"For me, it’s very important to know where your roots are when you’re making wine. And I know exactly which kind of wine I want to make: it’s wine that most expresses where it comes from." – Cyprien Arlaud

The third generation of his family estate in Morey St. Denis, Cyprien Arlaud is regarded by many as one of the most respected farmers and winemakers in Burgundy today. His full-scale commitment to organics, biodynamics, and animal traction in the early aughts established him as a leader of a new era of low-intervention practices.

But don’t take low-intervention to mean no-intervention—Cyprien firmly believes that, though wine comes from nature, the process of making it cannot be natural. There are countless decisions that must be made in the field and in the cellar, day after day, around the clock to ensure a high-quality expression of one’s terroir. Without the shortcuts of chemicals and machines, the work is physically intense and mentally exhausting, but, according to Cyprien (and everyone lucky enough to enjoy his wines), the result is undeniably worth it.

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“To work by animal traction, 40% grade vineyards, on slate, at 1,000m of altitude, that are 45 minutes from anything else—all the best producers are going more and more into geographically specific bottlings.” – Max Working

In December, we sent our Iberian wine specialists to take the pulse of what’s new and exciting in Portugal and Galicia. Matt Wolfe and Max Working tasted the wines of nine producers from Bierzo to Porto and returned with a wealth of stories, wineries to watch, and two souvenir tastevins from their surprise induction into a secret society. They reveal how some producers are returning to the past to move forward, what makes farming biodynamically so difficult here, why organic Alvarinho is so rare.

The itinerary included visits with Dominio do Bibei, Anselmo Mendes, Aphros, Albamar, Bodegas Fulcro, Raúl Pérez, Filipa Pato & William Wouters, Revela, and Kopke.

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“What I’m looking for is very personal. It’s like a sound in the wine. And that sound is defined by something I love. Like a musician, I was always looking for my personal sound, and that sound comes easy with País.” – Pedro Parra

Pedro Parra is the world-renowned winemaker, saxophone player, and vineyard consultant from Chile—and one of the few individuals with a PhD from the Paris Center of Agriculture with a specialization in terroir. Under his eponymous brand, Pedro Parra y Familia Wines, Pedro is a leading member of the "New Chile" wine movement, crafting incredibly precise and artisanal wines that celebrate his country's underappreciated terroir.

In this episode, he and Cody Stephenson taste a flight of wines from Itata and discuss Pedro’s journey of pushing the limits, exploring the opposites, and discovering “the point of light” through revolutionary Chilean winemaking.

Wines tasted in this episode:

• País ‘Vinista
• Cinsault ‘Monk’
• Chardonnay ‘Resolution’ (only 694 bottles made)

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