The Wine Show is coming to USA & Canada this July

“I think we better come home early,” said the text message from a member of the crew out in Portugal. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to film in Porto.” It was March 2020. I’d already bought a thermometer in a Walgreens in Brooklyn the day after we wrapped filming with Matthew Rhys a couple of weeks earlier. Things were getting serious. And a year on, it’s still hard to believe how the world has changed.

Looking back at making The Wine Show Season 3, it seems like another era. Up until those last few weeks of production, it was just the usual, sometimes fraught, but usually fun few months. A time when we booked flights at the last minute, and the most serious health concerns on the risk assessment meant packing Factor 50 sunscreen, Diorylite and me pointing out that flip flops were not acceptable footwear while filming. (The person in question agreed with me after he tripped and fell into a cactus).

All of which goes to make this launch of the latest season in the USA and Canada somewhat bittersweet. It’s taken much longer to bring it to you than we hoped. North America is home to our most ardent supporters, and I must apologise for the delay. I know it’s been frustrating when we’ve been swaggering about showing off about the UK run on Amazon Prime. But a combination of factors have been at play concerning licences and distribution. I won’t bore you with the details. Most importantly we’re here now. And not just with season 3; all three seasons are now under two new roofs on two platforms - SundanceNow and AcornTV - and we couldn’t be happier.

Having lightly rinsed Italy and torn through a small part of France in seasons 1 and 2, we decided to be a little brave and base the show in a new country. One that isn’t quite as well-known as far as its wine goes and that is Portugal. We also have a new face on the team. Dominic West (The Affair, The Wire, soon to be The Crown) who joins James Purefoy at our Portugal HQ at Quinta do Noval in the Douro Valley. A diary clash for Matthew Goode resulted in this massive dose of good fortune for us. Some last-minute scheduling magic from our magnificent production team meant that Dominic could fit in clearing up after his daughter’s 21st birthday party and still get on a plane to Porto. It was the last flight of the day and I salute him for arriving at the Quinta in high spirits at 3am and being on set at 8.30am, albeit slightly bewildered. “Who am I?”, he asked somewhat plaintively as the first glass was set before him. “Just be yourself,” whispered James. A terrifying prospect for any actor but one which Dominic overcame easily.

We filmed the road trip around Portugal with James and Matthew Goode in the summer of 2019, visiting as many of Portugals 14 wine regions as we could in a week. Each episode was topped and tailed at the beautiful Bolsa in Porto. Our friends at Revista de Vinhos arranged for this incredible hall, the former home to Portugal’s stock exchange to be closed for the day for us to film, although nobody told the pigeons roosting noisily on the roof. They slowed things down a little. Out on the road we explore Portugal’s history and culture through its wine visiting Lisbon, Douro Valley, Alentejo, Vinho Verde, Bairrada, Setubal, Madeira, and The Azores. I’ve uploaded a highlights package here for you. And yes, James really did cry tasting that wine in the Alentejo. The old softie.

The format of the show has changed a little bit. We only tell one ‘big’ story per show rather than two. I hope you feel having a bit more time to explore each place and theme is a good development. We head to Hungary to look at wine as a ‘health’ drink. Thailand to see if wine can ever really work with a style of cooking from south of the 30-degree latitude where grapes are usually grown. The age old ‘frenemy’ status of England and France is explored by trying to answer the question, who first came up with the concept of sparkling wine? Amelia Singer learns to skateboard in California under the watchful eye of superstar sommelier Andre Mack and finds out who her hip-hop spirit animal is with the sensational Wolf of Wine aka Jermaine Stone in New York. Royalty hosts Joe Fattorini in Germany where we discover that Queen Victoria was the Kim Kardashian of her day.

Matthew Rhys has set aside his love of gadgets. To be honest, we were running out of them and if we’d carried on we’d have come dangerously close to recommending an electric screwdriver that doubled as a corkscrew. [You already did in season 1 - Ed]. Instead, Matthew gamely showed Joe Fattorini around some of his favourite New York restaurants, each of which told a small part of the story of that incredible city’s diaspora. I am still longing to get back to Russ & Daughters and Zona Rosa in Brooklyn. Hopefully soon...

We are hoping to partner with a great wine retailer in the USA to try and offer you some wines inspired by the series. More on that soon. In the meantime, if you haven’t already subscribed to either SundanceNow or Acorn, I urge you to take a look at both and decide which has the best cellar. I will say one thing...SundanceNow is also home to Matthew Goode in A Discovery of Witches and James Purefoy in Hap and Leonard. But I really don’t want to play favourites...All I ask is that you enjoy the series and know that we’ll do our best to answer all your questions on our social media channels or via our email info@wineshow.com.

And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter. We’ll be having some great offers and competitions so sign up to be the first to hear all our news.

Melanie Jappy

Executive Producer