Susie & Peter / Podcast Episodes  / Season Six / News & Views 2025

Summary

Where we selectively recap on the wine headlines in recent months (informative – but also fun) and respond to various questions, comments…and grumbles.

We gaze into deep space in search of booze.

We consider how global wine can be in the doldrums…but Essex is on the up.

We hear a sad tale of vandals destroying scientific research, and a heartening story of how ancient Pompeii wine is set to be revived. 

Above all, we revel in the wise words of the recently deceased Pope Francis, who declared wine to be a ‘gift from God’, a ‘healthy consumer habit’ and, ‘a true joy for the heart of man’.

Apparently he told winemaker Ricardo Cotarella: ‘You can’t party without wine.’

Our kind of Pope.

We play our globally popular Guess the Missing Word in the Wine Headline game, this time featuring Bridget Jones, Bhutan, a wrestling superstar and various forms of wildlife.

Just a trigger warning for anyone traumatised by the mention of Peter’s pants from our previous episode on fake wine – Peter’s pants feature again. 

Links

Here’s a list of the news stories we feature in this episode:

And here are some other links, including shows we refer to in this episode:

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Photos

In this episode we mention how vine vandals attacked a pioneering new planting of gene-edited Chardonnay in Valpolicella, ripping the vines out in apparent protest. Project lead Mario Pezzotti sent over photos as below.

The first two were in the sunny days when the vines were first planted out (September 2024). The next three are of the damage (February 2025) – vines ripped up and dumped. Plus evidence of how the perpetrators bypassed security…

Get in Touch!

We love to hear from you. 

You can send us an email. Or find us on social media (links below).

Or, better still, leave us a voice message via the magic of SpeakPipe:


Transcript

This transcript is AI generated; it’s not perfect.

Susie: Hello, and welcome to Wine Blast! This is our news and views show where we selectively recap on the key wine headlines in recent months and respond to your various questions and comments, which always keep us on our toes.

Peter: Yes, thank you to everyone who’s been in touch. We’ve got our guess the missing word in the wine headline game. Always a highlight.

Susie: Who doesn’t love that?!

Peter: We’ll be touching on locations as wide ranging as Pompeii, Essex, Vanuatu and Deep Space. On personalities from Pope Francis to Bridget Jones, as well as perhaps other surprising things, including vandals, a variety of wildlife and Irish PIWI wine.

Susie: The mind boggles. But before we start, we wanted to mention subscriptions, didn’t we?

Peter: We did. We did. Quite right. So, I know we’ve mentioned this before, but we have finally got around to making it happen. starting with our next season seven, we’ll be launching subscriptions across a range of platform from Apple Podcasts to Spotify and Buzzsprout, our hosting platform. we would massively appreciate you supporting Wine Blast. As loyal listeners will know, there is a huge amount of work that goes into making the show happen and we are going to need your support to ensure it continues to thrive.

Susie: Subscribers will get early access to all shows, plus exclusive access to our archive shows and a new mini series of full length interviews. Wine Blast has been graced by the likes John Malkovich, Hugh Johnson, Tim Spector, Sam Neill, Oz Clark, Charles Spence and many legendary winemakers from Miguel Torres senior to Virginia Willcock, Larry Cherubino, Fernando Mora, Faouzi Issa and more. But we always have to edit them right down. So this is your chance to hear these superstars, unfined and unfiltered, in their full glory, as it were.

Peter: We’ll also be doing more intriguing interviews for this very reason. and we will have further tasty subscriber treats to offer in due course, too. Anyway, we wanted to give you fair warning of our plans. Well, some of our plans, I guess, because we will have a few more exciting new developments, coming up, which will be airing very soon, but we just don’t want to spoil all the surprises.

Susie: Where’s the fun without the surprises, eh? Exactly right. On that mysterious note, let’s dive into the headlines. And we’re going to start with the news that alcohol has been found in deep space. A, study in astronomy and astrophysics, as covered in the drinks business, reported the detection of Propanol from Sagittarius B2A. A vast cloud of gas, dust, and clearly Booze located around 26,000 light years from Earth.

