When You Just Want A Glass Of Wine

As we wrap up Virginia Wine Month, a sneaky little white from Lightwell Survey Alchemist, Ben Jordan. 95% Riesling and 5% Petit Manseng. Yes, you heard that right. A little Malo, a little lees contact, fermentation in fiberglass. You heard that right too! When You Just Want a Glass of Wine, reach for the 2023 Lightwell Survey Goodbye Horses.

Cheers to Margaret Perry from Williams Corner for the wine and to Ben Jordan for trying to save me!

Zena and Renée welcome Philly native, Daniel Brennan, founder of Decibel Wines in Hawkes Bay, NZ. We trace his roots from his family's restaurant in Philly to managing a rock band to a podcast on wine (Vintage Stories with Daniel Patrick Brennan), finally to moving to New Zealand and getting his hands dirty learning how to be a winemaker. We talk mutual friends (Sommelier Sonja Eberly and Winemaker Kim McPherson!), beautiful wines (have you had a Hawkes Bay Albariño???) and one of the best lamb recipes you can find!

2021 Barboursville Octagon: Can Halloween candy make one of Virginia’s most celebrated red wines taste even better?

Jimi joins Zena and Renée for a special Guy Talk Hallowine tasting, pairing Barboursville Vineyards’ 2021 Octagon with Reese’s, Kit Kats, Oreos and M&M’s to celebrate the final day of Virginia Wine Month.

Three different palates, one unexpected favorite and a rare moment when everyone agrees! Which candy wins?

Stella!!! The Stella Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2025.

Zena and Renée wind up their Missouri Wine Road Trip in the very first AVA in America in Augusta, MO. We tour the oldest winery in Augusta, Mount Pleasant Estates, led by Tom Fuchs, General Manager of HFOC Augusta Area Wineries. A walk through the historic cellars, learning about the devastation of Prohibition and the revival in the 1960s. Today the winery grows 9 grape varieties on 125 acres, winning numerous prestigious awards and achieving high point-ratings. We geek out on soil, rivers, the New Madrid fault, and the historic cellar! We had a full tasting of their wines and e...

A Malbec from Long Island?? Why yes, the 2022 Wölffer Estate Malbec!

What happens when you take Mom wine tasting and the wine descriptions start sounding like poetry?

Join Zena and her mom at Wölffer Estate on Long Island for a relaxed introduction to wine, the words we use to describe it and how those words connect to what’s actually in the glass. With poetry as part of the conversation, we explore how putting a taste into words can be both personal and playful.

This is what When You Just Want a Glass of Wine is all about: making wine approachable, asking questions and enjoying the...

A little snooping before the full pour! Join us behind the scenes at Adam Puchta Winery with Spencer and assistant winemaker Jacob Bockting. We talk Adam’s favorite wines, semi dry versus dry and Missouri’s changing palate, admire the beautiful labels on some best sellers and find out why so many adorable cats and dogs call the property home.

Enjoy this bonus Video episode on our YouTube Channel and a full story on Patreon.

Zena and Renée join 7th Generation owner of Adam Puchta Winery, Spencer Puchta, and Brand Ambassador Lee Baker (our Riedel glassware spirit animal) for an exploration of wine, family and all things Missouri at America's oldest continuously family-owned farm winery. We got to meet winemaker Jacob Bockting for a tour of the winery production facility and their new crush pad! We start with the Bubbly Rosé (100% Chambourcin) which just won Best Sparkling Wine in Missouri from the Missouri Grape and Wine Board, then move to the dry Vignoles, and Jacob's Burgundian style Reserve Chardonel aged in French Oak, pa...

It's the 2023 Wölffer Estate Cabernet Franc (82% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Petit Verdot).

Shamrock Hills Vineyard & Winery. Mike and Denise Riley join us at the Missouri Wine Showcase at the Missouri State Fair! Renée introduces Zena to the Fair, corn dogs (complete with mustard via paintbrush), and a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich as big as her head...but the wine! Shamrock Hills is a three-year-old winery that's already winning awards. We start out with the Reserve Chardonel (a hybrid of Chardonnay and Seyval Blanc). We get another St. Vincent rosé (blended with a Chambourcin), the 2024 Shamrock Rosé. We talk Bethany Falls Limestone, engineering, how to "go big or stay home" in win...

