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The Wine Lab

Andreea Botezatu

26 episodes

6 days ago

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Welcome back to The Wine Lab. In this episode, we take a closer look at Marsala, one of the most misunderstood fortified wines in the world. Often dismissed as a cooking ingredient, Marsala has a long history as a serious wine shaped by fortification, oxidative aging, and deliberate patience. We explore how Marsala is made, the grape varieties that define it, and why oxygen plays such a central role in its aroma and structure. Along the way, we un...

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All content for The Wine Lab is the property of Andreea Botezatu and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Welcome back to The Wine Lab. In this episode, we take a closer look at Marsala, one of the most misunderstood fortified wines in the world. Often dismissed as a cooking ingredient, Marsala has a long history as a serious wine shaped by fortification, oxidative aging, and deliberate patience. We explore how Marsala is made, the grape varieties that define it, and why oxygen plays such a central role in its aroma and structure. Along the way, we un...

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Episodes (20/26)

The Wine Lab

Madeira - From Ocean Voyages to Attic Barrels

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Madeira is one of the most resilient wines ever produced. Fortified during fermentation, intentionally heated, and slowly oxidized, it defies many of the rules that govern wine aging and thrives because of it. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore how Madeira’s unique production methods developed through long ocean voyages, how fortification with highly rectified grape spirit shapes sweetness and stability, and why heating methods like estuf...

5 days ago

11 minutes

The Wine Lab

Fortified by the Douro: The Story of Port Wine

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Step into the steep, sunlit terraces of Portugal’s Douro Valley and explore how landscape, law, chemistry, and culture shaped one of the world’s most distinctive wines. In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Dr. Andreea Botezatu traces the story of Port from the Douro’s historic demarcation in 1756 to the precise moment fermentation is stopped with grape spirit. Follow the evolution of styles, from ruby’s vibrant fruit to the layered de...

1 week ago

11 minutes

The Wine Lab

Under the Flor: The Science and Soul of Sherry

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores the scientific brilliance and cultural heritage of Sherry. From Andalucía’s luminous albariza soils to the flor yeasts that sculpt its aromatic identity, Sherry emerges as a wine shaped by geology, microbiology, and centuries of human expertise. We examine how fortification, performed after fermentation, determines whether a wine will age biologically as a Fino or oxidatively...

2 weeks ago

11 minutes

The Wine Lab

Winter in a Glass: The Story and Science of Icewine

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Icewine is one of the most challenging and extraordinary wines ever produced,a liquid born from winter itself. In this episode of The Wine Lab, Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores how a frozen accident in 1794 became one of the modern wine world’s most coveted styles. We travel from Germany to Canada’s Niagara Peninsula, through vineyards picked at –10°C, and into fermenters battling extreme osmotic stress, soaring Brix, and yeast pushed to its limits. ...

3 weeks ago

13 minutes

The Wine Lab

Pét-Nat: Ancient Method, Modern Mood

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Before Champagne perfected the art of bubbles, there was pétillant naturel or pét-nat - the ancestral, gracefully imperfect way to make sparkling wine. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the chemistry, the history, and the somewhat controlled chaos that defines this naturally effervescent style. Why does pét-nat fizz differently? What actually happens when fermentation finishes inside a sealed bottle? And why are winemakers, f...

1 month ago

11 minutes

The Wine Lab

Steel, Bubbles, and Fruit: Inside the Making of Prosecco

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com What makes Prosecco so different from Champagne or Cava? In this episode, Andreea takes you inside the tanks (almost literally) to explore the Charmat method, the clever bit of winemaking engineering that gives Prosecco its bright, floral personality. We’ll look at how Glera grapes, stainless-steel pressure tanks, and precise temperature control create a wine built on freshness rather than aging. You’ll learn what “tirage” and “dosage” mean...

1 month ago

10 minutes

The Wine Lab

Champagne & Cava: Two Ways to Catch a Bubble (or proof that joy can be engineered - one tiny bubble at a time)

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Across Europe, bubbles tell stories. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore two sparkling legends - Champagne and Cava - both born from the same meticulous process yet shaped by different lands, grapes, and histories. We’ll uncover how the traditional method transforms still wine into a storm of fine bubbles, why the same Brut label can taste drier in Champagne than in Cava, and how yeast, sugar, and time create that signature...

1 month ago

9 minutes

The Wine Lab

Inside the Barrel: Where Wine Meets Oak, Fire, and Time

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com In this episode of The Wine Lab, Andreea takes you inside one of winemaking’s most iconic tools — the oak barrel. From Celtic craftsmanship to modern coopering, we’ll explore how fire, oxygen, and time turn simple wood into a vessel of transformation. Discover why oak became the gold standard, what happens during toasting, and how micro-oxygenation softens tannins and stabilizes color. Learn about the differences between French, American, and Hung...

2 months ago

13 minutes

The Wine Lab

From Leather to Cabernet: The Story of Tannins

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the science and story of tannins: what they are, where they come from, and why some wines feel silky while others grip your gums. From the ancient craft of leather tanning to modern barrel aging, we trace how these polyphenolic compounds shape wine’s structure, color, and longevity. We’ll look at how fermentation temperature, pH, and rising alcohol shift what gets extracted from skins and seeds — and how...

2 months ago

11 minutes

The Wine Lab

Wine with Spirit: The World of Fortified Wines

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com What do Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, and Vermouth all have in common? They’re wines with an extra ingredient — spirit. In this episode of The Wine Lab, Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores how fortification began as a practical solution for preserving wine on long sea voyages and evolved into a craft that shaped trade, taste, and culture. From Shakespeare’s Falstaff praising “sack” to George Washington’s love for Madeira, we’ll travel through history ...

