How to Blend Wine with Peter and Rebecca from Ampelos Cellars

How to Blend Wine with Peter and Rebecca from Ampelos Cellars – Episode #630

February 25, 2009

Peter and Rebecca Work stop by to talk about the wine business and blend some Pinot Noir.

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“Hey, now this is interesting – good start at least….” by JayZee
“Peter and Rebecca are some of my favorite people in the business. I s…” by chris lavin
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91 Responses

February 25, 2009

ChrisR
As a chemistry nerd, I fully support and LOVE this episode!!!
February 25, 2009

Richstork
Yeehaw!!!!
February 25, 2009

cma82
2nd! Looks good!
February 25, 2009

RichG
Giddy Up Gary!
February 25, 2009

Toke-Dawg
4.
February 25, 2009

Vanguy
Cool
February 25, 2009

Phil G
Looking forward to seeing the blend happen – cheers!
February 25, 2009

daverdude
GREAT SHOW ” Very Informative “
February 25, 2009

daverdude
Oh Yea “TOP TEN” (lol)
February 25, 2009

Aaron
wish the comments were open when i started watching this 40 minutes ago.
February 25, 2009

my2cents
Hey in the top ten.

Looks like farmer time again. Looking forward to another awesome show.
February 25, 2009

GlennP
Freakin awesome show. I’ve always wanted to know about this. oh and the biodynamics guest from the last two- amazing. Amazing!!
February 25, 2009

RJurman
That’s keeping it real. Can’t wait for the finished blend!
February 25, 2009

manonthemoon
Intersting start, hopefully this will improve.
February 25, 2009

Jay
Another 2 parter??? I don’t know about this trend.
February 25, 2009

Dr T in NC
excellent concept!
February 25, 2009

Laurie in VT
Good show- interesting stuff.
February 25, 2009

Banknote
Loved hearing about their decision making process on the many aspects of starting their new brand.
I hope tomorrow they talk more about blending. I was looking forward to that.
February 25, 2009

Neil
I went to School in Santa Barbara back in the 1980’s and even then there were vineyards in Santa mAria….I can’t imagine how the area looks now. If you have ever visited Lompoc you’d find it funny that a Dutch guy in a Hawaiian shirt and a Cowboy hat lives there…..
February 25, 2009

jwink
Facinating and extremely educational shows lately, loving the information and new appreciation for the whole process. Like the multiple part shows too; and opposite contrast from the flip cam quick versions.
February 25, 2009

I-Lurk
Interesting! Can’t wait for episode TWO!
February 25, 2009

Micha
I love that kind of show too. A completly different view and focus to the things. Mixing it up and good guest keeps the thundershow fresh. Great!
Greetz from Germany
Micha
February 25, 2009

Abbe Faria
Nice show, and again, I’m loving that there are so many guests on the show lately. Also interesting to see some blending action, which is different.

BTW, what’s the whole deal with people wanting to be in the top 10 comments, and not actually writing a comment in the process at that. Is there some hugely significant significance behind this that I’m not getting?
February 25, 2009

John Farrin
My God, I’m becoming a wine nerd! I absolutely love these shows. This is shaping up to be the best overall week in WLTV history. Bring Jansis back for latd back Friday and you’re there. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 25, 2009

NY Pete
top 25 … hot damn
February 25, 2009

guymandude
Very cool show.like behind the scenes of wine process.
February 25, 2009

Murso
Peter and Rebecca – It is clear that in you, Price Waterhouse lost two fine people. In light of where the world has gone as of late, I hope you are very happy with your decision, and I wish you success in your growth.

I love wines of the Santa Rita Hills AVA, and especially have been a fiend for Brewer-Clifton. I encountered Sea Smoke only once, when they were introduced to our market, and was instantly impressed, and was confident in it’s price point when putting it in someone’s hands. Best wishes to your son in his endeavors there.

I’ll look forward to encountering your wines, though I don’t think they are yet in my Ohio market. Looking forward to the rest of the episode tomorrow.
February 25, 2009

RobRx
Wow again!

