The Wine Show

The Wine Show is back for another series! Joining Joe, James, and the Matthews for season three is the wonderful actor, director, and most importantly, wine enthusiast, Dominic West. Speaking to us about joining the team, Dominic said: “When I was asked if I would like to join the Wine Show team recording in Portugal, trying some amazing wines, I couldn’t think of any reasons to say no!”

EPISODE SUMMARIES

ONE
Dominic West joins James Purefoy to taste wines at the beautiful HQ in the Douro Valley. Matthew Goode and James learn about the Portuguese Age of Discoveries in Lisbon, and Matthew Rhys takes Joe for lunch at a Jewish restaurant in New York. Joe Fattorini and Amelia Singer lead a wine tour in Madeira.

TWO
Matthew Goode & James Purefoy’s next road trip challenge takes them to the Douro Valley. Matthew Rhys and Joe enjoy Mexican food and wines in NYC. Dominic West joins James to taste wines at the beautiful HQ in the Douro Valley. Is wine good for you? In Hungary, Joe Fattorini explores the health-giving stories about its wines.

THREE
Matthew Goode and James Purefoy visit the cork harvest in the Alentejo, where James has a cry. Dominic West joins James to taste wines at the beautiful HQ in the Douro Valley. In Thailand, Joe Fattorini gets his head and mouth around Thai foods and flavours while researching his wine list for a pop-up Thai restaurant back in London. In New York Matthew Rhys and Joe pair dim sum and Chinese wine.

FOUR
Matthew and James have to find Portugal’s link to Scandinavia and head to Aveiro where they cook salt cod. In New York Matthew Rhys and Joe Fattorini enjoy an Irish Stew at Molly’s Shibeen on the lower east side of Manhattan. Amelia Singer joins Joe to find out who really invented champagne. Dominic West joins James to taste wines at the beautiful HQ in the Douro Valley.

FIVE
Matthew and James are north Portugal – the region of Vinho Verde, where they explore Portugal’s historic relationship with the Catholic church and Matthew repents of his sins. Joe Fattorini and Matthew Rhys go all Goodfellas at Matthew’s favourite Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. And Joe finds out how Queen Victoria was the original influencer in Germany. Dominic West joins James to taste wines at the beautiful HQ in the Douro Valley.

SIX
Matthew and James are tasked with exploring how women have helped shape the Douro wine business. Joe Fattorini takes Matthew Rhys to a Portuguese restaurant in Queens and Amelia Singer looks at how urban winemaking and hip hop have found a voice in wine in California and New York. Dominic West joins James to taste wines at the beautiful HQ in the Douro Valley.

SEVEN
In this food and wine special, we join Matthew Rhys and Joe Fattorini at a Portuguese restaurant in New York City, where we share unseen footage from Matthew Goode and James Purefoy’s road trip around Portugal. Joe Fattorini and new wine expert Charlotte Wilde visit four of Portugal’s regions to explore the food and wine of each in this very tasty episode.

This time we’re based in the glorious South of France. Matthew Goode is joined at the sun-drenched Provençal villa by, actor James Purefoy. In addition to tasting the wines brought back from around the globe, they are tasked by Joe Fattorini to find a case of wine to match a six course French lunch cooked by Michelin-starred chef, Stephane Reynaud.

PRESENTERS

Matthew Goode

English actor Matthew Goode joins The Wine Show having starred in major motion pictures such as Match Point, The Watchmen, and Oscar-nominated The Imitation Game. A graduate of London’s Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Goode is also no stranger to the smaller screen, having been cast as a series regular in the hit show The Good Wife (CBS) and the critically acclaimed Downton Abbey (ITV). During his career, he has received several nominations for awards including Best Actor in a leading role for Burning Man. In 2013, Matthew Goode starred opposite his co-presenter, Matthew Rhys, in the short BBC series Death Comes to Pemberley based on the bestselling P.D. James novel of the same name.

James Purefoy

English actor. He played Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome, Nick Jenkins in A Dance to the Music of Time, college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series The Following, Solomon Kane in the film of the same name, and Hap Collins in the Sundance series Hap and Leonard.

