
The Wine Pair Podcast
Recommended by Decanter Magazine who call The Wine Pair Podcast fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining! In each episode, husband and wife team Joe and Carmela learn about, taste, and give our honest review of three wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $25 each - and easy to find. Our podcast is made for people who want to learn more about wine, find new wines to enjoy, and just want someone to talk about wine in a fun and funny way that regular people can understand. So, if that sounds like you, you are in the right place!
Contact us at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Instagram: @thewinepairpodcast
Website: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/
Episodes
208 episodes
Costco vs. Costco! Kirkland Signature Chianti Classico Riserva Challenge! (Bonus: TJ’s Horrible Pumpkin Spice Chardonnay!)
We know what you’re thinking: how different could two of the same wines from different vintages taste really?!? We’re here to tell you, they were vastly different. Not even close. This week, we put Costco Kirkland Signature head to head with it...
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Season 1
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Episode 186
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46:19

Special Episode! The Virginia Winemakers Series: Jake Busching of Jake Busching Wines
Jake Busching is a bit of a legend around Virginia winemaking, so who better to be the first winemaker we talk to as part of our Virginia Winemakers series! Jake has a really cool background, one that is surprisingly not as common as you think,...
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Season 1
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Episode 185
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38:30

Italian Wine Adventure #19: Grignolino!
When you think of red wine from Piedmont, you likely think of Nebbiolo or Barbera, but did you know that for a long time, Grignolino was the preferred red wine from the region? Wait, you’ve never heard of Grignolino before?!? Well, that is the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 184
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45:24

WTF is Cinsault?
Summer is almost over, but we found a great end of the summer wine that is chillable, quaffable, and easy drinking. In fact, this may be the wine that convinces your non-wine drinking friends that wine can be awesome. Most often used as a blend...
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Season 1
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Episode 183
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44:08

Costco Kirkland Signature Challenge: Sonoma County Chardonnay!
Have you ever wondered why American Chardonnay tastes like oaky butter-bombs? Well, you can blame the French! The American style of Chardonnay is not our favorite, but it is super popular, and we explore why, and how it got to be the way it is....
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Season 1
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Episode 182
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46:40

WTF is Mencía?
Ok, in this episode, all hell breaks loose! It starts out innocently enough - an introduction to the Spanish wine Mencía, a quick interview with a real listener, some wine in the news this week, but once we hit the second tasting, pure chaos. P...
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Season 1
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Episode 181
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48:16

Italian Wine Adventure #18: Primitivo!
This crowd-pleasing wine from Southern Italy’s Puglia region we think is underappreciated and not well-enough known - kind of like Puglia. Genetically identical to Zinfandel, Primitivo can be a rustic red, but when done well, it is fruity, juic...
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Season 1
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Episode 180
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45:27

WTF is Chablis?
Chablis is a wine we absolutely adore, and we think too many people are just unaware of what a beautiful and fantastic wine it is. If you are thinking, wait, I thought you guys hated Chardonnay, well, you’re not wrong, but specifically, we disl...
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Season 1
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Episode 179
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39:47

High QPR Pinot Noir from South America!
South America may not be the first place you think of for high quality Pinot Noir, but it is definitely time to start putting it on your list, especially because, as wine prices shoot up due to tariffs, these lower cost options are going to be ...
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Season 1
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Episode 178
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44:26

Costco Kirkland Signature Côtes du Rhône Challenge!
Have you ever walked down the wine aisle at Costco, picked up one of their Kirkland Signature wines and thought, “What the eff is this wine?” Because, you know, you feel like if a wine at Costco is $7.50 you should probably just buy it, but you...
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Season 1
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Episode 177
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51:11

Minisode #20: WTF Does Body in Wine Mean?
Body can feel like a wine nerd term, but it is a super important aspect of wine that has a huge impact on the wine drinking experience. If you are not sure why you should care or what it matters, we’ll tell you why. For instance, while the body...
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11:11

The Other Cabernet: Cabernet Franc!
If you think Cabernet Sauvignon is the only Cabernet, you’ve got another think coming (as Joe’s mom used to say). Cabernet Franc is on the rise, and it’s time to get on the bandwagon. Most famously from the Loire Valley, Cabernet Franc has for ...
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Season 1
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Episode 176
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42:51

