Guide to Wine Podcast: Episode 147

Rethinking How We Discover Wine w/ Ashwin Muthiah (Part 2)

​Air Date: Wednesday, March 11th, 2026

Listen to the Podcast!

Most wine drinkers assume the wines they see are the only wines that exist, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In part two of my conversation with Unpinned Wine Club founder, Ashwin Muthiah, he offers insight into how wine discovery actually works, from the systems that favor familiarity to the biases that keep lesser known grapes out of view.

He shares how his own lived experience in wine regions across Europe shaped a different approach to curation, one rooted in storytelling, balance, and drinkability. He uses this unique approach in selecting wines for his monthly club shipment.

We also dive into what natural wine really means, why it gained a reputation for being “funky,” and how Ashwin thinks about balancing experimentation with drinkability. Along the way, he highlights rare and underrepresented grapes from places like Greece, Hungary, and Georgia, and explains why pronunciation, pricing, and perception all play a role in what we choose to drink.
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If you’ve ever felt boxed into the same familiar wines, this episode offers a clearer look at why that happens and what’s really shaping wine discovery.

SPECIAL OFFER!!!
Skip the waitlist to join Ashwin’s UnPINNED Wine Club with this exclusive link just for pod listeners - https://unpinnedwineclub.com/pages/access-upwcqrz

Connect with Ashwin
Website - https://unpinnedwineclub.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/unpinnedwine/ 

Grapes mentioned by Ashwin

• Xinomavro (Greece)
• Juhfark, Furmint (Hungary)
• Kisi (Georgia)

Episode Highlights:

• Wine discovery is shaped by access, not just taste
  
• How wine club themes are curated
  
• Forgotten and underrepresented grape varieties
  
• Natural wine vs flawed wine
  
• Why pronunciation affects buying decisions
  
• How comparison tastings lower the risk of trying new wines
  
• Examples of grapes from Greece, Hungary, and Georgia
  
  

Thank you to my quarterly sponsor, Last Bottle Wines, for sponsoring this episode.  Go to www.lastbottlewines.com and use code CORKANDFIZZ for 10% off your order! 📧 And be sure to sign up for their mailing list so you never miss a bottle!

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