This episode starts a series focused on California wine regions. We spent most of the summer learning about wines from Europe and now we are looking to explore wines from the state that produces about 85% of US wine, and we’re starting with the Russian River Valley. The Russian River Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Sonoma County, California. There are more than a million acres of land within Sonoma and the region produces twice as many grapes as Napa. With such a diverse landsca...
Sep 27, 2017•19 min
Priorat is a Spanish DOQ (translates to “Qualified Appellation of Origin”), located in the north-eastern part of Spain, in Catalonia. This is on the Mediterranean side of Spain, only about 10 miles from the Mediterranean sea. DOQ (also called DOCa outside of Catalonia) is the top “qualification level” for Spanish wine regions, and Priort is one of only two DOQ wine regions in Spain, along with Rioja . Although Priorat is a small region, with 4,700 acres of vineyards from about 600 growers and 10...
Sep 20, 2017•20 min
Time for another four wines! We have a little of everything this episode, red, white and rose but all French wine and all fantastic. Our tasting notes are below. Domaine de Bellevue La Galoche Beaujolais Rosé 2016 - priced around $15. This beautiful pink colored rose wine is made from 100% Gamay. It has strong fruity nose of strawberries, watermelon and some minerality. It's a light bodied, dry wine (although the fruitiness really tricks you into thinking it's sweet) with crisp acidity and flavo...
Sep 13, 2017•17 min
This week we head back into obscure wine grapes and regions with Greco di Tufo. There is still some warm weather left so don’t break out your sweaters and cabs just yet. We have one more crisp summer weather wine to talk about. Greco di Tufo wine is made from the Greco grape and it's ancestor is thought to have been brought to Southern Italy by the ancient Greeks. Although the grape variety is permitted in blends in several DOCs in southern Italy, it shines in the Greco di Tufo DOCG in Compania....
Sep 06, 2017•14 min
This week’s episode we are talking wine news. The articles listed below are featured in this week’s episode: Alcohol as a study tool? Drinking after learning boosts memory by Beth Mole ARS Technica August 3, 2017 New Zealand: thousands of bottles of allegedly fraudulent wine exported by Eleanor Ainge Roy The Guardian August 5, 2017 The year in California wine by Mark C. Anderson SF Gate August 21, 2017 Blue Wine Is Finally Coming to the U.S. by Rafael Tonon Eater August 25, 2017 This Wine Brand ...
Aug 30, 2017•30 min
If you are a listener of the show for any length of time you know we love to talk about rare or unknown grape varieties and regions. This week is no exception with the rare and mysterious grape from Austria known as Saint Laurent. It’s a highly aromatic dark-skinned wine grape variety used in blends and varietal wines. As of 2013, there are about 5,000 acres of St. Laurent vines with major plantings in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Many compare it to Pinot Noir but to us, that i...
Aug 23, 2017•21 min
Over the next couple of weeks we’re changing pace from summer whites and trying some delicious red wines that can be enjoyed in warmer weather. Cinsault is a red wine grape mostly used in blends like the reds of the Southern France and there is a lot of it! As of 2010, there were about 90,000 acres of vines making it the 25th most grown grape. This week's episode we discuss: Where it's grown? What climate is best? Flavor characterisitics Food pairings...
Aug 16, 2017•16 min
If you’ve listened to the podcast in recent weeks, you may have noticed a small focus on Italian white wines as well as white wines in general. It’s not that we don’t enjoy reds in the summer, but rather, we wanted to give you some light, crisp wine options for summer instead of the usually sweet wine or Pinot Gris that dominate the shelves in wine shops. So this week we continue that journey into lesser known varieties with a white wine and grape from Southern Italy called Falanghina. This week...
Aug 09, 2017•13 min
This week we're talking about Vermentino. Vermentino is a light-bodied white wine and grape that grows mostly in Italy on the island of Sardinia. There is about 22,000 acres worldwide so it's not a very common grape variety and information on this wine hard to come by. This week's episode we discuss: where Vermentino gorwn Sardinia, Italy Vermentino di Gallura DOCG Flavor characterisitics Food pairings
Aug 02, 2017•12 min
This week we’re talking about a wine region in Italy you probably haven’t heard of called Lugana which produces a light, dry white wine of the same name. We were able to get our hands on a couple of bottles and found it to be a perfect addition to our summertime wines. So let’s get into it. This week we cover: Where is the Lugana DOC? Geography and climate What grape is in Lugana and why is it so confusing? Styles of Lugana Flavor characteristics and food pairings Wine Recommendations: Ca Lojera...
