Ep 279: Greg La Follette of Alquimista Cellars and pioneer of Sonoma, CA Pinot Noir
Release Date: 06/03/2019
Ep 603: The Veneto Region of Italy (2026 Update)
Wine for Normal People
I haven’t given an update to the Veneto region in more than a decade. With an upcoming Patron trip to the region, I think it’s high time! Veneto is in northeastern Italy and is famed for wines like Prosecco, Valpolicella (including Amarone), Soave, and Bardolino. With 14 DOCGs, 29 DOCs, and 10 IGPs, covering about 104,400 ha (258,000 acres) of vineyards, the province makes every style of wine imaginable. Approximately 75% of plantings are white varieties—dominated by Glera at around 39% (this is the main Prosecco grape)—while 25% of plantings are red, led by Corvina with...
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Ep 602: Wine Legends - Émile Peynaud, The Father of Modern Enology
Wine for Normal People
This is the start of a new series, suggested by Patron Keith S.! Thank you, Keith! I'll cover people who have made a huge difference in the wine world —figures whose contributions have shaped how wine is made, understood, and appreciated. I felt the best place to kick this off was with a man who ratcheted up the quality of wine in Bordeaux and then around the world. Through his great scientific brain and his quiet and kind yet convincing style of plain-spoken communication Bordeaux-based oenologist, Dr. Peynaud had an enormous global influence on winemaking and wine appreciation...
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Ep 601: Pollak Vineyards – A Leader in the Monticello AVA of Virginia
Wine for Normal People
is a small family-owned winery founded in 2003 when Margo and David Pollak bought a farm west of Charlottesville, Virginia. David’s experience in wine was pretty extensive – he worked in the 1970s in Sonoma's Russian River Valley and was a founding partner and investor in one of Napa Valley’s first Carneros wineries, Bouchaine Vineyards. Years later, when he thought about retirement from the corporate world, he saw huge potential in Virginia and he and Margo took the chance to help shape this emerging region. Photo: Pollak Vineyards. Credit: In this show, I host Ryan Pollak...
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Ep 600: Nine Short Wine Stories -- How WFNP Listeners Got Into Wine
Wine for Normal People
600 episodes of WFNP! I am grateful to you for listening, for reading the book, for learning with me and gracefully accepting the changes over the years, and I’m especially grateful to my sponsors, guests, and travel partners. (thanks Heather and Beppe!) over the last 15 years who have supported this show. But most of all, as I say every week, I’m grateful to the Patrons – the people who directly support the work that I do week after week and who have become my friends, and who have allowed me to join them on their journeys into wine. I’m boring and you all know about me...
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Rerelease and Edit of Ep 181: Laura Catena, The Leading Lady of Argentine Wine
Wine for Normal People
In honor of Women's History Month, I'm rereleasing a show with one of the most dynamic, intelligent, and all around fantastic women in wine: Laura Catena of Bodegas Catena Zapata in Mendoza, Argentina. Photo from Laura's website: We discuss her life as a doctor, a mom, and the head of a wine empire. We cover the history of Malbec and how her family aided the meteoric rise of Argentine wine and of the comeback of the Malbec grape around the world. A fun, sharp-as-a-tack woman, you'll learn a ton about Malbec, Mendoza, and a few life lessons (it's all about the B+!) from...
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Ep 599: The Grape Miniseries Refresh - Malbec
Wine for Normal People
This week I cover Malbec, or Côt as it’s known in its native home of Southwest France. This old red grape variety has long history in France and was once one of its most planted grapes. But due to pickiness in the vineyard and harshness in the bottle, Malbec fell out of favor in its native country. Despite being a big component in the Bordeaux blend, the grape remained in relative obscurity until it hit South America, particularly Argentina. Although it wasn’t an overnight success, Malbec hung around Argentina for about 150 years and then got its moment in the sun (literally). Today 75%...