Getting Serious about Rosé #4: Bandol!
They say summer is the time for Rosé, but did you know that not all Rosé wines are the same? Bandol is the perfect example of a Rosé that may just surprise you. Yes, it comes from Provence in France, but it is made predominantly with the Mourvè...
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Season 1
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Episode 175
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45:06

Minisode #19: Can You Chill a Red Wine? (The 20/20 rule, chillable red wines)
It is not a heresy to chill red wine. In fact, it can be downright crucial to creating a better drinking experience. Temperature impacts a wine’s aromas, taste, and feel in the mouth - so it’s something you need to think about when you are havi...
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8:27

Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #16: Kurtis Ogasawara, Director of Winemaking at Robert Mondavi Winery
How did a kid with no background in winemaking, a D1 scholarship to wrestle in college, and an interest in Mechanical Engineering end up making wine at one of the most famous wineries in Napa? You could call it fate. This week, we had the honor...
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Season 1
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Episode 174
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33:38

Minisode #18: How Alcohol Content Impacts Wine
Understanding a wine’s alcohol content doesn’t just mean you can figure out how fast it will get you a buzz - it actually can be central to understanding what style of wine you will be drinking AND what kind of foods it might pair better with. ...
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9:34

Italian Wine Adventure #17: Ribolla Gialla!
A favorite wine of sommeliers, Ribolla Gialla is just different. Hailing from the beautiful Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, this wine even made it into the seminal and historically significant literary work The Decameron where the poet G...
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Season 1
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Episode 173
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40:27

WTF is Assyrtiko?
This is a “wow your friends” wine if there ever was one! Serve this wine, have them guess what it is, and then amaze them with your wine knowledge. Assyrtiko is sometimes called THE Greek wine - the most famous and iconic of Greek wines - and y...
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Season 1
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Episode 172
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41:39

Minisode #17: Why Are Wines Sometimes Named After a Place Rather than the Grape?
Many people find it confusing that wines from places like France, Italy, and Spain are often named for where they are from rather than the grapes they are made from. For example, did you know that white Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc? Or that red ...
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17:07

Boxed Wine Unboxed: Bota Box and La Vieille Ferme!
Boxed wine sucks - or does it?!? When a listener suggested we do an episode on boxed wine given all of the nuttiness with tariffs and rising wine prices, we said “Why the eff not?!?” Look, we may be wine reviewers and have our own fancy-pants w...
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Season 1
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Episode 171
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44:01

Portuguese Wine Primer #3: Douro Tinto!
Douro Tinto is often called a “Steakhouse Wine” but that really doesn’t do it justice. This fabulous wine from the Douro region of Portugal - an area most famous for the fortified wine Port - is a rich, smooth, and lovely drinking wine that nee...
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Season 1
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Episode 170
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41:27

Costco Kirkland Signature 2022 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Challenge!
It ain’t easy to find an Oregon Pinot Noir under $25, but in this episode, we taste and review 3 Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs to see if any of them are worth seeking out, and in particular, if the 2022 Costco Kirkland Signature Willamette Vall...
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Season 1
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Episode 169
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49:55

WTF is Châteauneuf-du-Pape? (A wine with a direct line to the Pope)
As the Cardinals head into Conclave to elect the new Pope, we head into our studio (ok, it's our basement, but whatever) to dig into a big, bold, red wine that links directly to the Papacy when it was in France. The Pape in Châteauneuf-du-Pape ...
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Season 1
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Episode 168
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46:24

Getting Serious About Rosé #3: Tavel! (The Pope’s wine, The 4th wine)
Visually stunning, Tavel is not your typical rosé, and may be the rosé wine that makes your snobby “I don’t drink rosé” friends change their minds! Sometimes called the 4th wine, and sometimes called the Pope’s wine, Tavel is a different kind o...
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Season 1
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Episode 167
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47:15

Italian Wine Adventure #16: Grechetto!
Wines from Umbria are often considered “delightfully undervalued.” Right now, that sounds especially appealing! Grechetto is one of those wines from Umbria that is flying under the radar, but it shouldn’t be. This week, we dig into this wonderf...
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Season 1
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Episode 166
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38:45
