April 27, 2026
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... UNFILTERED Archives: Interviews
Chris Mullineux of Mullineux Wines and Leeu Passant
April 20, 2026
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... Daday Suárez of Alto Canto Tequila
April 13, 2026
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
April 10, 2026
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... Bernhard Ott and Hans Reisetbauer
April 6, 2026
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... Sergio Vivanco of Viva México and Plantador Tequilas
March 30, 2026
For five generations, the Vivanco family has been growing agave in Arandas, in the Jalisco highland plateau, though they didn’t establish their own destilería until 1994. Registered as NOM 1414, they soon launched their own family label, Viva México... The Future of Sake: Niizawa Jozoten 新澤醸造店
March 25, 2026
February 2026 seminar with the visionary sake industry leader Iwao Niizawa, the fifth-generation owner of Niizawa Jozoten, the maker of Hakurakusei “The Connoisseur,” Zankyo “Super 7,” and Reikyo “Absolute 0.” After taking over the family brewery in 2000 at... Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Vineyards
March 24, 2026
The Hirsch family are farmers, though it took decades for David Hirsch to realize after planting his first vines that he’s not farming grapes—he’s farming soil. This epiphany came after a long evolutionary arc in an exceptionally rugged and... Chiara Boschis of E. Pira & Figli
March 16, 2026
As recently as the 1990s, Barolo and the surrounding villages were not ready for a woman to be in charge. When Chiara Boschis championed innovations like new oak barrels, organic farming, and green harvesting in a region that was... Lara Haag of Weingut Schloss Lieser
March 9, 2026
The Schloss Lieser estate boasts one of the most privileged vineyard portfolios of the Middle Mosel, with famed sites like Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Brauneberger Juffer, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, and Bernkasteler Doctor creating incredibly sharp and precise wines from impossibly steep slopes....