The Wine Conversation

Exclusive – a very special two-part interview with Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards, now 90 years old, for our “Great Wine Lives” series. In Part I, Paul talks to Elin McCoy about his unusual path to becoming Ridge’s winemaker. He was introduced to wine by a friend’s parent when he was at school, and decided it was his calling. He decided, however, not to go to UC Davis as so much of the course was chemistry, and instead worked in intelligence for the army in Italy. Whilst in Italy and later France, he set about enjoying the wines and became friends with some of the winemakers. This formed his philosophy on fine wine and his approach to making it. Do listen in to hear this remarkable man, who is one of the most admired men in the wine world today.
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Listen in to Omnibus for all the wine world’s latest news and views from John Stimpfig, Elin McCoy and Sarah Kemp. This month, harvest reports from the Northern Hemisphere, controversy over alleged use of artificial intelligence in the 67 Pall Mall Communicator Awards, Champagne alcohol level change, doom and gloom in the California wine industry (with a couple of notable exceptions), remembering Matthew Jukes, Franco Bernabi, Vittorio Frescobaldi, two brilliant new books and the return of Coonawarra’s Woof and Wine.
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Listen in to hear David Gleave talk to Sarah Kemp about his new book Barolo and Barbaresco, The Primacy of the Vine, which has just been published by Académie du Vin Library. Sarah predicts it will win all the wine writing awards as it is an important book, eloquently written with great maps and quotes from producers that take you right into the vineyard. Sarah also finds out David’s favourite restaurants in the region- vital information for any wine and food lover.
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Controversy swirls around the new Michelin Grapes guide to Bordeaux, not least because Château Latour isn’t even listed.. Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp discuss the criteria for the guide, which evaluates estates not individual wines, and give their frank views on the criteria and the selection of estates listed.
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Jancis Robinson MW talks to Elin McCoy about the 9th edition of The World Atlas of Wine which is about to hit the shelves. Listen in to find out how she and Julia Harding MW decide which regions need expanding, what needs to be dropped, and how the wine world has changed since Hugh Johnson wrote the first edition in 1971. Find out why Hugh asked Jancis to co-author the book (now it has three authors with Julia Harding MW joining the imprint). “Every word, every mark on the maps, has been examined and updated, moved, rewritten, omitted, added to – we go through it in forensic detail,” Jancis says. “New maps have been added to reflect areas of increased popularity and importance.” The nineth edition of this iconic book which has sold over 5 million copies is due out end September in UK and early October in the US.
Find out more at: wine-conversation.com