DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:TODAY FOLKS we are in CASTILLA Y LEON following along the Duero River from Ribera del Duero in the middle of Spain all the way to Arribas on the border of Portugal. A river journey! Grab your inner tube! Grab your wine!

We start with some big bold Tempranillos from the middle there, and the move onto some lighter fare from the border region. Fun!

We also discuss Elodie's work trip where she tasted one million wines.

In therapy, we talk about work stuff… understanding and accepting our bandwidth. We talk about the compulsion to do everything and the work culture we have that creates false urgency, and how we are trying to push against that.

We talk about being patient with ourselves at work, the time it takes to master things, and the discomfort of not knowing.

Then a bit about relationships… bids for affection and how to meet your partner in the while also honoring your boundaries. A fine balance!

Wine 1: Viña Sastre Ribera del Duero Roble ($23)

Wine 2: Bodega Frontio Deldoma ($28)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous. But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:

WEEK 2 OF ~ESPAÑA~ and we are in the Northeast

Starting in CATALUNYA, which borders France and Mediterranean sea (must be nice!!)

There is a lot of contrast in the wines from here, ranging from light & crisp sparkling wines… like in PENEDES the land of CAVA!

… to big bold reds… like in PRIORAT where we find ripe, full-bodied, punchy red wines made from Garnacha and Carineña

In therapy we are in Tarot world (as we like to be) and we are flowing and reading and reflecting …

Elodie's card brings convo about moving in with your partner, co-dependency, binaries vs. spectrum & nuance…

Dan's card brings convo about noise vs. quiet, turning inward, and moving away from distraction

DO YOU SEE THE POWER OF TAROT? DO YOU SEE HOW DEEP YOU CAN GO HERE?

Link to deck HERE if you're interested 👀

Note: we did post these last two episodes in reverse order so if things seem a touch amiss just DON'T FREAK OUT!

Wine 1: Dignitat Cava Brut ($15)

Wine 2: Meritxell Palleja Nita Priorat ($28)

ABOUT QUE SERA SYRAH:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous.But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:

Welcome to GALICIA in North-West Spain and the BASQUE REGION further East. Why these two together? We're not sure, really… we're sort of losing the plot. But STICK WITH US!

We talk about three key sub-regions:

1. Basque Country - known for cider AND Txakoli (chock-oh-lee), which we are talking about today. Its acidic, its spritzy, its fun!

2. Rias Baixas - its cool, its coastal, its 95% Albarino!

3. Ribeira Sacra - the "sacred river" with lovely terraced vineyards and elegant but fruityred wines

Nice!

Then… we talk about… death…

Books about death

Thoughts about death

Pets and death

And also about growing up !! But not in the sense that it leads to death…

More in the sense of how it means we have to make big hard choices and sacrifices… and that is HARD!

Wine 1: Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina Blanco 2023 ($29)

Wine 2: Constantina Sotelo Maristerra ($26)

Wine 3: Finca Ladeira Mencia Ribeira Sacra ($17)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous.But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:

AND HERE IT IS THE LAST ONE PUGLIA AND SICILY OKAY

Both regions both known for bulk wine, BUT ALSO both with some excellent wines to seek out and learn to love!!!

We already love Sicily we have BEEN THERE (on this podcast, that is…), we have TASTED multiple of its indigenous varieties coincidentally and been so happily surprised so we are GLAD TO BE BACK!

Puglia is new terrain and we are having fun here… but not too much fun!!!

In therapy… feeling left out 😢

Reckoning with adult friendship

And more about… finding space in our relationships

Wine 1: Cantine Barbera Ti Vitti ($23)

Wine 2: Ayunta Nerello Mascalese ($26.50)

Wine 3: Primitivus Primitivo ($23.50)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous. But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:

CAMPANIA -- THE PENULTIMATE ITALY EPISODE -- WOW

We are in the shin of Italy. Yes, the shin!

A varied landscape, from the foothills of volcanic Mt. Vesuvius to the valleys and the coastal plains… its another one of those regions with… variety…!

You ever heard of Pompei?! That's here too!