2 months ago

8 minutes

The Wine Lab

Dom Perignon - The Monk Who Didn’t Invent Champagne

Send me your thoughts at ibotezatu5@gmail.com Everyone knows the story of Dom Pérignon — the monk who invented Champagne and declared he was “tasting the stars.” But history tells a very different tale. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we uncover the truth behind one of wine’s most enduring myths. Dom Pérignon didn’t create sparkling wine at all! In fact, he spent much of his life trying to eliminate bubbles from the Abbey of Hautvillers’ wines. Yet his innovations in grape selection, blendin...

2 months ago

7 minutes

The Wine Lab

Roots of Disaster: The Phylloxera Story. A tiny insect nearly erased wine from history — discover how science, stubbornness, and a Texan saved it.

Send us a text In the late 1800s, an almost invisible insect began destroying Europe’s vineyards. This episode of The Wine Lab takes you inside the phylloxera crisis — from the first mysterious vine deaths in France to the desperate experiments, scientific breakthroughs, and global collaboration that saved wine from near extinction. Along the way, we meet the heroes of the story, including Texan horticulturist T.V. Munson, whose work with American rootstocks helped rescue French viticulture. ...

2 months ago

10 minutes

The Wine Lab

From Bark to Bottle: The Cork Chronicles

Send us a text Cork is everywhere in the world of wine, from the quiet of a cellar to the noise of a celebration. But how did this small stopper come to influence the way wines age, the rituals of opening a bottle, and even the way we think about quality? In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the science, the history, and the culture wrapped up in every cork, and ponder why it remains central to wine today. Support the show For more detailed wine science checkout my YouTube channe...

3 months ago

10 minutes

The Wine Lab

Sweet Lies and Dry Truths: Sugar in Wine

Send us a text Is wine really “full of sugar”? What about those “zero sugar” labels, or the idea that wine is keto-friendly? In this episode of The Wine Lab, Andreea breaks down what you need to know about sugar in wine — from grapes on the vine to yeast in the tank, from chaptalization in Burgundy to back-sweetening in Riesling, and from Champagne dosage to carbs and calories. Along the way, we’ll uncover what’s legal, what’s marketing, and what really ends up in your glass. Glos...

3 months ago

8 minutes

The Wine Lab

Wine in Art – From Ancient Gods to Pop Culture

Send us a text Wine shimmers across the history of art: painted on Egyptian tomb walls, poured into Greek amphorae, celebrated in Roman mosaics, lifted in Renaissance chalices, and glowing in Impressionist picnics. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we follow its journey through image, poetry, and song, tracing how wine has carried sacred meanings, earthly joys, and artistic inspiration across millennia—ending with Pablo Neruda’s luminous Ode to Wine. 🍷 Glossary of Lesser-Known TermsAmp...

3 months ago

15 minutes

The Wine Lab

Headaches, Hipsters, and the Myth of Sulfite-Free Natural Wine

Send us a text In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Andreea Botezatu unpacks the misunderstood world of sulfites in wine — what they are, what they do, and why that warning label exists. From antioxidant chemistry to ancient winemaking tricks, we look at how sulfur dioxide protects wine, explore common myths - like the one about sulfites and headaches - and even dive into the science of those rare sulfite sensitivities. Expect a splash of history, a little rock ‘n’ roll, and a few nerd...

3 months ago

7 minutes

The Wine Lab

The Oldest Wines Ever Discovered – Stories from the Ancient World

Send us a text From Neolithic pottery shards to golden amphorae sealed for millennia, the world’s oldest wines tell us more than just what ancient people drank — they reveal how wine shaped trade, ritual, and daily life across civilizations. In this episode, we journey through some of the most remarkable archaeological wine finds, explore the science used to identify them, and imagine what these ancient vintages might have tasted like. Glossary Qvevri (also spelled Kvevri) Large, egg-shaped...

4 months ago

9 minutes

The Wine Lab

Under Pressure: The Craft and Chemistry of Sparkling Wine. How do the world’s finest bubbles get into your glass? We explore the science, regions, and traditions of sparkling wine.

Send us a text From royal courts in 17th-century France to today’s celebrations around the world, sparkling wine has captured attention for centuries. In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Andreea Botezatu explains how sparkling wines are made, from traditional Champagne techniques to Prosecco’s Charmat method and beyond. We’ll look at the role of secondary fermentation, explore different sweetness levels, highlight the major regions producing sparkling wine, and share the story of La V...

4 months ago

10 minutes

The Wine Lab

Native Rebels and Cultured Icons: Yeast in the Cellar - How yeast drives complexity, unpredictability, and style in winemaking.

Send us a text In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the unseen world of yeast—the microscopic winemakers transforming grape juice into wine. From lab-selected commercial strains to wild, spontaneous fermentations and even wineries culturing their own native yeasts, we uncover how these tiny organisms shape wine’s flavor, texture, and identity. Along the way, we touch on yeast’s long history in human culture—from bread to beer to Bordeaux. Support the show For more det...

4 months ago

8 minutes

The Wine Lab

Smells Like Wine Spirit: The Science of Aroma

Send us a text Why does a glass of wine smell like blackberries, jasmine, or freshly cut herbs—when it’s made entirely from grapes? In this episode, we explore the complex and fascinating science of wine aroma. From compounds naturally found in grapes and flowers to the transformative role of fermentation and microbes, we trace how scent molecules form, evolve, and interact with our senses. We’ll also examine how genetics, memory, and culture shape the way we experience wine...

4 months ago

10 minutes