Stop Wasting Your Wine

It looks like white wine. The label says Pinot Noir. So what happens when a familiar red grape loses its color?

Adam Wolf of Saffron Fields returns to join Colin, Joel, and Aaron for a tasting of the 2022 Saffron Fields White Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We explore how it’s made, why a winery would turn its prized red grapes into white wine, and what spending 16 months in neutral oak brings to the glass.

Can you still recognize Pinot Noir without its color? Could this be a white wine for red wine drinkers? And at $68 a bottle, does the experience justify the price? We work through our tasting, share our final ratings, and put our Oregon wine knowledge to the test in Grape Guesses.

Wine featured:
Saffron Fields White Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2022
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Grape: Pinot Noir
ABV: 14%
Price discussed: $68
Aging: 16 months in neutral oak

Saffron Fields provided the wine for this episode.

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Chapters:
00:00 Wait, Pinot Noir Can Be White?
00:21 Welcome Back, Adam Wolf
02:56 How Saffron Fields Makes White Pinot Noir
07:34 The $68 Price Tag
11:18 First Sip and First Impressions
13:37 Tasting: What Carries Over from Red Pinot?
19:02 A White Wine for Red Wine Drinkers?
20:46 Food Pairings and Flavor Notes
29:29 Review and Final Thoughts
37:42 Grape Guesses: How Well Do We Know Oregon Wine?
48:02 Thanks and Where to Find Us

Think you know Zinfandel? Italy might have something to say about that.

This week, Aaron, Joel, and Colin taste the 2022 Pietraventosa Allegoria Primitivo from Puglia, Italy. Primitivo and Zinfandel are the same grape, but does that mean you know what to expect in the glass?

We explore the connection, compare our first impressions, and discuss who this bottle might suit and what to serve alongside it. Plus, Grape Guesses takes us through Primitivo’s history, Puglia’s wine production, and some surprisingly large bottles before we share our final reviews.

Wine featured:Pietraventosa Allegoria Primitivo
Region: Gioia del Colle, Puglia, Italy
Vintage tasted: 2022
Grape: Primitivo
ABV: 14%, as noted in the episode
Price: Approximately $32

Find the wine at UNPINNED Wine Club and Bottle Shop:
Thanks to Ashwin and the team at UNPINNED for providing this episode’s wine. Want to try it yourself? Visit the product page below to check availability and purchase online. Confirm the vintage before ordering, as the listing may differ from the bottle we tasted.
Shop Pietraventosa Allegoria at UNPINNED
Explore UNPINNED’s wine selection
The wine was provided free of charge. This is not a paid sponsorship, and all opinions are our own.

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Chapters
00:00 Just Another Primitivo?
0:13 Welcome Back to Italy
03:20 Meet Pietraventosa Allegoria
03:44 Primitivo and Zinfandel: Same Grape, Different Experience?
06:08 First Impressions and Tasting
12:43 Talking Structure, Acidity and Oak
17:25 Grape Guesses: Primitivo Edition28:32 The Wine Down: Who Is This For?
29:11 Pizza, Pairings and Italian Wine Character
32:49 Review and Final Thoughts
38:19 What’s Next and Where to Find Us

Pine trees probably aren’t what you’re looking for in a glass of white wine. But this $13 bottle gave us plenty to talk about.

We’re tasting Hermes Retsina, a Greek white wine that gets its signature pine character from actual pine resin. Joel made us promise not to open our bottles before recording, and the first sips lead to three very different opinions. Is this a wine we’d reach for again, or one we’re just glad we tried?

We explore how that unexpected ingredient became part of a winemaking tradition, play a round of Grape Guesses, and discuss who this bottle is for. Plus, Colin makes the case that a wine can deserve to be shared even if your friends don’t all love it.

Then we wrap up our Greek wine challenge and choose a winner from three bottles under $20.

Wine details
Wine: Hermes Retsina
Country: Greece
Vintage tasted: 2025
Grape: Roditis
Style: Dry white wine made with pine resin
ABV: 11.5%
Price paid: Approximately $13

Would you give this one a pour?

