Postcards in a Glass

Lyn Farmer
  • 4.9 (8)
  • FOOD

Postcards in a Glass shares an unpretentious world of wine, believing that every good wine "takes you somewhere." This series of audio postcards from great wine regions around the world is hosted by James Beard Award-winning journalist and WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Certified Educator Lyn Farmer. In conversations with winemakers and many others who love wine, Lyn brings out the passion and joy people have for the beverage, and every now and then manages to include a discussion of spirits, beer, sake and the arts. You don't need to be an expert to share the passion for wine and food at the heart of this podcast focusing equally on geographical as well as cultural terroir.

  1. 8H AGO

    Julien Fayard's Winemaking Tension

    Winemaker Julien Fayard trained in the South of France and Bordeaux before relocating to Northern California in the early 2000s when he worked as an intern at Quintessa. After working with acclaimed viticulturalist and winemaker Philippe Melka, he moved to the US fulltime in 2006, working as Melka's director of winemaking for eight years before setting out on his own. He consulted for many high-end properties including Lail, Gemstone and Dalla Valle Vineyards, and today he is a highly regarded and innovative powerhouse in Napa Valley. In his conversation with podcast host Lyn Farmer, Fayard contrasts winemaking in Napa and Bordeaux and what his training in France allowed him to bring to his winemaking in California. "The process of making wine begins in the vineyard," he says, and he talks about some of surprises climate change is bringing to wine. We also talk about Fayard's shift from being a high profile consultant to others to his latest efforts making wine for his own brands. A frequent comment in Fayard's remarks is the importance of "tension," an elusive quality he explains as essential to great wine and that he hopes is a recognizable quality in the wines he makes. We wrap up with an exploration of what the future may bring for California wine – and Julien Fayard turns out to be a wine optimist! This episode's postcard - a love letter from Napa penned by winemaker Julien Fayard. You can learn more about Julien Fayard's wines on his website: https://www.fayardwines.com

    32 min

  2. JAN 18

    Isidoro Vajra Celebrates the Beauty of Barolo

    Barolo is the most storied spot for wine lovers in the Northwest Italian province of Piemonte. Here, where Isidoro Vajra’s ancestors had been growing grapes since the 1880s, the family built a winery in the early 1970s rooted in tradition but also in innovation. Vajra was the first organically certified winery in the region, they have pioneered the renaissance or, as Isidoro says in Italian, the Renascimento, of wine styles from the 17th century (including a sparkling Nebbiolo!) and the resurgence of interest in the local grape Freisa, which was all but forgotten before the Vajra family brought it back to life in 1980. Piemonte is a region that is home to many grapes – Cortese, Arneis and Moscato among white grapes and Dolcetto, Freisia and Barbera among the reds. Indisputably, the king of the red grapes in Piemonte is Nebbiolo, a thin-skinned variety that gives wines often pale in color but robust in fruit, acid and tannin. This is the source of one of Italy’s greatest and most famous wines made exclusively from the Nebbiolo grape in the small village of Barolo. You may also know of the Nebbiolo-based wine from nearby Barbaresco – these are certainly the two most famous villages for Nebbiolo but the grape is grown throughout the province. The villages and small towns of the region – Gavi, Alba and Asti, Barolo and Barbaresco among them – are famous for wine but also for truffles and mushrooms and exceptional cuisine. Piemonte gets its name from the words pied, meaning foot, and monte, meaning mountain. It is in the foothills of the Alps with amazing vistas, a cool climate and many different exposures for vineyards. Most of all, it is a region of stunning beauty, especially in the prime Nebbiolo sub-region called the Langhe where the Vajra family lives and works. In this conversation with host Lyn Farmer, Isidoro Vajra shares his and his family's passion for the area, their close rapport with nature, their respect for the land and their willingness to let their vines tell them what kind of wines to make. Isidoro is a not only passionate, he is compassionate and a wonderful guide to and storyteller about this magical place, the Langhe of Piemonte.. G.D. Vajra is one of Piemonte's most important wineries, and their website is very well done – I recommend it highly - you'll find it at www.gdvajra.it The website has explanations of all the wines we discuss in our conversation including not only the classic Barolos, but the unusual Nebbiolo Claré, the Barbera Freisa blend, the stunning Riesling Petraciné and others as well.

