Melinda Kearny and Michèle Ouellet, the mother-daughter duo behind Lorenza Rosé based in Napa.
Learn more about Lorenza with the show notes here.
In this episode we dig into the story behind Lorenza, what it was like starting to make rosé eight years ago when the main things on the market were Charles Bieler and his pink Cadillac paving the way, and the dreaded white zin hangover that everyone has experienced at least once in their life!
We also chat about making wine with intentionality from old vines, the rosé trend, what it is like for Melinda to work with wine brands such as Frogs Leap winery and how she applied that experience to Lorenza, and what growing up in Napa was like for Michèle.
I really enjoyed chatting with Melinda and Michèle and look forward to see how Lorenza continues to grow as more people embrace rosé as a wine to drink for any occasion year round.
Chad Stock is the winemaker and owner of Craft Wine Co, which produces the labels Minimus Wines, Origin Wines, and Omero Cellars in Carlton, Oregon.
Learn more about chat with the show notes at
https://crupodcast.com/show/chadstock
Chad is known for experimenting with many varietals and styles to produce truly unique wines that not only he loves and is proud of, but that push the boundaries of traditional and low intervention winemaking. From Gruner to Grenache and wines with high VA to wines with Brett, Chad embraces change and experimentation across wines.
In this episode, we dig into a lot! We chat about how Chad got into wine initially from a pleasure standpoint, his experience during apprenticeships that brought to light for him the concept on constantly experimenting with wines, how there aren’t any American grape varietals that are uniquely American, and his loathing of mimicking old world styles to make wine that taste just like them.
We then get into one of his favorite subjects being Syrah developing brett and experimenting with brett to make his wine, fittingly named, I Have Brett. Then Chad leaves us with what he wants his legacy for the wine world to be when all is said and done.
He also shares with us an Austrian winemaker that he’s been loving lately and their approach to winemaking.
This episode is jam-packed, it is long, and if you are a winemaker or aspire to be one, you’ll thoroughly enjoy it.
This episode is a little different.
It is a bonus episode you could say. Here's the deal! Recently, I was asked to take part in the Road to Wine Expert Summit, which is a virtual wine summit that shares interviews with 30+ wine experts sharing their stories, tips, and secrets to get you on the fast track to wine expertise and help you build a foundation for your dream career in wine.
Some of the speakers include folks who have been on Cru before, like Hillary Zio, Brian McClintic, and Shannon Westfall. It also includes people such as George M. Taber, Bianca Bosker, Mark Andrew, James Cluer, the Yes Way Rosé ladies, Master of Wine Richard Hemming, and Esquire writer-at-large, Cal Fussman.
It is an honor to be apart of this amazing group of wine professionals and to flip the script and share my story with you.
You can find all of the interviews at RoadtoWineExpert.com.
I want to say thank you to the host of this wine summit, Brian McCann, who runs WineBluePrint.com
Enjoy!
Martha Stoumen is a winemaker and viticultralist behind Martha Stoumen wines out of Napa Valley.
Learn more about Martha with the show notes here.
In this episode we dig deep into the thinking behind wine as an agricultural product, the work that Martha does in the vineyard, and how she approaches making the best wines she possibly can with inspiration from her love of Italian culture and having worked on a farm in Tuscany.
We then dig into a very enlightening conversation around the ideas of how to learn about wine. Where does it stem from, how do we learn, and how Martha has approached learning about wine from both the experiential and the academic sides.
Then we chat about a topic that Michael Cruse and I had a great conversation around, that being the idea of the terroir of California. What does that mean to Martha, is there even such a thing, and how both history and societal norms play a role in how we define and describe California wine.
I really loved chatting with Martha and will certainly have to have her on the show again to keep exploring her vast amounts of knowledge of wine.