The Tim Atkin Cork Talk Podcast

Cork Talk with Stephen Cronk

In little over a decade, Stephen Cronk has built Maison Mirabeau from nothing into a global Provence rosé brand, using what he calls the “OVP method”, or “Other People’s Vineyards”. Listen to us chat about his lowly beginnings as a van driver in the wine trade, his useful spell in telecommunications, his comparatively recent decision to acquire an estate of his own, what makes the colour pink cool and why rosé should never be a pretentious drink.

To read more about Stephen, have a look at the Maison Mirabeau website. You can also follow him on Instagram @maisonmirabeau.

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

Cork Talk with Matteo Ascheri

Matteo Ascheri is a person who spreads happiness and good humour. Based in the town of Bra, where his family winery has been located since the 1880s, he’s responsible for a series of outstanding and great value Piedmontese whites and reds. Listen to us chat about Nebbiolo clones, his short career as a chartered accountant, his political career and why he prefers to make his own mistakes.

To read more about Matteo, have a look at the Ascheri website. You can also follow him on Instagram @ascheri.vineyardsandcellars.

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

Cork Talk with Alejandro Sejanovich

Known as El Colorado because of his red hair, Alejandro Sejanovich is one of the key figures in the modern Argentinian wine industry: a man who combines expertise in the vineyard with a magician’s touch in the winery. On World Malbec Day, we spoke about high-altitude vineyards, wine styles, minerality, his time at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure in Montpellier and why a visit to a morgue put him off medicine for good.

To read more about Alejandro, have a look at the Manos Negras website. You can also follow him on Instagram @colosejanovich.

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

Cork Talk with Nina Caplan

Nina Caplan is an Anglo-Australian journalist and author, whose first book, The Wandering Vine, won just about every award going. It’s a fascinating and very personal deep-dive into how the Romans created and influenced the world of wine, combining history, politics and philosophy with some truly wonderful travel writing. Listen to us chat about wine styles, religion, immigration, displacement, tradition, nostalgia and the tastes and perfumes of the past.

To read more about Nina, have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @ninacaplan.

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

 

Cork Talk with Isa Bal

Master Sommelier Isa Bal was born and brought up in Turkey and – if you can believe it – didn’t taste his first glass of wine until he was 20. A job as a junior sommelier working at the Vineyard at Stockcross was just the beginning of an award-winning career that has seen him progress from The Fat Duck to co-owning his own restaurant, Trivet. Listen to us chat what makes a good and bad wine list, his passion for the historic wines of the Caucasus, how sommeliers have to be good psychologists and why he’s never bought a book about food and wine matching.

To read more about Isa, have a look at the Trivet website. You can also follow him on Instagram @isabal_ms.

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

 

Cork Talk with Nova Cadamatre

Master of Wine Nova Cadamatre originally wanted to be a ballet dancer or a florist until she got the wine bug. Since she graduated from Cornell University, she’s spent the majority of her career working for very large wineries in California, but she’s now entirely focused on her own family’s project in the Fingers Lakes: Trestle 31. I caught up with her from a noisy truck stop in Akron, Ohio, of all places, to talk about California, China, Riesling, New York State and why wine is really a performance art.

To read more about Nova, have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Instagram @nova_cadamatre_mw.

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

 

Cork Talk with Emma Rice

Emma Rice got into the wine business the hard way. She started out working in a pub, then did a spell at Oddbins before completing a self-funded BSc in Viticulture and Oenology at Plumpton College. Since 2008, she’s been the award-winning winemaker at Hattingley Valley in Hampshire, overseeing a string of brilliant bubblies. Listen to us talk about England’s different terroirs, what advice she’d give someone setting up a winery and what the future holds for the British wine industry.

To read more about Emma, have a look at the Hattingley Valley website. You can also follow her on Instagram @riceywine

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

 

Cork Talk with Veronica Ortega

Veronica Ortega must be the only winemaker in the world who is the daughter of a famous bullfighter. But that’s not her only claim to fame. She’s also one of the most exciting producers in the increasingly fashionable Bierzo area, making some of the best reds and a celebrated white called Cal. Listen to chat about what she calls the “transparency” of the Mencía grape, the advantages of working in a village with only 40 inhabitants and why she decided to call one of her wines Kinky.

To read more about Veronica, have a look at this website. You can also follow her on Instagram @veronica_ortega_vo

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

Cork Talk with Matt Wilson

Born in England, but based in Chile, Matt Wilson has been described as the “bad boy of wine photography”. He’s famous for his surreal images of winemakers wielding chainsaws among other things. Listen to us discuss his use of light, both natural and artificial, his favourite places to visit with a camera, some tips for amateur photographers and why he hates what he calls “holding-a-bottle shots”.

To read more about Matt, have a look at his website. You can also follow him on Instagram @matt.wilson.gc

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

 

Cork Talk with Paul Symington

Paul Symington’s family has been associated with the Douro Valley and the Port trade for 13 generations. You could say that Portugal’s great fortified wine courses through his veins. Now in his sixties, he’s not planning to retire any time soon. Listen to us chat about the region’s extensive line up of grapes, why Port has fared better than Sherry and Madeira over the last 30 years and how Symington Family Estates are coping with the challenges of climate change.

To read more about Paul, have a look at the Symington Family Estates' website. You can also follow him on Instagram @paul.symington

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