isabelle legeron

This episode of HRN On Tour comes to you live from Raw Wine 2022 in Maspeth, Queens. Isabelle Legeron, founder of RAW WINE, hosts a wine tasting comprised of 6 wines from the Castlilla y Léon region of Spain, all with different terroirs and styles. Joining her are wine makers Mario Rovira Roldan of Akilia, Daniel Vicente Ramos Esteban, Thyge Jensen Benned of Bodega Frontio, Juan Jose Moren Garcia of La Microbodega del Alumbro, Nacho León of Demencia Wine, and Víctor Negro González of Bodega Negón.

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Founder of RAW WINE, Isabelle Legeron MW, joins us to celebrate the relaunching of her traveling natural wine festival.  She shares with us the excitement of the producers being able to serve patrons, how she has dedicated her life to educating people about natural wine and what she is drinking this summer. Then we dig into the archives for a chat and live performance from WALTZ, who shares how 1980s aerobics videos inspired his visual accompaniment to one of his albums.

Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves at bookstores around the world. It features 77 of the world’s top chefs who share personal stories of how music has been an important, integral force in their lives. The chefs also give personal recipes and curated playlists too. It’s an anthology of memories, meals and mixtapes. Pick up your copy by ordering directly from Phaidon, or by visiting your local independent bookstore. Visit our site, www.snackytunes.com for more info.

HRN is home to transformative exchanges about food. Our 35+ member-supported food podcasts empower eaters to cultivate a radically better world. This month, we’re asking you to join us. Become a monthly sustaining member at heritageradionetwork.org/donate.

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RAW Wine Creator Isabelle Legeron, MW hosts Marc Barriot (Clot de l'Origine), Megan Bell (Margins Wine), Didier Pariente (Nomadic Distribution), and Alvaro de la Viña (Selections de la Viña), as the group discusses the current challenges to wine producers around the world. The panel covers everything from the costs of producing wine, such as sourcing ingredients and equipment, to the slew of shipping and storage issues winemakers are facing today.

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So what exactly IS natural wine?

How to define it - or is that even possible? What does it taste like? Why are we seeing so many natural wine bars, shops and events springing up? Natural wine remains niche yet it seems to be influencing mainstream wine - but how exactly? And why does natural wine get everyone so darn hot under the collar..?!

Join us as we tackle all these burning questions and more with natural wine luminary and RAW WINE founder Isabelle Legeron MW, plus Mel Xenaki from natural Greek wine producer Tetramythos. We find time to taste and recommend a couple of natural wines (though Susie does ask if one wine, 'really is safe to drink?!')

Isabelle talks about receiving hate mail, the difference between a 'living wine' and 'a lifeless product', why 'only natural wine can be great', plus why natural wine means, 'we have to re-frame our expectation of wine.' She calls for more transparency in wine, including ingredient labelling, so people can have the choice, 'to decide: this is what I want to put in my body, or this is not what I want to be drinking.'

Mel admits, 'it's hard to introduce yourself as a natural winemaker - because it can be offensive to the mainstream.' She describes her approach as, 'ethical', and calls for legislation to define and regulate natural wine.

We hope you enjoy the programme! Do let us know your thoughts on natural wine or beyond - contact us via our website or over on Instagram or Twitter.

As ever, all wine details, links and more are on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S3 E18: Natural Wine.

Check out RAW WINE - the global community for natural wine producers and lovers. They have upcoming events in LA and London, among others. You can also find more details about Isabelle's book on natural wine and their new subscription wine club in the US (plus a cheeky discount code).

Tetramythos in Greece has some delicious natural wines we recommend in the show.

Here's the link we mention in the show to the Decanter piece on how wine lovers can help with the crisis in Ukraine.

This week on In the Drink, host Joe Campanale is joined by Isabelle Legeron, founder of RAW WINE, the world's leading natural, low-intervention organic and biodynamic wine fair, which is coming to New York for the first time this November.

Isabelle is France's first and only Female Master of Wine and extremely passionate about promoting wine transparency. Isabelle has dedicated her life to disrupting conventional understandings of what wine is and advocating for more sustainable, environmental and beneficial approaches to winemaking. Her fair is a 2-day showcase of some of the best wine talent in the world – leading the charge for transparency, providing clarity to consumers and driving the conversation to know what's in your glass.