The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast

Forrest Kelly
  • 4.9 (75)
  • Food
  • Updated Weekly

The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast delivers quick wine education for busy wine lovers. Host Forrest Kelly interviews sommeliers, winemakers, chefs, and wine experts sharing practical wine tips, wine pairing advice, wine tasting notes, and insider secrets from Napa Valley to Bordeaux. Voted one of The Best Wine, Food and Travel Podcasts!

  1. 4h ago

    The Process Behind CLINQ ZERO Will Surprise You Pt. 2

    Why does a wine with no alcohol cost more to make, not less? In Part 2 of this CLINQ ZERO conversation, founder Anto walks Forrest through the real economics and technology behind the brand. The name itself carries meaning — "clink" for the universal, joyful sound of a toast, "zero" borrowed from the soda world's shorthand for "without." Anto shares how the idea landed with friends and family in Italy, where tradition runs deep and non-alcoholic wine was a hard sell, even to his own mother. He also details the process that separates CLINQ ZERO from other dealcoholized wines on the market: starting from premium wine, processing at ambient temperature with no heat damage to aroma or flavor, and avoiding the sugar and natural flavoring most competitors add back in to compensate. A touch of CO2 for the sparkle and a hint of grape juice to balance acidity — that's it. Real sparkling wine, gently dealcoholized. Not a shortcut, not a compromise. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Process Behind CLINQ ZERO Will Surprise You Pt. 2

  2. 1d ago

    2 Vineyards, 1 Winemaker — Why the Wines Taste Nothing Alike Pt. 5

    Justin breaks down what's actually in the glass — Pastorale Pinot Noir is fruit-forward and flashy with red cherry and strawberry notes and a long finish, while Quarter Moon, sitting closer to the ocean and the Petaluma Gap, leans Old World: spicier, darker, with bigger tannins and more structure. Thicker skins and smaller clusters mean a higher skin-to-juice ratio in the fermenter, and deeper color in the bottle. Same farming, same winemaking — the site does the talking. On Chardonnay, Justin makes what he calls "varietally correct" Chardonnay: high-acid, fruit-driven, fermented in large-format oak so the wood supports the wine without smothering it. No butter bombs here. Then Forrest asks the hard question: is there anything positive to take away from a decade of California wildfires? Justin is candid — nothing positive except the lessons. He recounts the 2017 Tubbs fire that shattered his sense of the industry's invincibility, and the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex fires that forced Freestone to abandon its entire harvest. Grapes breathe, smoke binds into the berry, and those burnt flavors can't be removed — so rather than compromise quality standards, they walked away from the vintage. And he throws no shade at winemakers who made a different call to keep their businesses afloat. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    2 Vineyards, 1 Winemaker — Why the Wines Taste Nothing Alike Pt. 5

  3. 5d ago

    Sicily to Dallas: CLINQ ZERO Saw the Gap in the Wine Industry Pt. 1

    Most people who launch a non-alcoholic wine brand come at it from the wellness world, the beverage startup world, or the "I gave up drinking and couldn't find anything good" world. Anto Li Brizzi came at it from none of those places. He came at it from the winery floor. As head of North America for an Italian capital equipment company, Anto spent years selling the machinery that wineries use to make wine. He understood the production process, the industry dynamics, and the category from the inside out. When he saw the opportunity to build a better non-alcoholic sparkling wine — one that starts as real wine and is gently dealcoholized rather than constructed from juice, sugar, and flavoring — he had the knowledge and the credibility to do it right. In this first episode, Forrest traces Anto's full origin story: Growing up in Sicily in a family defined by bread, bakeries, and the rhythms of Italian outdoor life Studying aerospace engineering — bachelor's and master's degrees — before pivoting to the corporate world A career path that took him from Fiat to agriculture to Tetra Pak and eventually to a front-row seat in the wine industry The move to the US eleven years ago, becoming an American citizen, and making Dallas home while still traveling back to Italy multiple times a year And the founding insight behind CLINQ ZERO: real sparkling wine, gently dealcoholized — not grape juice with bubbles, not a drink rebuilt with additives, but something that starts exactly where great wine starts. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Sicily to Dallas: CLINQ ZERO Saw the Gap in the Wine Industry Pt. 1

  4. 6d ago

    Why Joseph Phelps Expanded to the Sonoma Coast — Freestone Vineyards w/ Justin Ennis Pt. 4

    Justin Ennis explains that you can't talk about Napa Valley's red table wine history without talking about Joe Phelps, who founded Joseph Phelps Vineyards in 1973 after building a national construction company, Hensel Phelps, with his father's business out of Greeley, Colorado. Phelps released the first vintage of Insignia in 1974, Napa's first Bordeaux-style blend, and was also among the first to varietally label Syrah in California after Prohibition. Working alongside his first winemaker, German immigrant Walter Shug, Phelps experimented widely across varietals including Riesling, Johannesburg Riesling, Pinot Noir, and Syrah, tearing out plantings that didn't meet his standard and starting over until he found the quality he wanted. Justin connects this same relentless pursuit of excellence to the founding of Freestone Vineyards, born from Phelps' love of Burgundy wines and his desire to make a true Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in a cooler climate. That search led the Phelps team to the West Sonoma Coast, where they planted two estate vineyards, Pastoral at 60 acres and Quarter Moon at 40, totaling 100 acres roughly seven to eight miles from Bodega Bay and the Pacific Ocean, complete with a separate winemaking facility and staff dedicated entirely to the Freestone project. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Why Joseph Phelps Expanded to the Sonoma Coast — Freestone Vineyards w/ Justin Ennis Pt. 4

