In this episode focused on regional comparisons of California and the world, Wine writer + expert Elaine Chukan Brown speaks with Oz Clarke, wine writer, presenter, and broadcaster and Richard Siddle, business and media consultant and editor at The Buyer. What’s the current state of California wine in the UK? How have perceptions changed in recent years? Elaine, Oz, and Richard take a look at California wine from the outside in, focusing specifically on perspectives from one of the world’s largest wine markets.
Featured wines:
Ramey 2017 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley
Birichino 2018 Grenache, Besson Vineyard, Central Coast
Oak Farm Vineyards 2018 Albarino, Lodi
Oz Clarke’s passion for wine dates from his student days at Oxford University, where he won tasting competitions. Since then, he has won numerous major wine writing awards both in the UK and the USA. In 2006 he won the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition International Drinks Communicator of the Year Award and in 2009 the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Award for International Wine Book of the Year for his book, Bordeaux. His other best-selling books include Let me tell you about wine, World of Wine, Red & White, Wine by the Glass and Grapes & Wines (with Margaret Rand). Oz’s frequent BBC TV and radio appearances are broadcast around the world. Oz was created an Officier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole by the French government for services to French agriculture and an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to journalism and television.
Richard Siddle is an award-winning business journalist and editor with over 25 years’ experience working across a number of fields including drinks, computing, grocery retail, convenience and travel. He now runs his own B2B website, aimed at the premium on-trade and the wine and drinks supply chain that supports it. He was previously editor of Harpers Wine & Spirit for nearly 10 years. Richard has been particularly successful in championing the causes of small retailers and businesses across the different channels he has worked in.