PODCAST Episode 5: Zack Klug from Liten Buffel

By Lenn Thompson on May 29, 2018 0 Comments

This episode was inspired by an Instagram post by Liten Buffel winemaker Zack Klug. He posted something about natural winemakers in California bragging about low alcohol wines — and how picking early for lower alcohol is actually a manipulation as far as he’s concerned.

What started as a conversation about that morphed into one about transparency, terroir and how Zack approaches wine and winemaking — and how everything he says only applies to him and no one else.

Curious to hear a natural winemaker talk about wine without dogma or feeling bad about yourself if you enjoy a wine that doesn’t fit the always-nebulous definition of “natural wine”? Check out this week’s episode.

About Author

Lenn Thompson

Lenn Thompson, a proud Pittsburgh, PA native, moved to Long Island more than a decade ago and quickly fell in love with the region’s dynamic and emerging wine community. A digital and content marketing and community professional by day, he founded NewYorkCorkReport.com in early 2004 to share his passion for the wines, beers and spirits of New York State. After running that site -- which became the premier source for independent New York wine commentary, reviews and news -- for 12 years, he launched TheCorkReport.us in late 2016 to add the wines of Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Vermont and beyond to his beat. Lenn currently serves as the wine columnist for The Suffolk Times weekly newspaper and is the former editor of the Long Island Wine Gazette. He contributes or has contributed to publications like Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Beverage Media, Edible Brooklyn, Edible East End and Edible Hudson Valley. Lenn served on the board of directors for Drink Local Wine, and is the creator and founder of TasteCamp, an annual regional wine immersion conference for writers and trade. An admitted riesling and cabernet franc fanatic, he’s intensely passionate about eating local and the many local wine regions of America. Lenn lives in Miller Place, NY with his wife Nena, son Jackson, daughter Anna and their dog, Casey Lemieux Thompson.