Jul 26, 2017•16 min
It's time again for another four wines episode. A time to talk about four different wines we've enjoyed recently that don't fit in an upcoming episode but we love them so much we had to share with you. These wines are awesome and definitely worth trying out this summer. Check out the recommendations and tasting notes below. Cheers! Bründlmayer Brut NV - priced around $35. This wine has a nose of fresh bread, menthol cigarette, and pear. It has high acidity with a medium body and flavors of apple...
Jul 19, 2017•15 min
This week's episode we are talking wine news. The articles listed below are featured in this week's episode: Rioja Grapples With How to Define Its Best Wines By Eric Asimov New York Times May 25, 2017 P.F. Chang's Created Two Wines to Pair with your Favorite Asian Food By Sarah Whitten of CNBC June 8, 2017 For Total Wine, it’s total war against alcohol regulations By Dan Adams Boston GLOBE MAY 20, 2017 Record number of English and Welsh wine companies launched in 2016 By Rob Davies, The Guardian...
Jul 12, 2017•30 min
his week we are talking about German Sekt. Sekt means sparkling wine in German and in our opinion you can never have too much Sekt in your life. As you know we love all sparkling wine, but Sekt is not the easiest to find. This is because Germans love their sparkling wine, so much that the annual (German) per capita consumption of about five liters (of sparkling wine) is the highest in the world. Most Sekt doesn’t leave the country; in fact as of 2011, of the 420 million liters of Sekt that was p...
Jul 05, 2017•18 min
This week we continue our series on lesser known white wine varieties with a french wine called Muscadet. The name of this wine is rather confusing; not named for the region it hails from (Pays de la Loire) or the grape used (Melon de Bourgogne). Some believe the name originates from people believing the wine had a "musky" aroma but that is also confusing since the flavors of this wine are subtle and anything but musky. In this week's episode we discuss: Melon de Bourgogne the grape. Where did i...
Jun 28, 2017•14 min
Once one of Italy’s most famous white wines, Soave has had its ups and downs, and can now be a little tough to find. Fortunately, there are some great Soave out there if you’re willing to look. Mostly made from the Garganega grape, Soave dedicates 20,00 vines to this once popular wine. This week's episode we discuss: Where is Soave? Why is Soave the perfect place to grow Garganega? Soave's bad reputation and what they are doing to overcome it Wine styles, flavor characteristics, and food pairing...
Jun 21, 2017•16 min
We enjoy discovering wines made from lesser known grapes or regions so this episode we talk about Grüner Veltliner, which after this episode might be your new favorite summer white wine. Grüner Veltliner is a grape that makes a dry white wine by the same name that is grown almost exclusively in Austria. The name translates to “Green Wine of Veltlin” - an area in the lower Alps during the 1600’s that is now part of Valtellina, Italy. There are about 50,000 acres of Grüner Veltliner worldwide with...
Jun 14, 2017•23 min
This week we’re talking about the sparkling wine Crémant d’Alsace. You know we have a love affair with sparkling wine so we’re excited to talk about this region and its delicious wines. We did talk about the Alsace wine region in episode 21 of this podcast when we covered Gewürztraminer. This week we discuss: What is Crémant wine? Review the method for making Champagne Alsace the wine region and it's terrior Crémant d’Alsace scope and styles Flavor characteristics Food pairings...
Jun 07, 2017•20 min
It's time for another edition of Four Wines! About every eight weeks or so we spend an episode talking about four random wines we drank recently. These wines might be varietals or regions we covered in a previous episode but the wine is so delicious that we can't keep it to ourselves. This week's episode takes a journey to Italy and the Western part of the US.
May 31, 2017•14 min
New Zealand is known as the “Sauvignon Blanc capital of the World” which we covered way back in episode seven of this podcast. For this episode we're going to learn more about New Zealand wines and focus on the second biggest varietal after Sauvignon Blanc, which is Pinot Noir. In this week's episode we discuss: History of wine in New Zealand Climate and Geography of New Zealand Sustainability in New Zealand Winemaking Pinot Noir in New Zealand and why it grows so well. Flavor Characteristics of...
