Talking about Slow Wine, Roundup, and Lots More | With Sam Coturri and Friends on their "The Wine Makers" Podcast | AKA "The Car Talk" Of Wine

 

It was worth the drive up from Oakland to Sonoma in the pouring rain on Monday the week before Christmas to meet up with Sam Coturri (of Winery Sixteen 600) and his merry band of podcast brothers– Brian Casey (former somm at Girl and the Fig), Bart Hansen (winemaker and owner of Dane Cellars) and host John Myers (a radio professional)–to talk about Slow Wine, Cal recycles, Roundup herbicide and so many other things on their podcast The Wine Makers.

You can hear the episode here.  

I'd say they are the "car talk" of wine–with the jokes whizzing by, conversation, questions and a totally unpretentious vibe. 

Remember how the two Magliozzi brothers made you feel? Even if you had never popped the hood on your car or never added oil to your car yourself, you wanted to listen just to laugh.

These four guys asked intelligent questions, made silly puns, and drew out a lot of information in the course of an hour and 22 minutes.

This free ranging conversation covered a lot of territory and I am sure many listeners might want to know more. 

So Here Are The Show Footnotes. (Not to be confused with Sam's very well done show notes on the podcast.) 

• Slow Wine USA is where to find more info about Slow Wine and the 2024 guide. See some of our "bell ding" worthy deets and rave reviews. (The second edition will be out in January 2024). 

• WineCountryGeographic.com is my own site and my blog is linked from there. (You're on the blog now if you're reading this). 

• Into the Weeds is the link to the Roundup film. 

• Lower birthweight babies in heavy Roundup use areas | Study: high exposure to glyphosate in pregnancy could cause lower birth weights in babies

• Last month lawsuit $1 billion | Bayer ordered to pay $1.56 billion in latest US trial loss over Roundup weedkiller

• New U.C. Berkeley study (Idaho) Childhood exposure to common herbicide may increase the risk of disease in young adulthood

• Pesticide use map - glyphosate used on wine grapes (at Tracking California)

Data from Pesticide Use Report, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (aggregated) and from county ag commissioners (individual site data available upon request by county)

• Lodi and Ledbetter | Organic Farming Costs: Craig Ledbetter Offers Insight Into Fertilizers, IPM and Clients Who Prefer Handpicking

• Winery Brands Going Organic at Scale…

---Scheid Vineyards' new organic brand | Scheid Family Wines Introduces Organically Grown Grandeur Brand

---Shannon | Shannon Family of Wines Releases Their First CCOF Certified Organic Wines

• Bob Kremer, veteran USDA glyphosate researcher 

“It interferes adversely with the soil mycorrhiza… Some beneficial groups can be depleted or decreased considerably…and some other plant detrimental types would be increased.” 

• "It Goes Against Our Focus on Soil Health" - Napa Green Phases Out Synthetic Herbicides (including Roundup)

• Napa Valley Grape Growers Cut Roundup Use in Half, Evaluate Weed Control Strategies Amidst Shifting Consumer and Community

• 2018 Austrian study: three leading herbicides–flazasulfuron, glufosinate, and glyphosate–“reduced grapevine root mycorrhization on average by 53 percent compared to mechanical weeding.” 

• Organic and Biodynamic Scores | French Critics Rate Organic and Biodynamic Wines 6-12 Points Higher in Scores Compared to Conventional or Sustainable Wines, Wine Economists Find

• CRV 

---Winebusiness.com | Nickels and Dimes: Wine Industry Prepares for California's New Bottle Bill Redemption Requirement

---State CalRecycle site for alcoholic beverage producers

Labeling is actually required 18 months from Jan. 2024 AND THAT IS July 2025 -  NOT BY JAN. 1 2024 (erroneously stated in podcast)

• Wastewater | New Winery Wastewater Order: Regulatory Overkill or Ecosystem Essential?

• Global Glyphosate Study from the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna 

• Polls in EU on Roundup Link | Almost 300 scientists - 100+ profs - call on the government in Belgium and the Netherlands to vote no to glyphosate

• Tiny amounts of Roundup genotoxic at low doses - (I meant to say the Shikamate Pathway) The Guardian |  People exposed to weedkiller chemical have cancer biomarkers in urine – study

Dose to risk studies still being researched but preliminary announcements at Global Glyphosate Study say regulators' approved doses are not safe, based on latest research

• U.C. San Diego Study |  It’s in the Weeds: Herbicide Linked to Human Liver Disease

• Bayer to pull glyphosate from stores due to cancer lawsuits 

• Where Roundup is banned (scroll down down down on that page for California towns)

• The Guardian | Pregnant women near farms had higher weedkiller levels during spraying season

• The Guardian - EPA whistleblower | Former EPA official says agency fails to protect public from toxic pesticides

• Carey Gillam articles and books including

---Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science, winner of the 2018 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award

---The Monsanto Papers: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man's Search for Justice

• Idaho study: People living near farms have greater exposure to common, potentially harmful pesticide during spray season

That's it for now. Enjoy the holidays with a nice glass of Slow Wine!