Episodes
Dec. 4, 2020
Ep. 37. / Interview with Hungary's first Master Sommelier: Tamás Czinki!
The first Master Sommelier with a Hungarian passport! And my little home country owes this pride to Tamás Czinki, who certainly made history this autumn after 5 years of preparation. In this episode, you can hear Tamás talking about the assiduous road to...
Nov. 19, 2020
Ep. 36. / How to find and import Eastern European wines to the USA?
This time, I had the great fortune to finally talk to Eric Danch, wine importer from the U.S. I first got in contact with Eric when he wrote me a kind e-mail encouraging me to keep up with the podcast. After telling us his colorful way of getting into Ea...
Nov. 13, 2020
Ep. 35. / Biodynamics & Honest Wines with Romana Echensperger MW
What a great honor to have wine writer, excellent sommelier and Master of Wine: Romana Echensperger on the show. Romana has recently published a world-class book ("Von der Freiheit den richtigen Wein zu machen" - available only in German so far) that giv...
Oct. 23, 2020
Ep. 34. / Kamptal's cool elegance kept in Allram bottles
The 34th Wine Ghosts podcast virtually goes into the Kamptal region of Austria, and hosts Lorenz Allram, the young winemaker behind the Allram wines. Lorenz gives a thorough introduction to the Kamptal terroir, explains the general tasting profiles of th...
Oct. 9, 2020
Ep. 33. / Secrets behind the Best Rosé of Germany: Braunewell Dinter
In this episode, you can hear the secrets behind the Best Rosé of Germany and actually of the world in 2020. I spoke to Frank Dinter and Christian Braunewell from the Braunewell Dinter winery, Rheinhessen, Germany about the origin story of the tasty wine...
Sept. 25, 2020
Ep. 32. / Roter Veltliner & Wagram masterclass by Johannes Fritz
In this episode, I had the opportunity to talk to a motivated young winemaker, Johannes Fritz, from Austria. The Josef Fritz winery is located in the heart of a lesser-known Austrian wine region: Wagram, which deserves much more international fame than i...
Sept. 11, 2020
Ep. 31. / Rheingau history & 20 Pinot Noir vintages with Gunter Künstler
The 31st podcast episode centers the esteemed Künster Winery from the Rheingau wine region of Germany. Gunter Künstler lavishly showed me a line of his Pinot Noirs from 1999 till the barrel sample of 2019. It was one in a lifetime experience, and proved ...
Aug. 28, 2020
Ep 30. / Rebecca Crusius proves Nahe Rieslings to be 'dark, mineral and graceful'
I was lucky enough to record the 30th Wine Ghosts podcast in a classical villa built in 1888, in the picturesque Traisen village, Nahe region, Germany. This proud wine castle is home to the Crusius vintner family that has been making wine for 14 generati...
Aug. 7, 2020
Ep. 29. / Caroline Diel, the winemaker queen of Burg Layen, Nahe
The 29th episode hosts Caroline Diel, who is not only an exceptional winemaker, but a lovely host and an inspiring professional. This episode is just a slice of the wonderful experience we were lucky to enjoy at the Diel winery and family home on the 6th...
July 24, 2020
Ep. 28. / Roterfaden: a biodynamic loveproject for spirited wines
This episode features the Roterfaden winery, and of course, the lovely couple behind its energetic wines. We spent a wonderful morning with Olympia and Hannes looking over their terraced vineyards and a fairy-tale-like valley North-West of Stuttgart, Ger...
July 17, 2020
Ep. 27. / The KSK Vintage winery is crowdfounded and PIWI-friendly
This interview was recorded on the 30th of May after we spent a magical afternoon with Sebastian Schiller in the outskirts of Stuttgart. Sebastian is the leader of Germany’s first crowdfounded winery | KSK Vintage Winery | which builds on his inherited v...
July 3, 2020
Ep. 26. / Franz Weninger's hand-made biodynamic wines across the border
Today’s episode features Franz Weninger who is an iconic producer who cultivates his land biodynamically on both sides of the Austrian-Hungarian border. Franz described his remarkable terroirs in great depth, justified the importance of various soil qual...
