Unreserved Wine Talk

Why did the Bordeaux wine Mouton Cadet decide that sustainability needed to include people, not just the environment? Why is the Fair for Life certification that's focused on people, community, and respect the environment a perfect fit for Mouton Cadet? What does it mean to create trust with more than 100 grape growers that lasts for generations? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Véronique Hombroekx, the Managing Director for the Mouton Cadet Brand and Jérôme Aguirre, Director, Mouton Cadet Wines, about their Fair for Life program. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Highlights What made Veronique believe fair trade principles could work for a Bordeaux wine brand on the scale of Mouton Cadet? Why did a small Fair for Life label on another Bordeaux wine inspire a major change at Mouton Cadet? What was missing from Mouton Cadet's sustainability strategy before Fair for Life was introduced? Why did Mouton Cadet choose its flagship Rouge to carry the Fair for Life certification? What does it actually mean for more than 100 independent winegrowers to be part of the "Mouton Cadet family"? How do long-term contracts and above-market pricing help growers plan for the future? What happens during a typical vineyard visit between Mouton Cadet's technical team and its growers? How is technology helping growers make better decisions while reducing their reliance on pesticides? Why do the growers themselves decide how the Fair for Life development fund is invested? How are growers using shared data and cost-management tools to improve their businesses? Why has climate adaptation become one of the most urgent challenges facing Bordeaux winegrowers? How can supporting growers beyond the vineyard ultimately lead to better wine in the bottle? About Mouton Cadet's Fair for Life Certification The Fair for Life fair-trade certification scheme officially recognises Mouton Cadet's commitment and makes them unique in Bordeaux. The aim of this certification is to pursue existing initiatives with their winegrowers in response to a range of challenges: economic (more resilient operating models), environmental (support for the agroecological transition) and social (training, transmission of skills). Each bottle of Mouton Cadet with the Fair for Life label bears witness to the combination of a shared passion and a long-term commitment. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/395.

How does biking through wine country help you better understand the wines? Why has wine held a unique place in the Bible and our culture when so many other foods like milk, olive oil, honey, dates, and pomegranates symbolize abundance and blessing? How do the aromas and complexity of wine create such deep connections to memory in the brain? Why do so many people feel disconnected in modern life despite being more connected than ever? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Professor Mark Scarlata, author of the new book Wine, Soil, and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Highlights What did cycling through French wine country teach Mark about the connection between wine, land, and place? Why did a biblical scholar decide to write a book about wine? What surprised Mark most when he began researching wine in the Bible? Why are wine, soil, and salvation so closely connected in Mark's understanding of scripture? What does Noah's transformation into a "man of the soil" reveal? Why do some commentators criticize Noah's drunkenness when the biblical text itself seems far less concerned with it? What happens when wine is treated as a symbol of community and celebration rather than a source of status and exclusivity? How do wine's aromas connect with the brain and our memories? Why does Mark think modern life leaves people feeling increasingly disconnected from the places where they live? How did wine become such an ordinary yet essential part of daily life in the ancient world? About Mark Scarlata Mark Scarlata is Senior Lecturer in Old Testament at St. Mellitus College, London. He is also the Vicar-Chaplain at St. Edward, King and Martyr, Cambridge, and the Director of the St. Edward's Institute for Christian Thought. He has spoken on wine and faith internationally and continues to write on the subject. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/393.

