UNFILTERED Archives: Interviews

Episode 26: Alex Clark

Episode 26: Alex Clark
The Battle of Brooklyn began over stolen fruit in a neighborhood watermelon patch, a piece of borough history that now inspires one of New York’s most distinctive spirits. In this week’s episode, Whiskey Specialist James Pellingra talks with Alex Clark,...

Bonus Episode: What to expect from Skurnik at BCB

Bonus Episode: What to expect from Skurnik at BCB
The biggest spirits event of the year is right around the corner. Bar Convent Brooklyn is an annual 2-day festival of tastings and seminars from the best in the spirits business. In preparation for Skurnik’s third appearance at BCB, we’re...

Episode 24: Noah Dorrance

Episode 24: Noah Dorrance
  Noah Dorrance’s philosophy is clear and consistent: wine is connection. Paying close attention to the weather and the rhythms of the seasons connects him to the health of the planet. Donating a portion of his revenue to local nonprofits...

Episode 23: Shane Fraser

Episode 23: Shane Fraser
  Tenmile Distillery in Wassaic, NY is making the closest thing to Scotch outside of Scotland, thanks to their secret weapon, the acclaimed master distiller Shane Fraser from Aberdeen. Tenmile’s focus is on American Single Malt Whisky, a relatively unheard-of and...

Episode 22: Alice Jun

Episode 22: Alice Jun
  Alice Jun remembers makgeolli as an important ingredient of her upbringing in the ’90s in her Los Angeles Korean American community. Her father, a first-generation immigrant, taught her how to brew the mixed-culture sedimented rice wine at home. His...

Episode 21: Ricardo Peñalba

Episode 21: Ricardo Peñalba
  More than a winemaker, Ricardo Peñalba is a self-proclaimed “wine ideologist.” When he’s out walking the rows of his biodynamic vineyards in Ribera del Duero, he’s thinking obsessively about wine and how it connects humans to our shared history...

Episode 20: Chris Mullineux

Episode 20: Chris Mullineux
  For decades, South Africa’s Swartland region was dominated by industrial farming cooperatives that pumped out massive amounts of inexpensive bulk wine and diluted any hint of terroir. It wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that a fresh generation...

Episode 19: Daday Suárez

Episode 19: Daday Suárez
  Daday Suárez is a completionist. When he was wrestling with questions of reality and being, he got a degree in philosophy. When he wanted to order wine at restaurants with more confidence, he became a certified sommelier. When he...

Celebrating German and Austrian Women in Wine

Celebrating German and Austrian Women in Wine
We were proud to welcome an inspiring group of women from across Austria & Germany for our “A Celebration of Austrian & German Women in Wine” tour. Each tasting featured a broad selection of wines from each winery, representing the...

Episode 18: Bernhard Ott and Hans Reisetbauer

Episode 18: Bernhard Ott and Hans Reisetbauer
  If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together. History is full of contemporaries who share visions of success, who, instead of competing, mentor and encourage the other to become greater than...