Look At Wine by Illahe Vineyards: Recent Episodes
Illahe Vineyards
After 56 episodes, 2 years and 9 months, Look At Wine comes to end...
What was it all for? The big review episode!
Get in touch!
brad@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
What makes a bad wine bad? What is the worst wine that you can buy in the store? What is the worst varietal that is made into wine?
Fret not, we are here to satiate your curiosity of vinous malevolence.
Get in touch! lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
What does typicity really mean when it comes to wine? Does it even exist yet in new world regions like Oregon? What do the terroirs of England and Mars have in common?
Brad and Chris sit down to pick apart these tricky questions and more.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
@illahevineyards
The USA has a new AVA!
Welcome to the world Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon AVA. Brad and Chris discuss Oregon's newest viticultural area and what it means to be in an AVA.
Also discussed: wine soda, and Brad's childhood stage debut dressed as a tooth.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
@illahevineyards
Why don't trees grow infinitely tall?
How many water molecules does it take to fix on carbon molecule?
Brad and Chris are back from a hiatus and review Brad's latest revision of grapevine science. Join us for a trip down the rabbit hole.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
@illahevineyards
Chris and Brad are back to explain how wine is saving the world.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
@illahevineyards
Our 50th episode!
Brad and Chris celebrate 50 episodes of Look at Wine with an exploration of the 50 states of the union as seen through the eyes of Illahe Vineyards.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
@illahevineyards
Brad and Chris delve into the world of wine shipping.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
@illahevineyards
Chris and Brad discuss the search for the vinous holy grail - the perfect pinot noir. Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
www.illahevineyards.com
Chris and Brad discuss the most important, and sometimes most elusive, person in the wine trade - the consumer.
Get in touch! lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
2 years of podcasting! Thank you to all of you out there who have been diligently downloading each episode.
Today, Chris and Brad discuss the search for perfection in wine, and if this concept is in itself completely absurd.
Get in touch!
lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
Recovering from the dizzying heights of having Illahe Vineyards Pinot Gris featured on Olly Smith's "A Glass With..." Podcast, Brad and Chris come back down to earth by unveiling plans for a brand new project - building the World's Biggest Press!
Brad and Chris discuss the final stages of winemaking, just before the juice hits the bottle.
Get in touch! lookatwine@illahevinyeards.com
In this first episode of the new year, Brad and Chris talk about their favorite bottles opened over the holidays.
After half a century of growth and development, Oregon is starting to mature as a New World wine region. Brad and Chris compare the Willamette Valley to England, described by writer Oz Clarke as "the newest New World wine region".
Today Brad and Chris explore what we did in the vineyard this year and how it changed the growth of the grapes.
After a long hiatus, Brad and Chris are back to discuss the place of wine within the category of mind-altering drugs.
Brad and Chris sit down to discuss inebriation.
Get in touch! lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
Today's conversation is an insight into the culture of the Beaver State. Brad shares his experiences and memories of growing up in Oregon and reflects on how much has changed, in no small part due to the booming growth of the wine industry.
Brad and Chris discuss the ancient connection between humans, grapes and yeast, and Brad unveils a new theory on the effect of winemaking and wine consumption on the development of the human brain.
Brad and Chris begin a meandering jaunt around the varietals planted at Illahe Vineyards, beginning with Grüner Veltliner. How did this varietal come to be planted on the slopes of Mount Pisgah?
Special guest appearance from Bethany Ford.
Current scientific studies date the earliest known winemaking back to around 8000 BC in the Zagros mountains in modern-day Iran. Who made these wines? How did they do it? What would these wine have tasted like?
Get in touch: lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
To say that 2020 was a year out of the norm would be, at best, an understatement. The wine industry had its fair share of tragic loss, expected lows and unexpected highs. Brad and Chris review the year as seen from the winery; from the pandemic and tariffs to online sales and celebrity wines.
