Ungrafted

We speak to sommelier and importer Jane Lopes who, along with her husband,  Jonathan Ross have donated a Ruth Bader Ginsberg lot to the Vines 4 Votes online wine auction. This was in honor of the wine and cheese tasting they held for the late Supreme Court Justice’s 83rd birthday in March of 2016.  Vines4Votes is an online wine auction from October 12 to 16, 2020.  All proceeds are donated to the ACLU of Texas and earmarked for their vote against voter suppression.

Jane Lopes is an American-born sommelier and author. She has worked at New York's Eleven Madison Park, Nashville's The Catbird Seat, Chicago's The Violet Hour, and most recently as the wine director at Attica, one of Australia's most celebrated restaurants. Jane was featured on Esquire network's 2015 television series Uncorked, which follows six New York City sommeliers in pursuit of the prestigious Master Sommelier title.

In September of 2018, Jane passed the Master Sommelier exam, becoming the only woman in Australia to do so, and one of only 34 women in the world (and less than 300 people in total since the 1960s).

In September of 2019, Jane finally put her University of Chicago literature degree to good use in publishing her first book, a personal and educational guide to wine called Vignette: Stories of Life and Wine in 100 Bottles.

Jane has recently launched her own Australian wine imports company with her husband Jon, called LEGEND.

https://www.legendaustralia.com/

We speak to Zev Rovine about his "working contract" with his wineries. It will "address issues such as sexist behavior, racist behavior, labor rights, and responsible stewardship of the land we farm.”  This was in response to one of Zev’s Italian producers, Valentina Passalacqua, who was under scrutiny when her father was placed under house arrest by the police. He owns a vegetable company and is accused of exploiting his migrant workers.  Zev has since discontinued his relationship with Valentina.

Zev Rovine started his natural wine company, Zev Rovine Selections in 2009.  They are based in Brooklyn, NY.

https://zrswines.com/

Hi, my name is Icy Liu. Welcome to Ungrafted, a podcast about wine, humanity and the planet. I interview scientists, wine growers, importers and other folks about topics such as regenerative agriculture, carbon footprints, how we treat human beings and so much more.