  5. Aug 18

    Maryse Wrote the Book on Wine Smart — Now Take the Quiz

    Rusty Cellars is back behind the quiz desk, and this time the subject is the one guest who literally wrote the book on wine talk. Maryse Chevriere — certified sommelier, illustrator, and James Beard Award winner for the gloriously funny @FreshCutGardenHose — gets the full Pop the Quiz treatment as Rusty turns her interview series into two rounds of trivia and translation. Round one tests how closely you listened: her grape-stomping fall in Alsace, the humor award she won as an illustrator among writers, the Ian Cauble "fresh cut garden hose" line that named her brand, learning to drive at fifteen in Houston, and the all-Riesling wine list that gave her a big break in New York. Round two flips the glass and quizzes the language itself, busting the cork-sniffing ritual, decoding what legs really reveal, defending screw caps, and translating what "approachable" actually means when a sommelier says it with a smile. It's the perfect capper to the Maryse series and a 5-minute crash course in sounding wine smart without a single ounce of snobbery. Tally your score, grab the book, and pour something friendly. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Maryse Wrote the Book on Wine Smart — Now Take the Quiz

  6. Aug 17

    32 Harvests, Here's the Real Path - Justin Ennis Pt. 3

    Justin Ennis explains that his path into winemaking didn't run through a four-year degree program, but through 32 harvests of hands-on, ground-up learning that started at age 19 with the least glamorous jobs in the building: cleaning tanks, floors, drains, and barrels. From there, progression came step by step, learning to run the crush pad, organize the barrel room, and operate equipment like pumps, forklifts, and cranes before eventually taking on bigger responsibility. He stresses that interns benefit most from working at high-quality, technique-focused wineries rather than high-volume producers, since that's where the best habits get built. Justin describes winemaking as a true lifestyle career rather than a 9-to-5 job, comparing it to professional sports in terms of the all-in commitment it demands, since farming and winemaking run year-round with no real clocking out. He wraps up by walking through the cyclical rhythm of his year, from the relatively quiet stretch of leafing, shoot positioning, and crop estimating in the vineyard right now, to the upcoming July bottling and the harvest prep that follows, all while Mother Nature ultimately dictates the timeline. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    32 Harvests, Here's the Real Path - Justin Ennis Pt. 3

  7. Aug 15

    Premium Blend Is Giving Away Product — For the Best Possible Reason

    Henry Santos of Premium Blend joins Forrest to talk about Raise a Glass for Colombia, the company's earthquake relief campaign. Premium Blend has deep roots in the Colombian community, and just two months before the earthquake they launched Brisa Ardiente, a wine-based Colombian aguardiente created with the community's support. Now they're giving back in a big way. Henry explains that the campaign has grown beyond its original scope: rather than just Colombian restaurants, Premium Blend is challenging all of its customers to host a one-evening fundraising event and dedicate cocktail proceeds to earthquake victims. Premium Blend supplies the product to make those cocktails at no cost, and the company has opened its Miami warehouse as a receiving center for donations being gathered and shipped to Colombia. Henry also shares the good news that his friends and contacts in Colombia are safe, while acknowledging that not everyone was so fortunate. Restaurant and bar owners can get involved by visiting premiumblend.com or calling 800-899-0331 and asking for the Colombia package. @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Premium Blend Is Giving Away Product — For the Best Possible Reason

  8. Aug 15

    From the Vault: Keith Urban, Golden Road Era Pt. 3 — The Finale

    Then things get playful: Keith cheerfully ad-libs an Outback Steakhouse tagline ("Crikey, I just threw that one in myself"), before a rapid-fire lightning round turns up Citizen Kane, a love of tattoos, chocolate over vanilla, and his dad as his athletic hero. He signs off by picking Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me — the same song that opens his show every night — ahead of the Farmhand benefit at the House of Blues in Anaheim. A warm, funny, generous farewell to a genuine star on the rise. Show notes The story behind the forgiveness line, and writing by stream of consciousness Keith riffs a full Outback Steakhouse ad-read on the spot The lightning round: speed limits, favorite videos (Landslide), and drinking as a sport Dad as his athletic hero, Citizen Kane, tattoos, and chocolate over vanilla Picking Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me to close — the song that opens his live show One last plug for the Farmhand benefit at the House of Blues, Anaheim @thebestwinepod Discover More from The Best 5 Minute Podcast Network: Wine Podcast Music Podcast Travel Podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    From the Vault: Keith Urban, Golden Road Era Pt. 3 — The Finale
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4.9
out of 5
75 Ratings

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The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast delivers quick wine education for busy wine lovers. Host Forrest Kelly interviews sommeliers, winemakers, chefs, and wine experts sharing practical wine tips, wine pairing advice, wine tasting notes, and insider secrets from Napa Valley to Bordeaux. Voted one of The Best Wine, Food and Travel Podcasts!

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