And the wines we're drinking are deeply interconnected with the history of Pompei.

It's pretty cool actually.

Even though the wines taste bad :)

In therapy, we are talking about Dan's new relationship.

Discussing how we balance ME TIME versus US TIME when we are kicking things off with a new buddy and we reaaaallllyy want to spend a looooot time time with them but also… we arepeople too? And we have lives also?

And those things require attention… and it’s a DELICATE BALANCE!

So that's what we are talking about. Togetherness vs. independence.

Wine 1: Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Bianco ($20)

Wine 2: Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso ($24)

Wine 3: Mastroberardino Irpinia Aglianico ($22)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous.But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:

Working our way through CENTRAL ITALY this week, we are hitting FOUR REGIONS:

1. Umbria
2. Lazio
3. Marche
4. Abruzzo

Four regions all cuddled together in the middle there right by Tuscany, but all offering their own lovely things!

This is one of those obscure areas that we like the best! The areas that tend to have more natural wines, and where we tend to be pleasantly surprised :)

We are EXCITED about Italian wine this week! Weeee!

In the personal realm, we discuss…

Reconnecting with our passion for wine

How it ebbs and flows

Finding our slice of wine… the way wine can connect to all the things we care about…

Wine & history…wine & social connection… wine & the environment… wine & being drunk(!)

Then we get a bit bigger to finding your calling and your purpose

The role of your values in finding your calling

It’s a whole thing

Wine 1: Montemelino Bianco ($25)

Wine 2: Berucci Raphael Passerina ($29)

Wine 3: Fantini Montepulciano D'Abruzzo ($15)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous.But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

DISCUSSIONS DU JOUR:

Continuing our tour of CENTRAL ITALY, we now arrive in TUSCANY (Toscana) - right near the very lovely FLORENCE.

It’s the best, because it's good.

Known for Sangiovese with high acid and high tannin and some good wild Italian crunch.

Mostly red wines, but they got some white here too and we're gonna try one of em!

In therapy, we talk about BEING SEEN… seen in our efforts, seen for who we are… its hard! Hard to feel truly seen! Hard to always see others! We're just out here trying to say "HEY IM HERE LOVE ME" … oy!

Wine 1: Sanguineto Bianco Toscana ($25)

Wine 2: Fontodi Chianti Classico 2019 ($59)

Wine 3: Sapaio 'Sapaio' Toscana Rosso IGT 2016 ($67)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people might care about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous.But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week to taste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs from therapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler

Discussions du Jour:

WELCOME TO EMILIA-ROMAGNA! HOME OF PROSCUITTO AND PARMIGIANO!

It's another one of those two-regions-in-one kind of place (Emilia and… Romagna)

It's also the home of… WINE!... or some wine at least… most notably LAMBRUSCO!

Known for bulk, mass-produced Lambrusco

Particularly in Emilia

Ranging from dry to sweet

We also talk a little about complexity in wine and what that means to us and please do share what it means to you if you so please!!!

In a personal life sense, we talk about making new healthy habits, how that can be hard, being overwhelmed with that and other things, and just overall a note on our CAPACITY as HUMAN BEINGS.

Wine 1: Randi Vini Rambela Bianca ($20)

Wine 2: Tenuta Santa Lucia Gallet Frizzante 2023 ($25)

Wine 3: Denny Bini, Lambrusco dell'Emilia Festa ($23)

ABOUT THE QUE SERA SYRAH PODCAST:

After many consecutive Sunday mornings at the wine bar discussing our wine obsessions and our personal lives, we thought to ourselves… do you think other people mightcare about this stuff? The answer to that question is still ambiguous. But we recorded a podcast anyway.

Here's the deal:

🎤It’s a podcast about wine & therapy

🍷Dan and Elo will each bring a wine each week totaste & discuss

😩We will also bring our traumas & triumphs fromtherapy that week to share openly with the world

The goal is to learn about wine and get a little tipsy and be VULNERABLE TOGETHER. How cute?!

CREDITS:

Creators / Cast: Dan Mekpong & Elodie Oliver

Producer / Editor: Jeremy Keeler