Not all the interviews we present on the Stew Podcast are brand new.
I’ve been at this interview thing since 1964 so there are always the possibilities of archival interviews.
Many are tied up in legal issues. Some were never kept or lost to time.
However, occasionally they just get “discovered”
The Sarah McLachlan interviews we present this week are the discovered type.
The first was in 1988. Sarah with her late 80’s Halifax Hair. Me, holding her new album on Solace on cassette.
Then a large jump to 1992.
The year before Sarah had released Solace and was touring hard, working on the songs for ‘93’s Fumbling towards Ecstasy.
Everything changed right there. She had the songs, the voice, and the drive to become – what she became – a 40 Million album selling, Lilith Faire producing, and Grammy/Juno winning music star.
Sarah and I would later tour Thailand and Cambodia for World Vision. That’s another interview.
The Hatch becomes Jason Parkes Customs/Emily Walker Wine List/New Emandare pours
THE SHOW
Jason Parkes is….
A former member of a punk band whose van broke down and he needed money to fix it – so he made wine.
the hub of an ever-expanding wheel.
The dark star at the center of a distant universe
Lead singer of the house band Proper Man
Founder, winemaker, visionary winery owner who surrounds himself with like-minded thinkers and doers.
Actually, his greatest talent is being a husband and father. From that family base comes his strength to start The Hatch, then create, build, open, or buy Hatching Post Brewery, Crown and Thieves, Black Swift Vineyards, Screaming Frenzy, Truck 59 CiderHouse, Smoke Show by JPC, Gobsmacked, and Jason Parkes Customs.
Team JPC
JPCustoms will become the new name of the overall company.
That’s why it was time to slow the man down long enough to talk things through and get a sense of what the road ahead looks like.
There are very few BC wineries expanding at this rate. Not just creating new wines and new destinations but whole new concepts in how to reach people, how to entertain them, and at times speak an entirely different language. Best of all, the wines are as memorable as the man.
(a video of Emily’s interview and her wines can be found below)
Emily Walker – working it
Imagine you’re Emily Walker and you are the Wine Director of the historic Naramata Inn in the village of Naramata.
The Inn is surrounded by 100’s of wineries. As far as the eye can see.
Naramata Heritage Inn
Every one of those wineries would like to be on Emily’s wine list but only a select few are chosen.
It’s those choices I wanted to know more about. Many of the wines she chooses are small lots. Perhaps as few as 25 cases.
But in between those hard-to-find wines, you’ll find gems that we can all search for. They’re all worth the chase.
Emily Walker is up to the task. Running wine programs at The Four Seasons Vancouver, the group Sommelier at all Tap and Barrels, and the opening of the Fairmont Pacific Rim in time for the Winter Olympics. Emily Walker brings all that big room experience into a dining room built-in 1907. You are going to love the experience.
I asked Emily to choose a handful of wines to tell us about.
Lightning Rock – 2021 Rose Pet-Nat $29 (Summerland)
No sugar. No yeast. Whole cluster & double pressed. One night on skins. Fermented in concrete tanks. Cloudy. Lower alcohol. Yummy!
Pedro Parra, renowned soil expert proclaimed their soil conditions Top 15% in the World. Matured in a combination of new oak, concrete, and stainless steel… Notes of nutmeg and caramel. Mighty texture and finish. Award-winning chardonnay!!
Made in Georgian Clay Vessels. Neutral oak. Unfined and unfiltered. A very different wine. Unpolished. Layered and textured.
And gorgeous. Special Syrah from a very special spot.
Nichol Vineyards St Laurent. A medium-dark red. The oldest St Laurent in Canada. Ripe blueberry and cassis on the nose. Tannins, acidity, and pepper in the mouth. Unfined & unfiltered. Cellared in Neutral French Barrique.
Mike Nierychlo Co-founder (with wife Robin) and winemaker of Emandare Wine (Cowichan Valley)
Team Emandare
It was raining ugly when Mike showed up for a quick pour.
I turned on the recorder and Mike took it from there.
He was pouring his new releases from Emandare.
2020 Alice $40 Traditional Method Rose made from 100% Cowichan Pinot Noir. Named after Robin and Mike’s 2nd daughter.
20ALICE
Strawberry, peach, and citrus scents and flavors abound. It is a great pour but very little was made. If you see it – buy it.
A big congratulations to everyone involved. Especially the label artists.
