The Tim Atkin Cork Talk Podcast

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. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Professor Barry Smith was brought up in a hotel and, as a child, was fascinated by the aromas that surrounded him. Now a distinguished academic philosopher, he’s also the founder of the University of London’s Centre for the Study of the Senses. Listen to us chat about his views on the objectivity of taste, how COVID has changed our understanding of anosmia, his favourite wine and why smell is the least appreciated of our senses.

To read more about Barry, have a look at the University of London website. You can also follow him on Twitter @smithbarryc and watch his TED talk here. 

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. 

 

In a career spanning 104 harvests in two hemispheres, Bruno Prats has established himself as one the world’s great wine figures. He took Château Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux to Super Second Growth status and now divides his time between projects in Chile, Portugal and South Africa. Listen to us chat about the changes he’s seen over the last 50 years, what makes a great terroir, and why he’s happiest on a boat.

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. 

Johan Reyneke is South Africa’s leading biodynamic grower, cultivating the grapes that make his wonderful wines so distinctive. Listen to us chat about the weathered granite soils of the Polkadraai Hills, what he’s learned from his herd of cows, his love of surfing and philosophy, his belief in team work, and why, as he puts it, there can be no “greatness without goodness”.

To read more about Johan, have a look at the Reyneke Wines  website. You can also follow the winery on Instagram @reynekewines and Johan himself on Twitter @ZAVineHugger.

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.