June 19, 2020
Ep. 25. / Jochen Beurer's wines gave us goose bumps
The 25th episode features another outstanding wine wizard from Swabia, Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. Jochen Beurer’s Rieslings and Lembergers are true benchmarks. Site-specific, terroir-driven, mashed by feet, brought to life by native yeast. The ...
June 10, 2020
Ep. 24. / Alex Pflüger tells you how great biodynamic Pfalz wines are done
The Pflüger winery is located in the Pfalz region of Germany, where the Pflüger family has been taking care of their precious vineyards around Bad Dürkheim for centuries now. They were proponents of nourishing their treasured land in the most sustainable...
June 5, 2020
Ep. 23. / Josef Fischer bottles golden Wachau drops behind Danube salmons
Another great wine wizard from the Wachau region of Austria: Josef Fischer. The winery, that bears the same name as my dear guest, is located in Rossatz, on the right bank of the River Danube. As a true Wachau winery, they bring out the best expression o...
May 29, 2020
Ep. 22. / Felix Ellwanger bottles the best of Württemberg to make you smile
We were lucky enough to visit another great wine castle in the Württemberg wine region: the Jürgen Ellwanger winery, from Winterbach. I sat down with Felix Ellwanger in a charmed garden-setting while tasting one great wine after the other. You can learn ...
May 22, 2020
Ep. 21. / Moritz Haidle proves Württemberg's wines to be top-notch
Riesling from Württemberg? Oh yes! Although the Rems valley, “Remstal”, has a long tradition of producing excellent Rieslings, it still remains a hidden gem for most Riesling lovers worldwide. This time, I was lucky enough to talk to one of the best prod...
May 15, 2020
Ep. 20. / Ori Marani is a love story turned into Georgian wines!
The 20th podcast episode is a truly moving one! Nino and Bastian joined me from the terrace of their Georgian winery, called Ori Marani. I was convinced that their love story alone would worth writing a book about, but their joint winemaking history has ...
May 9, 2020
Ep 11. / Lilla Laposa introduces Badacsony: the biggest volcano around Lake Balaton
In the 5th episode of the Balaton Upland series, I interviewed Lilla Laposa, the youngest member of the Laposa winery family, from the Badacsony Hill. You will learn how Lake Balaton, paired with the volcanic basalt soil, creates a truly unmatchable micr...
May 8, 2020
Ep. 19. / Victoria Evans changed the history of the Hungarian sommelier world
This week, you can hear Hungary’s Sommelier Champion, Victoria Evans, who joined me for an exciting conversation. Victoria changed her career from the Hungarian army to later become the head sommelier of the first-ever Hungarian Michelin Star Restaurant ...
April 30, 2020
Ep. 18. / Niki Saahs from Nikolaihof shares 2000-year-old secrets from Wachau
The Nikolaihof is one of the benchmark estates worldwide if you are looking for great, age-worthy white wines with character. This is the oldest estate in Austria, lying on the right bank of the River Danube in Mautern, in the beautiful Wachau. The estat...
April 25, 2020
Ep. 17. / MW Heidi Mäkinen's path of excellence and curiosity
In this episode, you can hear a particularly inspiring conversation with Heidi Mäkinen, Master of Wine from Finland. In addition to earning her MW title in 2019, she is also the president of the Finnish Sommelier Association, working as a wine ambassador...
April 22, 2020
Ep. 16. / Simon Gattinger's bright way of becoming a great Wachau winemaker
Today’s guest is Simon Gattinger, a 22-year old winemaker from the Wachau Valley, Austria. He inherited precious vineyard sites on the Eastern side of the valley and took the courage to establish his own wine label a couple of years ago. He shared his pl...
April 14, 2020
Ep. 15. / Johannes Schellhorn, a free-minded sommelier from Berlin's 'Freundschaft'
Today’s guest is Johannes Schellhorn, Sommelier and the co-owner of the ‘Freundschaft’ wine bar in Berlin. Johannes’s philosophy about the duties of a sommelier tells you everything how open-minded he is when it comes to various gastronomic products: “To...