Wine Wizzo

28/12/2019

What is organic wine?


Our new episode of the Wine Wizzo show is out on youtube!


Silvano Brescianini started work in restaurants as a sommelier, then ran some of the biggest Michelin star restaurants in Italy and New York working with superstars such as Ezio Santin and Tony May. He was then invited to help run the restaurant at the old Barone Pizzini


Unfortunately, a serious accident soon befell his good friend who was also the wine maker at Barone Pizzini. With no one else to take over, Silvano stepped up. Without any formal training but armed with lessons learnt from helping his grandfather as a child in his vineyard, Silvano took what he knew and grew it. Barone Pizzini became the first certified organic producer of Franciacorta wine. Today, Silvano lives a 360 degree lifestyle where he lives, breathes and acts what he says

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In this episode we dive deep into organic wine, bio diversity, Italy’s biggest secret sparkling wine; the Franciacorta wines and many more. This is an experimental episode where I have taken an almost hour long conversation and divided it into 2 parts. It was an immense learning experience for me and I feel the content is best digested this way


WATCH NOW
- https://youtu.be/oHWGDMTQPwQ
(Link also on profile)


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26/12/2019

Guillaume Pace from Eiffle Wines explains to me what exactly are artisanal wines and where this word comes from.

18/12/2019

What makes a great restaurant?


The wine list?


The food?


The famous chef?


The service?


The ambience?


A great restaurant to me is more than the sum of all the above mentioned parts. The experience one takes home and burps long after the meal has digested. The memory that sparks waterworks in the mouth, growling in the tummy and a feast of visual or***ms which lead you to its door before reason arrives


A memory you tell all your friends about and one which you live to live again


What makes a great restaurant to you?

24/11/2019

Did you know that Sangiovese roughly translates to


Sangiovese is possibly the most famous grape in Italy.


Did you know that it roughly translates to blood of God; sangui di Jovi (Jupiter)


Used dominantly in Chianti wines, a clone of it is used to produce one of the 3 royal wines of Italy, the Brunello di Montalcino


Talk about a holy grape making holy wine

16/11/2019

Be aware of what you are feeling, be competent because this makes your life and yourself more interesting and don’t be scared. Just go for it. "
- Francesca Ciacci


This is an evolution of the series featuring Francesca Ciacci, head wine maker of (Tenuta di Sesta).


The Ciacci family have been producing wines in this regions since 1850 and was one of the first 12 families producing Brunello wines.


To make great wine you have to be more than just a wine maker. To produce wine which leaves a legacy, involves inculcating the spirit of the land into the wine. Francesca is truly unique in her approach towards wine making and in this session we dive into topics as diverse as using feeling, connecting to the land as well as what makes a divine Brunello.


https://youtu.be/qfp1YsZwibc

14/11/2019

Montalcino has one of the warmest and driest climates in Tuscany with the grapes in the area ripening up to a week earlier than in nearby Montepulciano.


The North facing slopes receives less sunlight and thus the grapes ripen more slowly and tend to produce wines that are racier and more aromatic.


Vineyards on the southern and western slopes receive more intense exposure to sunlight and more maritime winds which produces wines with more power and complexity


The grapes are then aged for a minimum of 5 years, followed by a minimum of 2 years in oak and 4 months in the bottle.


Brunello Riserva’s grapes are aged for a minimum of 6 years after the harvest, 2 years in oak and a minimum of 6 months in the bottle.


It’s a lot of work to make something this beautiful.

12/11/2019

What is Brunello wine?


Made from 100% Sangiovese grapes, sometimes called Prugnolo Gentile, and produced in Montalcino, Tuscany.


Often known as one of the 3 Kings of Italy. Brunello wines are known for their power and austerity.


Young Brunello wines are known for their fruit and flower flavours including cherries, dried cranberry, wild strawberry, blackberry, violets, potpourri and liquorice.


Older Brunellos, depending on how old, are a legacy of a wine maker sealed in a bottle. Often bearing profiles of fresh fruit flavours to reveal sweeter notes of dried figs, candied cherries, hazelnuts, and sun-baked leather. The tannins turn chocolatey and the acidity is succulent.

25/10/2019

Got a special guest for you this week!


Meet Robert Muijzert (pronounced Mao-zhert), the head Brewer of located in Nijmegen, Netherlands


If you love craft beer or think you know beer wait till you discover mixed fermentation beers


Sour beers are what happens when beers are brewed using wild yeast and bacteria is introduced through barrel aging or during the cooling of the wort


“Sour” beers, though Robert prefers the term “Tart”, take months to ferment, even years to mature, are all barrel aged (in french oak as is the case of Nevel). Due to the unpredictability of the wild yeast, no 2 bottles taste exactly the same.


Nevel uses mostly organic ingredients which are hand harvested from the breweries backyards and all locally sourced


This is a mammoth of an interview which Rob very kindly conducted in the brewroom itself


If you have ever wondered what the real life of a Brewer is, home brewing advice or wanted to know more about this favourite beverage. Watch on. It’s Long, full of information and comes recommended with a drink in hand


This is the channel link or click the profile link to jump straight in


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHNtSY0FeorofRMbDL5EL1Q


I hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it!