Another educational 2 part show. Kudos Garu to taking your show in this direction, This is very interesting stuff even for old time wine fans like myself(not that watching you emote about random wines is not interesting…)I have visited that area of CA, it is just wonderful in climate, wines and in people.
February 25, 2009

hpark
Great concept! I really love hearing stories of how people fell in love with wine. They seem like great people. I admire them for living out their dream. I’ll definitely try to pay them a visit when I can. I’m really looking forward to Part II!
February 25, 2009

Marc-China Wine Tours
Love a good blend! Had the opportunity to do some blending in Australia. Can’t wait to see the sequel!
February 25, 2009

Deano
Gary Great episode I cant wait for part 2 these wines seem great and they are cool too
February 25, 2009

Dr. Dan
Fascinating…
February 25, 2009

sam
A good start to a 2 part.

Wine makers can be fun, but it seems that the focus is a little off. We are not hearing much about the wine itself or the blending and hence, the final product. What wines are they making? Are those barrel samples? I get that we are witnessing the tasting of different clones, but are the samples final? Are they blended with each other?

The show seems a little disjointed up to now.

I will be watching to see how it concludes.

Fun guests nonetheless.
February 25, 2009

Matthew
Gary, I really like the show, really do, but if you could not interrupt your guests so often you would get more from your guests. It’s sometimes painful to watch an episode and someone will say “and the interesting thing is….” and you’ll interrupt and go off on a tangent.

Please don’t take this badly – I think your work is very good – I’m just trying to make a suggestion for how it could be better.
February 25, 2009

Harry
I like the idea of this show so much, I poured a glass of Aum Cellars 2008 White Wine (we’re still coming up with a catchier name) – the first wine I got to help blend! Thanks in large part to you, I’ve been making my dream come true!
February 25, 2009

oscar falcón lara
Cool. I like the apothecary bottles they are using for testing the blends.

I am keen to Pinot Noir but have not had a bottle of it in about six months, maybe it’s time to buy more pinot huh?
February 25, 2009

J Crazy
Fantastico! I like this little science experiment.
February 25, 2009

Vanguy
Great life – when he is homesick he can go to Solvang
February 25, 2009

Tenacious E
For some reason I really want to try more German and Italian pinot. I don’t know why.
February 25, 2009

rowland
nice. good ep. informative, now i got a lot more crap to think about though. Gary will you help me pick out varietals and clones for my vineyard? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?
February 25, 2009

pawncop
Another good 2 parter. I love how you get into the fundementals of the growing and creating the wines.
February 25, 2009

David T
So there’s no QOTD- you can still leave comments, Vayniaks!
I thought this was also a good learning episode- but different from the last 2 days. More wine-business in regards to pricing/press. Looking forward to the actual blending tomorrow.
February 25, 2009

A dumb Rhine king
Very interesting.
February 25, 2009

my2cents
Interesting story behind the starting of the guests winery.

Not sure I like having to refer to vines as clones. Almost makes it feel like the ingredients are not good alone and need to be blended. although this is not always true as Gary just noted really liking the “777″ on it’s own.

Big swing from the previous guest’s approach of growing the flavor of the wine on the vine. “like a difficult child”.
February 25, 2009

RANDI
GARY!!
Love Seasmoke!
And you know, the movie Sideways may have made its Hollywood mark on the wine industry…and created a popular trend…but I really loved that movie!

Great ep…
Thanks Gary!
xox
February 26, 2009

SteveW - Colorado
Anyone else see any irony between the Nicolas Joly piece and this one? What I mean is, what would Joly think of this ‘wine making’? What would he think of all of this effort that goes on in the lab after the vines have done what they do best? Would he see any of this as adding a cosmetic element to the wine? I’d like to here anyone’s comments on this.
February 26, 2009

LIttle Jonny
Really interesting stuff. I’ve always wondered about clone types, and the significance in the vineyard, and now I have a feel for the importance in making wine!

Amped up for part 2!
February 26, 2009

Daniel Kemp
I thought this whole week was going to be on biodynamics (is this clone stuff biodynamics?).