Peter: Yeah, shame It’s a bit far away, isn’t it? But ethanol is the main alcohol in our wine, and that has also been detected in space, along with methanol. but this is the first time that propanol form of alcohol has been detected in space. researchers also found ethyl formate, the molecule responsible, as you, as you all well know, for the scent of rum and, and raspberries.

Susie: So what does this mean? Yeah, I mean, I don’t think it’s that astronauts need to put the top back on their rum bottles, is it? On one level, it offers a glimpse into how chemically rich space may be. But more intriguingly, the presence of complex organic molecules like these and space would seem to support the theory that the basic building blocks of life are not unique to Earth. so if they arrived here, they could just as easily have arrived elsewhere, too.

Peter: So. So somewhere else in the universe, they may be raising a, glass of fine Carnenere too.

Susie: You know, could be.

Peter: And, and the reason I mentioned Carmenere is that these results were delivered by the ALMA Array in the northern Atacama Desert in Chile. Just one more string to Chile’s bow in terms of, you know, spotting the next big booze trend.

Susie: And talking of trends, the latest Update from the OIV in April 2025 has confirmed that 2024 was indeed something of an annus horribilis for wine. Wine production was down 5% from the already historically low 2023. In fact, it’s the lowest in over 60 years. Wine consumption fell by more than 3%. The global vineyard continued to shrink, reaching 7.1 million hectares after four consecutive years of decline. As for what happened to international trade in wine, you guessed it. Also down with volumes sticking at their lowest since 2010.

Peter: So what’s going on? and are there any silver linings here? in terms of the. Why? The big headline that the OIV points to is climate change, or as they term it, extreme or atypical

00:05:00

Peter: meteorological events as the key influence on global production. With early frosts, heavy rainfall, and prolonged drought dramatically impacting vineyard productivity. you could also add, I guess, rot, heat, winds, hail and disease in there too. But, of course, another thing fueling lower production is just fewer vines in the ground. You know, all around the world, we’re hearing of vineyards being ripped out because the demand simply isn’t there.

Susie: And that brings us onto changing consumption trends, doesn’t it? I mean, puts simply, the world is drinking less. You know, one significant player in this picture is China, where consumption plummeted by more than 19% in 2024, which is an ongoing trend there. As we’ve discussed before on the pod Elsewhere, you know, 15 of the top 20 wine markets in the world reported a reduction in consumption compared to 2023. The OIV pointed, and I quote, to evolving lifestyle preferences, shifting social habits and changes in consumer behaviour. And they also stated how this is now intersecting with a particularly challenging economic environment. In other words, inflation means wine is getting more expensive at a time when people can afford it less.

Peter: Yeah, the other technical term to use here is of course, a clusterfuck. You know, I hesitate to use it, I use it rarely, but that’s kind of. If you wanted to sum up the OIV’s report in one word, that would be it. Maybe they could use that in the next press release. But what are the positive news? Well, the vintage vineyard is shrinking less quickly than before. also while international trade in wine was down in volume, overall value, and average prices held up, which would support the notion that while the world may be drinking less, it’s drinking better. although of course it could just as likely be that inflation means the same wine is more expensive.

Susie: More expensive, yeah, yeah. Now as for which countries are doing their bit, Italy, Spain, Russia, Portugal and Hungary are the only significant wine consuming countries to have registered an increase in consumption in 2020. The largest consuming countries by volume though, remain the US, France, Italy, Germany and the UK. Portugal has the highest per capita wine consumption, 61 litres. By comparison, the UK is 22, a mere 22. The US is 12. And ah, interestingly France is at 42, a figure that’s fallen by 65% since the 1960s. And that’s according to the EU Wine Market Observatory.

