D’Amato & Szabo: Wine Thieves

Send us Fan Mail Its’ syrah-o’clock somewhere and the Wine Thieves are back to unlock the secrets of the northern Rhone’s largest appellation where syrah takes many shapes: Crozes-Hermitage. But it’s really a tale of two crozes, two very distinct parts. There’s what growers refer to as the northern half of Crozes-Hermitage to the north of the imposing hill of Hermitage itself – where it is narrower, cooler, and higher, with steep granitic slopes. That hard magmatic stone in all its glory make...

Send us Fan Mail The Wine Thieves are back with part two of a series on the Unità Geografiche Aggiuntivi of Chianti Classico (or UGAs) the recently announced additional geographic units that will begin appearing on labels of the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione category as of this year. Joining us again are Caterina Mori, Director of Communications for the Chianti Classico Consorzio, and the "Map Man" Alessandro Masnaghetti who literally drew up the map of the 11 new UGS that we’ll be co...

Send us Fan Mail The first of a three-part journey into Chianti Classico. in this episode we look at the past, present and future of the denominazione with our special guest, Giovanni Manetti, Chariman of the Chianti Classico Consorzio and proprietor of the venerated Fontodi estate in Panzano. This is Manetti’s second term as the Chairman , where he has been a driving force of innovation and evolution, helping to re-establish Chianti Classico as one of Italy’s, and the world’s, leading ...

Send us Fan Mail This episode takes a wide-ranging look at biodynamic agriculture, which, perhaps not so coincidentally, seems to be the foundational philosophy underlying a disproportionately large percentage of the world’s best wines. The Thieves speak with two prominent Californian practitioners of biodynamics to discuss several aspects of this philosophy-cum-practical manifesto, first developed by Austrian-born philosopher and social reformer Rudolf Steiner, who lived from 1861-1925. &nb...

Send us Fan Mail We’re kicking off 2023 and season three of the podcast with a look at one of the hottest wine trends down under: cool and fresh red wines from Australia. Once famous, and still well-known for robust, full-bodied, sunshine-filled jammy reds, today there’s serious momentum gathering, and already flowing, for lighter styles of red, fresher, less oaky, with lower alcohol and higher drinkability. So, what is driving this trend? What should we be looking for, and where? The Thiev...

Send us Fan Mail The Wine Thieves are finally back with a new episode, perfect for the late summer, at least in the northern hemisphere, in which we share some cool news and information on the white wines of Australia. Many picture Australia as a warm country with beautiful beaches and great surfing, well suited to heat-loving red grapes like grenache, shiraz and mourvèdre (aka mataro) that make up the classic GSM blend, and rightfully so. But this episode looks at som...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode takes a critical look at the fashionable and fascinating subject of old vines, some extremely old, how they got so old, how they perform and the wines they produce. Do they make better wine than young vines? The Wine Thieves ask two world experts from South Australia to weigh in: Prue Henschke, viticulturist for the renowned Henschke winery, including two of Australia’s most iconic ancient vineyards, Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone, and Dr. Dyla...

Send us Fan Mail The Wine Thieves venture out beyond wine (but not too far) to speak with Michelin starred chef-sommelier José González-Solla (Pepe to his friends) of the renowned Casa Solla, near Pontevedra in Galicia. Once-known for its excellent, traditional, home cooking, when Solla took over from his parents he transformed the business through his inventive style of cooking that's still firmly focused on the authentic flavours of Galicia. Pepe believes that “Galicia is...

Send us Fan Mail Rias Baixas episode 3 of a five-part series: redefining Albariño, emerging styles, ageworthy wines, and the Condado do Tea subregion with special guest Isabel Salgado, winemaker at Fillaboa. In this episode we shift our focus over to the Condado do Tea sub-region. Condado de Tea is the second largest sub-region of the five, behind the Salnès Valley. It starts inland from O Rosal about 40 kilometres from the coast along the course of the Minho River into rugged, mountainous te...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back and thank you for joining us for another season of Wine Thieves! We're off to a fresh start with our latest series in which we explore albariño, seaside vineyards and fresh Atlantic wines as we travel through the diverse wine-growing region of Rias Baixas. This small corner of northwestern “Green Spain” in the region of Galicia has emerged over the last couple of decades as a premier source of fresh, crunchy, salty wines that are mainly, but not exclusively...

Send us Fan Mail This is the last in our 5-part series featuring Armenia’s modern wine renaissance and our final episode of 2021. This time we focus on what’s most important, that is . . . eating and drinking in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia! Following the evolution of wine culture in the country that moved from a brandy-producing and brandy drinking culture to embracing their millennia-old wine history and reviving wine production and wine drinking. The Thieves speak to Mariam Sagetelyan, ...

Send us Fan Mail You probably already know about Austrian grüner veltliner. It’s the country’s most planted variety, and the wine you’re most likely to find on store shelves and restaurant wine lists. You may even know that Austria makes exceptional riesling and fine reds from local specialties like blaufränkisch and sankt laurent. But what may be news is that this middle European country is also the source of some of the world’s best sauvignon blanc, from a small region in the country’s deep...