“Normally you have a best friend, and sometimes you see each other on weekends, but we are in the same business. We feel lucky. You can’t find it a second time in the world.” – Bernhard Ott

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 one could alone. Warhol and Basquiat. Lewis and Tolkien. Gauguin and van Gogh. Today in the world of craft wine and spirits, that pair is winemaker Bernhard Ott and distiller Hans Reisetbauer.

Born into farming families in Lower and Upper Austria respectively, they followed a common thread of honest farming, pure fruit, and quality beverages that eventually brought them together. Like looking in a mirror, they immediately bonded over their shared interests and identical values. Now after 25 years of friendship, their collaborative approach to farming, fermentation, and life has produced the most elite wine and spirits in Austria.

In this episode, they share their philosophies on biodynamic farming, their obsessive pursuit of pure fruit, and why doing things the right way doesn’t have to mean doing it the hard way when you always have a friend to lean on.

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"I'm very proud to be Mexican. I love my people, I love my country, and we love what we are doing. We do our part with passion, with honesty, with everything that we can with our hands. We are people from the field. We are rancheros, and we feel proud of this. It's our task." – Sergio Vivanco

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 Tequila. The distillery built an enviable reputation, and the family took on contracts for brands seeking purity, quality, and transparency.

Now co-owner and one of four master distillers, Sergio Vivanco has become one of the most respected figures in the tequila industry. In this episode, tequila educator and advocate Marissa Paragano sits down with Sergio to taste five expressions from Viva México and Plantador, discussing the production details that make NOM 1414 tequilas distinct, Sergio's five-step tasting method, and how a culture of multi-generational craftsmanship delivers excellent results.

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“This is one reason why family wineries are so important. My father is 82, and he’s supporting, in all the ways, the planting of vineyards that he will not see the full potential of. This multi-generational commitment to viticulture, this multi-generational commitment to caring for the land—that’s why families are so important.” – Jasmine Hirsch

The Hirsch family are farmers, though it took decades for David Hirsch to realize after planting his first vines in 1980 that he's not farming grapes—he's farming soil. This epiphany came after a long evolutionary arc in an exceptionally rugged and sparsely populated region in the West Sonoma Coast. What used to be a redwood forest cleared for cultivation by early pioneers became a conventional vineyard and later a biodynamic farm under his stewardship.

In this week's episode, Jasmine Hirsch, the second generation farmer of Hirsch Vineyards and first-generation winemaker, joins Jamie Schwartz for a discussion over a glass of Hirsch Vineyards 'Bohan-Dillon' Pinot Noir. The longtime friends discuss her family's farming philosophy rooted in spirituality, the physical and mental impact of the region's dramatic terroir, and how she embraces the ephemeral nature of wine through the Japanese principle of mono no aware.

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“They didn’t believe that I could do the work. And today, the girls are proving how sometimes the impossible can become normal.” – Chiara Boschis

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 firmly set in its traditional ways, her neighbors suggested to her father that she should be committed to a psych ward.

She laughs about it now because she proved them all wrong; her wines are now considered among the very best of Italy. Chiara toured the world with the Barolo Boys as the only Barolo Girl, introducing a new take on an Italian classic to American tables. And now, instead of “crazy”, she is often touted as the Queen of Cannubi!

In this episode, Chiara, joined by her niece Elena, tells the story with gusto of how she found herself at the intersection of three cultural revolutions and became the first woman winemaker estate owner in Piedmont.

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"We're aiming for a mineral-driven, sharper, cooler style. Very fine, very precise, more focus, more finesse, more character." – Lara Haag

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.

In this episode, German wine expert Michael Lykens tastes a flight of Rieslings with Lara Haag, winemaker Thomas Haag's daughter. They discuss how respect for terroir directs their low-intervention winemaking practices and where Schloss Lieser's signature "sponti" aroma comes from.

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"You know, trends come and go, but I think there always is an evolution. I think the way I try to approach wine and food and anything else in life, even fashion, is to like what you like and trust your gut." – Martha Stoumen

Martha Stoumen is a first generation winemaker from California known for her fresh and youthful wines of primarily Italian varieties. After apprenticing with Giusto Occhipinti in Sicily, Martha returned to California on a mission to discover multigenerational organic vineyards to source her low-intervention wines.

Though she walks to the beat of her own drum, collaboration is a necessary ingredient in her work. First, she pooled resources with friends from UC Davis to support the beginning of her eponymous brand, and now she is one fifth of the Overshine Collective, a new organization which allows winemakers to share responsibilities for the "unsexy" parts of the industry while retaining full control over their individual brands.

In this episode with American wine expert Camille Elguero, Martha shares the 3 key lessons she brought back from Italy, the charming story behind her Post-Flirtation label, and the joys of motherhood as a woman working in wine.

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"For me, it’s very important to know where your roots are when you’re making wine. And I know exactly which kind of wine I want to make: it’s wine that most expresses where it comes from." – Cyprien Arlaud

The third generation of his family estate in Morey St. Denis, Cyprien Arlaud of Domaine Arlaud is regarded by many as one of the most respected farmers and winemakers in Burgundy today. His full-scale commitment to organic, biodynamics, and holistic soil management established him as a leader of a new era of low-intervention practices.

Speaking, Cyprien makes it clear how in touch he is with every meter of vines he farms. He is immensely talented, but also has an insatiable curiosity that allows him to keep learning and keep getting better. And today, there is no question he is one of the finest growers in Burgundy.

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“To work by animal traction, 40% grade vineyards, on slate, at 1,000m of altitude, that are 45 minutes from anything else—all the best producers are going more and more into geographically specific bottlings.” – Max Working

In December, we sent our Iberian wine specialists to take the pulse of what’s new and exciting in Portugal and Galicia. Matt Wolfe and Max Working tasted the wines of nine producers from Bierzo to Porto and returned with a wealth of stories, wineries to watch, and two souvenir tastevins from their surprise induction into a secret society. They reveal how some producers are returning to the past to move forward, what makes farming biodynamically so difficult here, why organic Alvarinho is so rare.

The itinerary included visits with Dominio do Bibei, Anselmo Mendes, Aphros, Albamar, Bodegas Fulcro, Raúl Pérez, Filipa Pato & William Wouters, Revela, and Kopke.

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