It was still a cool episode though.
February 26, 2009

DAveA
good guests. Nice to see how IT geeks become wine nerds. smile. Good for them!
February 26, 2009

Richard Ritter
Thanks for covering this topic, I’ve been wondering about this for a while now. I think of it like tuning a guitar, some wineries can or have to grow the “strings” and some wineries are able to grow the whole damn guitar. You do what you want or have to do. That’s my comment for SteveW up above.
February 26, 2009

Richard Ritter
Shameless plug!! Vote for your favorite Vayniac Cab label design at Crushnet.com!
February 26, 2009

ZJK
I love how your starting to incorporate science into episodes. I love this kind of stuff, it’s like the discovery wine channel. I love hearing how their son is the winemaker for Sea Smoke, good stuff.
February 26, 2009

winetrader.dk
Great show Gary, finaly some Danish people on the show *s*
February 26, 2009

BostonKeith
good show very interesting guests, very knowledgable, can’t wait for part two
February 26, 2009

chuy
love the show, me and my girlfriend were in lompoc doing some barrel tasting with peter cargasacchi and i told him i was a fan of the ampelos wines, well peter carg got on the horn with peter work and he invited us to his house. We spent 3 hrs sitting on their back patio with peter and rebecca, drank a btl of viogner and a btl of the lambda pinot 04. He drove us around the vineyard on his golf cart and went up and down the rows! He was beaming like a proud parent so proud of his vines, and he taught us a little about grafting which i think is very interesting. By far my best winetasting experience ever! nice nice niiiice! people. Thanks for having them on and im glad we joined the wine club when we did i think peter and rebecca are gonna make a name for themselves. good work!GO CHARGERS!!
February 26, 2009

apj_bobswineguy
Great week for WLTV! Like those early spring training stats in baseball-you’re batting 1000!

And I agree w/ others. Planned or not, it is a great contrast between Joly & these two. Although, both make sense in their own way.
February 26, 2009

Phil G
I enjoyed watching this – they seem like nice people and the blending is interesting. Also, very interesting that their land has had grape vines for 8 years, and the last guest’s vineyard was over 800 years old…
February 26, 2009

Pizza Vino Joe
I hope in Part Two that you had asked them if they blend towards a consistent flavor profile from year to year or with the intent to make the best wine possible from the given vintage even if that means to depart from the previous years profile.
February 26, 2009

hugh
Call it the “passion show”……this is top notch stuff gary…
February 26, 2009

Vino Vangelist
All hat and no cattle? Only kidding. All good in wineland?
February 26, 2009

Adam J
Can’t wait for part two!
February 26, 2009

Susan B
Love that you had Peter and Rebecca on your show! We first enjoyed their wines while on a tour of vineyards using sustainable viticulture – actually had a picnic lunch in their vineyard – and joined their wine club after returning home. We had also enjoyed some of the Badge pinot while in the area, so it is interesting to hear more of the back story. I look forward to the discussion on blending in the next show.
February 26, 2009

MaRc
Have been tuning into your shows lately and I have to say, awesome shows, great guests and the thunder booms ever greater! Cant wait for part two…

I’ve also been reviewing lots of your previous episodes, but the one that has just left me awe struct and dumb-founded, laughing and gasping for breath on the floor was epi#148 (where you tasted a whole lot of flavour profiles)…that’s just hilarious! You’re the man!

Keep it coming, dude!
February 26, 2009

ex-lurkdawg
nice first part … I like the blending idea. It’s really interesting to me to see how the components come together.
February 26, 2009

Slushpuppy
Party on dude!
Smell it first. TR
February 26, 2009

dusan maletic
Maybe not the best way to bring this issue, but I guess you’ll notice it here and maybe some other users will comment on it…

New recent file naming scheme for WLTV episodes. At first I thought that it may be a temporary departure from the norm you are known for (ex. episodesix09). However, the change seem to have an air of permanence. There are simple non-end-user-friendly issues with it. While in the “olden days” old episodes would automatically arrange themselves by the name (starting with “episode” followed by the “NNN” number) this is no longer the case. Inserting the show title between the WLTV and episode number messes up file organization. Easy to correct to get better usability for the end user who keeps all the old content (ex. WLTV NNN Title). Another naming item I don’t get at all are numbers after the episode number at the very end. So far I don’t see any purpose for those, likely there is some production reason (but, keep those away from the episode number if you do rearrange the default title to my “self organizing” suggestion…).