What is the difference between total acid and titratable acid? What is pH? How are the two connected? Brad and Chris sit down to discuss the role of acid in grape growing and winemaking.
Get in touch! : lookatwine@illahevineyards.com
Brad and Chris welcome a new year in the vineyard with a series of not-so-FAQs from our listeners ranging from vineyard pests to non-grape wines.
Brad and Chris sit down to discuss what happens to wine as it ages. Thanks to Michael Reilly for the question!
Inspired by the inclusion of Brad and Illahe Vineyards in Stephen Lloyd-Moffett's recent book "The Spirit of Winemakers", Brad and Chris sit down to explore the role - if any - of spirituality in winemaking and the role of wine in spirituality.
In this second part of the wine transportation episode, Brad and Chris take a look at today's global shipping networks, where they came from and where they are going.
Transporting wine has always been a challenge for producers and traders. Wine is prone to spoilage and is very sensitive to fluctuations in temperature, humidity and pressure. In this first installment of a two-part episode about wine transportation, Brad and Chris discuss the origins of wine transportation and how this challenge was overcome.
Farming with horses is a challenging task. It is a slow process. Parts can very difficult to acquire. It can be dangerous for both the horses and the people. In this episode Brad and Chris discuss the history and current involvement of horses at Illahe Vineyards and describe some important lessons learnt along the way.
Thanks to Michael Reilly for requesting an episode about our vineyard horses!
Taking a quick break from harvest, Brad and Chris sit down to discuss the challenges and rewards of the different physical tasks that are required on a vineyard and winery. From the smell of fresh cleaning products in the morning to avoiding severing a digit whilst picking, these tasks can all be immensely satisfying if done correctly and can pose painful problems if corners are cut. None of them can be done sitting down.
Let us know what you think of the podcast! Email us at lookatwine@illahevineyards.com.
The harvest is upon us in the Willamette Valley and the extra work load requires extra team members. Each year, we are joined by a crew of hardworking and passionate people from across the country who are looking to learn about winemaking and gain experience in the industry. This season we are joined by Kyle, Remi, Jordan and Bronson who bring a wide range of skills to the Illahe team for the 2020 crush. Meet the interns!
Send your questions and comments to lookatwine@illahevineyards.com!
Chris and Brad return to the studio to consider the humble glass bottle and everything that goes into the process of transferring wine from barrel to glass.
After receiving a great listener question, Brad and Chris dive into the subject of oak barrels.
Storage and maturation of wine is essential to the winemaking process. Whilst a myriad of vessels have been developed over time, the oak barrel is a design classic that has been a fundamental asset to winemakers since Ancient Rome. This episode looks at the history of the oak barrel and explores the many variables at play when choosing the right barrel style for your wine.
What is Oregon wine, exactly?
Brad and Chris discuss the origins and identity of the state's wine and try to connect the dots to link the area's rich geological history with a regional wine style, if there is such a thing.
European wine growing regions developed regional wine styles over many centuries. Will New World growing regions such as the Willamette Valley ever be able to develop a signature regional style in an era of the availability of limitless technological manipulation?
With harvest looming just around the corner, Brad and Chris turn to 1980s pregnancy literature to structure their preparation.
What does it mean to be a hipster, and what wines do they want to drink? Brad and Chris are back in studio to reveal all.
The episode also unveils the world's first official Hipster Wine 100-Point Scale®. Use the grid below to score your own wines for hipsterism:
100-point hipster wine scale:
- 10 points = Small producer
- 10 points = Auteur winemakerd
- 10 points = Alternative fermentation vessels
- 10 points = Off-the-beaten-path location
- 10 points = Skin contact in whites / whole-cluster fermentation in reds
- 10 points = Unfiltered
- 10 points = Lesser-common grape varietals
- 10 points = Funky, unusual aromas
- 10 points = Low or no added sulphur
- 10 points = Animals involved
Today we talk all about the 1899 Pinot Noir, made without any electricity or modern machinery. The wine was due for a racking, and so we rolled out the bike pump and recorded a series of interviews with Brad, Ryan, Bethany, Nathan and Ted who shared their experiences and impressions about the process and the wine.