May 24, 2017•23 min
Summer is fast approaching which means it’s time to swap your boots and Cabs for sandals and light fruity wines. Some our favorite warm weather wines are dry Rosé. Rosé is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. They're made from a wide variety of grapes and can be found all around the globe. It can be made still, semi-sparkling or sparkling and with a wide range of sweetness levels from highly dry Provençal rosé to swe...
May 17, 2017•15 min
This episode we bring you interesting wine news for Spring 2017, plus our reactions and opinions. Articles we cover: “Ignore the Snobs, Drink the Cheap, Delicious Wine” by Bianca Bosker. New York Times. Summary: Bianca Bosker says mass-produced, committee-designed wines deserve love too. “Wine Legislation Roundup: A Consumer's Guide to 2017 State Politics” by Emma Balter. Wine Spectator. Summary: We touch on bills being considered in Indiana regarding a tax break for beer made with locally grown...
May 10, 2017•34 min
he first Friday in May is International Sauvignon Blanc Day; to honor this popular grape variety, we’re going to explore major regional Sauvignon Blanc styles and their flavors. In this week's episode, we discuss: Where Sauvignon Blanc comes from How the vine grows Winemaking styles Food pairings Three main regional styles, where to find them and flavor characteristics
May 03, 2017•19 min
May is Finger Lakes Wine Month and to celebrate, this episode is all about Finger Lakes! New York state makes more wine than any other US state after California, and it's centered around the Finger Lakes AVA, which was established in 1982 and includes 11,000 acres of vineyards. It's the largest wine-producing region in New York State, located in Upstate New York, south of Lake Ontario and is home to 130 wineries producing about 90% of the state’s wine. This week we discuss: The History of Finger...
Apr 26, 2017•16 min
This week is part two of a two part series on Burgundy. This week we continue our journey and talk about one of the best wines we ever had, ever. In this week's episode we discuss: Modern History of Burgundy Wine regions and wine classifications Flavor characteristics of white Burgundy Food pairings
Apr 19, 2017•19 min
Burgundy is all about two grapes: pinot noir and chardonnay, which is the only aspect of Burgundy that is simple. Everything else can be complex and confusing to the average wine lover but we are using the next two episodes to break down some of that confusion. Burgundy has such a long history of wine and vine cultivation so we are only going to scratch the surface. We hope you enjoy this episode. In this week's episode we discuss: Early history of Burgundy wine Climate, Geography and grapes Red...
Apr 12, 2017•17 min
Time for another edition of Four Wines! If you're new to our show, every couple of months we like to pause and take an episode to talk about wines we love that do not fit into an upcoming episode. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed researching for it!
Apr 05, 2017•18 min
People view Pinot Grigio as a super light, thin, patio-pounder. Well, this may be the case for a good chunk of the mass produced wine coming out of Northern Italy but if you are quick to generalize, you'll miss out on some fabulous wines. There are so many variations of this wine throughout the world that it cannot be boxed into one type or one style. Pinot Grigio (A.K.A. Pinot Gris, which translated from French literally means "grey pine cone"), has so much more to offer the world than how it's...
Mar 29, 2017•17 min
This week is all about the unique grape that is Nebbiolo. Since it's light in color people often mistake it for a tame wine but this wine is anything but tame. It's big acid and tannin structure require some serious aging and don't even think about drinking this wine without some serious decanting or at least opening the bottle a couple hours before enjoying. Although it might not provide instant gratification, this wine is a must try if you are looking for a serious food wine. In this week's ep...
Mar 22, 2017•19 min
Viognier is an overlooked wine. I think part of the reason is because people have difficulty pronouncing the word and they don't want to sounds stupid. This wine is worth sounding stupid for and do not worry - in this week's episode we say Viognier about 100 times so by the end you'll be an expert. In this week's episode we explore this revived Rhône variety: History (or lack of) of Viognier How it grows and where it grows Winemaking techniques Styles and Flavor characteristics Food pairings...
Mar 15, 2017•16 min
Clarissa Nagy is the winemaker and founder of Nagy’s wines. She has been making wine through her own label since the early 2000’s in Santa Maria Valley which is located in Santa Barbara County, California. We’ve discussed her 2012 Pinot Noir on episode 50 of this podcast and we look forward to sharing the rest of her wines on upcoming episodes. We got a chance to interview Clarissa recently and learn more about her wine journey....
Mar 08, 2017•37 min