2020 Estate Pinot Noir – Mike and Robin’s original vines. Some 20 years in the ground now. They present a juicy, cherry, and cranberry-driven experience. Also, a texture that surprises. These are very happy vines.
2020 Estate Marechal-Cabernet Foch. $35 Flavours of ripe blackberries and black current. Cracked pepper delights.
2021 (From the Valley) – Farm Fresh Foch. $25 85% M. Foch and 15% Pinot Noir. It’s Mike’s Beaujolais.
Or because it’s from the Cowichan Valley it’s perhaps Cowjolais. It’s very drinkable. Restaurants are going to love this as a house pour.
Mike explains “from the valley”. It’s a neighborhood thing.
As you know, I’ve had the honor and giddy pleasure of following Holger’s 2 hours of Natch’l Blues for 27 years.
The majesty of The Blues has a profound effect on The Stew. This week, for example, I started thinking about how new life was breathed into the blues by the British Invasion of the mid-’60s. Blues artists who were ignored or taken for granted in America could find a new audience in Europe and especially the UK.
That new audience included teen-aged members of The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Led Zeppelin, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Jeff Beck., Rod Stewart, Steve Winwood, etc. When those young Brits refashioned the blues into blues rock, the music world shifted into high gear and turned the volume up to 10.
America got its own music back. It was reimagined and very exciting.
Back to Back Laverne Baker and The Animals doing See See Rider
Back to back Muddy Waters and The Stones.
Steve Winwood – Gimme Some Loving
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Bobby Moore’s Searching for my baby
Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart – Willie Dixon’s I ain’t Superstitious
Throw in some donor-requested Fats Domino / Wilbert Harrison and we’re Off and Running.
New music from Courtney Barnett, Brandi Carlile, The Lumineers, Corb Lund, The Fretless, and Dan Mangan!
And we finish with
Tower of Power, Gerry Garcia Band doing The Temptations, Cat Stevens, William Prince, Dylan, etc.
And our feature interview guest is Joey Landreth from The Bros. Landreth.
Joey and brother David grew up in a house in Winnipeg where their musician Father played Little Feat, The Byrds, CSN etc.
Joey’s new solo album is called All that you dream and is a tribute to Lowell George and Little Feat.
The whole two hours has the jam to lift your spirits. You in?
“this bench is like Goldilocks. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right” Dwight Sick
Nathan Todd President and GM Foxtrot Winery (Naramata Bench) www.foxtrotwine.com
Even though he made his name working in very serious wine sales out of New York City he did have a early connection to the Okanagan Valley. Harvesting fruit to make ends meet.
Years later he blind tasted a Foxtrot Pinot. It may have changed his life. He never forgot that wine and years later convinced his wine friend Douglas Barzelay to eventually buy the winery from the Allander family. Barzelay is one of the World’s leading authorities on Burgundian wines. Their wine consultant is Veronique Drouhin from Domaine Joseph Drouhin. Torsten Allander’s son Gustav was retained as winemaker. Quite a team.
Nathan poured:
2 versions of Foxly Rose 2019/2020 (both instantly likeable. $24)
An Estate Vineyard 2019 Pinot Noir. (everything a great Pinot should be. texture. balance. Defines a long finish.)
Nathan Todd Foxtrot
Wilbert and Joka Borren – Co-founders/Co-owners of Four Shadows. (Upper Bench . Naramata) www.fourshadowsvineyard.com
What a great story. Joka and Wilbert were pig farmers in Lacombe Alberta with four growing sons. They dreamed of moving to the Okanagan and being farmers there. That’s exactly what they did. They bought a forgotten vineyard on Upper Bench and decided to bring back the vineyards and plant their own vines to then sell the fruit to wineries.
Wilbert and Joka Borren
Along the way it made much more sense to become a winery and Four Shadows was born. The name is from a photo of their four sons.
Did I mention they had no wine knowledge but they knew how to farm pigs. I mean, how tough can it be to grow grapes?
They had amazing mentoring from Lindsay and Graham O’Rourke at Tightrope and consultant Pascal Madevon. It paid off. They learned well.
You say “Pigs to Pinot” They say “Swine to Wine.”
They poured
20o20 Rose 2020 Riesling Classic, 2020 Riesling Dry, 2020 Riesling sparkling, 2018 Pinot Noir and 2018 Merlot.