Leaning bravely into the unlucky 13th episode, Brad and Chris turn to chance to provide the discussion points. 12 potential topics about wine, winemaking and viticulture, 2 dice, 30-ish minutes.
Red wine vs white wine: the showdown.
In this holiday episode recorded pre-4th of July, Brad and Chris flip a coin to take sides in a debate of the ages: red wine or white wine?
In this grueling encounter of disputation and rebuttal peppered with fascinating facts and pub ammo factoids, the truth is brought courageously to light and we are all able to rest easy having solved another great dilemma.
(disambiguation): This episode is about block-designate wines. For UK post-Britpop indie rock, you might want to keep searching.
Today we recorded our blending trial for the 2019 Percheron Block pinot noir. Though being sourced from a single site in the vineyard, block-designate wines are pieced together from a number of lots from various combinations of fermentors and barrels. Blending trials are important to figure out how these components can be brought together to achieve the best balance.
Spraying is evil! Isn't it?
In this tenth anniversary episode, Brad and Chris tackle the often neglected subject of pest management and disease pressure. There are many strategies to reduce the development and effects of pests and diseases in the vineyard, and almost all approaches involve some form of spraying. Most growers rely on it in some form, yet the topic is rarely covered in public discourse. So, why on earth would you send a tractor out to spray your beautiful vines?
Brad and Chris explore the incredible process of photosynthesis. The ability of plants to convert light energy into chemical energy through the synthesis of foods from carbon dioxide and water is the single-most important chemical process on planet earth, providing our otherwise barren rock of a planet with the food and oxygen necessary for the existence of animal life.
Harvest is an intense period of activity at the winery where long hours of repetitive physical labor can often result in team members doing silly things that turn into great stories. In this episode of Look At Wine, Brad and Chris sit down with Nathan, Elliot, Mason, Ted and Bethany to dig up some memories that come to mind when discussing our favorite stories about harvest.
Chris and Brad discuss the process of tasting wine as a winemaker. Tasting wine as a consumer is all about enjoyment and when tasting as a trade professional, this task takes on the responsibility of assessing style and quality. In the cellar, however, tasting is often centered around the identification and prevention of faults. What is a winemaker looking for and thinking about when tasting wine?
On a rainy Spring day in the Willamette Valley, Brad and Chris take a look at weather and climate. How do they affect wine quality? How do rain and drought affect wine style and quality? What happens if it rains at harvest? Is vintage variation something to embrace or avoid? What technological tools do winemakers have at their disposal to manipulate wines in reaction to the effects of extreme weather?
Brad and Chris are joined by associate winemaker Nathan to discuss all things fermentation. Are native fermentations worth the effort? What does whole cluster fermentation achieve? Do you have to pay more attention to primary or malolactic fermentation? What do enzymes do? What happens when fermentations go wrong?
"What is your winemaking philosophy?"
In this episode, Brad and Chris tackle the concept of a winemaking philosophy. What does it mean to be natural? Is sulfur evil? Should we put gruner veltliner in the microwave?
How do you plant a vineyard? What should I look for in a potential site? How much does it cost? Where do I start?
Brad and Chris discuss the process of locating, planning and planting a new vineyard in the Willamette Valley.
Brad Ford started out at Illahe Vineyards with a wooden basket press for his pinot noir. In need of a new solution to press white and rosé must, he added a 1970s German membrane press and later a more updated pneumatic bladder press. In this second episode of Look at Wine, Brad and Chris discuss the merits and challenges of these different press types and explore the practical considerations at play during this stage of the winemaking process.
Look At Wine is a podcast that documents life at Illahe Vineyards.
In this first episode recorded in January 2020, Brad and Chris discuss pruning and some of the challenges posed by this essential vineyard practice.