Happy Birthday, Italian Wine Podcast?

Happy birthday to the pod, we guess?

Well, it's been three years and quite the wild ride. The podcast has grown, transformed, and become somewhat of an institution with new episodes released regularly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. At the moment, however, we're all living out a crazy time and the mood sure does not feel particularly celebratory.

First and foremost, we hope you, our audience, are safe at home with your families and that you have the means to stay in and take care of your immediate needs and health. We'll continue to do our best to provide even a small amount of content that can help you enjoy the things you were into back when we could all go outside, walk around, and pursue our interests. For starters, we give you Episode 280, a special birthday pod where Monty is on the receiving end of hard-hitting questions from his son, Arthur, that will hopefully provide a glimpse inside the head of the biodynamic wine guru himself.

Hopefully, we can all get back outside and resume our respective pursuits sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we'll do our best to keep the Italian Wine Podcast running and even add elements where possible. Here's a quick rundown of changes you may have already begun to notice around the pod. Some were planned, some were forced on us by the constraints of working from home. Regardless, we'll do our best to keep providing regular content

Vlog Style Interviews

OK, this one probably would have happened eventually but the whole work from home thing precipitated the transformation real quick. Right now Monty can't get together with wine people in the podcast booth so we needed a way to conduct interviews from a distance. Enter the same videoconferencing software on which we're all currently spending our days! Of course, the sound quality will be a bit, um, different, as we're relying on phones and tablets and laptops, but at least you can see the perplexed looks of wine producers when Monty asks them oddball questions. Heads up that at least one recording sounds like Monty was possessed by a wine demon. For the video version we'll try to find a way to add subtitles, but for the standard podcast channels we may need to hire a voice actor to play Monty.

And of corse, if we're going to produce video content we're going to need a place to house those videos. Ecco our YouTube channel! Technically, we're in "Season 3" of the Italian Wine Podcast this being the third year of the show, and many of the new episodes will come out in native video format. Past seasons will likely be added to the YouTube feed over time, another ongoing project...

Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza

You may have already heard some of the Scienza files, reserved for Tuesdays. This initiative was dreamed up to help connect VIA Chief Scientist, Professor Attilio Scienza (the walking, talking encyclopedia of native Italian grape varieties and vine genetics) with the rest of the wine world. Essentially, Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) community members send their burning questions for the Professor to answer on the Italian Wine Podcast show. Stevie Kim was brought in to mediate and try to bridge the English/Italian gap, but you've probably noticed by now that when the Professor gets excited about a vine genetics topic he doesn't slow down for simultaneous interpretation. Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza segments appear at the end of regularly scheduled Italian Wine Podcast interviews on Tuesdays.

VIA Guest Blog

Because Professor Attilio Scienza tends to bring such large amounts of information we've called upon the very Vinitaly International Academy community that asked Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza questions of the Professor to help unpack his answers. This is an evolving project and we'll have to see the direction it takes. VIA folks may wish to translate the Professor's answers to their questions directly in a transcript of sorts. Others may wish to expound on their question and reflect on what the Professor's words mean to them or to the community at large. It's really up to our Guest Bloggers to decide how they'd like to approach the Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza project. Guest blogs will be housed right here, in this corner of the Italian Wine Podcast website, set up specifically for such collections.

Musical Guests

The void between Monty Waldin's interviews and Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza segments serves as an ideal place to showcase local musicians, and thankfully the talented Margherita has stepped in as Musical Director to scare up sounds to fill the transitions. Margherita is a skilled musician herself and her connections to the Italian music scene mean you can hear snippets of bands before they blow up. The podcast focus remains on Italian wine and associated personalities, but if you hear something you like during a musical transition follow the trail of breadcrumbs for more.

More in Store

We're sorry to see Producer Giulia move on to a career in academia, but we're grateful for all she did to make the show what is is today and we're excited for her to take that next step (please come back 😭). Producer J will try hard to no not run the show into the ground in Giulia's absence.

We have more in store. Possibly some guest vlogs upcoming. Stay tuned and, as always, please let us know if the Italian Wine Podcast is not available where you get your podcasts and we'll do our best to get the show added.

Stay healthy and safe and if you have any cupcake mix in your pantry, make some cupcakes for the third birthday of the Italian Wine Podcast!