Quench! Mark Spivak

The role of sulfur in winemaking—and its effects on consumers—is one of the most misunderstood topics in the world of wine. Many wine drinkers believe that they are allergic to sulfites, that red wines contain more sulfites than whites, that European wines have lower sulfite levels than American ones: the misconceptions go on and on. […] The post Quench! – The Myth of Sulfites appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is one of Italy’s great wines, and the Tuscan winery Avignonesi is perhaps its greatest estate. Americans tend to confuse it with Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, but anyone drinking it for the first time will be charmed by its balance, elegance and value—it sells for roughly half the price of its more famous […] The post Quench! – Avignonesi: The Jewel of Vino Nobile appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

As you prepare to open that prized bottle of Lafite or Petrus, a dark thought may cross your mind: It might not be Lafite or Petrus at all. Counterfeit bottles were once as rare as fine wine itself, a phenomenon restricted to rogue wine merchants and sommeliers in Europe who were trying to make some […] The post Quench! – Encore Presentation: Fine, Rare, Expensive and Fake appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark reports on a remarkable tasting of aged rums from the Bacardi Facundo Collection: four selections from the family’s private reserve, now released in a limited edition. He also examines the American renaissance in hard cider, revealed in a new website by blogger Tom Wark called The Cider Journal (ciderjournal.com). Turning his attention to wine […] The post Quench! – The Art of Rum appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark is back from the Telluride Wine Festival, and files a full report on that less-than-satisfying experience. The rest of today’s show is devoted to a collection of the Bizarre Beverage New stories that piled up over the past several weeks. Some highlights include: an all-nude wine festival, coming up on August 16 in (where […] The post Quench! – Bizarre Beverage Roundup appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

A large number of facilities that produce alcohol report ongoing occurrences of paranormal activity. Is there something about these places that attracts ghosts, and keeps those ghosts coming back? Mark speaks with Brock Wagner, one of the owners of Saint Arnold Brewery in Texas, the country’s largest craft brewer, about frequent ghost sightings in his […] The post Quench! – Haunted Breweries and Distilleries appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

If you fantasize about owning your own winery, you’re not alone—after the desire to open a restaurant, winery ownership is one of the most common fantasies in the human psyche. The cost of admission, however, is steep: between $5-10 million in Napa, and even higher in some parts of Europe. Mark explores the growing category […] The post Quench! – Fractional Vineyard Ownership appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark Spivak’s second book, Moonshine Nation: The Art of Creating Cornbread in a Bottle, will be released by Lyons Press on July 15. Moonshine is corn whiskey, traditionally made in improvised stills throughout the Appalachian South. While quality varied from one producer to another, the whiskey had one thing in common: It was illegal because […] The post Quench! – Moonshine Nation appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

There’s a mounting body of scientific evidence to indicate that women are better tasters than men—not just of wine, but also of beer, spirits, food and other things. The original research was done in 1999 at the Yale University School of Medicine by Dr. Linda Bartoshuk, who discovered that women have more taste receptors than […] The post Quench! – Are Women Better Tasters? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

For the first few decades after screwcap (or Stelvin) closures were invented in 1964, they met with considerable resistance from the public. Screwcaps were mostly associated with cheap, low grade wines such as Thunderbird or MD 20/20, the type of beverage consumed by drunks in convenience store parking lots. That perception has gradually changed, as […] The post Quench! – Screwcap vs. Corks appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Most consumers agree that draft beer tastes better than the bottled version, but what are the advantages of wine on tap? For one thing, the product is fresher and free of the danger of cork taint. For another, bars and restaurants get a price break on kegs (whether this discount is passed on to customers […] The post Quench! – Kegged Wine appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The Great Quench! Giveaway Offer: For a limited time, Mark is giving away a free copy of his ebook, The Affordable Wine Guide to California and the Pacific Northwest, as a gesture of appreciation to Quench! listeners. The ebook is the definitive guide to the best domestic wines under $15: 42 wineries profiled, and over […] The post Quench! – Cocktail Trends appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The Great Quench! Giveaway Offer: For a limited time, Mark is giving away a free copy of his ebook, The Affordable Wine Guide to California and the Pacific Northwest, as a gesture of appreciation to Quench!listeners. The ebook is the definitive guide to the best domestic wines under $15: 42 wineries profiled, and over 300 […] The post Quench! – Red Wine, Olive Oil and Rock Music appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The past five years have been rough for small, family-operated wineries in California: dozens of them have been absorbed by large beverage conglomerates that proceeded to increase production and destroy the individuality of the product. Steve Reynolds is a former dentist who purchased property on Napa’s Silverado Trail about 20 years ago and built a […] The post Quench! – Reynolds Family Winery appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Dust off those horned helmets: mead is coming back. Mead is the oldest alcoholic beverage on the planet, and has a tendency to become trendy every thousand years or so; it’s made in a variety of styles, from still and sparkling to sweet and dry. Mark talks with David Myers, Chairman of the Mead at […] The post Quench! – Mead appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Thirty years ago, only four states allowed direct shipments from wineries to consumers; today, the total is 41. It took many years of lobbying to change the situation (not to mention a Supreme Court decision). Has the newfound freedom among wine consumers affected the industry? Mark examines the issue from a number of different viewpoints, […] The post Quench! – Direct Shipping appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

He started out in finance, and worked as a master gardener and full-time painter before opening his own winery in California’s Santa Rita Hills. She was a professional musician, had her own biscotti business and trained Arabian horses. Mark traces the remarkable journeys of John Hilliard and Christine Bruce in a conversation with John, and […] The post Quench! – Hilliard Bruce appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Wine trends are generally consumer-led, but spirits marketing tends to flow from the top: Brands are conceived and executed with a precise plan in mind. What exactly is the process of creating a new spirits brand? Mark talks with Peter Governale, a partner in the BH Group, who discusses the inspiration, blending, packaging and marketing […] The post Quench! – Creating a Brand appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Canadian whisky has had a rough time in the U.S. over the past three or four decades: derided by many as “brown vodka,” it was shunned by mixologists in favor of spirits that had more dramatic flavors, such as bourbon and Scotch. The trend is now reversing, although progress is slow. Mark speaks with Davin […] The post Quench! – The Rodney Dangerfield of Whisky appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Australian wine has traditionally been popular with Americans, but in recent years a trifecta of problems has created a perfect storm for the category: the global recession of 2007-8, an unprecedented glut, and the growing strength of the Australian dollar, which has made the wines more expensive on U.S. retail shelves. Mark talks with Lisa […] The post Quench! – The Ferment Down Under appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.