Nov 15 – Trione Vineyards & Winery

Posted on November 10, 2025 by Guy

My guest this week is John Duckett, winemaker extraordinare at the beautiful Trione Vineyards and Winery in Geyserville California.

At Trione they farm more than 600 vineyard acres across Sonoma County’s most renowned appellations: Alexander Valley, Russian River and Sonoma Coast. Winemaker, John Duckett, celebrates nature’s bounty by gently elevating the natural aromas and flavors that come directly from the terroir. He approaches winemaking with a with a delicate touch, ensuring varietals remain true to their origin. Collaborating with Vineyard Manager Kris Hicks, John aligns with the family’s belief that truly memorable wines can only be made from the highest quality grapes.  www.trionewinery.com

“Our vision was to look at the grapes that we had; all of the varieties from the several ranches and appellations and take the top three percent to make Trione wines. We’d select the varieties from locations where we thought the soil was the best and the clones were the finest and bring those into our winery. We wanted to do something that set us apart from many other wineries. With the  technology in the wine industry being so shared, the difference is the vineyards.” –Mark Trione  Follow Trione Wnery on Facebook

“Growing up in Sonoma County, the wine industry was always around me, but I never pictured myself making wine.  Looking at it now, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.  Wine is one of those things where you can never truly know everything, and this is precisely why I love being a winemaker. “–John Duckett

John is a native to Sonoma County and turned a passion for gardening and science into a career in winemaking.  A competitive swimmer, John went to UC Davis to be on the swim team but he soon decided to shift gears and focus on academics. He explored enology and viticulture and after just one class he was hooked.

Seeking experience, John interned at J Winery and Korbel Winery during the summers and headed to Delegat Wine Estate in New Zealand after graduation.  Returning home, John was offered the position of enologist at Jordan Winery, further increasing his knowledge of fermentation science and soil mapping.  In 2016, John was named assistant winemaker for Jordan where he expanded his winemaking repertoire making Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week: 
2023 Trione River Road Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, Russian River Valley
This Sauvignon Blanc displays bright aromas of Honeycrisp apple, lime, and orange blossom. The crisp, fruit driven palate explodes with
layers of pineapple, passion fruit and peach, then finishing with a savory wet stone minerality. ABV 13.4%

This is one of Good Life Guy’s favorite Sauvignon Blancs 🙂 Get some at Jacob Liquor NOW!

Learn more about this wine here!

GOLD MEDAL
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, January 2025

GOLD MEDAL
2024 Oyster Riot, Old Ebbitt Grill, November 2024

91 POINTS
“Vibrant nose of crushed herbs, lime peel, sliced apples and guavas. Some floral notes. Crisp and crunchy with vivid acidity and a medium body. A refreshing and tense sauvignon. Drink now.”  –James Suckling, May 2024

90 POINTS
“Pale, youthful appearance with a slight green tinge. Exuberant and bright, with lively aromatics of citrus, passionfruit, guava, dill, and tarragon. Lifted and refreshing on the palate, with fine acidity. Excellent precision with pure primary fruit notes, crisp acidity, bolstered by nice length on the finish. Cool fermented in stainless steel to maintain the vibrant character. ”  –The Tasting Panel, September/October 2024

 

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Nov 8 – Duck vs. Turkey :-)

Posted on November 4, 2025 by Guy

My guest this week is Joey Jurgielewicz III the generational leader of Joe Jurgielewicz & Son, Ltd, the family business is raising primo ducks raised in a humane envoirment and offered to some of the top restaurants in addition to the public.

Today, Joe Jurgielewicz & Son, Ltd. (JJS) is one of the leading Pekin duck suppliers in North America. The company employs over 250 Pennsylvanians, and partners with 43 local farm families throughout Pennsylvania to raise JJS Pekin ducks. These same ducks are descendants of the original Long Island ducks that Dr. Joe’s grandparents raised on their farm in Long Island. Throughout the years, the staff geneticists at JJS have hand-selected the perfect breed of ducks for their clients. The JJS breed is favored by leading chefs for its perfectly balanced meat-to-fat ratio, giving clients the signature, succulent flavor of the famous JJS Tasty Duck. The Jurgielewicz family is proud to continue its 91 year tradition of providing the highest-quality Pekin duck products and world-class service to clients globally for generations to come.

