tasting campaign being conducted by James (which has already covered over 1,000 wines), which you can click here to read.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – HAUT-BRION 2019 WITH JEAN-PHILIPPE DELMAS
James only gave one perfect score after tasting more than 1,000 2019 Bordeaux barrel samples. It was the great white of Chateau Haut-Brion. He tasted it during a Zoom session with Jean-Philippe Delmas on June 10. Delmas is dedicated to precision in his vineyards and winery. He gets the most out of it whenever he can and he nailed it in 2019. James also enjoyed his reds, notably Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, which were almost as impressive as the white, with ratings of 99-100. These could also be perfect wines after bottling. You can listen to highlights of the Zoom tasting session and hear Delmas comment on the vintage in this podcast. To read scores from the tasting, click here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – CHRISTIAN SEELY OF AXA MILLESIMES
On June 2, James had a Zoom tasting session with Christian Seely, who manages the AXA Millesimes group of vineyards, which includes Pichon Baron, Suduiraut, Petit-Village and more. During the call, James tried samples of Pichon Baron 2019 and Suduiraut 2019. The Pichon Baron 2019 has more cabernet than normal and James was impressed with its long, intense finish of fine tannins. James also tasted the Suduiraut 2019 which he found rich and balanced. Listen to the Zoom session to hear Seely comment on the 2019 and explain how the vintage fared for Sauterne. To read James’ updated Bordeaux report, click here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – PHILIPPE BASCAULES OF CHATEAU MARGAUX
James did an interesting zoom tasting session with Philippe Bascaules of Chateau Margaux. He was sent the samples from Bordeaux and tasted them in his tasting room at James Suckling Wine Central. He was impressed with the structure, balance, and depth of fruit of the Chateau Margaux 2019. Listen to the podcast to hear more of James’ thoughts on the wines and find out what Bascaules thought of the 2019 and how it compares to other vintages. The tasting is part of an extensive en primeur tasting campaign being conducted by James. To read the second report, click here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – 2019 CHATEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD 2019
The Rothschilds made great wines in 2019. After tasting Lafite 2019 on May 15 in a Zoom tasting, a week later James tasted Mouton Rothschild 2019 barrel samples at James Suckling Wine Central with owner Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Managing Director Philippe Dhalluin over Zoom. The tasting is part of an extensive en primeur tasting campaign being conducted by James. Read the first report here, which covered almost 800 wines with more to come. And stay tuned for the second report coming soon. Listen to some highlights of the tasting session below, and to see the scores and notes, click here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – 2019 CHATEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD WITH ERIC KOHLER
The five first growths always set the tone for the overall vintage in Bordeaux, so it was with great anticipation that James tasted the 2019 barrel sample from Chateau Lafite Rothschild with Technical Director Eric Kohler. As James wrote in his first report on the 2019 en primeur, many of the 2019 wines are of the same quality as 2018, albeit with less exuberance and plushness in fruit and tannins. Listen to the podcast to hear Kohler’s comments on the vintage, and hear James’ first thoughts on the Chateau Lafite Rothschild’s 2019 barrel sample. To see the scores, notes, and video highlights, click here.
TASTING & INTERVIEW WITH BRENNON LEIGHTON OF K VINTNERS
James conducted a Zoom tasting session with rock ‘n’ roll winemaker Brennon Leighton of K Vintners. He is one of Washington’s most respected winemakers. James felt the wines show real personality and exuberance. Listen to the Zoom session here, in which Leighton comments on Washington State wines’ unique appeal, provides a view on syrah and gives his thoughts on own-rooted wines.
TASTING & INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS FIGGINS OF LEONETTI CELLARS
James did a Zoom tasting with Chris Figgins, head winemaker for Leonetti Cellar and Figgins Family Wine Estates in Washington State. Figgins is one of Washington’s most celebrated winemakers. He is impressed with the 2018 vintage, comparing it to the excellent 2012, and has taken to bottling single-varietal wine. He believes single-vineyard designated wines are the way forward. Listen to the podcast to hear Figgins explain why he started making single-vineyard wines, and why he thinks they have been so successful with Sangiovese and Aglianico wines.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – LOUIS SKINNER OF BETZ FAMILY WINERY
James had a Zoom tasting session with winemaker Louis Skinner of Betz Family Winery. Skinner is a talented winemaker who trained under legendary winemakers such as Bob Betz and Chris Upchurch. He is convinced, like Bob Betz, that cabernet sauvignon rocks in Washington. Listen to some highlights of the Zoom session below, in which Skinner compares recent vintages and explains why cabernet sauvignon is not as well known as merlot or syrah in Washington State.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – EMMANUEL CRUSE COMMENTS ON BLENDING 2019 BORDEAUX
Emmanuel Cruse’s family have been wine merchants there for more than two centuries in Bordeaux and he continues to improve the quality of the wines at Chateau d’Issan, the popular third growth chateau in the Margaux appellation. He is co-owner of the estate with Jacky Lorenzetti, who also owns Chateau Pedesclaux in Pauillac and Chateau Lilian Ladouys in St.-Estephe. James had a conversation with Emmanuel and tasted 2019 barrel samples from all three estates over Zoom. Listen to Emmanuel compare the 2019 to other vintages and explain how they blended the different lots to come to the final wine.
