9 best food, wine and spirits podcasts to listen to in 2021

In case your 2021 New 12 months’s intention — “decision” is so 2020 — is to be taught one thing new, there are various methods to try this. You possibly can learn a ebook, after all, or take an internet class. Or you’ll be able to plug in these ear buds and take a look at a podcast that’s informative in addition to entertaining and pleasant.

This assortment of meals, wine and spirit podcasts gives a little bit one thing for everybody, from the somm-wannabe to the informal sipper, fine-dining fanatic and residential prepare dinner.

Swirl Suite

This podcast about folks of colour within the wine world feels such as you’re eavesdropping on a quartet of witty, whip-smart mates — Sarita Cheaves, Glynis Hill, Leslie Frelow and Tanisha Townsend — as they chat about wineries, winemakers and high-powered wine entrepreneurs. They combine severe dialogue with laughter-filled asides on all the things from COVID-era journey to golf, mimosas and Peloton bikes. Including to the enjoyable for Bay Space audiences, a latest episode featured Alicia Kidd and Mari Kemp, who’re opening Oakland’s new Coco Noir wine bar and store, chatting concerning the wine import enterprise, digital tastings, on-line gross sales and Coco Noir’s new wine mix.

The podcasters: The Maryland wine trade introduced these ladies collectively initially, however lately, they file episodes from far-flung cities, from Washington, D.C., to Paris, the place Townsend runs Girl Meets Glass. Cheaves is a wine blogger at Vine Me Up, Frelow owns the Vino 301 wine concierge enterprise and also you’ll discover Hill on the Vino Noire way of life and wine schooling platform.

Take a hear: The episodes, 45 minutes to an hour-plus, run the total gamut from an Oct. 1 session on glowing wine (and bikes) to a June 15 episode about racism within the wine trade. The Coco Noir episode aired Nov. 18.

Tune in: Accessible by way of iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and at www.swirlsuite.com.

House Cooking

Culinary famous person Samin Nosrat and podcast whiz Hrishikesh Hirway come collectively on this breezy but significant sequence on dwelling cooking. Whereas the podcast was launched throughout the quarantine, it it’s a pleasant and important hear for dwelling cooks — newbie or superior. The duo reply listener questions, delve into pantry staples (sardine alert) and invite visitors like Yo-Yo Ma and Antoni Porowski to share what they’re making. House Cooking is informative, conversational and stuffed with Nosrat’s expert ideas and infectious chortle.

The podcasters: Berkeley-based Nosrat is the James Beard Award-winning writer of “Salt, Fats, Acid, Warmth” in addition to the host and government producer of the Netflix documentary of the identical identify. Hirway is the host and creator of acclaimed podcasts, together with “Music Exploder” and “The West Wing Weekly.”

Take a hear: Episodes run round 50 minutes and canopy all the things from making excellent beans to conquering roast greens. Oakland comic W. Kamau Bell shares his recipe for his two-ingredient pancakes (Episode 2) and in Episode 9 Nosrat breaks down caramelized onions and tells a listener what to make together with her surplus of cucumbers. Trace: It’s a Persian beverage.

Tune in: Accessible by way of iTunes, Spotify and at https://homecooking.show.

The Sporkful

Billed as a podcast for eaters quite than foodies, this 10-year-old sequence has snagged a James Beard Award and Saveur Award for Finest Meals Podcast for its model of humor and humanity. By meals, host Dan Pashman introduces listeners to fascinating folks, whether or not that’s Texas Month-to-month taco editor José Ralat — sure, it’s a full-time job — or the late artist Georgia O’Keeffe, whose field of handwritten, grease-stained recipes not too long ago went up for public sale. Alongside the way in which you’ll be taught the proper option to eat a jelly doughnut and the way ketchup bought its identify.

The podcaster: Host Dan Pashman can also be the creator and host of the Cooking Channel’s “You’re Consuming It Improper” and writer of the 2014 ebook, “Eat Extra Higher: The best way to Make Each Chunk Extra Scrumptious” (Simon & Schuster; $25).

Take a hear: We love the combination of silliness — LeVar Burton’s Nov. 29 dramatic recipe studying and dishing on Sir Patrick Stewart’s bizarre lunches on the “Star Trek” set — to the June 13 protection of the Bon Appetit scandal. A should is the Dec. 20 episode on listeners’ New 12 months’s meals resolutions, which embody consuming not solely extra ice cream however extra mustard in 2021, as a result of 2020 was “a mayonnaise yr.”

Tune in: Accessible by way of Stitcher, Spotify and at www.sporkful.com.

Wine for Regular Folks

This award-winning podcast tackles wine just like the scrumptious topic it actually is, versus the pretentious subject regular folks worry it’s. Positive, oenophiles admire the tannins, the racy acidity, the countless descriptions of terroir, the — ack, splutter, cease! However most of us simply wish to be taught a little bit bit, choose up some enjoyable tales and largely, discover out what to attempt subsequent. It is a podcast for wine geeks and informal fanatics alike.

The podcasters: Sommelier and self-styled wine dork Elizabeth Schneider and her wine-loving, non-somm husband, M.C. Ice, host these 45-minute episodes. And Schneider’s 2019 ebook, “Wine for Regular Folks: A Information for Actual Folks Who Like Wine, however Not the Snobbery That Goes with It” (Chronicle Books, $25), deepens the schooling issue.

Take a hear: Positive, we’re previous vacation buying season, however the Dec. 14 tackle that subject gives loads of inspiration for any gift-giving event, from a picnic-ready wine desk — sized to carry a bottle, two glasses and a cheese plate — to a silicone wine glass holder for these of you who like to wash or bathe (!) with a glass of rosé. The Oct. 19 episode on viognier traces the evolution of a grape varietal that dates again to historical Rome. Plus you’ll learn how to pronounce viognier.