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Chapters
00:00 An Unexpected Ingredient
00:16 Joel’s Rule: Don’t Open the Bottle
02:25 Meet the $13 Hermes Retsina
03:12 First Sips and Unfiltered Reactions
07:17 What’s Behind That Flavor?
11:27 Grape Guesses: The Retsina Edition
23:39 The Tiebreaker
27:48 Who Is This Wine For?
31:18 Rethinking That First Impression
32:00 Our Ratings: Three Different Verdicts
37:40 Does a Must Share Need to Please Everyone?
41:55 Which Greek Wine Wins the Challenge?

Big fruit, floral notes, and an $18 price tag. This Greek red brings plenty of flavor, but does that make it your kind of wine?

Week two of our Greek Wine Challenge puts Colin’s pick on the table: the 2022 Flowers Agiorgitiko from Greek Wine Cellars in Nemea. It sparks a debate about what we want from a red wine. Is bold flavor enough, or do you want more tannin, acidity, and structure to go with it?

Aaron, Joel, and Colin taste through the bottle, discuss who might enjoy its style, and decide whether it delivers at $18. Along the way, we explore why one bottle doesn’t define a grape and how growing conditions and winemaking can change what ends up in your glass.

Then Joel tests Aaron and Colin with a Greek edition of Grape Guesses, including an underwater wine experiment with a surprising outcome.

Wine reviewed: 2022 Greek Wine Cellars Flowers Agiorgitiko
Region: Nemea, Greece
Price: Approximately $18
ABV: 13%

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stopwastingyourwine/
Website: https://stopwastingyourwine.com
Email: cheers@stopwastingyourwine.com

Chapters
00:00 Colin’s Greek Wine Challenge Entry
01:03 Our First Greek Red Wine
03:44 What’s That Tag Under the Capsule?
05:15 Meet the Bottle: $18 Flowers Agiorgitiko
07:02 First Sips: Sharp, Fruity, and Pungent
10:49 Big Flavor Without the Heavy Structure
13:00 Merlot Vibes, but Something Different
16:45 Getting to Know Agiorgitiko
18:34 How Nemea and Winemaking Shape the Wine
21:13 Final Reviews: Who Is This Wine For?
33:03 Grape Guesses: The Greek Wine Edition
41:15 Joel Teases Next Week’s Weird Wine

There’s crisp, and then there’s this. But is that a good thing?

A $15 Hermes Assyrtiko splits the table as Colin, Joel, and Aaron kick off their Greek wine challenge. Aaron calls it a winner from the first sip. Joel enjoys the intensity. Colin wonders whether the acidity is throwing punches the rest of the wine can’t keep up with.

The mission: find the best Greek wine they can each get their hands on for under $20. This first contender brings citrus, floral notes, and more weight than you might expect. We unpack why “crisp” and “light” aren’t the same thing, debate when acidity becomes too much, and decide whether this bottle deserves a spot in your white wine rotation.

Then it’s Grape Guesses: Greek edition, with questionable geography, strategic guesses, and an ancient drinking game that sparks a disputed finish.

Wine Featured
Wine: Hermes Assyrtiko
Vintage: 2025
Grape: 100% Assyrtiko
Region: Peloponnese, Greece
Style: Dry white
ABV: 13%
Price: Approximately $15

Chapters
00:00 Greek Wine’s Underdog Moment
00:21 The Greek Wine Challenge: Under $20
03:59 Meet the Bottle: Hermes Assyrtiko
05:25 First Sips: Aaron Calls a Winner
07:57 Floral Notes, Big Acidity, and Unexpected Weight
12:38 “Crisp” and “Light” Aren’t the Same Thing
16:48 How to Recognize Acidity and Body
18:34 Can a Wine Have Too Much Acidity?
20:36 The Verdict: Does This Bottle Find Its Balance?
25:47 Would We Pick This Over Our Usual $15 White?
28:29 Joel Teases His Greek Wine Pick
29:55 Grape Guesses: Greek Edition

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