The Tim Atkin Cork Talk Podcast

Cork Talk with David Baverstock

David Baverstock grew up in South Australia, but emigrated to Portugal for love and wine. He started out in the Douro Valley, before moving to the more southerly Alentejo, where he now works for the Winestone Group. Our insightful chat covered his time in Beaujolais with Marcel Lapierre, Portugal’s 250 indigenous grape varieties, how the country’s wine scene has changed since he arrived in 1982 and what it’s like playing tennis with Sir Cliff Richard.

To read more about David have a look at the Winestone Group website. You can also follow the Group on Instagram at @winestone.group. 

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. 

 

Cork Talk with Martín Kaiser

Martín Kaiser excels as both a viticulturist and a winemaker. Born and brought up in Mendoza, where he still works and lives, he has transformed the reds and whites of Doña Paula since he arrived in 2006, taking them back to their roots. Our fascinating chat covered everything from vegetarianism to climbing mountains, calcium carbonate to the joys of working with Malbec and the differences between the Uco Valley and Luján de Cuyo.

To read more about Martín have a look at the Doña Paula website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @mkaiser75. 

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. 

 

Cork Talk with Queena Wong

Queena Wong got interested in wine when she moved from Australia to London to work in finance in her mid-twenties. A passionate collector, she also has a well-honed talent for connecting people, acting as a Fairy Wine Godmother. Through her company Curious Vines, she has campaigned for greater diversity, inclusion and equality within the wine industry, publishing the first ever, highly influential Women in Wine Survey last year.

To read more about Quenna have a look at the Curious Vines website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @queenadwong.

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. 

Cork Talk with Giorgi Dakishvili

Giorgi Dakisivhili is one of Georgia’s most accomplished winemakers, a man who’s equally comfortable employing historic and modern techniques. One of a family of oenologists, he studied in the Ukraine and California before returning to his native Kakheti region, where he set up Dakishvili Family Vineyards.  Our wide-ranging conversation covered everything from Saperavi to amber wines, Georgia’s 525 grapes to the country’s 8,000 year old wine culture.

To read more about Giorgi have a look at his website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @giorgidakishvili.

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. 

Cork Talk with Pieter Walser

Pieter Walser is one of the wine industry’s great mavericks. Surfer, artist and creator, he’s the man behind some of the Cape’s most distinctive labels, famous for brands such as Family Murder, Little William and Moment of Silence. I caught up with him from his home near the ocean to chat about surfing, epilepsy, old vines, white gloves, adventurous hearts and living on the edge. It’s a fascinating conversation with the so-called Hunter S Thompson of winemaking.

To read more about Pieter have a look at his website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @blankbottlewinery.

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. 

Cork Talk with Jane Anson

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. 

Cork Talk with David Way

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. 

 

Cork Talk with Debra Meiberg

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. 

Cork Talk with Vicente Cebrián

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. 

Cork Talk with Nicole Rolet

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.