EPISODE SUMMARIES

ONE
In the first show in the new series of The Wine Show, Matthew Goode welcomes new face James Purefoy to their beautiful new villa in France. Together they are tasked with putting together a case of wine to match a six-course lunch made by Michelin-starred French chef Stéphane Reynaud. Judging which wine goes in the case, is the world’s most influential wine critic Jancis Robinson. This week it’s pre-lunch snacks they have to match and they head to Provence for rosé wine in the charming town of Cotignac. Joe Fattorini is off on his travels too. He’s with comedian Gina Yashere in Santa Barbara learning how a cup of coffee can predict what kind of wine you might like. As Joe tries to convince Gina he will find a wine for her sensitive palate, she reveals a surprise of her own for Joe.

TWO
In the second show in the new series of The Wine Show, Matthew Goode and James Purefoy are in search of a wine to match the starter in their epic six course lunch. They get an early morning call in the Ardeche before heading up the river in a kayak and caving their way to a very unusual wine cellar. Back at the villa, Jancis Robinson chooses her favourite wine of the two they bring back. Meanwhile, Joe Fattorini has been in Argentina to find out about a very successful immigrant and heads to Japan with top London brewer Jaega Wise to find out about sake. Back in London, Matthew Rhys is back at Berry Brothers & Rudd in London St. James’s looking at historic and modern gadgets.

THREE
In the third show in the new series of The Wine Show, James Purefoy and Matthew Goode think they’re in for a fabulous lunch at the glamourous Palme D’Or restaurant in Cannes. Little do they know the chef has decided they need to work for their lunch. But they each find a wine to take back for Jancis Robinson to assess as a match to the fish course of Stephane Reynaud’s epic six-course lunch. Meanwhile Joe Fattorini has been to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, to find out if it
really can lay claim to being the cradle of wine. And Joe joins wine expert Amelia Singer in California to find out how one sheriff is helping a local wine maker find people to work in her vineyard at a time of historic labour shortages.

FOUR
In the fourth show in the new series of The Wine Show, James Purefoy and Matthew Goode find themselves in stunning Burgundy on the hunt to each find a wine to match the main course in their epic six course lunch. With Coq aux Vin on the menu, it’s the only place to be. They visit the historic Chateau du Clos du Vougeot and the Confrerie du Chevaliers du Tastevin – the knights of the Order of Winetasters. They learn about the history of the chateau and Burgundy but before they can choose a wine, have to sit an exam. Can they learn their wines as well as their lines? With their wines chosen they had back to their villa for the judgement of Jancis Robinson, the world’s most influential wine critic. Meanwhile Joe Fattorini is competing in the Medoc Marathon with Jamie Ramsay, adventure runner. This is a full marathon where every mile there is a chateau offering a sample of their latest vintage to all the competitors. With the mercury hitting 30 degrees C and Joe in fancy dress, things don’t work out quiet as Joe hoped. Amelia Singer joins Joe in Canada, to find out if their wines can really hold their own against more established wine regions.

FIVE
In the fifth show in the new series of The Wine Show, James Purefoy and Matthew Goode are in the Camargue on the hunt for wines to match the cheese course in the epic French lunch. In an effort to understand the Camargue way of life, they become cowboys for the day, rounding up bulls before they are allowed to sit down and taste some wines. With their wines chosen they had back to their villa for the judgement of Jancis Robinson, the world’s most influential wine critic. Joe Fattorini is in Bosnia to find out how one vineyard is trying to heal some very open wounds of war. And he joins Amelia Singer in St Tropez for an inspiring beach lunch with legendary winemaker Sacha Lichine before getting aboard the cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse to host a VIP wine dinner.

Each episode follows the same broad shape, with Matthew and Matthew welcoming Joe back from his travels at the Torre de Sol on the D’Amico wine estate on the Lazio/Umbria border in Italy. Joe and Amelia visited 11 countries between them, and our special correspondent chef, Gizzi Erskine, was lucky enough to travel to the Napa Valley and Arizona.

PRESENTERS

Matthew Goode

English actor Matthew Goode joins The Wine Show having starred in major motion pictures such as Match Point, The Watchmen, and Oscar-nominated The Imitation Game. A graduate of London’s Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Goode is also no stranger to the smaller screen, having been cast as a series regular in the hit show The Good Wife (CBS) and the critically acclaimed Downton Abbey (ITV). During his career, he has received several nominations for awards including Best Actor in a leading role for Burning Man. In 2013, Matthew Goode starred opposite his co-presenter, Matthew Rhys, in the short BBC series Death Comes to Pemberley based on the bestselling P.D. James novel of the same name.