Peter: Yeah, but you know, does this perfect storm, as the OIV termed it, spell the end of days for wine? You know, or is it a case of painful transition from past to present to future? You know, our money is on the latter. We’ve noted in previous episodes how wine has become a far more global drink and widely traded commodity than ever before, meaning it has more commercial resilience and opportunities. The notable trends seem to tie in with the world drinking less but better, which is no bad thing for people’s health and wines commercial viability if wineries are properly set up to cater for that, lo and behold. A recent Italian study is also optimistic, confidently identifying 2026 as the year, Things will start to look up for wine.

Susie: Yeah. This was a study entitled Resilience and Preparedness for the Next Global Wine Consumption Cycle by an economics professor in Bordeaux and a wine professor in Verona. Now, they point to the pot of emerging global markets, the earning power of wine tourism and premiumization trends as grounds for optimism. They cite diversification, innovation and transparent information management as vital attributes for those who will be successful.

Peter: They also warn, tellingly, that recovery will not simply be a repetition of the past. The sociology of consumption has changed, and the next cycle will feature new trends and consumers. nevertheless, they add, if inflation is kept under control, 2026 could mark a turning point with the start of a recovery phase in 2027 for new sustained growth for the wine sector.

Susie: Fingers crossed. now, talking of growth and silver linings, how about this for a headline from decanter Essex Bucks Trend as Global Vineyard Prices Stutter. Yes, now we’ve just heard how things are looking dicey for wine across the world. And the 2025 Wealth Report by Knight Frank, the global real estate company, identified average vineyard prices declining in regions like Marlborough in New Zealand, down 33%, Carneros in California, down 15%, and Cote Du Rhone and Barossa down 10%.

Peter: But what was up was

00:10:00

Peter: Stellenbosch, the Loire Valley, Barolo, and topping the charts. Go on, go on, go on, go on.

Susie: The only way is Essex.

Peter: Essex up a staggering 20% to an average value of $120,000 per hectare. according to the report, roughly comparable prices to Marlborough, interestingly.

Susie: Yeah, no, no, we’re not going to go into this too much, because teaser alert. We have an episode on Essex coming soon with some very exciting things in there. Because while Knight Frank refers to Essex’s wine scene as embryonic, it does seem to have a very bright future ahead.

Peter: Indeed it does. Indeed it does. picking up on the theme of the future, some, sad news, actually. in our Vines of the Future episode back in December 2024, we reported excitedly about the first ever plantings of Gene Edited or Assisted evolution vines in Europe. the plantings, which went into the ground in September 2024, were the result of considerable hard work by Mario Pezzotti and his team at Edivite at the University of Verona. the aim was to study them to see how they develop, particularly with regard to disease resistance. The idea being that these plants would have resistance to downy mildew and thus need significantly less vineyard intervention like spraying, hence reduced associated impacts.

Susie: The vines were planted in a secure compound with fences and locks and cameras. Even so, when we spoke to him originally, Mario did ominously say, I hope there won’t be any vandalism. But who knows? And much to Mario and his team’s frustration, on the night of the 12th and 13th of February 2025 vandals broke into the secure compound and ripped the vines out of the ground. No doubt because of anti GMO sentiment or whatever. Even though these vines are explicitly not GMO and could hold significant value in terms of sustainability.

Peter: Yeah, we got in touch with Mario as soon as we heard the news and he replied to us saying the following. we are truly shocked by this act of vandalism, but we will not give up. Science must go on and research deserves to be respected by all. We hope the plants will recover, but if not, we have additional vines to replace them. This is a setback, but it will not stop our work and dedication. he also sent us some photos which we’ll put on our show notes for anyone interested.

Susie: Interestingly, this happened around the same time that news emerged of a new trial in Coonawarra, Australia by Treasury Wine Estate States in conjunction with Australia’s National Science Agency, or CSIRO. Now, the aim is to develop new vines using the best heritage vine material from the famous Coonwarra Estate Wynn’s, which is owned by TWE, but incorporating mildew resistant genes from CSIRO’s breeding stock.

