loader from loading.io

Sustainability in the Wine Trade: Elena Carretero of the Santa Rita Group

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

Release Date: 06/09/2020

Yalumba's Kevin Glastonbury Talks Red Winemaking ... and so much more! show art Yalumba's Kevin Glastonbury Talks Red Winemaking ... and so much more!

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

, affectionately known as KG, is Senior Red Winemaker at in the Barossa Valley of South Australia. The Barossa is one the world's premier red wine making regions and Yalumba one of its most respected wineries. Back in 2019 we had the honour here on the podcast to chat with Yalumba owner (Barossa legend) Robert Hill-Smith. () His family has owned and operated Yalumba for over 170 years! The Hill-Smiths are proud members of , have pioneered Viognier beyond what anyone thought possible and brings us The Caley one of finest expressions of red wine making anywhere.  In this podcast recorded...

info_outline
Maximilian Riedel: Glassware Perfection show art Maximilian Riedel: Glassware Perfection

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

has a special place in the world of wine. It is one of Respect for a family that has worked tirelessly to perfect how we can further our ability to taste many types of drink but especially that of wine. Riedel stemware is known the world over as being completely brilliant. It is also a family that firmly believes in designing and producing glassware to perfectly suit individual grape and wine styles. To emphasise this Maximilian Riedel spends a lot of his time touring the world with a quite fabulous roadshow. At these he presents, through interactive tastings, how to capture the very best...

info_outline
Orin Swift and Dave Phinney: The Very Best show art Orin Swift and Dave Phinney: The Very Best

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

we were very fortunate to have had a zoom podcast chat with  and the remarkable wines he has created, most notably under the label. Dave is a very busy man! So how cool was it to meet him in person in London and spend a further 30 minutes chatting. Very cool indeed! Orin Swift is one of the great wines from the Napa Valley in  California. Fruit expression in Orin Swift has been elevated to an art form. Just as well then that the labels Dave Phinney designs are among the funkiest and most personal in the world of wine. Orin Swift wines are collectable, age worthy and very, very...

info_outline
Olly's Farm Honey. show art Olly's Farm Honey.

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

I met Olly Nolan at the Gifted Fair in the RDS last Christmas. He was showing a range of honeys. I was captivated. Each honey had a captivating scent. Intoxicating even.  had taken me prisoner! Wine, Tea, Honey, Whiskey, Stout, and on and on can only stand out as being exceptional if they attack our senses in a visceral way. This should be immediate, lasting and memorable. I just had to find out more about Olly's Farm. I paid Olly a visit recently and we recorded in his Honey House up on the edge of the Dublin hills. What a view! My knowledge of bee keeping and honey production is, to...

info_outline
HEIMANN & FIAI : Winemaker Specialist in Hungary show art HEIMANN & FIAI : Winemaker Specialist in Hungary

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

In this podcast we talk with Zoltán Heimann whose family, , has a long and distinguished history of quality winemaking in the southern Hungarian wine region of Szekszárd - on the border between the Large Hungarian Plain and the beginnings of the Transdanubian Hills. Zoltán likes to refer to himself as the 'Kadarka Man'.  After this tasting and podcast I'll always be in his debt as knowing my Kekfrankos from my Kadarkas! Each grape is brilliant. Each is unique and completely different to one another.  This podcast was recorded at where Zoltán gave a masterclass food and...

info_outline
MASI and its 250th Harvest - Giacomo Boscaini of Masi Agricola show art MASI and its 250th Harvest - Giacomo Boscaini of Masi Agricola

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

It's a sobering thought to many winemakers that they work at companies and enterprises that, in many cases, are younger than they are themselves! For those lucky enough to work in wineries where age and tradition has seen decades upon decades of continual success they might only contribute to a very limited number of vintages.  It is very unusual that a family can trace its lineage back over 250 harvests. That's a very big number. 1772 - Captain Cook sets sail to find the Anti Arctic: Rutherford discovers Nitrogen gas: The American Revolution begins: The Boscaini family gather in grapes...

info_outline
Lusca: an Exceptional Irish Wine show art Lusca: an Exceptional Irish Wine

