Getting Graphic with Wine and Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly

Natalie MacLean
Jan8th
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Introduction

In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, we’re chatting with Madeline Puckette, the content director and co-founder of Wine Folly whose passion for helping beginners learn about wine is the inspiration behind the award-winning website winefolly.com, and the NYT best-selling book, Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine. Enjoy!

 

Highlights

  • What is the connection between music, art and wine?
  • What inspired the creation of WineFolly.com?
  • How did Madeline transition from hugely popular infographics on her site to writing a book?
  • What role did Seth Godin play in making the Wine Folly book a reality?
  • What can you learn from reading Wine Folly as a wine newbie?
  • How can Wine Folly empower you on your wine tasting journey?
  • Do the flavours you taste in wine come from additives like other fruits?
  • How does your sense of smell affect the way things taste?
  • What can you deduce from the colour of wine?
  • What out of the box wine pairing do you need to try?
  • Why should Spain be at the top of your wine trip bucket list?
  • Which next-door wine region should you visit next?
  • How can you use Wine Folly when tasting wine?
  • What can “impact compounds” tell you?
  • How did Madeline develop her design background?
  • Why do the visual elements of Wine Folly give you a better learning experience?
  • What sparked Madeline’s exploration of her sense of taste and smell through wine?
  • What map-related mishap caused the worst moment in Madeline’s wine career?
  • What was the best moment in Madeline’s wine career so far?
  • Which unusual tasting descriptor does Madeline especially like?

 

About Madeline Puckette

Madeline Puckette is the content director and co-founder of Wine Folly. Her passion for helping beginners learn about wine is the inspiration behind the award-winning website winefolly.com, and the NYT best-selling book, Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine. Madeline’s background in visual design, music and restaurant hospitality have helped shape her communication of wine through infographics, entertainment and social media.

Since the inception of the site on December 25, 2011, Madeline’s enigmatic wine designs have been featured in places like NPR, Fast Company Design and The Washington Post. The Wine Folly book has been published in 20 countries including Korea, Germany, Russia, China, France and Italy.

 

Resources

 

Wine Reviews

 

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Thirsty for more?

  • Sign up for my free online wine video class where I’ll walk you through The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner (and how to fix them forever!)
  • Join me on Facebook Live Video every second Wednesday at 7 pm eastern for a casual wine chat.
  • You’ll find my books here, including Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines and Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
  • The new audio edition of Red, White and Drunk All Over is now available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and other country-specific Amazon sites; iTunes.ca, iTunes.com and other country-specific iTunes sites; Audible.ca and Audible.com.

 

Transcript & Takeaways

Welcome to episode 58!

I hope 2020 is off to a great start! The view from my office is a white winterland, a wide-open field of snow, and then beyond that the Ottawa River. I love watching people walk their dogs, ski and do other wintery activities as I enjoy the great indoors. That puffy LL Bean winter vest? Yeah, that’s still hanging in the closet with the sales tag on it.

Let’s warm up with wine, shall we? In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Madeline Pucket, who was recently named the Wine Communicator of the Year by the prestigious International Wine & Spirits Competition.

Madeline’s background in visual design, music and restaurant hospitality have helped shape her communication of wine through infographics, entertainment and social media.

Her enigmatic, whimsical wine designs have been featured on NPR, Fast Company Design and The Washington Post.

I’ll include links to her website, books and social media handles in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/58.

Now back to you. Why not make 2020 the year that you move from feeling overwhelmed with all the wines in the liquor store to feeling confident about every wine you buy and knowing exactly which dish will pair perfectly with it?

I can help you with that. Sign up for my free, online video wine class the 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner (and how to fix them forever!)?

Go to nataliemaclean.com/class and choose a time and date that work for you. I look forward to seeing you inside the class!

Okay, on with the show!

 

You can also watch the video interview with Madeline that includes bonus content and behind-the-scenes questions and answers that weren’t included in this podcast.

 

Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this chat with Madeline Puckett.

Here are my takeaways:

  1. I love how Madeline makes the connection between music, art and wine, and how she brings that special combination to a very visual way of understanding wine through her gorgeous graphics and designs.
  2. She had a great way of explaining how grapes can mimic the molecular flavour compounds of other fruit, making wine such a profusion of aromas and flavours.
  3. She also highlighted just how profound our sense of smell affects the way wine tastes.
  4. Madeline also shared some great tips on what the colour of wine can tell us even before we smell or taste it.

You’ll find links to her website, books, social media handles and the video version of the conversation in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/58.

If you liked this episode, please tell a friend about it, especially one who’s interested in the great tips Madeline shared. My podcast is easy to find, whether you search Google on its name Unreserved Wine Talk, or on my name.

Finally, if you want to learn why red wine shouldn’t be your default pairing for many cheeses, join me in a free online video class at nataliemaclean.com/class.

I can’t wait to share more wine stories with you next week.

Thank-you for taking the time to listen to this one. I hope something great is in your glass this week, perhaps a wine that you now know how to describe more visually!

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