Choosing wine should not feel like a gamble. Each week Colin, Joel, and Aaron put bottles to the test so you know which wines are actually worth buying.
Every episode includes an honest wine review, practical wine tips, and real opinions about what is overrated, what is underrated, and what deserves a spot in your cart.
No wine snobbery. No confusing jargon. Just straightforward help picking better bottles. If you have ever stood in the wine aisle wondering “Is this actually good?” you are in the right place.
Pour a glass and listen in.
Think You Know Zinfandel? Try This Primitivo | Pietraventosa Allegoria Primitivo Gioia del Colle DOC 2021 Review
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 (https://unpinnedwineclub.com/products/pietraventosa-allegoria-primitivo-gioia-del-colle-doc-2021)
Explore UNPINNED’s wine selection (https://unpinnedwineclub.com)
The wine was provided free of charge. This is not a paid sponsorship, and all opinions are our own.
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Email: cheers@stopwastingyourwine.com (mailto:cheers@stopwastingyourwine.com)
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
27 Oct 2026
This $13 Wine Tastes Like a Pine Tree? | Hermes Retsina 2025 Review
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?
Support the show!
Buy us a glass! (https://buymeacoffee.com/cheers3)
Connect with the show. We would love to hear from you!
Stop Wasting Your Wine on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/stopwastingyourwine/)
Email: cheers@stopwastingyourwine.com (mailto:cheers@stopwastingyourwine.com)
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?
20 Oct 2026
Big Flavor for $18. But Is This Greek Red for You? | Greek Wine Cellars Nemea Agiorgitiko 2022 Review
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%
Support the show!
Buy us a glass: https://buymeacoffee.com/cheers3 (https://buymeacoffee.com/cheers3)
Connect with Stop Wasting Your Wine:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stopwastingyourwine/ (https://www.instagram.com/stopwastingyourwine/)
Website: https://stopwastingyourwine.com (https://stopwastingyourwine.com/)
Email: cheers@stopwastingyourwine.com (mailto: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
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
25,565
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
21 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 82 / 100
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