    37 min

  3. 11/25/2025

    A Sparkling Postcard from Weston Eidson of Westborn Sparkling Wine

    Winemaker Weston Eidson of Westborn Wines has created wines that have received extraordinary praise from top wine writers like Jancis Robinson and Jeb Dunnock. They have been struck by the extraordinary quality of Westborn's portfolio of sparkling wines. Made using the traditional method, the same process as used in Champagne and Franciacorta, Westborn's wines are uncommonly refined and elegant. They draw on grapes not from a single vineyard but sourced from many of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino's top vineyards. In just a few years since he gave up a tech career for wine, this young winemaker has crafted some remarkable bottles. This time on Postcards in a Glass, Weston Eidson talks with host Lyn Farmer about how he became interested in wine and how he has gone about fulfilling his dream of making "Grand Cru sparkling wines." Most critics agree he has succeeded even with his first vintages, from 2018 and 2019. There are, he says, even more exciting wines to come, soon from the legendary 2021 vintage. Join us for an engaging conversation about sparkling wine - how it's made, what makes it special, and how a young winemaker found success with one of the most difficult styles of wine to master. Westborn Wines is featured on this episode of Postcards in a Glass. You can find out more about these wines (and even order them despite their limited quantities) by visiting the winery website, http://www.westbornwines.com

    35 min

  4. 11/07/2025

    Sipping Sancerre with a Rock Star - a conversation with Armand Mellot

    Nearly 500 years before sauvignon blanc was planted in Marlborough, New Zealand, Pierre-Etienne Mellot was tending his vines rooted in the stony soils of Sancerre. These vineyards tended by the Mellot family have been producing generation after generation of exceptional wine. By the end of the 17th century, César Mellot was advising King Louis XIV on wine and now, 513 years after the family began its vinous odyssey in 1513, Armand Mellot continues the journey. With his mother and his brother Adrien he manages the house of Joseph Mellot, the only family to own and manage vineyards in all eight sauvignon blanc appellations of the Centre-Loire region. (It is called the Central Loire because it is in the center of France; it's actually at the eastern-most end of the Loire Valley). Today, Armand Mellot brings us a postcard from one of France's greatest white wine-producing region. Sitting down with host Lyn Farmer, he shares a glass of chilled Sancerre and warm stories of this historic region. "We are ambassadors of a place and its wines," he says. In fact, he is an ambassador of eight places, including not only Sancerre but also Pouilly-Fumé, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, and others. In this lively conversation we talk about the differences and similarities of these areas, of what the soil and the cultural terroir of these places puts in our glasses. "It begins with the soil," he says, pulling three rocks out of his satchel. These rocks are rather like lumpy postcards themselves - a sparkling white chunk of Silex or flint; a greyish piece of "terres blanches," the same Kimmeridgian limestone and clay that give Chablis its character; and "caillotes," with its limestone from the austere hills that give bracing minerality and acidity to these wines. The wines of Sancerre and its surrounding appellations are unique, with the fresh fruit and grassy character that are hallmarks of the sauvignon blanc grape and yet unlike the wine produced by this grape anywhere else in the world. Join us as we talk about the countryside, the people of the Loire, ther wines they make and the foods they pair with them. With his soil samples surrounding our wine glasses, I kid Armand about being a literal "rock star." It is a term the French use as well and it is a unique fit for this engaging young man who with his family makes sublime music from carefully tended vines. I loved my time with Armand Mellot and his wines and I hope you will as well.

    34 min

  5. 10/18/2025

    The Dynamic Douro - Modern Styles for a Classic Region

    Portugal's Douro Valley is the oldest geographically designated wine region in the world - it's boundaries were formally set in the mid-1700s and for more than two centuries the international image of the region was based on sweet, fortified wine. Classic tawny and ruby ports still play an important part in the Douro's wine production but since the early 1990s dry red and white wines have also played a major part in the region's fame. These dry wines weren't new - they had always made them but mainly for local consumption. A shift came when the Champagne firm Louis Roederer purchased the century-old Port producer Ramos Pinot in 1990 and decided the company dry wines were so good they needed to be shared. In the intervening 35 years, Ramos Pinto has continued to produce outstanding fortified wines but has gain new fame for a series of dry wines mostly marketed under the Duas Quintas label. This time on Postcards in a Glass, host Lyn Farmer is joined by Ramos Pinto's export and marketing director Ana Rato, who tells the story of how these dry wines became famous. She also shares how these two family-owned companies became partners, and how some of Ramos Pinto's oldest styles, like aged white port, have become new hit in the market. White port as an aperitif? Dry reds and whites pioneering plantings in the Douro Valley's most remote reaches (called the Douro Superior)? Modern twists on classic fortified wines? We've got the story here in a Postcard from the Douro and from Ramos Pinto! If you want to see just how vibrant the Port region of the Douro Valley is, I've posted some of my photographs from the region on my website, www.loynfarmer.com. Just click on the Postcards in a Glass tab and there is a link to the photgraphs at the bottom of the page. For more information about the wines of Ramos Pinto, connect with them at www.ramospinto.pt