The Husch 2023 Dry Gewurztraminer from Anderson Valley, in Mendocino County, California. Gorgeous floral and ginger notes. What a beautiful summer afternoon wine!

Cheers to Michelle and Michael at DCanter's Alexandria Location.

What a day! If you're offered the opportunity to spend an hour or so with Virginia wine legend and winemaker Luca Paschina, his associate winemaker, Daniele Tessaro, along with National Sales Director and Sommelier Holly Rocco Feraci, in the beautiful Palladio Restaurant at Barboursville Vineyards to do a vertical tasting (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021) of their extended maceration Vermentino (with bonus tastings of the 2024 Vermentino Reserve and the 2020 Nascent)....you say YES!

Old World/New World? Which is it. Pinot Noir in the new world?? Got a little age on it. A lovely blend of Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc aka the Loew Vineyards 2022 Eva. #RiedelSwirl

Lisa Wildlert leads us through a tasting at the winery in the Wachau, a world heritage site. Join us for personal stories and anecdotes while we taste some of the country’s best rieslings.

Acid? Check. Green fruit? Check. Floral? Check. White pepper? Check? Pairs great with Weiner Schnitzel and white asparagus soup? Why, yes! A Pennsylvania Grüner Veltliner? Heck ya! It's the 2024 Galen Glen Grüner Veltliner!

Christina Netzl leads a tasting and Mama Netzl serves us her famous goulash at their winery. Join us in Carnutum where we fall in love with some of Austria’s incredible red wines.

The Dauntless Wine Co.'s Lost at Sea!

Join us for a dinner in the Kremstal with Marlies, the winemaker, while we enjoy a wide range of wines - from her easy drinking No Makeup collection to the beautiful wines of Furth.

Zena and Renée and Jimi hanging out by the cold plunge pool recapping the magic...and maybe a song or two....

We taped this recap in our bathing suits at Loisium Wine & Spa Hotel, which tells you pretty much everything about our priorities by Day 2. 🤣

We were only a day and a half in and already had a lot to talk about. First stop, Paul D in the Wagram. Weissburgunder that had us doing a double take (because, surprise, Pinot Blanc not Chardonnay) + Gemischter Satz, Frizzante, white asparagus season, strawberry season and Jimi discovering what...

The 2023 Left Foot Charley, Old Mission Peninsula Vineyards, Bläufrankisch! Michigan for the win again!

What a day! Zena and Renée get a behind-the-scenes tour at The Oak Cooperage, one of the premier cooperages in the world, led by Master Cooper Danny Orton (1 of only 50 Master Coopers in the US!). Join us as we "raise the barrel" and learn about, seasoning, toasting, bending the staves, and the importance of consistency with your palate. We learn about the partnership with Silver Oak winery who partnered with the cooperage in 2000 and in 2015, purchased the cooperage outright.

Cheers to Tara Kunze, The Oak's fantastic office clerk, for helping schedule everything and for h...

2024 Bedell White Franc Blanc Wells Road Vineyard - North Fork. A white Cabernet Franc! Glorious wine!!!

Our first stop in Missouri! Zena and Renée launch their Missouri Wine Road Trip in historic Rocheport, Mo at the Les Bourgeois Vineyards with Marketing Director Christina Kelley - who introduces Renée to her new favorite grape, the Missouri-grown St. Vincent with a crisp, lovely dry méthode traditionnelle Brut Rosé, followed by an amazing tasting with Les Bourgeois' tasting room manager, Natalie, where we tried chambourcins, chardonels and, Zena's favorite on the day, a lovely bottle of Solay (a blend of Chardonel, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles). We ended the tour, joined by Renée's family at the A-Fra...

A beautiful old vines wine from Zena’s friends in Uruguay: Cerro Chapeu Cabernet Sauvignon!

This week, we’re heading to Uruguay for a Cabernet Sauvignon that has a lot more going on than you might expect.