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

Recently I met with David Llewelyn at his farm in Lusk, north County Dublin. It's a small holding where he grows a fantastic collection of fruits that include, pear, apple, cherry and grape.  It's also a business where David makes truly interesting products. Try his Perry (sparkling pear wine). It's really very good! David has a wine label called LUSCA. It's a collection of red wines and a new sparkling wine. They are genuine finds. In this podcast David tells us his story. Why does he not grow any white grapes? Where did his love of the RONDO grape come from? This a unique story where...

info_outline
Bruce Tyrrell: The Exceptional Hunter Valley Vigneron show art Bruce Tyrrell: The Exceptional Hunter Valley Vigneron

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

was in Dublin recently. His fame and expertise in the world of wine is well known. His wines are among the most awarded. His Semillon considered as among the best ever produced. He was in Dublin behind the stand at the Portfolio tasting serving the wines himself. There are many who would have passed this along to an agency, a distributor or to whoever else. This is Bruce Tyrrell. He tells a fabulous story and continues to work hard at what matters - his customers. is family owned since 1858 and its website tells us that, 'Having lived and breathed wine growing and winemaking in the Hunter...

info_outline
Phil Crozier: Wines of Argentina Ambassador show art Phil Crozier: Wines of Argentina Ambassador

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

April the 17th 1853. Who'd have thought back then that it would be a date celebrated the world over as  . After all, back in 1853 it was just an idea presented to the national legislature of Argentina that it might be a good plan to establish a 'Quinta Normal and Agricultural School'. Up to then the wine industry in Argentina didn't have any great focus. As it happens it wasn't until September 1853 that the idea was given the green light and even then it was for the project and had nothing in it specific to Malbec at all!! Fast forward. Malbec today is to the wine industy in Argentina...

info_outline
La Kav Wines has a Fabulous Vineyard and Winery - in Ireland. show art La Kav Wines has a Fabulous Vineyard and Winery - in Ireland.

Kevin Ecock's WinePod

La Kav Wines is the brainchild of Arnaud Clopin. It sells a selection of well sourced wines from France at . Arnaud's wife is a Kavanagh and he is French - hence La Kav. All straight forward so far! La Kav Wines also has a vineyard on the East coast near Gorey in Co. Wexford. Visit the La Kav website and fly over it in a drone. It is spectacular! When I visited Arnaud at his vineyard the weather wasn't as good as it was for the drone. It was winter. Have a look at what 5,000 vines in Ireland on a couple of hectares looks like. Fabulous. Afterwards we visited the La Kav winery in Gorey...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Across the world of wine we hear the word 'Sustainable' again and again. Very often it's linked to a 'green movement' of some vague description, 'organic viticulture' and its dislike of artificial fertilisers or just plain old 'keeping the land in a good condition to pass on to the kids'!

Sustainability is much more and all of these. In this podcast we hear from Santa Rita that it covers Vineyards, Cellars, Workers and Community, Marketing and Suppliers - effectively everything from the soil to the bottle and all the way to you! 

Elena Carretero is a leading expert on the subject of sustainability and for many years now has been Sustainability Director with the Santa Rita Wine Group in South America.  In this podcast Elena brings us into her world where every facet of the Santa Rita Group is linked into being a sustainable enterprise that can be Defined, Measured and Managed.     

"Viña Santa Rita and its subsidiaries were the first of Chile’s major wine groups to attain certification in December 2011, including Santa Rita, Carmen, Nativa, and Terra Andina, covering 2,325 hectares that make up 75% of the vineyards that we own, as well as 500 hectares belonging to our suppliers:  .... from Santa Rita 

Enjoy - and next time you crack open your favourite bottle from Santa Rita remember that the logo on the back label really does mean something substantial.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

While all restaurants in Ireland are closed right now they WILL open again. We all hope that this is soon. We should remember that many of these, including the wonderful Monty's of Kathmandu, are family businesses. They are often small and brilliant and when they do reopen they will need our support more than ever. Keep Safe and Keep well. 

Kevin Ecock's WinePod is brought to us with the assistance of the Santa Rita Wine Room at Monty's of Kathmandu - an excellent place to host your next event or celebration.

Contact Shiva at 01 -6704911 or HERE at the Santa Rita Wine Room web page.