What did lasagna taste like in Renaissance Italy before tomatoes and ragù became standard? Why are some of Thailand's most iconic royal desserts rooted in Portuguese convent recipes? How did a chance conversation at dinner unexpectedly unlock hidden pieces of food history? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with James Chatto, co-author of the terrific new book Acquired Tastes: The Lives and Recipes of Eight Culinary Ambassadors. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of James Chatto's new book, Acquired Tastes: The Lives and Recipes of Eight Culinary Ambassadors. 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 Why did James transition from acting and music into a career as a food writer? What did James learn from his godfather, Robert Morley, about why food writing is ultimately about people? What inspired James, Wendy, and their historian son to structure Acquired Tastes around real people who carried recipes from one culture into another? How did Renaissance Italians make lasagna with and why did James find the recipe so unexpectedly delicious? What memorable kitchen disaster turned a promising chocolate cake into something "dry as chalk"? Who was Maria Guyomar de Pinha and how did she become a key figure in Thai royal desserts? What do you need to know about the Thai dessert foi thong and its history? Why does James believe recipes certain recipes have survived for centuries? Who was Queen Bona Sforza and how did she influence Polish food culture? What coincidence connected James with a modern Italian wine importer whose hometown still preserves Queen Bona's legacy centuries later? About James Chatto James Chatto read English at New College, Oxford, before becoming an actor and musician; today, he is one of Canada's best-known writers on the subjects of food and drink. He has written seven books, including A Kitchen in Corfu, the best-selling A Matter of Taste (with Lucy Waverman) and two memoirs, The Man Who Ate Toronto and The Greek for Love. As a journalist, he spent decades as Toronto Life's restaurant columnist, Senior Editor of the LCBO's magazine, Food & Drink, and editor of harry magazine; his writing has appeared in dozens of publications in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A co-founder of the Canadian Culinary Championship, he is a Chevalier of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Taste Fromage de France, and a Freeman of Corfu Town. He is a puppetmaker. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/391.

What can your first experiences with alcohol tell you about the relationship you'll have with it later in life? Are we fighting with our own biology when it comes to alcohol? Why is moderation impossible for some people? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Dr. Charles Knowles, author of Why We Drink Too Much: The New Science of Alcohol. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of Charles Knowles' new book, Why We Drink Too Much: The New Science of Alcohol. 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 Charles' initial attempt at a memoir expand to explore the science behind why we drink alcohol? Why did Charles feel it was essential to present alcohol research without oversimplifying? Why does he reject both anti-alcohol evangelism? What can early experiences with alcohol reveal about future risk of developing a problematic relationship with it? How does alcohol act as a social lubricant for some people? What's the connection between human evolution and alcohol as the world's oldest and most widely used drug? What was alcohol's role in early human societies? What distinguishes alcohol dependence from gray area drinking? Which aspects of drinking increase the risk of developing a problematic relationship with alcohol? Why does the brain's reward system prioritize alcohol over other needs? What is the default mode network, and why does alcohol's ability to quiet repetitive negative thinking make it so reinforcing? About Charles Knowles Charles Knowles is Professor of Surgery at Queen Mary University of London and a colorectal surgeon. He is author of the book "Why We Drink Too Much: The New Science of Alcohol" which was published by Macmillan in the UK, Commonwealth, US and Canada in January 2026. The book entwines his own journey with an understanding of the effects of alcohol in the body and brain, and how this informs rational approaches to stopping or moderating consumption. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/389.

Should wine competitions give judges the option to say that none of the wines in a category deserve a medal? Why have some classic regions become inaccessible while others remain within reach for wine drinkers? What does it mean for a wine to gain wisdom as it ages? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Neal Hulkower, a PhD rocket scientist, who has just published his first book, Grape Explications. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of Neal Hulkower's terrific new book, Grape Explications. 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 What was one biostatistician's objection to the way wine competitions were scored? Why does Neal fundamentally disagree with the view that some judges' opinions should carry more weight? What are the Power of None and the Stars and Bars method and how do they change the way judges assess competitors? Why did Neal apply these ranking methods to historic tastings like the Judgment of Paris, and what did the results reveal? What did revisiting his tasting notebooks from the 1960s and 1970s reveal about wine prices, aging, and accessibility? How did Neal set a personal ceiling on wine price, and how does that shape what he considers drinkable? Why have some classic wines remained attainable while others are now priced out of affordability? How did opening a carefully chosen older bottle reinforce Neal's belief that wine can gain wisdom as it ages? About Neal Hulkower Neal D. Hulkower is an applied mathematician and freelance writer living in McMinnville, Oregon. His first contributions to a wine publication appeared in the early 1970s. Since 2009, he has been writing regularly about wine-related topics for academic, trade, and popular publications including the Journal of Wine Research, the Journal of Wine Economics, American Wine Society Wine Journal, Oregon Wine Press, Practical Winery & Vineyard, Wine Press Northwest, the Slow Wine Guide USA, and The World of Fine Wine and on wine-searcher.com, trinkmag.com, and guildsomm.com. Neal is a member of the American Wine Society, the American Association of Wine Economists, and the Circle of Wine Writers. His first book, Grape Explications, was released in 2025. He can occasionally be found pouring some of Oregon's finest in a tasting room at the top of the Dundee Hills. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/377.