Matthew Rhys

Best known for his part in the ABC family drama Brothers & Sisters, Matthew Rhys is a Welsh actor who attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His silver screen credits feature work alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, such as The Edge of Love with Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller, the latter of whom he worked with again in 2015’s Burnt with Bradley Cooper. Rhys is currently the lead male in hit US show The Americans (FX) and been nominated for two awards for his part as Philip Jennings. An actor who enjoys treading the boards, Rhys has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and the Royal National Theatre, playing Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate.

EXPERTS

Joe Fattorini

If you’ve enjoyed wine somewhere between Wick and Whitstable, Joe was probably involved. Joe has been selling wine for twenty years to restaurants, hotels, bars and celebrity weddings as one of the UK's leading wine merchants. Joe also wrote about wine for 14 years as the weekly wine correspondent for The Herald Newspaper. And he spent years talking about it to audiences of wine-loving golfers across the USA as wine consultant to the US PGA Tour. It's an unlikely career for someone who began as a university academic. Between researching and teaching Joe wrote the world’s first textbook on selling and marketing wine in restaurants. A book still used in universities over 20 years later. As well as presenting The Wine Show, Joe hosts everything from wine dinners to industry conferences and writes for leading wine magazines. “Being part of The Wine Show is a dream come true. Wine is about so much more than what’s in your glass. It’s about the people who make it and the beautiful places it’s grown. It’s magical to meet passionate winemakers and grape growers and visit places you normally only read about in books or magazine articles.”

Gizzi Erskine

Gizzi trained at the prestigious Leith's School of Food and Wine in 2003 Gizzi graduated the top of her year and won a placement at BBC Good Food magazine. Here she started to establish herself as an award winning food writer. Gizzi was one of the first to back the trend of the pop-up restaurant scene having opened many acclaimed pop-ups over the past 14 years. She was one of the first to introduce Korean Street Food to the UK and produced an extraordinary pop-up called Gizzi’s K Town at Concrete in Shoreditch. Her food events are legendary for those people in the know with her one day food events with various top chefs running stalls, live music and DJs, burlesque and Go Go dancers, including Gizzi doing a spot of DJing herself. She is big on the music festival circuit, too, having curated, cooked and ran kitchens at Latitude, Bestival, Wilderness, Feastival and OnBlackheath. As a celebrated author, she has enjoyed great success writing cook books - Gizzi's Kitchen Magic, Cook Yourself Thin, award-winning healthy eating book Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts. Her latest chart-topper (launching at number 1 on its day of release in the Amazon chart) Gizzi's Healthy Appetite by Octopus, features recipes which are a healthy antidote to the confusing ‘clean eating’ trends we’re seeing at the moment. Her career in TV started with C4 's ratings winner, Cook Yourself Thin, a cookery show which showed viewers how to cook want they wanted and still lose weight. It went on to a second with Gizzi as the sole presenter. Other TV credits of not include Iron Chef, Cookery School, Drop Down (all for Channel 4), Cooks To Market and Ones to Watch: from Samsung's Launching People (both for SKY). Her edgy attitude and passion for what’s new and emerging has made Gizzi a real authority in the UK food scene, and her influence transcends the food industry into popular culture and beyond.

Amelia Singer

Amelia Singer is an exciting new voice in the UK wine industry. Although she has only been in the wine business for eight years, she has made the most of that time. She’s completed the prestigious WSET Diploma and been lucky enough to get hands-on experience in wineries all over the world; from Bordeaux in France, Rioja in Spain and one of the most prestigious vineyards in Chile. She has also worked with well-known wine retailers, importers, online fine wine merchants all of which has given her a wide knowledge of the wine industry. Amelia has previously been a regular presenter on Jamie Oliver's Drinks Tube and is a contributor to his Drinkstube blog. Amelia studied English at Trinity Dublin and also performs as a professional Jazz singer.

“Wine is so often treated in a serious way but it shouldn’t be. Being part of The Wine Show has allowed me to fulfil my mission to demystify wine. I really want to empower people when it comes to choosing wine whether you’re in the supermarket or in the fanciest restaurant, it should be fun and something to enjoy…and we certainly do on The Wine Show.”