Joe Jurgielewicz & Son, Ltd. was founded on the core belief that all their ducks must be treated humanely. The Jurgielewicz ducks are raised free-roaming in large temperature-controlled barns and are fed only a nutritious diet of corn and soybeans. The ducks are never fed any antibiotics or hormones to promote growth. Joe Jurgielewicz & Son is the only duck farm in America with two “round-the-clock” veterinarians as well as a full-time duck welfare specialist to train employees and conduct duck welfare audits.

Take the time to watch this informative video and you may be convinced that instead of turkey this thanksgiving, a beautifully prepared duck is a great choice.  Visit www.tastyduck.com

 

 

 

 

In the second half, I’ll be talking to Nataly Rayas, Oenologist and winemaking team member at Folktale Winery and Vineyards.  You learn a little about the Monterey AVA and more importantly about a pair of fine wines for Thanksgiving.

Nataly is a winemaker from the Monterey Bay. She was born and raised in Monterey, CA and attended UC Santa Cruz (go banana slugs!) where she studied Literature and Classical Studies. As a self-identified right-brained person, she grew up gravitating to the arts– writing, theater, photography, among others– she discovered winemaking in 2021 which completely altered her relationship with science. She spent her first years in the wine industry harvest-hopping between hemispheres until she was hired full-time at Folktale Winery & Vineyards.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
Two fine wines Folktale Winery & Vineyards perfect for Fall and Thanksgiving…
And both with Tasty Duck!
2021 Folktale Riesling, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, Monterey County
Dry Riesling for Dry January: Cold, slow fermentation in stainless steel, then tank-aged to bring out crisp green apple, Meyer lemon, and a touch of soft beeswax, followed by guava, kiwi and bananas met with melon, lime zest and a grepaefruit nose. Bright and fresh on release with almost nutty palate with undertones of pear and cream. Time in bottle has matured the aromas and flavors and demonstrate how nicely Riesling ages. ABV11.8%  Learn more: Riesling

 

2023 Folktale Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, Monterey County AVA
Lively and fresh on release, with red fruit notes of strawberries, fresh cherries, and plums. The savory richness from whole cluster fermentation adds dried herb and fresh grassand forest flavors.  As the wine has aged, there is alreadya gorgeous intgration of flavors as they evolve into deeper, darker notes of tobacco leaves and tea.  There is a hint of woodspice on the finish. ABV13.3%  Learn more: Whole Cluster Pinot

Buy the Pair at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road!

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Nov 1 – Davis Bynum Winery

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Guy

This is going to be a FUN and informative wine centered show featuring two friends from Rodney Strong/Davis Bynum wineries talking about the wines of Davis Bynum.

My great friend and fellow wine judge Chris O’Gorman, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications and Davis Bynum Winemaker Greg Morthole.

It all started in 1973, when Davis Bynum first released his small lot of single vineyard Pinot Noir from the famed Rochioli vineyard in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. At that time, Pinot Noir was a relative stranger to the region, but the fickle grapes thrived in the unique terroir and became the first single vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ever created. Davis was instrumental in bringing prestige to Russian River Valley and putting it on the map for generations to come.

Greg Morthole started working for Rodney Strong Vineyards in 2005, when he accepted a job as lab director. His acumen for winemaking became immediately clear and he quickly ascended to associate winemaker in late 2007. In the spring of 2010, Greg was promoted to Davis Bynum Winemaker, overseeing all aspects operations and winemaking. Morthole first met Davis Bynum in the fall of 2010 and their relationship became a real friendship with regular lunch dates where they talked about a wide range of topics and swapping stories. “Davis was always a gentleman and we grew to have a great relationship. He was a pioneer of Russian River Valley in the truest sense and what he did opened doors and paved the way for future generations of winemakers.”

Today the winery remains in the capable hands of proprietor Tom Klein who, along with winemaker Greg Morthole, honor the expertise and shared innovative winemaking spirit with founder, friend and mentor Davis Bynum.