Peter: Now, the idea, according to CSIRO research scientist and project lead Dr. Paul Boss, is to breed mildew resistance into elite vines, giving future vines a genetic advantage to withstand pathogens that cost the Australian wine sector an estimated 160 million Australian dollars in management expenses and production losses every year. So another interesting one to watch there.

Susie: As is a potential new winery for Pompeii. Now, this famous archaeological site, once a thriving town before it was buried under a cataclysmic eruption from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was no stranger to wine. Only recently, an enormous frieze depicting the ecstatic followers of Dionysus, the God of wine, was uncovered. One of many wine related finds in Pompeii.

Peter: Yeah, we’re sort of ecstatic followers of Dionysus, aren’t we too? Maybe we’ll find a frieze of us in Pompeii. But now a new winery, as you say, is planned to recreate the viticulture of this ancient, ancient civilization. The, Tenute Capaldo Group, which incorporates the well known producer Feudi di San Gregorio, will establish a 6 hectare organic vineyard and winery within the archaeological site. This follows on from decades of botanical research to analyse the vineyards of Pompeii. The idea is to tell the story of the ancient city from a wine perspective, I guess. As for the Pompeii wines you’ll be able to try in the future, they’ll be made from the Greco and and Aglianico grape varieties.

Susie: Sounds right up your street. Ancient history and wine. If only there was a way to get the Simpsons involved too.

Peter: The dream. The dream.

Susie: Anyway, continuing the Italian theme, and given it such recent news, we couldn’t not mention the death of Pope Francis. He was a true champion of wine, like very few modern day leaders. he famously told the crowd in St. Peter’s Square in 2016, wine expresses the abundance of the banquet and the joy of the feast. Imagine

00:15:00

Susie: finishing the wedding feast drinking tea. It would be an embarrassment.

Peter: Yeah. I hope that wasn’t a dig at the English.

Susie: I’m not sure we do that anymore.

Peter: But you, know, carrying on the theme. Apparently when a delegation of Italian wine producers went to Visit him in 2024, Pope Francis told them, wine, the land, farming skills and entrepreneurial activity are, gifts from God. But let us not forget that the Creator has entrusted them to us, to our sensitivity and honesty, so that we may make them, as scripture says, a true source of joy for the heart of man and of every man, not just those who have more possibilities.

Susie: Yeah, I mean, he was quite an egalitarian and an environmentalist, wasn’t he? Which explains his antipathy towards certain politicians. But yeah, I mean, he really praised the Italian wine producers for caring, caring for the environment and helping encourage, as he said, healthy consumer habits.

Peter: Yeah, he also wonderfully, sanctioned a new project in 2024, so not long before he died, to plant vines in the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo. 2 hectares of cabernet Sauvignon, incidentally, to be made by Italian consultant winemaker Riccardo Cotarella. Apparently, the Pope had said to Cotarella, you can’t party without wine.

Susie: He is our kind of pope. right, to. To finish off the news, There’s just time, I think, isn’t there, for our. Guess the missing word in the headline slot. I’m gonna go first with a fairly easy one, I think, even for you. Bridget Jones Fever boosts what? Sales.

Peter: Sales, of extra large granny pants.

Susie: Simpsons Granny pants?

Peter: I know. I don’t think they exist. Maybe they do. Who knows? I haven’t shocked in that particular part of the merch area. I’m sure it’s. It’s got to be Chardonnay, doesn’t it?

Susie: I think that’s too easy, isn’t it? You know, for anyone who happens not to have seen the Bridget Jones films, Bridge, as she’s known, is rather partial to a large glass of Chardonnay. The latest instalment. Bridget Jones Mad about the Boy broke box office records in early 2025, in the wake of which British supermarket Waitrose reported double digit growth in sales of various Chardonnay wines. We definitely endorse that.

Peter: Did you drink a bit of that Chardonnay when you went to watch it?