Why did this author start the book with tasting, rather than history, regions or grapes? Was that because you wanted to get right into the sensory experience, rather than maybe some of the drier knowledge? Why is your experience of what tastes good as personal as a fingerprint? When it comes to wine, what do you mean by structure? Why are these important, these structural components? Do you think they matter more than identifying that, that wine's from Burgundy, that wine's from Bordeaux? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Jordan Salcito, author of Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, & Everyone We Know. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of Jordan Salcito's terrific new book, Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, and Everyone We Know. 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 Why does our first impression of a wine's aroma matter more than we realize Why did Jordan ultimately walk away from the Master Sommelier service exam? How did the title Smart Mouth come together and capture the spirit Jordan wanted for the book? Why did Jordan choose to begin Smart Mouth with tasting instead of regions, grapes, or wine history? Why does Jordan see point scores and rigid wine hierarchies as a form of ego rather than a useful guide for drinkers? How do different people visualize or conceptualize wine while tasting? How does Jordan's concept of wine personas differ from traditional tasting language? What does the TALL framework explain about wine structure? How can simple sensory exercises help drinkers identify tannin, alcohol, acidity, and earth-driven flavors with confidence? About Jordan Salcito Jordan Salcito is an award-winning sommelier, author, and entrepreneur. A wine industry veteran, she has over a decade of experience as a sommelier at restaurants including Momofuku, Restaurant Daniel, and Eleven Madison Park (where she was part of the team to win the award for Outstanding Wine Service from the James Beard Foundation). Her wine programs at Momofuku were regularly recognized in The New York Times, Eater, and Food & Wine, and were named "Most Creative Wine List in the World" by the World of Fine Wine magazine. A pioneer of the ready-to-drink beverage category with her organic Italian spritz company, Drink RAMONA, Salcito will also published her first book, Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, & Everyone We Know, with Penguin Random House's Ten Speed Press. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/375.

What goes into creating a successful international wine brand that tells a story before the bottle is even opened? What does it look like to build a young wine brand vintage by vintage? What makes Bordeaux such a hard place to break into as an outsider? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Namratha Stanley, author of the new memoir Vineyard Melody. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of Namratha Stanely's terrific new book, Vineyard Melody: How One Woman Rebuilt Her Life, One Grape At A Time. 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 What was it like arriving alone in rural Margaux for an internship? What made Namratha push through fear, exhaustion, and the pressure of a visa dependent on work? Why is the French concept of terroir so powerful in understanding the connection between place, identity, and wine? Why did Namratha make the decision to build her own wine brand instead of becoming an agent for existing wineries? How did the name and branding for Solicantus come together, and what influenced these choices? How did a single LinkedIn message lead to Solicantus wines being listed with the LCBO in Canada? What did the first international sale feel like after years of uncertainty and effort? Why is Namratha passionate about building philanthropy into her wine and book business? How did reuniting with her daughter in France mark a turning point for Namratha? About Namratha Stanley Namratha Stanley is the debut author of Vineyard Melody, a memoir chronicling her personal and professional transformation. Once confined to a patriarchal household in India, where she was barred from working, she broke free from marital violence and moved to France in 2017 to pursue a Wine MBA. She went on to found Wine Equation, a Bordeaux-based wine merchant company, and created Solicantus, her signature wine brand now distributed in five countries. Today, she serves as Program Director at INSEEC (Omnes), mentors women and students, and donates part of her wine sales to support children's education in India. Her journey—from traditional housewife to entrepreneur—has been featured in Forbes, Decanter and many other magazines. Namratha lives in France with her daughter and two cats, continuing to write and grow her wine business. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/373.