Thank you Tina Baird, Naramata Bench. Thank you Barry and Carol Beecroft for “the swim”.
One of the very few singing piano players who transcend the law of popular music. There’s Elton John, Harry Connick, Leon Russell, Randy Newman, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Fats Domino etc.
Billy grew up on Long Island..in the shadow of NYC.
Determined to play piano and write songs Billy paid his dues in a Hollywood Bar. The kind where no one in the room was listening.
He has become a legend and a world star. Songwriter & Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. Grammy winner. Kennedy Centre Honours. This interview was done around 1998 or 1989..following the release of his album Storm Front. Produced by Mick Jones of Foreigner.
There’s a good segment on Billy’s songwriting PROCESS…IT’S DREAMS EMBEDDED IN SLEEP.
The celebration includes Sam’s songs, his voice, and his influence on multiple generations of artists.
Those influenced would make up their own two-hour show.
We include…..
Amy Winehouse
Sam and Dave
Rod Stewart
Neville Brothers
Mavis Staples
& Cat Stevens
Then we open up a bag of new tunes from…
Elvis Costello, Dominique Fils-Aime, Keb Mo, Matt Anderson, Jann Arden and Amy Helm.
We have Live tracks from The Wood Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks, California Honeydrops, and Norah Jones. Plus Adrian Sutherland, Thanks for any and all mentions.
Presented by The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association
THE SHOW
We come to the last show in a series that started August 21st (you remember August, right?)
The master plan was to reconnect with the people, wineries and food of the Okanagan after a two-year hiatus.
So many changes, many Covid related.
Thankfully we found an excellent supporting partner in TOTA – The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. They sure know their territory. Top shelf management.
To my delight, I also got to re-connect with long-time friend CEO Ellen Walker-Mathews and discovered the invaluable assistance of Rob Grifone. My thanks to both.
For week five we find ourselves back at our home base at Moon Curser Vineyards in Osoyoos. Got to stay and do the interviews at their fabulous Hideaway.
The whole thing is on Corey Wood’s video. (see below)
Our final guests are:
Beata and Chris Tolley – Our hosts at their gorgeous winery and the co-founders of Moon Curser Vineyards www.mooncurser.com
Beata & Chris Tolley
Moon Curser
Pouring 2020 Arneis (the little rascal of Piedmont. A flinty white) and 2019 Dead of Night
(a spectacular blend of Tannat and Syrah. Spicy/Opulent)
Just a note that Paula came by at my request, as I wanted to salute her work at CC Jentsch and to honor her mentor Chris Jentsch who passed away recently.
The vineyards are up for sale now and likely the new owners will rebrand. This week’s Tasting Room Radio is dedicated to Chris and CC Jentsch.
Things got emotional on both sides of the microphone. We thank Paula for hanging in. Thanks also to Michael J McCoy for keeping CC Jentsch open until the end.
At first taste, I knew these were special wines. When I discovered their mentors were Richard Cleave and Senka Tennant, that explained everything.
Dan and Carol listened and learned well. They brought and poured 2020 Viognier (one of the very best expressions in all of Canada) and 2018 Carmenere (glorious pepper heaven. 70% French Oak 27% new)
Dan and Carol Scott. Lariana
And that’s it – 25 interviews captured in one week and spread out over five weeks of shows. Now it’s time for you to do your own reconnect.
When it’s safe to do so please consider making plans to do your own week in the Okanagan Valley.
Senka Tennant Lariana
Remember to check out www.totabc.org All the safety and planning info is there.
Lariana vineyards
Thank you TOTA. Thank you, guests, Corey Wood and Meg.
Ronnie Spector has left the stage. Gone but never forgotten. Leaving Ronettes hits like…
Be my baby
(The best part of) Breakin’ Up
Baby, I love you
Timeless.
It’s where Brian Wilson went to cool school. Amy Winehouse was pure Ronnie. From the hair to the sound.
Huge, raw voice. With an attitude. But one of the nicest people you could ever want to meet.
We start The Stew with a track you may not have heard before.
It’s Ronnie Spector singing lead vocal on Billy Joel’s Say Goodbye to Hollywood with the E Street Band. The song and the singer helped to raise some cash so Bruce Springsteen could continue his climb to the top.
All the strings were pulled by Miami Steve van Zandt. We start with the story than the song.
Check out the REST of The Stew in our playlist below…