Susie: Oh, I drink Chardonnay anytime.

Peter: Yeah.

Susie: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Peter: Yeah, yeah. Especially when watching Bridget Jones. Right, my turn. what can smell the difference between Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc?

Susie: Well, most people, I would say. I mean, it’s not usually particularly difficult, is it?

Peter: Maybe not, maybe not. But you know, it may be if you consider this was actually sommelier. Rats can smell the difference between research and serving it. Well, I think they were rats. I think the sommelier was more of the headline kind of over. Anyway, someone really did this experiment. This is the fact I love. you know, maybe, I don’t know, maybe they said they felt sorry for the rats after having had a tough life doing so, having been experimenting. Maybe they thought they needed to show the rats a good time. A party I’d be in, I’d be all in favour.

Susie: Rats partying.

Peter: There you go. So anyway, the rats had to poke a lever, corresponding to the different wines. They were trained. Then they had an exam.

Susie: Is this on the 1st of April?

Peter: The trained rats got it right 94% of the time.

Susie: Well, they’re probably massively outperform with most masters of wine.

Peter: Yeah. Apparently, though, there was one rat called Peanuts who let the side down by totally flunking the exam. again, you know, it’s very relatable.

Susie: Okay, so I’ve got another one. So, first vintage from Bhutan Fetches what?

Peter: Bhutan, the country. well, after the animal references I’ve got going on in my mind now, I’m tempted to say a stick. It fetched a stick. But that’s just. That’s just wrong. That’s just word association. I mean, I guess it’s either going to be a lot of money or not very much money or. Or a lot of yaks.

Susie: No, no, you were right. First time. And first vintage from Bhutan fetches $74,250 at auction.

Peter: That’s not bad.

Susie: So Bhutan, the famously Reclusive mountain kingdom in the Himalayas has an ambitious project with vineyards ranging from 150 to 2790m altitude. Now, after gifting a, 7.5 L bottle to the King of Bhutan, they held an auction for their first vintage. Now, this auction featured 21 lots, including guided tours of Bhutan and private tastings. And they raised, as I’ve said, over $74,000. That’s not bad.

Peter: How did we miss that auction?! and, and on that note, I suppose one other thing could mention is that, we are going to be revisiting mountain territory not a million miles away from Bhutan on another wine blast adventure very soon.

00:20:00

Peter: So keep your ears peeled for that one. okay, last one. Professional wrestling legend goes viral after what?

Susie: This doesn’t sound very wine like, but I could say body slamming. Bridget Jones wrestling a, Jeroboam of Cristal.

Peter: I’m going to stop you there before your, your fevered imagination goes any further. It’s after a wine tasting in Napa where he described the winery rescue kitty, Mr. Tubbs, as a solid ass cat. so this is Steve Austin from Texas, a WWE icon. Ah, apparently famous for having a cantankerous character in the ring. Big guy, of course. he popped into biodynamic Napa winery Failla estate to taste some wine and shared a photo with his 7 million Instagram followers of him cuddling. Cuddling Mr. Tubbs. People are now demanding this become a regular TV series of Steve and other solid ass cats. ideally at wineries, of course.

Susie: Oh, gosh. I think on that note, we’ve covered all the key news, haven’t we? I mean, key news. I mean, really. Yeah, yeah. So, coming up, we are fielding your questions and input, including some dissenting voices. To recap, so far, Essex, Pompeii and Bhutan wines are on the up while Global wine is in the doldrums. Vandals have been setting a bad example on the new wave vine front, while the recently deceased Pope Francis set a fine example on the wine front. Plus, there’s lots of alcohol in deep space.

Peter: Who needs more news than that? Come on. okay, let’s get stuck into your feedback. First up, it’s Paul Davis from Wimbledon.