We will share the story of Davis Bynum, the vineyards, the wines and more.  I will have several wines available to taste and discuss.  Tough duty, but happy to be able to do it for you my loyal listeners.

Good Life Guys Wines of the Week: The Currant release wines from Davis Bynum
Learn more here…

  1. New Dutton Origins Chard
  2. New Bacigalupi Pinot
  3. New Rochioli Pinot
  4. 2023 River West Chard
  5. 2023 RRV Pinot

Here’s just two of my favorites…

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Oct 25 – Brunch Season

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Guy

My guest this week is Suzanne Vizethann with her new book “Brunch Season.”

From the Buttermilk Kitchen, a beautiful, year-round, go-to cookbook highlighting more than 60 made-from-scratch brunch recipes incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables at their peak times of year.

“Straightforward yet elegant and full of inspiration, this will become a go-to for home cooks looking for an excuse to make brunch for any occasion.”―Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“The flavors of Atlanta’s Buttermilk Kitchen―famed for its dazzling breakfasts and lunches―shift to coastal Maine in Suzanne Vizethann’s Brunch Season, an inviting cookbook.”―Foreword Reviews

Brunch is a lovely way to celebrate a meal with friends and family, and a great way to make any midday or mid-week dining special. The recipes in Brunch Season: A Year of Delicious Mornings from the Buttermilk Kitchen include both sweet and savory dishes, drawing ideas from Buttermilk Kitchen breakfast favorites, and adding seasonal soups and salads, as well as drinks. Chef Suzanne Vizethann’s fresh farm-to-table approach to this cookbook, divided into spring, summer, fall, and winter chapters, reflects her commitment to providing high-quality meals made with ripe, flavorful ingredients.

All of the recipes are simple yet refined, and the seasonal section openers include a list of peak ingredients for that season. For spring, you will find recipes such as Young Garlic and Radish Focaccia and Rhubarb Cobbler; for summer, Heirloom Tomato Toasts and Watermelon Mimosas; for fall, Roasted Squash Oatmeal with Crispy Rosemary Seeds and Chocolate Hazelnut Sticky Cake; for winter, Coddled Egg with Creamed Kale and Winter Citrus with Whipped Ricotta and Honey. The home cook can expect balanced dishes that are as beautiful as they are delicious.  Get a copy NOW!

Suzanne Vizethann earned a degree in hospitality from the University of South Carolina. She won the Chopped competition on the Food Network cooking competition show, owned the small restaurant The Hungry Peach, and now is the chef and co-owner of the award-winning Buttermilk Kitchen in Atlanta, Georgia, and Buttermilk Kitchen at Marriner’s in Camden, Maine. She lives in Camden, Maine, with trips back to Atlanta, Georgia.

With a passion for breakfast and tired of working night shifts, owner and executive chef, Suzanne Vizethann opened her first Buttermilk location in 2012. After years of running her business in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, she craved for simpler life away from the city. She and her husband immediately fell in love with Midcoast Maine, and quickly made Rockport their new home base. The stars aligned with purchase of Marriner’s, and the Buttermilk breakfast legend began a new chapter. The newly renovated Buttermilk Kitchen at Marriner’s officially opened its doors in spring of 2024.

Kelly Berry, known for her wedding photography and storytelling via pictures, has a Bachelor’s of Fine Art degree in photography from Georgia Southern University. She lives on a small farm in Northern Georgia near Atlanta.

Beth and the Kneble’s, dinner at Chateau Bower

Joining me to talk about the wine of the week is my great friend and house guest this week, Bob Kneble, President and CEO of Rombauer Vineyards. You may think of Rombauer as the producer of one of the most popular chardonnays, and you’d be correct.  But if you haven’t had this splendid Zinfandel…you are out where the busses don’t run.  Yes, great chardonnay indeed, but red wine is also one of the top draws of this legendary family producer.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
A blend of 92% Zinfandel and 8% Petite Sirah, aged for 14 months in American oak (10% new), with the remainder in neutral French and American oak. The winery’s purchase of a facility in Plymouth, CA, in the Sierra Foothills has given them access to these 120–130-year-old Zinfandel vines, yielding incredible depth and complexity. The wine leads with blackberry, dried cherry and black currant fruit, layered with pie spice aromatics. Medium- to full-bodied, the mouth-feel is structured with gentle, grippy tannins and expressive, bright acidity balancing. The palate shows  dark plums, dried cherries, blackberry jamtrawberry and brown spice nuances emerge on the lingering finish. ABV15.9%