Just in case this is the result of the manner in which I receive episodes: I get them by automated downloads using your RSS feed.

If the problem is not clear, I’ll underline it: New episodes are not in chronological order in my folder. Hence a need for end user to search through them to find new ones inserted in the order by the title. Easy for the recent few episodes but imagine the mess of searching through hundred(s) to find where the most recent have dropped in… Arrange folder by dates? That would mess up my other files (all other video/pod-casts I follow do follow self ordering naming scheme).

Keep on good works!
February 26, 2009

Rani Haykal
This is probably one of my favorites of the more recent episodes. Definitely looking forward to part 2. This is what interests me the most about wine…what goes in to it and how it is made/blended. Would love to try out different clones of certain varietals to see all the differences that can be had.

–RH
February 26, 2009

wayno da wino
YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!!! This One looks like FUUUUUN !!!!!
Will watch ‘er later!!!
February 26, 2009

Robin C
I’ll have to try a biodynamic wine. What an incredible committment a winery is.
February 26, 2009

Palmer
this is very cool so far, can’t wait for the real chemistry experiments to begin!!!
February 26, 2009

CBone
This is really interesting. Great idea for a show.

I have a QOTD for you, Gary. Did you think you were hallucinating when a Danish man in a cowboy hat and a Hawaiian shirt walked into your store?!
February 26, 2009

Jason S.
Very cool – I’ve never seen a discussion of the different pinot clone characteristics before. The blending I assume is coming up in part II should be interesting.
February 26, 2009

lawschooldrunk
good episode.
February 26, 2009

SurfCityJay
Great two episodes… my wife and I had already booked a trip to the Santa Ynez/Santa Rita Hills for our anniversary… we go once a year… after yesterday’s episode, I emailed them for an appointment… gonna be there Friday, April 10th at 11am… Any other Vayniacks in the area at that time…? Would love to hook up with ya!

QOTD: Never been to Alaska… on my Bucket List…
February 27, 2009

John C.
Thumbs Up BIG TIME!!!
February 27, 2009

George
Hey,

I felt Gary was being a little to serious with them or kind of making them feel bad . I dont know why that stuck out but thats what it look like maybe gary was in a bad mood that day or something.

ps.Great guest!!!!
February 27, 2009

WineWoman
Great so far…you probably didn’t have to make it a 2-parter. The suspense awaits us….
February 27, 2009

wayno da wino
Very Interesting. Kind of cool hearin’ what the different Pinot clones
taste like.
February 27, 2009

Jayhitek
Great episode.
February 27, 2009

GatorGunner
Visited Lompoc earlier this month and spent a couple of hours at Ampellos. Great people and great wines!
February 27, 2009

Bobby Bo
This is a great show. I love it when you have wine makers on, I learn something every time. This one is really interesting since we see part of the process. Cant wait for number 2
February 27, 2009

M
keep on blending…..part 2
February 28, 2009

Dan
Good show… as always!
February 28, 2009

*/^_^\*
excellent educational episode::: triple E!!!
March 1, 2009

YoungDave
I already planned to go to Santa Rita Hills tomorrow, and I am calling these wonderful people right now to try to make an appointment!
March 3, 2009

C-Lo
ok…. looking forward to part deux
March 9, 2009

Matlock
Great show! Get your guests a bucket. Maybe a Giants bucket!

Seriously though, this is incredibly interesting, especially just seeing people leave corporate America, start a winery and just turn their passion into their work.
March 17, 2009

Karl Laczko
I have to admit I was not expecting too much from the show on the title and opening clips, but I am happy my first impressions were way off – an excellent and enthralling episode and I am moving straight onto part 2!
March 17, 2009

Dessert Wine Nerd
Good stuff so far… Waiting on part 2….
March 23, 2009

chris lavin
Peter and Rebecca are some of my favorite people in the business. I still remember teaching Peter how to sabre Champagne in the wee hours of the morning at his ranch house.
March 25, 2009

JayZee
Hey, now this is interesting – good start at least.