Paul Davis: Really enjoyed your episode recently on different wine glasses. Recently I got rid of all my old RIedels. They’re looking a bit old and I moved to Jantis Robinsons and not look back. Fabulous grasses. And I love the simplicity of just having one instantly. End. You were talking about Stemless and he didn’t Mention for me, the main advantage of them is, for those friends who like to move their hands a lot when they’re talking, particularly as they’ve got a few glasses of wine into them and they start moving them even more. Not having those, tall stems, waiting for the glasses to be knocked over and increasing my stress levels as their hands are, are moving around the table. Big advantage to prevent, breakages from those animated friends. Anyway, I love the podcast. Keep up the great work. Speak soon. Bye.

Susie: We’ve all got those friends, haven’t we? The excitable ones. And in fact, lots of people have said similar things after this episode, haven’t they?

Peter: So everyone’s blaming their friends. They’re getting that in

Susie: So Paul, your story about these friends making you stressed, it did make us laugh and good tip on the stemless crew glass front too. We’ve actually got, I, I don’t. I should admit this, but we’ve got some plastic stemless Go-vino glasses and maybe they’re the ultimate go to for animated friends.

Peter: Yeah. Or maybe just clumsy me, you know, whatever. All of those, they actually work really well. So. Yeah. Anyway, it’s all in the mix, isn’t it? we did indeed have some good feedback after our, do you need more than one wine glass episode? including some Riedel Ultra fans or employees, questioning Jackie Ang’s work. Some which was fair, some of which was not particularly valid in our view. You can read the discussion on our Instagram feed, where you can make up your own mind about all of this. you’ll also find other views not dissimilar to Paul’s too.

Susie: Now, we did have some questions asking why we didn’t cover the ISO or ISO glass favoured by wine educationalists the world over. For us though, the, the ISO glass is more a, functional bit of kit than something to really savour and enjoy, enjoy a wine out of. It’s a bit too small and practical and pragmatic, but if you love an ISO glass, you go for it.

Peter: Yeah. It also kind of reminds us of exams, I suppose as well. There’s that association. Anyway, sticking with another recent episode, our fake wine show starring the Simpsons, did cause a bit of a ruckus, not necessarily in the way we would have imagined. It got picked up quite widely in the national, even, international press. The Daily Telegraph, Express, Daily Mail, drinks business, msn, for example. And it led to some rather sensationalist headlines. Headlines and content, particularly concerning fake yellowtail wines in the uk.

Susie: So a Yellowtail spokesperson, said in response, and I quote, our supply chain is extremely robust, with all major supermarkets, wholesalers and off licences purchasing directly from us. We want to reassure customers that counterfeit Yellowtail is minimal.

Peter: Meanwhile, thanks to listeners, Patricia and Richard, who recently kindly said hello and how much they love the show in person. as for how this ties in with the episode, well, Richard asked me if I was wearing my Simpsons pants. please can we not let this become a thing? That’s just a general appeal. Public general appeal.

Susie: You were the one who brought this on

00:25:00

Susie: yourself.

Peter: I may wear them, but I do this in secret. Largely. Anyway, not any longer. Well, no, exactly. and Patricia kindly wrote afterwards, after she said hello, to say not only thank you for making my favourite podcast, but also, also gloriously and very aptly, to quote Homer Simpson’s famous line to alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems.

Susie: Now, another episode that was picked upon in the press was our, Wine In A Can show, starring the inimitable Marcel Lucont, among other, distinguished guests. Drinking wine from a can is not to be sniffed at, ran the Telegraph. Telegraph headline, and Wine in a tin tastes as good as a bottle, said the Sun.

Peter: I think you should have different accents for those. Headlights for those. Don’t go there. But there were dissenting voices here, too. No, thank you, said Donald Boyle. the problem is that you can’t age wine in a can. I would never even be willing to buy good reds in a can, EVER!! And he wrote ever in full capitals with two exclamation marks. Lisa McBain wrote, I just can’t get beyond the taste of aloo aluminium on my lips.

Susie: Now, Lisa’s point is valid, of course, if you’re swigging straight from the can, which we have to admit, at least one of our expert guests did endorse. But Lisa also agrees that if you pour the wine into a glass, cans are a decent format and a good way to move away from heavy glass.