How did winemakers first figure out how to remove alcohol from wine without destroying it? Why is it so difficult to perfect the flavours and aromas in wine once the alcohol is removed? Why do some non-alcoholic wines keep their fruity aromas while others seem to lose everything? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Dr Wes Pearson, a senior research scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Highlights How was the German winemaker, Carl Jung, a pioneer in the field of no and low alcohol wine? Why is the reverse osmosis process better suited to small alcohol adjustments rather than full dealcoholization? How has the spinning cone column become one of the most effective tools for removing alcohol from wine? Why is it so challenging to preserve flavour and aroma in non-alcoholic wines? Why are low alcohol wines often more successful than alcohol free wines? How can vineyard and fermentation choices reduce alcohol while preserving wine character? Why do lower alcohol wines preserve a sense of place more successfully than fully de-alcoholized wines? How do beer producers have more technical options for making low alcohol products than winemakers? What is the connection between alcohol and mouthfeel? Why is Sauvignon Blanc often the most successful base for alcohol free wine? How does Wes envision the future of non alcoholic wine? Key Takeaways How did winemakers first figure out how to remove alcohol from wine without destroying it? The story goes that Carl Jung was somewhere in India, in the Himalayas, and he noticed that water boiled at a lower temperature and started thinking about, oh, well you know, they had a family winery and I wonder if we can take ethanol out if we boiled it at a lower temperature. Understanding, of course, classic distillation ethanol boils at around 70-something degrees and water would boil at 100. So you could boil your ethanolic solution, remove the ethanol, trap it on this side, leave your water here or whatever solution you have your ethanol in, and then keep the ethanol. That's classic distillation. Normally we keep the distillate, we keep the alcohol, and get rid of what we've taken it out of. Now we want to keep what we've taken it out of and get rid of the ethanol. So that was the whole premise behind vacuum distillation. Why is it so difficult to perfect the flavours and aromas in wine once the alcohol is removed? When that wine comes off the spinning cone column, it's not a pleasant drink. It's extremely acidic. You've concentrated the acids by about a third, and as well, you've lost all the flavor. Also the flavor that balances out all that acid is gone as well. We need to do a lot of work in building that back up. We should use more tools that we have to try to build some of these up, to build flavor. Now, of course, from the economics behind this, these are not expensive products. So we can't just whack everything in there and hope for the best. We have to have some judiciousness when it comes to how much these things cost and how much you can add, and how we can do this to recover what we've taken out and put back so that it's more cost effective. This is all part of the research that we're working on. Why do some non-alcoholic wines keep their fruity aromas while others seem to lose everything? When the yeast eat the sugar in the grape juice, those sugars are all attached to all kinds of other chemical compounds. The yeast come along, they eat the sugar, and release the flavor compound. And so those fermentation products, most of them are esters and organic acids. Now the esters are the really pretty things that we smell, all the fruity flavors. And the organic acid portions of those, they're less appealing. Now, when you put those through the dealcoholization machine, the spinning cone column in particular, you get the stinky stuff staying, and you get the nice stuff going. Within Sauvignon Blanc, you lose the acetate, but actually three-mercaptohexanol smells lovely. It smells like passion fruit, and so that stays. Where if your wine doesn't have thiols, something like Chardonnay, which is much lower in thiols, you don't get that retention of that character. About Dr. Wes Pearson Dr Wes Pearson is a senior research scientist and sensory group manager at the Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide. He holds a BSc in Wine Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia, a diploma in Applied Sensory and Consumer Science from the University of California Davis and a PhD from Charles Sturt University. He has worked in the sensory group at the AWRI since 2010 and has completed hundreds of sensory studies and authored over 25 research papers in that time. He is an alumnus of the Len Evans Tutorial and of Wine Australia's Future Leaders program and sits on the board of directors for the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association. He has judged at multiple capital city and regional wine shows and has been an educator/judge for the AWRI's Advanced Wine Assessment Course for more than a decade. He is also an accomplished winemaker, having made wine in Canada and France, and currently makes wine under his Juxtaposed label in McLaren Vale, South Australia. To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/371.