Proost!

22/10/2019

What is wild fermented beer?


Brewed with a mixed yeast culture which consists of yeasts harvested by the brewer himself himself from grapes and partly from yeasts that come from other natural sources. These yeasts are all caught in the wild, hence the name 'wild yeasts' and 'wild beer'.


The principle behind wild beers is that the brewer moves patiently with nature, instead of steering towards a fast and cheap production. Traditionally made without unnecessary additives such as enzymes, extracts or artificial fragrances and colors.


Curious to learn more? This week I interview Robert Muijzert from to discover what makes their beer so damn tasty


Nevel Ales uses only ingredients as pure and unprocessed as possible and that come directly from nature. All harvested themselves or bought directly from small, local, sustainable growers.


Stay tuned

22/10/2019

A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on strangers, which he was. When he finished his drink, he found his horse had been stolen. He went back into the bar, handily flipped his gun into the air, caught it above his head without even looking and fired a shot into the ceiling


“Which one of you sidewinders stole my horse?!” he yelled with surprising forcefulness. No one answered


“Alright, I’m gonna have another beer, and if my horse ain’t back outside by the time I finish, I’m gonna do what I dun in Texas! And I don’t like to have to do what I dun in Texas!”


Some of the locals shifted restlessly. The man, true to his word, had another beer, walked outside, and his horse has been returned to the post. He saddled up and started to ride out of town


The bartender wandered out of the bar and asked, “Say partner, before you go… what happened in Texas?” The cowboy turned back and said, “I had to walk home.”

18/10/2019

“Stay healthy, stay happy … and eat more plants.” — Stepan Marhoul

HELLO Dear Creators!

Wine Wizzo EP005 brings you a special guest. Stepan Marhoul is a man who lives and breathes hospitality and comes from a long line of savants in the hospitality trade. His father, grandfather and uncle were all part of this beautiful trade.

With over 22 years of experience in the hospitality industry including Michelin starred and San Pellegrino World's 50 Best restaurants, 5 Star international hotel brands, covering the Czech Republic, Denmark, United Kingdom, Mexico and Singapore.

Stepan’s worked with some of the greatest culinary legends and served presidents and kings. Currently, he’s at Unlisted Collection, which has 27 boutique hotels and restaurants in London, Shanghai, Sydney, and sunny Singapore to date.

In this episode we talk about:

How he got into hospitality
Working with Gordon Ramsay
His collaborating with Chef Andre Chiang of Andre
The power of passion and world travel

How hospitality has changed from defined cuisines to what we get today

How a chefs journey influences his menu and the stories they tell

What the modern chef experience is

The best story he’s recently eaten
What service means
The future of plant-based dining
The importance of a plant-based diet to give our planet an opportunity to recover.

“Stay healthy, stay happy … and eat more plants.” — Stepan Marhoul HELLO Dear Creators! Wine Wizzo EP005 brings you a special guest. Stepan Marhoul is a man ...

11/10/2019

“Every job we do has a bigger outcome. We are all doing something for somebody” - Jerrold Khoo

Greetings creators! Episode 3 of the Wine Wizzo show is a special one for me. I suggest sitting back, relaxing and enjoying a nice tall drink, I personally prefer one of Jerrolds gin concoctions; unfortunately he does not deliver to Kosovo (for the moment)

Jerrold Khoo started his foray into hospitality at the tender age of 17 at Starbucks. Having become enamoured with Japanese bartending techniques, he found residency at Jigger and Pony where he honed his craft among its elite masters. Jerrold has sharpened his bartending skills to emerge 4th in the prestigious Diageo World Class Competition Singapore 2017 and champion in 2018. In 2019, he won the Bar Manager of the year at the prestigious World Gourmet Summit

In this conversation we talk about:

How making coffee in Starbucks helped him build his confidence in interacting with people

How he brought his design background into crafting cocktails
How he creates experiences for his customers
What hospitality is (28mins)
The 2 ways of marketing

Google reviews VS your friends recommendations
How to create the right bar environment
Why people come to bars (32mins)
How bartenders should read customers
Having empathy (34mins)

How he makes his customers day
Nobody says no to something sweet
His game changer( 36mins)
Understanding the WHY of what you are doing (38mins)
Why does someone start a bar

What service really means
What he believes in
We have the power make a change or make a difference. We have the choice to make a good difference or a bad difference to someones life. (42mins)
What makes him happy
Making an impact on someones life

Theres MANY other topics, please check out the show notes on the YouTube channel for the full list. Its a long episode full of valuable information for anyone in hospitality or anyone who provides a service.

Enjoy

“Every job we do has a bigger outcome. We are all doing something for somebody” - Jerrold Khoo Greetings creators! Episode 3 of the Wine Wizzo show is a spec...