The Tim Atkin Cork Talk Podcast

Author of Inside Bordeaux, Jane Anson started out as a journalist in Hong Kong but fell in love with wine on a trip to South Africa. She moved to France full time in 2003 and has since become one of the world’s most admired and influential wine critics. Our in-depth chat covered everything from tasting technique to wine websites, the future of En Primeur to tasting a bottle of Château Pétrus that had been aged in space.

To read more about Jane have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @jane.anson.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

David Way specialises in the wines of Piemonte, although he writes about the whole world for his day job at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. A theologian and historian by training, he brings academic rigour to the study of this fascinating and still comparatively little-known corner of north-west Italy. Our fascinating chat covered soils, climate, the region’s 60 DOs and DOCGs and 80 grape varieties and his enduring love of Nebbiolo.

To read more about David have a look at his website. You can also follow him on X at @davidonpiemonte.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

 

Debra Meiburg grew up in California, but moved to Hong Kong to work as an accountant in 1988. She quickly discovered that wine, not spreadsheets, was her real passion in life and switched careers. Writer, taster, educator, consultant and TV performer, she’s one of Asia’s most talented and engaging communicators. Playfully disruptive, as someone once described her, Debra is as fun to interview for a podcast as she is in person.

To read more about Debra have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @debrameiburgmw. 

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Vicente Cebrián was born in Madrid, but says his blood is almost all Galician. Put in charge of two family bodegas – Pazo de Barrantes in Rías Baixas and Marqués de Murrieta – in 1996, at the age of just twenty-six – he’s even surpassed the legacy of his larger than life father. Our revealing chat covered his aristocratic titles, Atletico Madrid, Albariño, oak barrels, stone masonry, working for the long-term and the best way to update a classic winery.

To read more about Vicente have a look at the Marqués de Murrieta website. You can also follow the bodega on Instagram at @marquesdemurrieta. 

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Brought up in a trilingual household in New York, Nicole Rolet worked in banking and international relations before she set up Chêne Bleu in the southern Rhône Valley with her husband, Xavier. Our wide-ranging chat covered everything from lay lines to the pursuit of legacy, Grenache’s underdog status to the future of fine wine. Listen to Nicole tell us why she doesn’t do woo woo and why she’s always marched to the beat of her own drum.

To read more about Nicole have a look at the Chêne Bleu website. You can also follow the domaine on Instagram at @chenebleuwine. 

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

Born in Dundee, close to what the calls “the Côte d’Or of raspberries”, Norrel Robertson got interested in wine through a part-time job at Oddbins. After passing the Master of Wine and studying viticulture and oenology in New Zealand, he visited Calatayud in Aragón in 2003 and has never left. A self-confessed Garnacha nut, the Escocés Volante, or Flying Scotsman, has gone on to become one of Spain’s most dynamic winemakers. (Sorry for the slightly scratchy recording!)

To read more about Norrel have a look at the Escocés Volante website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @escocesvolante.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

After stints working at Sainsbury’s and in a Guildford nightclub, Daniel Lambert set up his own wine business in 1992 and has turned it into an award-winning success story, specialising in French wines. I caught up with him from his new home in Montpellier to discuss his outspoken criticism of the UK’s proposed new alcohol duty scheme, the role that Sauternes played in his early career, what he’s learnt from being dyslexic, going viral on Twitter and which regions offer the best value for money.

To read more about Daniel have a look at the Daniel Lambert Wines website. You can also follow him on X at @DanielLambert29.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

 

 

Anne Kriebehl MW arrived in London to study English literature at university with two suitcases and a rucksack. After publishing her first piece about the 50^th anniversary of the end of rationing in the Financial Times, she slowly moved into wine writing and has never looked back. Hers is an inspiring tale of perseverance and talent, leading to the Master of Wine qualification and recognition as an expert on Pinot Noir and German wines.

To read more about Anne have a look at the Institute of Masters of Wine website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @anneinvino.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

 

Giuseppe Vaira is a second generation winemaker who thought of becoming a doctor but chose to join the business created by his pioneering father Aldo instead. Our fascinating chat covered what he calls the "tiramisu" of Barolo's soils, the best way to handle Nebbiolo in the vineyard and winery, his love of "ugly duckling" grapes like Dolcetto and why organic farming enables the Vairas to get the best out of their terroirs. 

To read more about Giuseppe have a look at the GD Vajra website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @giuseppe_gdvajra.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures. 

 

Auctioneer, author and film producer, Andrew Caillard MW has just published The Australian Ark, his magisterial, three-volume history of Australian Wine. I caught up with him from Adelaide to talk about the peaks and troughs of the last 236 years, the iconic bottles that make up his Canon of Australian wine, old vines, the individuals who have had the greatest impact on wine Down Under and his cautious optimism about the future.

To read more about Andrew and The Australian Ark have a look at the book's website.  

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts. You can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.