Peter: That’s the kind of. That’s the kind of thing we imagine.

Susie: People would pour into a glass. Mostly. Mostly, I think. Yeah. Unless you’re desperate. as for Donald, we take his point that Lafite in a can might not really work. but the idea is that cans are suitable for fairly fast turnover wines, which is the vast majority. I mean, interesting, Leo, while two years is an accepted consensus on the shelf life for cans, as we said in the episode, we tried canned wine. That was five years Old and it was fine.

Peter: Tasted fine, didn’t it? and, you know, thanks everyone for the many positive comments about that episode and wine in cans generally. anyone who drinks wine should listen to this, said Vincancan. Who are we to disagree? talking of positive comments, here’s what Paul Etherington had to say about a different episode.

Paul Etherington: Really enjoyed that latest show on Margaret River. I think it’s just such a wonderful producing area. I was lucky enough to be introduced to the Moss Wood cab save probably 20 years ago. So I’ve got a lot of vintages of that in the cellar and their Chardonnay is just glorious as well. But it was really nice to hear from Vasse Felix. and I had a Chardonnay of theirs a couple of weeks ago and that was brilliant too. It’s just such a wonderful, wonderful area. Thanks for giving us some insight into it.

Susie: Our, pleasure, Paul. We absolutely loved doing that miniseries on Great Southern and Margaret river in Western Australia. I mean, we’re also big fans of Moss Wood and Vasse Felix, so it was very exciting to be able to feature them. And Aussie wine fans need to keep ears peeled for some more exciting shows along these lines coming up in season seven.

Peter: Gosh, there are a lot of teasers in this show, aren’t there? You know, we’ve got to be careful not to get reputation as teases. Maybe we should just throw a bit of controversy into the mix. That’ll distract everyone. and this controversy issued after our insider’s guide to acclaimed, ah, California producer Ridge Vineyards.

Susie: Yeah. Now, we should probably start off by saying this was mostly well received. Also, Ridge chairman Paul Draper very kindly emailed to say, you two are impressive. You magically wove a most complete, complete history. So well presented and done, so briefly. Amazing. Neil Hogan wrote in to say how much he loved Ridge’s Lytton Springs and Geyserville Zinfandels, which were once described to him by a wine importer as very swallowable. A great comment. Swallowable.

Peter: Very swallowable. It’s not. It’s not an easy to pronounce word, is it?

Susie: It isn’t. Not after you’ve had a glass of it.

Peter: It’s a fantastic, comment, isn’t it? I know exactly what it is. Now, that said, Chris Garner questioned the timing of covering U.S. wine. and we did have an email from Jonas Lindstrom who said, love your podcast, but I’m going to skip this episode on Ridge. This is not the time for buying wine from the us. Boycotting is One of the few tools we have as consumers. When we disagree with another country’s policies, we have to do what feels right for us.

Susie: yeah. So just as a quick explainer, perhaps, especially if you’re listening, after mid-2025 of where we are now, President Trump’s sweeping tariffs and, let’s call them unorthodox policies, have been upsetting a lot of people all around the world. There have been calls for Boycotts of U.S. products in countries like Canada, for example. So we totally understand this perspective.

Peter: In our defence, our episodes tend to be planned a fair while in advance. not always, but quite, quite often. Plus, you know, we feel it’s better to confront and air these issues rather than ignoring or sweeping them under the carpet. Ah, we do specifically address the Trump issue in that episode with Ridge making it very

00:30:00

Peter: clear they oppose the president’s policies. You know, and maybe that’s a subtle distinction between the duty of the media And consumers here.

Susie: Yeah. I mean, either way, Chris and Jonas and anyone else out there who feels similarly, we absolutely respect your opinion and thank you for sharing it. And fingers crossed this current nightmarish situation passes before too long and without too much lasting damage being done.

