What makes vine growing and winemaking so physically demanding? What are the hidden dangers of winemaking that most wine lovers never hear about? Why are some winemakers choosing to label their wines as Vin de France rather than follow strict appellation rules?

In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Caro Feely

You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks

Giveaway

Three of you are going to win a copy of her terrific book, Grape Adventures. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you’ve posted a review of the podcast. I’ll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck!

Highlights

How did Oprah Winfrey influence Caro and her husband to follow their dream of owning a vineyard in France?

What was behind the decision to leave their corporate jobs for winemaking, which was such a different career?

Why did Caro choose Bordeaux and Saussignac in particular?

What were the main criteria that Caro and her husband sought when choosing a vineyard?

Were there any transferable skills from the corporate IT world that were helpful in running a winery?

What was the most surprising hurdle Caro and her husband had to overcome to buy their winery?

How does Caro handle the tension between making wines she believes in versus what will pass official approvals or market trends?

Why did Chateau Feely want to be classified as Vin De France?

How physically demanding is winemaking?

What are some of the funniest and most surprising animal-related episodes that have happened at the winery?

Key Takeaways

As Caro explains it involves heavy machinery, tractors, attaching things to tractors, moving heavy pipes and other equipment around. Even hand picking grapes is a fairly active sport. Removing the vine shoots or suckers at the base of the vine is a big job and backbreaking. They don't want them to grow because they take nutrients from the grapes.

Caro says that many wine lovers don't realize how dangerous winemaking is. There are four killers of wine makers. The first one was asphyxiation by CO2. In the fermentation, CO2 is created. If you don't have a way for it to get out of the closed spaces, you're going to get asphyxiated. The second one is falling from height particularly if a little bit of CO2 has escaped and made you a little lightheaded. The next one is machinery, so horrific things like falling into a harvest trailer. Electrocution because you're working with liquids and high electricity.

Caro says that almost all of her wines are labelled Vin de France because she felt that so many of the appellation rules were not about the quality of the wine. She wanted to be free of those unnecessary constraints. For example, one biodynamic winemaker got kicked out of the appellation system because he had weeds under his vines. He handpicks his grapes so it actually doesn't matter if they're weeds under the vines. If you machine pick, the machine will kind of suck up the weeds. Caro would much rather have some weeds than have to use synthetic weed killer. Even when it comes to Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé and Premier Grand Cru Classé, some growers got more appellation points for having a parking lot for tour guests than they received for being certified organic.

About Caro Feely

Caro Feely is a writer, yoga teacher, wine educator and organic farmer. She leads authentic, personalized and educative wine tours, wine courses, walking tours and yoga retreats near Bordeaux in France. She is a published author, an engaging speaker, a registered Yoga Alliance yoga teacher, a WSET* wine educator, and a professional with many years of workshop, presentation, teaching, and management experience. Caro offers accommodation, tours and yoga at her organic farm in Saussignac.

To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/338.

Why is Rosé the go-to wine for celebrity-owned brands rather than Chardonnay or Cabernet? Why are the younger generations of wine drinkers choosing Rosé over red? Is the Rosé boom just a trend, or is its popularity here to stay?

In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Rasmus Emborg & Jens Honoré, who co-published the Rose Revolution.

You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks

Highlights

What are the main differences between wines from Domaine Tempier and Domaine Ott?

What makes some Rosé wines better for aging than others?

How did Gerard Bertrand’s background influence his winemaking style?

Which Provençal cuisine dishes pair best with the Rosé wines?

Why do so many celebrities who come to the wine world choose to make Rosé?

Which celebrity wines are worth buying?

How has social media impacted the Rosé Revolution?

What does the future look like for Rosé’s popularity?

Why have more men started drinking Rosé?

Which wine regions should wine lovers visit to immerse themselves in the world of Rosé?

Key Takeaways

Why is Rosé the go-to wine for celebrity-owned brands rather than Chardonnay or Cabernet?

As Rasmus and Jens explain, Rosé is much easier to embrace for a broad audience. Rosé has a lot of lovers, but they don't have any enemies. So you can be a serious musician, a rocker, a pop star, and embrace Rosé. When you're just a celebrity and not a winemaker it's way more bankable and easier to market. We tried a lot of those wines and I'll tell you, some of them are pretty good, big bang for the buck. Brad Pitt, John Legend, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jon Bon Jovi, Cameron Diaz and Kylie Minogue

Why are the younger generations of wine drinkers choosing Rosé over red?

Rasmus and Jens observe that young people don't drink much red wine, but they drink a lot of white wine and Rosé because it's kind of like a celebratory wine. It's become a wine you kind of gather around. You don't disagree about it. You can’t be talked down to if you don't know the terroir, the grapes etc. If it's endorsed by a rapper or rock music or whatever, it enhances that experience.