IN CONVERSATION WITH HUBERT DE BOÜARD – DISCUSSING BORDEAUX 2019 & PRICING
James had an interesting Zoom conversation with Hubert de Boüard, the famous consulting enologist of Bordeaux whose family also owns St.-Emilion’s Chateau Angelus. James tasted 100 of his wines from the 2019 vintage in his tasting room in Hong Kong. They were jet-freighted from Bordeaux and they showed very well. Listen to this podcast to hear what they have to say about the vintage. James was most interested in what Boüard had to say about the style of the 2019 wines and his thoughts on pricing on 2019 Bordeaux futures.
TASTING & INTERVIEW – BORDEAUX 2019 EN PRIMEUR WITH CHÂTEAU CROIX DE LABRIE
Listen to what could possibly be the world’s first Bordeaux En Primeur 2019 Zoom tasting! Samples of Château Croix de Labrie were jet-freighted from Bordeaux and James tasted them a few days later with owners Axelle and Pierre Courdurié. Hear what they have to say about the vintage, and listen to James’ first impressions of the wines. There’s lots of good information on the 2019 vintage in general.
MASTERCLASS OFFICE HOURS Q&A: PART 2
In the second part of the James Suckling’s Masterclass Office Hours Q&A he discusses more wine topics, answering anything and everything from glassware to decanters, to climate change and more. His full Masterclass is also available here: www.masterclass.com/jamessuckling
MASTERCLASS OFFICE HOURS Q&A: PART 1
James Suckling discusses all things wine in this live Masterclass Office Hours Q&A, answering questions on anything and everything from vintages, to glasses, to tasting notes and more. Have a listen and see if he covered anything you might be curious about. His full Masterclass is available here: www.masterclass.com/jamessuckling
BRUNELLO 2015 INTERVIEWS – A FAIRY-TALE VINTAGE
So many wine producers in Montalcino made excellent wines in 2015. Listen to what some leading Italian producers had to say about the historic vintage in this new podcast.
MEET THE PRODUCERS FROM GREAT WINES OF ITALY ASIA
Hear from the winery owners and winemakers who made 2019’s Great Wines of Italy Asia events the most successful ever. More than 150 premium Italian producers poured their Italian wines for wine lovers and trade to taste across Phuket, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Beijing.
MEET THE PRODUCERS FROM GREAT WINES OF THE WORLD ASIA
More than 5,000 guests and more than 150 wineries attended 2019’s Great Wines of the World Asia. Hear what some of the attending producers as well as James Suckling had to say about the events and the amazing wines being poured.
ALSACE 2019 – 512 WINES TASTED
From the Villa Rene Lalique tasting room James Suckling and his team summarize their week-long trip through Alsace during which they tasted more than 500 wines. They discuss the rise of pinot noir in the region and the sweet-versus-dry conundrum in light of rising global temperatures.
SPAIN 2019
During the summer of 2019, James Suckling and his tasting team went to Spain where they tasted more than 2,100 wines while in Rioja. Hear what they had to say about the many excellent, drinkable and characterful wines they had the chance to taste during the trip.
MEET TOP PRODUCERS FROM THE ANDES
Hear what attending producers from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay had to say about Andean wine in this exclusive podcast recorded in Asia during 2019’s Great Wines of the Andes events.
INTERVIEWS WITH BORDEAUX’S TOP PRODUCERS
Listen to what producers had to say about the 2018 Bordeaux vintage during the 2018 en primeur.
#REALAUSSIEWINE TOUR 2019: WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
During the finale of the #realaussiewine road trip, James and executive editor Nick Stock sum up their journey and what they’ve learned during their #realaussiewine adventure.
#REALAUSSIEWINE TOUR 2019: BAROSSA VALLEY
James and executive editor Nick Stock discuss how winemakers in South Australia are starting to take more risks as they explore ways to express their own regional distinctions and the move toward natural, low-sulfur and low-intervention wines in the region.
#REALAUSSIEWINE TOUR 2019: MARGARET RIVER
In May 2018, James tasted 465 wines in Western Australia, Margaret River with his team. He sat down with his team to discuss their thoughts on the wines they tasted.