  • 90 James Suckling: Smooth, ripe and easygoing, full-bodied but rather light in tannins. Made from some old vines, largely in the Sierra Foothills, Napa and Lake counties. Dark plums, dried cherries, blackberry jam. Contains 8% petite sirah. Aged in 10% new American oak.
  • 91 Wine Enthusiast: Juicy, fresh red fruits lift out the glass and sachet across the nose. Flavors of bramble and boysenberry are speckled with allspice and Tahitian vanilla, then glide into silky tannins and a mouthwatering finish. Decant and pair with braised Oxtail with Dominican spices.

Learn more here, order some at Jacob Liquor Exchange

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Oct 11 – This Week’s Show

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Guy

My guest this week is Alex Maltman with his new book form Acadamie du Vin, “Taste the Limstone, Smell the Slate” A gteologist wanders through the world of wine.  

Terroir is everything in modern wine appreciation. Geologist and professor, Alex Maltman looks at the rocks that make up key wine regions and what difference they make.

“Rocks and soils haunt our thinking about wine. We see links, sniff origins, taste connections, digest differences. Is this cause and effect — or fantasy? Alex Maltman is ghostbuster-in-chief. This wide-ranging and clearly reasoned book shines a torch through the cobwebs.” — Andrew Jefford

Burgundy thrives on the limestone remnants of a warm, shallow sea while Sancerre and Pouilly wrap their roots around flint. The finest Pomerols bloom in a ‘button’ of blue clay, and Beaujolais famously begins life in granite. Cabernet Sauvignon loves just about any sandstone and Champagne gets on gloriously with chalk. But is the secret to great port really schist? Alex Maltman, Emeritus Professor of earth sciences at Aberystwyth University, finds himself between a rock and a vineyard place as he explains how a wine’s flavors relate to the geology at foot, and discovers that there is more to ‘minerality’ than mud, rocks and the earth’s stark materials…

Terroir is as intrinsic to the quality of a wine as the grapes it comes from or the intentions of the wine maker. This beautifully produced and illustrated book looks at the many factors that influence, or don’t, how a wine tastes. Professor Maltman poses lots of questions and answers, while busting some myths along the way.  Get a copy NOW!

Alex Maltman is emeritus professor of Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales. He has researched and lectured on vineyard geology on four continents and is a seasoned speaker at international conferences. He has contributed to a number of wine books, including The World Atlas of Wine and The Oxford Companion to Wine, for which he is responsible for the geological entries. Alex is the author of the acclaimed book Vineyards, Rocks and Soils: A Wine Lover’s Guide to Geology (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
Something with a little mineral, slate and limestone…
2023 Maison Riviere Sauvignon/Semillon
With its lower levels of acidity, almost oily textures, more subtle aromatics and rounder profile, it is the perfect complement to the leaner lines, zesty profile and fresh acidity of Sauvignon Blanc. A lovely fresh, fruity and tangy nose. It expresses notes of crunchy vine peach, ripe/juicy lemon, ripe/juicy mandarin and more lightly – green apple associated with delicate hints of lemon blossom, elderflower and has a discreet mineral hint. The palate is fruity and offers freshness, minerality, a fresh/acidic frame, roundness, sapidity, deliciousness, a nice iodized fat, a nice substance. It expresses notes of pulpy/juicy vine peach, fresh/crunchy apple and more lightly – fresh/juicy citrus fruits associated with a touch of zest, fresh/crunchy pineapple as well as a hint of pineapple flowers. elderberry, fresh lychee and racy minerality and an imperceptible hint of fresh almond in the background. ABV12.5%

The French VertdeVin rates this 2023 vintage 91 points (very high for them – on a par with far more expensive dry white Bordeaux, Sancerres and Burgundies)   Available at Jacob Liquor Exchange East – get more info and order on-line

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