Levi Dalton's podcasts

WINE TALK
1

Levi Dalton’s podcasts have been so informative…Here are a few I enjoyed last year. Would love to hear what other episodes you all recommend.

  1. Becky Wasserman - she takes through the history, evolution and different villages of burgundy…learnt so much and how today’s Pommard and NSG wine are different to what the “reputation” is. Great, no a MUST, for every burghead.

  2. Peter Liem - Its a good summary of his fabulous book. Walks you through different sub-regions, takes away many misnomers. Given all the innovations and experiments, champange is perhaps the most exciting region.

  3. Ian d’agata - starts off with a take on different vineyards of Barolo. He also briefly talks about the effect of global warming, how “cooler” portions of the vineyards are now being used, Brunello’s different micro-climates. Etna’s discovery etc.

  4. Chave - phew, no wonder he is the king of syrah or N. Rhone. Plenty of information on hermitage terroir. Was amazed at the amount of work that goes in the vineyards in N. Rhone. Lots of information on St. Joesph. Dispels the notion of a great vintage, how white hermitage once was the most famous…Such an intellectual podcast.

  5. Victor Hazan - why the moden Italian wines lost their soul (referring to super Tuscan and modern Barolo).

2

I love a lot of the early year podcasts that had a lot of the importer and wine store owners from the 80’s and 90’s. Their perspective when wine wasn’t as big of a deal and their comprehensiveness of drinking all of the legendary wines and normal wines then is both educational and entertaining. I hope levy repeats them again or finds more of them.

David

3

I’ve enjoyed several of the same ones lately; they’re good almost despite the interviewer. It mostly depends on the guests for me and whether they can speak about their wines and winemaking in a cogent and interesting way (and of course, whether the topic interests me). I find Levi to be a cringe-worthy interviewer at times, but it still works when the guests are good.

4

Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t listened to any in a while and will check out Wasserman and d’Agata.

5

The Becky Wasserman podcast was great. Definitely a must listen episode for anyone interested in Burgundy.

6

Actually, he’s been on a good run lately. I 've found the three most recent - Aldo Vacca, Dominique Lafon, and Jean Gonon - were very good. I agree on Wasserman and D’Agata as well, and suggest Samuel Guibert, proprietor of Mas Dumas Gassac.

7

The D’Agata interview requires repeated listening. There is a lot of information.

8

Some of my favorites over the years have been:

Aldo Salm
David Lillie
Jon Bonne
David Schildknecht (long discussion of DC market back in the 80s that I really enjoyed
John Gilman
Fourrier
Prevost
Alexander Chartogne
Bruno Borie
Peter Weygandt

9

So many good ones. I like to listen to wine when I work with it so when topping or bottling I have some podcast going. They have veered pretty heavily Italian which I don’t have as much interest in, but the library of interviews is pretty impressive.

10

Listening to the Doug Frost Interview . . .

I dig Levi’s questions and it helps that those he interviews can fill an hour + with interesting information . . .

11

Thanks Howard, that’s a nice list. Listed to John Gilman, his take on '04 red burgs is very interesting!

12

I listened to the recent Aldo Vacca interview last night and I found it interesting.

13

‘I’d rather have a Bourgogne from a good producer that comes from 80 year old vines than a 1er cru that’s on its fourth leaf’.

14

I think that’s harsh. While there are better interviewers out there, one thing he does very well is to let his guests tell their stories. It’s not heavy on repartee, and for the most part isn’t even really a conversation, more a facilitation of storytelling. That works for me in this context. A more back-and-forth, interactive style of interview might be good in this context too, but I like the show for what it is, and that is primarily a medium for winemakers (and others in the wine industry) to tell their stories.

15

The Ian D’Agata episode is excellent, and is FULL of fun and interesting information.

I found the Allen Meadows (Burghound) interview to be very good as well, and I liked the Steve Edmunds interview quite a bit too.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that Erin Scala has added some very good episodes, segments and introductions, such as the one all about stems (whether or not to de-stem).

16

I like Levi’s interviews. He does get more technical with people than do other interviewers, but I consider that to be a positive, not a negative.

17

As a new alcohol drinker, I have learned massive amounts of information from Levi’s podcasts. I’m probably 250 podcasts in and it’s been a great education for me. The last time I was in NYC I tried to get Levi to go to Eleven Madison with me as a token of my appreciation but alas, he said no. I’m sure he gets those types of requests all the time…

Currently I’m going back to all of his Piemonte podcasts and learning as much as I can before my wife and I visit in April.

18

Yup…agree, Michael. Oftentimes/sometimes, these interviewers make these shows more about them than about the person they’re
interviewing. From the few that I’ve watched, Levi does a great job of eliciting the interviewee to tell their stories and stands back
to let them tell it. I’m impressed by his podcasts. I need to view more of them.
Tom

19

So true…also how it was difficult to sell Mugnier’s Musigny as it was too light in color! Times when great wines were required to be dark…boy have times changed!

20

Yeah I can’t imagine anyone getting better stories out of these guests than Levi does. He’s honed his craft (and his editing) over the years to really create something magical, where the stories and information are presented in a way that is engaging but not too dense. I have learned so much listening over the years that when I go back for a re-listen to favorite episodes, I’m always being reminded that IDTT was often the place I first heard some winemaking tip, fact, or idea that informs how I work. He’s created a wealth of knowledge for drinkers and makers alike.

For those that want to geek out a little more on the production side of things, I’d also recommend The Inside Winemaking Podcast with Jim Duane.