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Ep 598: The Médoc and the Haut-Médoc of Bordeaux
Wine for Normal People
This week I cover the regional AOCs of Medoc and Haut-Medoc, which wraps up our exploration of the Left Bank of Bordeaux. These two areas can cover a lot of ground, but they are usually used for discreet geographies in the north and south of the Médoc Peninsula. Because each AOC is so large and varied, I do a deep dive into the whole of the region and then into the particularities of the smaller Médoc AOC in the northwest of the Médoc and the Haut-Médoc in the south, around the city of Bordeaux and to the west of the communal appellations (Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac, and Saint...
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Ep 597: Lodi, California -- The Past, Present, and Future of this Historic Region
Wine for Normal People
This week I cover Lodi, California, an historic wine region in the Central Valley of California that has been growing grapes since the 1850s. Located 40 miles /64 km south of Sacramento and 90 miles/ 145 km east of San Francisco, Lodi is an often overlooked wine region, despite the fact that it has been recognized as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) since 1986. Lodi AVAs. Source: Lodi doesn't lack for vineyard land --today the region has 100,000 acres/ 40,500 ha planted to wine grapes, with 750 growers, 80 wineries, and about 65 tasting rooms. 20% of California’s total...
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Ep 596: Back to Basics - Defining Old World & New World (and why it still matters)
Wine for Normal People
In this show I go back to basics (the last time I covered this topic was in 2011 -- episode 7!!) and discuss the differences between the terms New World and Old World. Although it seems totally basic, there has been controversy over using these terms, with some writers saying they are antiquated, non specific, and need to be replaced. I disagree. I discuss the usefulness of the terms and why they should still exist as terms in wine from three main perspectives: Geographical and historical perspectives REAL terroir differences that make the wines different Differences in...
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Ep 595: Croatian Wine Revisited -- An Overview and Conversation with Patron and Listener Bevis Sydney
Wine for Normal People
This show is a refresh of Episode 371 with a new take! In October of 2025, I visited Croatia on a scouting trip with my friend Brett from (check them out and take a trip with them! Marija and Barişa are the best guides!) to see if there was a possibility of me hosting a patron trip there! It was a fantastic trip and I learned so much about the country and the wines. Photo: View from Rizman Winery. Credit: WFNP Just two weeks before I went, Patron, listener, wine educator, previous pod guest cohost (Ep 522 -- the Wine Movie Podcast), Bevis Sydney, visited to Croatia on a...
info_outlineGreg La Follette is known in the wine world as a founding father of California Pinot Noir. A former seminarian and biochemist with degrees in Plant Biology and Chemistry, he was an early AIDS researcher at the University of California San Francisco before earning his masters degree in Food Science and Technology at the University of California Davis.
Greg has worked for BV, started La Crema and Hartford Court for Jackson Family Wine (Kendall-Jackson), started Sonoma Pinot cult brand Flowers and his own brands LaFollette (which he sold) and now Alquimista. Greg has consulted all over the world – in northern California, Oregon, Europe, South America, and Australia. He is widely considered an expert on Pinot Noir.
Here are a few things we chatted about:
- Greg's early history, including his time with André Tchelistcheff, the father of American Viticulture (also mentioned in Ep 275: http://winefornormalpeople.libsyn.com/webpage/category/ep-275-lane-tanner-the-pinot-czarina-of-santa-barbara-county-california)
- The allure of Pinot Noir and the various styles Greg has made over the years -- from big and brawny at Flowers to elegant and earthy at Alquimista. Greg talks about winegrowing and the challenges of Pinot Noir (and why Chardonnay is important to grow as a sanity check!)
- The influence Burgundy has had on Greg's wine over the years
- The fascinating chronicles of working at La Crema, starting Flowers for someone else, starting and selling Tandem (now La Follette) and then departing to the best stop: Alquimista Cellars!
- We discuss Patrick Dillon, Greg's partner in Alquimista (and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, writer, editor), and how their styles combine to make a style of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay you won't find elsewhere in California.
Alquimista's wines are spectacular. Check them out!
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