The Wine Lab
Episodes
Alsace: White Wine with History, Acidity, and Soul
08 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is one of France’s most distinctive wine regions: deeply French, shaped by Germanic influence, a...
A River Runs Through It: The Wines of the Loire Valley
01 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, we travel through the Loire Valley, one of France’s most diverse and h...
Burgundy Explained: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and the Power of Place
25 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, we continue our series on the great wine regions of the world with Burgu...
Bordeaux Wines Beyond the Château: Grapes, Climate, and Blending
18 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is one of the most influential wine regions in the world, but it can also feel intimidating. In ...
Grip, Weight, and Freshness: Understanding Wine Mouthfeel
04 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is usually described through aroma and flavor, but some of its most important qualities are physical...
A Rosé by Any Other Name Would Taste as Sweet...or Dry
27 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] glass of rosé often feels effortless - light catching a pale pink hue, a hint of summer in the air - b...
Wait, Wine Isn’t Always Vegan?
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] description Wine seems like one of the most plant-based products imaginable, so why are some wine...
Ashes in the Glass: Smoke Taint and the New Reality of Wine
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] happens when wildfire smoke becomes part of the story of a wine?In this episode of The Wine Lab, Dr....
Rotten Egg, Burnt Rubber, and Other Ways Wine Can Misbehave
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] does it mean when a wine smells like rotten egg, burnt rubber, cabbage, garlic, or canned corn? In t...
Women and Wine: From Ritual to Research
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] This episode of The Wine Lab explores the long and layered history of women in wine. We move through an...
Of Mice and Wine:the Curious Case of Delayed Dissapointment
22 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is one of the most elusive and unsettling faults in wine. Unlike many defects, it doesn’t app...
Stable… or From the Stable? Understanding Brettanomyces in Wine
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] a glass of wine smells like dark fruit and spice. Other times, something unexpected appears —...
Why Wine Sometimes Smells Like Vinegar: The Science of Volatile Acidity
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] does a wine sometimes smell like vinegar, or even nail polish remover?In this episode of The Wine Lab...
Fault or Style? Understanding Oxidation in Wine
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] that wine flawed… or just different?In this episode of The Wine Lab, Andreea explores the difference...
When Wine Labels Play Mind Games
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] you ever stood in the wine aisle holding a bottle and thought, “Am I overthinking this?”In this ...
Second Round Wine: Piquette, Then and Now
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is one of wine’s oldest ideas and one of its newest obsessions. Made by fermenting grape pomac...
Between Valpolicella and Amarone: The Science of Ripasso
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] wines are made by giving a finished Valpolicella wine a second pass through fermentation, pouring...
Appassimento and the Art of Waiting
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] happens when grapes are asked to wait?In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore appassimento, the ...
Clay, Skins, and Time: Orange Wine in Georgia
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] wine often feels contemporary, even radical, yet its roots stretch back thousands of years. In thi...
Marsala And The Reputation It Did Not Choose
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] back to The Wine Lab. In this episode, we take a closer look at Marsala, one of the most misunder...
Vermouth and the Logic of Botanicals
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is everywhere, yet rarely examined on its own.Often encountered through classic cocktails rather...
Madeira - From Ocean Voyages to Attic Barrels
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is one of the most resilient wines ever produced. Fortified during fermentation, intentionally he...
Fortified by the Douro: The Story of Port Wine
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] into the steep, sunlit terraces of Portugal’s Douro Valley and explore how landscape, law, chemist...
Under the Flor: The Science and Soul of Sherry
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, host Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores the scientific brilliance and cultur...
Winter in a Glass: The Story and Science of Icewine
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is one of the most challenging and extraordinary wines ever produced,a liquid born from winter it...
Pét-Nat: Ancient Method, Modern Mood
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] Champagne perfected the art of bubbles, there was pétillant naturel or pét-nat - the ancestral...
Steel, Bubbles, and Fruit: Inside the Making of Prosecco
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] makes Prosecco so different from Champagne or Cava? In this episode, Andreea takes you inside the t...
Champagne & Cava: Two Ways to Catch a Bubble (or proof that joy can be engineered - one tiny bubble at a time)
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] Europe, bubbles tell stories. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore two sparkling legends - ...
Inside the Barrel: Where Wine Meets Oak, Fire, and Time
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, Andreea takes you inside one of winemaking’s most iconic tools — the...
From Leather to Cabernet: The Story of Tannins
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the science and story of tannins: what they are, where they c...
Wine with Spirit: The World of Fortified Wines
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] do Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, and Vermouth all have in common? They’re wines with an extra in...
Dom Perignon - The Monk Who Didn’t Invent Champagne
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] knows the story of Dom Pérignon — the monk who invented Champagne and declared he was “tast...
Roots of Disaster: The Phylloxera Story. A tiny insect nearly erased wine from history — discover how science, stubbornness, and a Texan saved it.
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] the late 1800s, an almost invisible insect began destroying Europe’s vineyards. This episode of The ...
From Bark to Bottle: The Cork Chronicles
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] is everywhere in the world of wine, from the quiet of a cellar to the noise of a celebration. But ho...
Sweet Lies and Dry Truths: Sugar in Wine
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] Is wine really “full of sugar”? What about those “zero sugar” labels, or the idea that wine is ...
Wine in Art – From Ancient Gods to Pop Culture
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] Wine shimmers across the history of art: painted on Egyptian tomb walls, poured into Greek amphorae, ce...
Headaches, Hipsters, and the Myth of Sulfite-Free Natural Wine
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Andreea Botezatu unpacks the misunderstood world of sulfites in w...
The Oldest Wines Ever Discovered – Stories from the Ancient World
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] Neolithic pottery shards to golden amphorae sealed for millennia, the world’s oldest wines tell us...
Under Pressure: The Craft and Chemistry of Sparkling Wine. How do the world’s finest bubbles get into your glass? We explore the science, regions, and traditions of sparkling wine.
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] From royal courts in 17th-century France to today’s celebrations around the world, sparkling wine has...
Native Rebels and Cultured Icons: Yeast in the Cellar - How yeast drives complexity, unpredictability, and style in winemaking.
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the unseen world of yeast—the microscopic winemakers transf...
Smells Like Wine Spirit: The Science of Aroma
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] does a glass of wine smell like blackberries, jasmine, or freshly cut herbs—when it’s made entire...
Malolactic: Magic or Mayhem?
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] this episode of The Wine Lab, we swirl through the science of malolactic fermentation (MLF), the proce...
Sour Grapes, Sweet Solutions: How Verjus Could Help Winemakers Beat the Heat
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] a splash of sour grape juice make wines better in a warming world? In this episode, we explore how v...
Cluster Thinning and Wine Quality: Myth, Method, or Must?
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected] fewer grapes mean better wine? In this episode of The Wine Lab, Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores the sci...
Uncorking Haloanisoles in Wine
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send me your thoughts at [email protected]’ve all heard of “corked” wine — but what if that wet dog smell isn’t the cork’s fault at a...