Cerro Chapeu Cabernet Sauvignon comes from old vines planted in 1978, deep red Batoví soils, and a gravity-flow winery built right into the hillside. We talk about the Carrau family’s ten generations of winemaking, native yeast fermentation, and the work of our friend Francisco Carrau, whose research has helped shape the winery’s distinctive approach to fermentation and terroir.<...

Join Zena and Jimi, and their friends Jon and Kelly, on location at Kloster Eberbach in Germany’s Rheingau, a nearly 900-year-old former Cistercian monastery with one of the region’s most important wine histories. After an intensive tasting and a tour through the monastery, they sit down to talk Riesling, Pinot Noir, terroir and the way climate can completely reshape a wine. They also decode some of the language that can make German wine feel intimidating and talk about how those words can help you understand what is actually in the bottle.

One of the most reve...

Why it's a 2022 Papillon Lavoignat, Mâcon-Péronne, Chardonnay!

Zena and Renée play a little wine roulette pulling from deep in their "cellars". Join us while we discuss how to properly store wine, how (and when) to send wine back, and how to tell whether it's truly faulty or just not your palate. We're drinking a 2014 Greenhill Ontology (100% Chambourcin) from Middleburg, VA, a 2010 Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano Incanta (primarily Sangiovese), a 2010 Nerello Mascalese from Calabretta Azienda Vinicola from Sicily, a 2010 Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Howell Mountain, and the "grandad" of the group, a 2004 Alder Brook Old Vine Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley.

D...

Zena & Renée (and Jimi!) coming to you live from the pool deck of the Loisium Hotel for this special episode of What's in Renée's Glass? Why it's a Kloster Eberbach Berg Schlossberg Spätburgunder GG from the Rheingau!!

Join Zena, Renée, Holly Feraci , Kathy Lang Wiedemann and Matt Fitzsimmons as they hit their favorite VA wineries.

Cheers to Glen Manor Vineyards and Linden Vineyards for their hospitality!

Ah....it's a Chenin Blanc! The beautiful 2024 Domaine Mandard Jean-Christophe Chenin Blanc.

What a night! Join Zena, Renée, Klaus, Her Excellency Ambassador Schneebauer and their friends for a celebration of all things Austria! We reminisce about when Beauty Champagne and Sugar Boutique joined KWSelections for five magical days in Austria.

Cheers to Klaus Wittauer, and Sebastian Lin (our fantastic driver throughout - who made sure we had AC and ice cream!), and all the families who welcomed us into their homes, their wineries their world.

Jimi and Renée talk about upcoming Guy Talk episodes! Cigars, snowboards, bourbon! Oh yeah, and wine, of course!

Zena and Renée talk about the upcoming highlights for Season 4!

Zena and Renée talk about some of their favorite moments from Season 3 of When You Just Want a Glass of Wine!

Glorious Cabernet Franc!!! Two very different expressions of Renée's favorite grape! A 2022 Tuffe Château du Hureau from Saumur-Champigny, Loire, France and a 2020 Aurora Vin du Montagne from the village of Aoura in Lebanon!

Cheers to podcast friend, Andrew Stover for these treats!

A little age, a little leg, some jewel tones, a perfect blend of acid and whiskey, This woman is ready for a night out! The 2020 One Woman Cabernet Franc from the North Fork of Long Island!

Five wines. Four Vintages. Three Countries. Two Continents. One grape. Behold the "voluptuous beast" that is Cabernet Franc. Join us as we linger over a 2022 Catherine et Pierre Breton Les Beaux Monts Chinon, a 2012 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg, a 2022 Two Wolves Estate Vineyard Cabernet Franc, a 2023 Glen Manor Vineyards Cabernet Franc, and a 2020 Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso. Whether you're pairing with an aged gouda, pepper salami or a good therapy session, you're gonna love this grape!

Postscript: Wow, did those wines evolve in the glass! We kept tasting after the mics were turned off, and they...

Four varietals you say? Acid you say? A little zing in the glass? A classic Austrian Gemischter Satz from Paul D! A field blend of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Zweigelt and Müller-Thurgau.

Violet, lavender, dark fruit, herbs, a little white pepper? Usually in the shadow of the stars, but this backup singer is stepping to the front! Join podcast friend, Nick Materese as we explore six PVs from all over the world!

Cheers to Nick Materese.