Theresa Olkus is the managing director of the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates (VDP). This is a German organization which promotes the country’s top wines and estates. It unites over 200 of Germany’s finest wineries under the organization's symbol - the VDP Eagle, which serves as a guarantor of quality.

Olkus speaks about the organization, German wine in general, dry Riesling, grand cru vineyards, German sekt (sparkling wines) and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir). She also recommends a place renowned for its great wine offering in her town of Mainz (wait until the end of the episode to hear this insider tip).

Chris Yorke is the CEO of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. He talks about his experiences and how he became the CEO of the Austrian wine organization. He discusses trends in Austrian wine, recent news and developments and what sets them apart from other countries.

Simon Woolf is a wine writer based in Amsterdam. He is the author of "Amber Revolution: How the World Learned to Love Orange Wine" and co-author of Foot Trodden: Portugal and the Wines that Time Forgot. Simon's love of wine made him leave a successful career in IT for the less stable career in wine writing. He is also the narrator of the film "Call it Amber" which was inspired by his book.

Simon talks about his career, orange and Portuguese wines, but also brings out his ideas and criticisms of the modern wine scene. You will want to listen to the end to hear Simon's wine bar and restaurant recommendations in Amsterdam.

This time, Aleks Zecevic interviewed Jenna Fields of the German Wine Collection, a California-based importer focusing on German wine. Jenna has been selling and importing German wines for nearly two decades, starting her career working for the legendary importer Rudi Wiest. Her mission is to bring awareness of the diversity of German wine and break out the old cliché that all German wine is sweet Riesling.

Jenna speaks about her career, but also about the perception of German wine in the US and walls that she needs to tear down in order to deliver the true message of the German wine scene today.

This time, Aleks Zecevic interviews Nikolas Juretic of his namesake estate in Collio, in Northeast Italy. He started his winery project in a small winery in the old town of Cormons in 2018. He produces the wine in a very artisanal and traditional way. The vineyards, family owned, are cultivated with the help of his parents Robert and Elena. The parcels and located in Cormons in the “crus” of Montona, Pradis and Bosc di Sot. On about 2 hectares they mainly cultivate white indigenous varieties (Tocai Friulano, Malvasia Istriana and Ribolla Gialla). The vineyards are all older than 50 years.

Nikolas is one of the rising stars of the region and many people compare them to Stanko Radikon. He is also a long-term employee of Simonid and Sirch, a company that specializes in vine pruning. Nikolas talks  about pruning, but also about Collio and indigenous varieties of the region, as well as his story and philosophy of winemaking.

Marcel de Cocq is first and foremost a very passionate natural wine lover. His main work in wine is writing where he gives highly informative wine reviews, together with photographs that you can see on his Instagram @marcel.de.cocq. If you follow his work, he will take you on an educational wine trip through various cellar visits, wine bars and restaurants. Marcel is also the ambassador of the Raisin app, which If you’re new to this is a great way to find natural wine hotspots when you travel (but more on that topic in some of our future episodes. 

In this interview Marcel talks about his journey into wine, given that he is an IT professional, but also uses anecdotes from his visits to speak about biodynamic farming, natural winemaking, transparency in wine and more. 

Greg Lambrecht is the inventor, founder, and boardmember of Coravin, Inc. His devoted passion for wine, engineering degrees from MIT, and successful career in medical technologies converged when he innovated the wine tech sector by creating a wine preservation system known today as Coravin. Coravin uses a non-coring needle to pass through the cork while it’s still in the bottle. 

Since that first device, Greg has continued to innovate, launching additional products for still and sparkling wines that give consumers and trade professionals alike the freedom to pour any wine, in any amount, without feeling the need to finish the entire bottle or fear of wasting a single drop. 

In this episode, Greg talks about his journey into the wine industry. He shares stories about his invention process behind Coravin, giving details about it that are both personal and fun, because behind every success story there are multiple failures. However, it is exactly the passion for wine combined with Greg’s dedication to create something that will at first fit his own needs and then fit the needs of many industry professionals and wine enthusiasts alike.

Alex Delany is a former drinks editor of Bon Appétit magazine, who is currently working as a food and beverage consultant, freelance writer and DJ. This episode does not focus solely on wine, especially not in a nerdy way as we normally do it. Rather, we give the opportunity to Delany to express his passion for all things food and beverage (and music).

Alex will share a bit about his career and will discuss his writing series called Everything Good, which highlights literally all good things in different NYC neighborhood. These are free and accessible on Alex’s Instagram, which is alex_delany . We are hoping for a lot of intel that will help those visiting NYC, but also people who live in the city, but don’t necessarily haver the time to explore it.

We will also hear a little about the wines Alex likes to drink and why. He will tell us about his recent wine and food experiences in Spain and more.