    35 min

  6. 09/25/2025

    Bringing Boutique to the Big Time: Viña Carmen's Ana Maria Cumsillé

    Chile is an amazing country for wine lovers. It has a vine growing area nearly 1000 kilometers in length with three distinct zones from West to East - a cool Coastal Region on the Pacific, a warm Central Valley and in the east of the country, the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Altitude can give respite from the Central Valley's heat, so there is nearly every climate possible somewhere in this fertile country. Chile has for decades been a major wine exporter and has developed a wine industry aimed at international demand. It is often said that in Chile, wineries are either very small or very large without much of a middle ground. Viña Carmen in the Maipo Valley, an hour's drive from Santiago, embodies a bit of both approaches. It is a relatively large winery but it wants a boutique feel. For that reason, two years ago they named a new winemaker, Ana Maria Cumsillé, who had considerable experience at small artisanal wineries. She was invited to bring that boutique experience to the resources at Viña Carmen and now that we are beginning to see the first wines crafted entirely by her, it's possible to see just how well the partnership is working. Talking with Postcards in a Glass host Lyn Farmer, Ana Cumsillé explained her approach to wines and especially her love of the terroirs with which she is able to work. Viña Carmen not only owns vineyards that have considerable age, Ana is also purchasing grapes from some of the small growers she worked with in her boutique days and this is giving her a wonderfully diverse portfolio. The Carmenère grape is often considered Chile's signature variety and it was at one of Carmen's vineyards that the grape was "discovered." It had for years been mistaken for Merlot even though it ripens two or three weeks later than Merlot. Chilean growers would talk about Merlot and "Late Merlot," until the identification error was cleared up 30 years ago. You would think having been the site where the identification was made would prompt Carmen to make Carmenère the focus of their program, but in fact Ana Cumsillé says Cabernet Sauvignon is where her focus really lies (though she does make wonderful Carmenère, Cabernet Franc and several other varieties as well). In this conversation, she talks about her approach to winemaking, the challenges of moving from boutique wineries to one of the bigger players, her joy in working with terroirs in Alta Jahuel, Apalta and the old vineyards of Itata and Maulé. It's a wide ranging discussion, and if it makes you thirsty, by all means take a look at Carmen's well designed website at www.carmen.com

    31 min

  7. 09/02/2025

    The Vine Whisperer Speaks - Greg La Follette

    Widely referred to as "The Vine Whisperer," Greg La Follette is a California legend, a grape grower and wine maker who has worked with dozens of wineries, made hundreds wines and, for nearly six decades, has been an essentail part of the engine driving the maturation of the California and American wine industries. A one-time seminarian, medical researcher and plant biologist, he first made his mark in wine as a lab rat fascinated by the esoterica of what creates our tactile impression, the mouth feel, of Pinot Noir. Greg La Follette has worked with dozens of grape varieties but he's never lost his fascination with Pinot Noir, dubbed "the heartbreak grape" because it can be so difficult to work with. Of course, when it does work, it makes a sublimely beautiful wine. In a wide-ranging conversation, Greg talks with host Lyn Farmer about his, and the industry's, early days in California, about the steady growth of the American wine industry over 50 years, about how he successfully persuades yeast to do things others struggle to achieve, about his time with his legendary predecessors like Andrei Tchelistcheff, his mentoring of new generations in the wine industry and why he doesn't like the term "winemaker." Join us for a fascinating visit with a wine OG, Greg La Follette, exploring the past and especially his bright future at his new project, Marchelle Winery. We are delving into California's sense of place on Postcards in a Glass. You can learn more about Greg La Follette and the exciting work of Marchelle Wines at their website: https://www.marchellewines.com

    33 min

  8. 08/07/2025

    Wine in the shadow of the Sun King - A New Vineyard at Versailles

    In this era of climate change, many wine growers are cultivating vines in areas once thought to cool for grapes. One of these pioneers is Adrien Pélissié, who has resurrected the vineyards originally planted by Louis XIV on the sprawling grounds of his palace at Versailles. On a similar latitude as Champagne, Versailles, in suburban Paris, is an unlikely but stunning venue for growing grapes and this new project highlights the also new Ile de France IGT regional designation. Pélissié also further amazed the wine loving public when he made his first vintage inside the Eiffel Tower! Some might have dismissed that as marketing, but there is no denying the quality of the wines, including Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Now, five vintages later, the quality and consistency of these wines confirms Pélissié's vision. Called La Bouche du Roi (The King's Mouth), Pélissié's winery provides a fascinating story of discovery and determination, of persistence and pleasure. In his conversation with host Lyn Farmer, Pélissié shares the story of how a young man from Bordeaux came to make wine at a regal palace and we taste a few wines along the way ( they are delicious). Join us for a postcard from Versailles, the home of the Sun King, and a glass of radiant wine. You can learn more about La Bouche du Roi at their website: https://www.la-bouche-du-roi.com

    37 min
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About

Postcards in a Glass shares an unpretentious world of wine, believing that every good wine "takes you somewhere." This series of audio postcards from great wine regions around the world is hosted by James Beard Award-winning journalist and WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Certified Educator Lyn Farmer. In conversations with winemakers and many others who love wine, Lyn brings out the passion and joy people have for the beverage, and every now and then manages to include a discussion of spirits, beer, sake and the arts. You don't need to be an expert to share the passion for wine and food at the heart of this podcast focusing equally on geographical as well as cultural terroir.

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