Tune in: Accessible by way of iTunes, Google Play and at www.winefornormalpeople.com.

Sip Sip Hooray

For the final word California focus, take a look at this 2-year-old podcast by “The Marys” — Mary Babbitt and Mary Orlin — which options wineries and winemakers in Napa, Santa Cruz and the Livermore Valley. The main focus is on recent, breezy conversations between the 2 wine professional hosts and interviews with fascinating winemakers. No arcane tasting notes, no jargon, simply enjoyable tales and inside ideas. As a result of, Orlin says, “mates don’t let mates drink unhealthy wine.”

The podcasters: Co-hosts and journalists Babbitt and Orlin created the long-running, Emmy and James Beard award-winning sequence “In Wine Nation” for NBC-TV in 2001. (And if Orlin’s identify sounds acquainted, it’s as a result of she’s a former Bay Space Information Group wine author.)

Take a hear: A number of episodes function Bay Space winemakers, together with Rob Jensen of Los Gatos’ Testarossa Vineyard (Episode 4) and Dane Stark from Livermore’s Web page Mill (Episode 9). If you happen to’re curious concerning the influence of COVID on the wine-tasting expertise, take heed to episode 16, which aired June 2. And should you similar to to chortle, episode 6 (June 19, 2019) gives an inside peek at Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph’s “Wine Nation” comedy and the Napa places that impressed it.

Tune in: Accessible by way of iTunes, Google Play and at https://sipsiphooraypodcast.com.

On the Fly by Tablehopper

This podcast explores the everlasting mark COVID-19 leaves on San Francisco’s eating scene. Resident foodie Marcia Gagliardi started the series in April 2020 to permit cooks, restaurateurs and others within the hospitality trade to share their struggles and triumphs. However, because it progresses, you be taught not solely how eating places pivot to grocers and dinner equipment makers but in addition how they’re making an attempt to fix a enterprise mannequin that was damaged even earlier than the pandemic. Acquainted voices embody Stuart Brioza (State Hen Provisions), Reem Assil (Reem’s California) and Sarah Kirnon (Miss Ollie’s).

The podcaster: Gagliardi has been masking the San Francisco restaurant scene for almost 15 years via her e-newsletter, Tablehopper.

Take a hear: The April 28 episode addresses the starvation disaster on the streets of San Francisco originally of the lockdown. Within the Nov. 22 episode, Gagliardi sits down with Brioza to speak about opening a brand new restaurant — The Anchovy Bar — throughout a pandemic. Get able to geek out on anchovies, oysters and butter.

Tune in: Accessible by way of Google Play, Amazon Music and at https://ontheflytablehopper.buzzsprout.com.

Life Behind Bars

This award-winning podcast concerning the best bartenders and craft cocktails of all time feels such as you’ve been invited to an insider completely happy hour as spirits consultants dish on their favourite booze, books and evolution of the trendy cocktail menu. You’ll meet influential bartenders, like Dale DeGroff, writer of “The Craft of the Cocktail,” be taught concerning the etiquette of utilizing older whiskies in cocktails and uncover the bar scenes in prime cities. It’s time to learn to drink like a bartender.

The podcasters: Hosted by Noah Rothbaum, editor of The Every day Beast’s Half Full part, and senior drinks columnist David Wondrich, Life Behind Bars received the 2018 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for the world’s greatest drinks podcast.

Take a hear: On the April 15 episode, be taught concerning the historical past of Bourbon Avenue’s potent cocktails with Half Full columnist and NOLA resident Wayne Curtis. Ever puzzled if the Manhattan and Martini are primarily the identical drink? Discover out within the Aug. 20 episode. And should you love rum, you’ll wish to take heed to the Aug. 12, 2019 episode, which delves into fashionable rum cocktails.

Tune in: Accessible by way of Stitcher, Google Play and at www.thedailybeast.com/life-behind-bars.

Copper & Warmth

On this Oakland-based podcast, former Manresa prepare dinner Katy Osuna dissects the unspoken and exclusionary rules and traditions of restaurant kitchens — and the trickle-down impact on ladies and staff of colour. Season 1, Be a Woman, focuses on the military-style hierarchy of fine-dining kitchens; Season 2, Overheard, tackles enterprise practices inside the system, from tipping to meals supply apps. And Season 3 — Pre-Shift — gives ideas for hospitality staff, together with placing out on their very own. It kicks off Jan. 25.

The podcasters: Katy and her husband, Ricardo, are the co-creators of Copper & Warmth, which launched in 2019 and received the James Beard Media Award for Finest Podcast that very same yr. Katy has labored in fine-dining kitchens across the Bay Space, together with the three-Michelin-starred Manresa in Los Gatos. Ricardo co-produces and serves because the podcast’s composer and sound designer.

Tune in: Episodes are about 30 minutes and sort out all the things from stress and work-life stability to the racist historical past of the difficult tipping system. The latter is a Season 2 two-parter that includes Portland’s Le Pigeon and nonprofit One Honest Wage. A number of episodes function Bay Space restaurateurs and staff, together with David Kinch of Manresa and Fernay McPherson of Emeryville’s Minnie Bell’s Soul Motion.

Take a hear: Accessible by way of iTunes, Stitcher and at www.copperandheat.com.

Bartender At Massive

With 240 episodes, this award-winning podcast explores the world’s greatest craft cocktails and the folks behind them. Every week, listeners go behind the scenes of the trendy cocktail renaissance with trade heavyweights, from bartenders and distillers to cocktail historians and different consultants. Want a 101 on pisco or baijiu? Wish to make zero-proof botanical drinks? Lastly going to delve into the sticky challenge of tiki bars and imperialism? It’s all right here, in easy-to-digest episodes working 30 minutes or much less.