Dermot Sugrue could have made a living as a professional cyclist in Ireland, but a post-university harvest job in Bordeaux led to a career making wine in England instead. After successful spells at Nyetimber and Wiston, he’s been entirely focused on his own still and sparkling wine project, Sugrue South Downs, since 2022. He’s a great storyteller as well as a gifted, intuitive oenologist, a man who loves words as much as he does chalk and bubbles.
To read more about Dermot have a look at the Sugrue South Downs website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @ermosug.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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43:46
Cork Talk with Giles Cooke MW
Giles Cooke MW started his career at Majestic, before working for Scottish merchant Alliance Wine for 30 years. Since 2011, he’s also had his own distinctive brand in Australia, called Thistledown Wines, which is currently enjoying its most successful year ever. Giles has championed old-vine Grenache Down Under, especially from McLaren Vale, making elegant wines that are picked “on the way up” as he puts it, and he’s finally reaping the rewards.
To read more about Giles have a look at the Thistledown Wines website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @giles.cookemw.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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Cork Talk with Amanda Thomson
Amanda Thomson was a successful TV journalist, interviewing the likes of Salman Rushdie and George Clooney, when she decided to give it all up and move to Paris to study wine. After making her name with the Skinny Champagne brand, she’s since developed a range of non-alcoholic wines under the Noughty label. I caught up with her to talk about spinning cones, bananas, Zebra striping, Steffi Graf and what makes a great entrepreneur.
To read more about Amanda have a look at the Noughty website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @noughtyamanda.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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Cork Talk with Andy Neather
Andy Neather worked at Friends of the Earth in the late 1990s, and it turned him into an environmentalist. Now a freelance journalist, he’s just co-authored a very timely book about wine and sustainability with Jane Masters MW. His research took him all over the world, looking at the effects of climate change and the broader challenges facing the wine industry. There are no easy answers, he says, but Rooted In Change plots a way forward.
To read more about Andy have a look at his website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @andrew_neather.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
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Cork Talk with Natasha Hughes
Beaujolais suffers from a lot of myths that “don’t stack up”, according to Natasha Hughes MW, whose new book about the region is the most comprehensive yet. We sat down to talk about Beaujolais Nouveau, the characters of the ten Crus, the influence of the so-called Gang of Four, Gamay’s underrated diversity, the rise of Crémant de Bourgogne, the difference between semi and full-on carbonic maceration and so much more.
To read more about Natasha have a look at her website. You can also follow her on Instagram at @latashmw.
Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.
New Zealand