Peter: Now, switch to less politically divisive issues. Elin Pranter from Sweden was delighted we’d managed to do an episode on wine chemistry, which was her suggestion. Thank you, Elin. thank you so much. She wrote to say it was exactly what I wanted. I love how Gus Zhu describes wine as both science and pleasure, because that’s how I feel about a wine. I want to be moved, feel something. Every time I put my nose in the glass, I’m going to take, taste it. I want to have every emotion there is. But those emotions also bring questions. I think that’s what I love about wine. You made it funny and interesting. And of course, it brought me more questions. I bought Gus’s book and maybe we can come back to it again in the future.

Susie: Maybe, Elin, maybe. Gus was certainly very kind calling us true magicians and saying Wine Blast is fun, interactive, and educational on another level. So we’ll definitely be having him back on.

Peter: Get him back on.

Susie: Okay, so we’re nearing the end of this News and Views episode, and there’s just time to feature a couple of reviews. So, Keira Hodge wrote in to say, I came across your podcast last week and I love it. Great for commuting. I especially enjoyed the Wine Faults and Wine Chemistry episode. I’m on my wine diploma, which I’m Finding tough, mainly the learning style. I’m realising I take much more in from audio rather than reading, so have thoroughly enjoyed your podcast.

Peter: Well, best of luck with the studies, Keira! And yeah, we do anecdotally find that a lot of people take more information in better by listening than they do by reading.

Susie: So I think I do actually.

Peter: Yeah. Yeah. Then we had WOjtek Romaszko got in touch to say I come from Poland and live in Germany. I work in finance and wine is my passion. Thank you for such an insightful and entertaining podcast. I only recently discovered it while travelling through Oceania and I’ve been tuning in during drive through remote countries like Vanuatu from where I’m writing this message and Samoa. I, particularly admire your coverage of countries like Lebanon and Armenia. I vividly recall sitting in a wine bar in Yerevan tasting Sireni based wine from Nagorno Karabah and reflecting on the resilience of winemaking in such a troubled region. By the way, you’ve got me craving Tol Puddle Pinot, but it’s sold out and impossible to get in Australia.

Susie: Oh, we do love that Tol Puddle Pinot, don’t we? I’m sorry if we’ve championed it a bit too much. Finally, Pól Fanning wrote in to say I’m an Irish wine lover. Writing to you from Dublin. I’m a relatively new fan of your outstanding podcast. I found particularly moving the episodes regarding wine production in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and other Middle Eastern and North African countries. The main reason I am writing to you is in response to your fascinating Vines of the Future episode. Last night my husband and I, along with a friend, enjoyed our first first PIWI wine, which was also our first Irish wine. Can you believe Lusca Rondo, a triple gold winner at the 2024 PIWI Awards Pardon the national pride and absolutely delicious. Thank you for your wonderful work and for enriching the lives of your listeners. Keep up the good work.

Peter: That’s one we definitely haven’t tried. I’ll have to put a link on our show Notes to that one. Thanks, Paul.

Susie: No, we should, we should. Yeah, yeah, quite right. and thank you for sharing, Paul. Yes, and indeed all of you who’ve so kindly written in or sent a Speak Pipe message. Sorry we can’t air all views and questions, but we really do appreciate you taking the time to get in touch. If you move to do that right now, just head to our website Show Notes where you can find an email address as well as the magic Speak Pipe button. If you’d prefer to send us a voice note.

Peter: Can we invite you to give us a rating in review wherever you’re listening to this? we’ve had quite a few of those over the years and, ah, it’s always a thrill. So we’d love to have some more, please. Even if you’ve already done one, maybe pick up on a particular show you’ve liked or something that sets this pod apart from the rest. it helps other wine lovers find the show too, which is so important in terms of building the community around the pod and ensuring its longer term survival.

Susie: So there we have it. Thanks to everyone who’s contributed to this show in one way or another. And thanks to you, you for listening. Until next time. Cheers.

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