Is the Rosé boom just a trend or is its popularity here to stay?

Rasmus and Jens believe that Rosé has established itself as a third wine category. We’ll still see the quality improve and higher price points. In France, 3 out of 10 bottles are Rosé, globally, it's about one out of 10. They are seeing a trend of Rosé taking market share from red wine whereas white wine is stable.

About Rasmus Emborg & Jens Honoré

Rasmus Emborg is a journalist who has worked in the media industry for over 25 years. He is the author of Beer Brothers (2019), about twin beer brewers Mikkel Borg-Bjergsø and Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø. He and his wife own a small vineyard in Provence. The grapes are mainly used for rosé wine, and the production takes place at a local cooperative.

Jens Honoré is a photographer who has worked in the advertising industry for 30 years. In 2018, he published A Place to Dream for SOS Children’s Villages, and in partnership with Jens Vilstrup, he published the book, Farewell to a Black/White World about the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. He has also contributed to Building a Dream about LEGO owner Kjeld Kirks Kristiansen’s realization of LEGO House. In 2021, he published The Right to Food about homeless people’s relationship with food. Jens lives in New York and as a wine enthusiast, has followed the trend of increasing enthusiasm for rosé wine with great interest.

To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/337.

How did Rosé get a bad reputation as not being a “real” wine? How did Marcel Ott revolutionize the world of Rosé wine? Why is Grenache a popular grape for making trendy pale Rosés? How do Rosé’s beautiful bottles both help and hurt its reputation?

In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Rasmus Emborg and Jens Honoré, the author and photographer, respectively, who have published Rosé Revolution.

You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks

Highlights

How did Jens and Rasmus develop a love for Rosé?

What does Rasmus find most satisfying about owning a vineyard?

Why did Jens and Rasmus want to produce their book independently?

Why did Jens choose to photograph the winemakers in black and white, using an analog camera?

What was the most challenging aspect of writing Rosé Revolution?

Why was Marcel Ott’s pioneering decision to treat Rosé as a wine in its own right so radical in 1912?

Why did Rosé have such a bad reputation?

What makes Grenache such a good grape to make Rosé?

Are there benefits to the shape of the iconic Domain Ott bottles?

What are some of the wildest bottle Rosé designs Jens found in researching Rosé Revolution?

Why does Rasmus believe we’ll see more Rosé being sold in brown bottles in the future?

What role do ultra-premium Rosés play in the market?

Beyond great quality, what factors have made Whispering Angel so successful?

Key Takeaways

Rosé wine is made from red wine grapes, and it's the skin that gives color and tannin to the wine. If you let the wine ferment with the skin, you end up with a red wine. Rosé wine was produced as an afterthought, rather than with the intention to make it. This is part of why Rosé has had a bad reputation because it's been considered a byproduct.

Marcel Ott was fascinated by Rosé wine because he thought that this was a wine that had the taste of the grapes most precisely. Marcel Ott was the first one to choose the variety of grapes that gave the best Rosé, to position the vineyards in the best possible way to make good Rosé and to choose the harvest time with the ambition to make the best possible Rosé.

Grenache is a grape with thin skins and very little pigment so it brings little color to the wine. This is the kind of Rosé wine that is the most trendy these years. It’s pale, dry, crisp wine, what we call the Provence style. But also, Grenache has this natural sweetness that applies well to the Rosé wine category as well.

Rosé, with its beautiful colour in a transparent, creatively designed bottle, looks great on the shelves in the liquor store. It looks good on Instagram. And I think this is a part of the popularity of Rosé. At the same time, it's also a reason why the bad reputation of Rosé wine remains with some of the wine establishment. At the same time, it’s much easier to recycle brown glass than clear glass.

About Rasmus Emborg & Jens Honoré

Rasmus Emborg is a journalist who has worked in the media industry for over 25 years. He is the author of Beer Brothers (2019), about twin beer brewers Mikkel Borg-Bjergsø and Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø. He and his wife own a small vineyard in Provence. The grapes are mainly used for rosé wine, and the production takes place at a local cooperative.

Jens Honoré is a photographer who has worked in the advertising industry for 30 years. In 2018, he published A Place to Dream for SOS Children’s Villages, and in partnership with Jens Vilstrup, he published the book, Farewell to a Black/White World about the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. He has also contributed to Building a Dream about LEGO owner Kjeld Kirks Kristiansen’s realization of LEGO House. In 2021, he published The Right to Food about homeless people’s relationship with food. Jens lives in New York and as a wine enthusiast, has followed the trend of increasing enthusiasm for rosé wine with great interest.

To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/336.