Not sure if it was the wine or the candy or the fact that we recorded it on Friday the 13th, but we lost our minds in this episode! Halloween is the perfect time for wine (and, heck, what time isn’t perfect for wine?!?!), but not just any wine - spooky wine! Now, we don’t mean that it tastes haunted, what we mean is that it has the perfect combination of a creepy name, a spooky label, and a crowd-pleasing taste. And we think we have found three really good choices! Going to a Halloween party and...
Oct 15, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 94
Maybe we’re just crazy, but we have to believe that you can find a high quality Pinot Noir for a reasonable price. Believe us when we say - it’s not easy! In our third foray into trying to find high QPR Pinot Noirs, we try once again to help you find a wine you’ll like that won’t bust your wallet. We also talk about how Pinot Noirs from Burgundy are different from those found in the United States and other New World, warmer climate regions. Let’s face it - the American palate is just tuned to pr...
Oct 08, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 93
If you have been wondering if you should try Pét-Nat, we are here to tell you unequivocally - YES! Pét-Nat wines are natural sparkling wines that are like your friendly weird cousin - different, entertaining, sometimes exciting, and just fun to be around. Considered to be the oldest form of sparkling wine, Pét-Nats are low-intervention sparklers that are fizzy and funky - but also delicious and festive. Whether you are into sparkling wines, natural wines, vegan wines, orange wines, artisanal win...
Oct 01, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 92
We know what you’re thinking - but it’s true! They make wine in New York - and some really good wines, too! In fact, New York state is the third largest producer of wine in the US - bet you didn’t know that, either! In this episode, we focus on the Finger Lakes region and specifically dry Rieslings, which are fantastic wines for Autumn. We found the style of the wines we tried to be really intriguing, even exotic in some cases, and definitely worth seeking out. Riesling is a bit of an underrated...
Sep 24, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 91
Don’t get us wrong - wine doesn’t have to be serious, but we do think that Rosé can sometimes be treated as an unserious wine, and that’s just not fair. Over the course of our podcast, we have come to truly appreciate Rosé wines, and one of our very favorite types of Rosés is Rosé made from Pinot Noir. Rosé has gotten a bad rap in part because sometimes it is not made in an intentional way - what we mean by that is that there are methods of making Rosé where the wine is an afterthought rather th...
Sep 17, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 90
We had the pleasure of spending time with Karl Weichold, the estate winemaker at Stoller Family Estate, located in the famous Dundee Hills in Oregon. Karl shares his story of how he became a renowned winemaker, starting with a degree in Biochemistry and Genetics from Texas A&M, to working at an Italian restaurant where he first fell in love with wine, to Texas wine country, and then to Oregon where he worked at 12th and Maple and Erath before landing at Stoller. In our conversation we talk a...
Sep 10, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 89
It’s the most wonderful time of the year - football season! And football season means tailgating, and tailgating means wine! Wait, what?!? Did we say wine? You bet your sweet pigskin we did! While beer may still be the beverage of choice for most, we think wine is a perfect fit for all of the food and fun that you find at a tailgate - whether at the stadium or at home. And canned wines - which are growing in popularity and availability - are a perfect choice because they are easy to pack in and ...
Sep 03, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 88
Ever noticed that sometimes a wine bottle will call out that it comes from a specific vineyard? And when you’ve noticed that on the bottle, have you ever wondered, hey, what’s the big deal? Well, we are here to tell you if it's a big deal or not. If you have been around wine nerds, you know that they start geeking out about single vineyard wines, and if you have been around wine snobs you know that they will sometimes pay outrageous sums of money for select wines that come from specific vineyard...
Aug 27, 2023•11 min
Been wondering just what the heck Orange Wine is? Well, drop on in and we’ll tell you what’s what! You can kind of think of Orange Wine as a cousin to Rosé wine, but there are some key differences - differences in the grapes, the production, and the tastes of the wines. If you have been hesitant to try Orange Wine, we’re here to tell you you shouldn’t be. And, yes, it may seem hip, cool, and in vogue, but the reality is that this is a style of wine that has been around for millennia. So, before ...
Aug 20, 2023•11 min
Our goal in life is to find high QPR wines to share with you all, and in Monastrell, we think we have found a QPR Superstar! Two of the wines we tasted were $10.99, and they way, way, way outpunch their price. Stop wasting your money on overpriced California Cabs, and discover this wine which gives you much more bang for your buck! Also known as Mourvèdre, Mataro, and a million other names, Monastrell is the Spanish name for this wine, and if you love big red wines, you are in for a treat. Monat...
Aug 13, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 87
We are off on another Italian Wine Adventure, and this time we bring you a wonderful white wine from Umbria called Orvieto. Wait, what’s that you say? You’ve never heard of Orvieto? Well, we need to change that! Orvieto is a white wine made from a blend of grapes - most predominantly Grechettto and Trebbiano Toscano (aka Procanico and Ugni Bianco) - and that blend of grapes can vary quite a bit! As a result, we found the taste of these wines to be quite different from each other - which is a rea...
Aug 06, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 86
In this special episode we have the honor to meet and speak with Rita Pinto, the CEO of Quinta do Pinto winery. Rita’s story is an incredible tale of family, love, passion, and hard work. Truly a family-run winery, as well as a mostly woman-run winery, Quinta do Pinto makes both new and traditional Portuguese wines in a low intervention, sustainable, and organic way, using natural fermentation and vintage cement tanks - the way wines have been made for hundreds of years. She also teaches us abou...
Jul 30, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 85
Seriously - $4.99?!? How good can a wine actually be at $4.99?!? Well, we are here to tell you, and you may just be surprised by what we have to say! In this episode we do a side-by-side comparison of the Costco Kirkland Signature Grave Pinot Grigio with two other easy to find Pinot Grigios to see how it stacks up. Pinot Grigio is a wine that some wine snobs are down on, but we’ll tell you confidently - don’t listen to them. A good Pinot Grigio is like a warm summer day, and there are few wines ...
Jul 23, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 84
California Cabernet Sauvignon gets all the attention, but a good California Zinfandel is a thing of beauty! Often overlooked and definitely underrated, when done well, Zinfandel is a velvety, rich, complex, juicy, food friendly wine. All that being said, there are some California Zinfandels that give their brothers and sisters a bad name, and we want to help you find the good ones and avoid the bad ones. Zinfandel is one of the oldest wine grape varietals grown in California, and many of the old...
Jul 16, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 83
Do not be fooled by the name! Petite Sirah is anything but petite, and if you enjoy big, jammy red wines, this is the wine for you! A distant cousin of Syrah, Petite Sirah is a wine all its own. Petite Sirah is a California wine through and through, with bold flavors and an amazingingly rich mouthfeel - and in fact, the grape is grown almost exclusively in California. Also known as Durif, Petite Sirah is perfect to pair with rich red meats, like a steak or a California style barbecue. We will ad...
Jul 09, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 82
We never thought we'd say it, but because of this episode, we are now GSM fans! GSM blends are one of the two classic red wine blends known all over the world - so they are definitely something you need to have in your repertoire. But we will admit it - red wine blends can be so tricky because very often the winemaker doesn’t tell you exactly what grapes are in the blend. And if you don’t know the grapes, how can you know the wine?!? Seriously! Made from Grenache, Syrah or Shiraz if you are in A...
Jul 02, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Think beer is the beverage of choice for Independence Day?!? We beg to differ! As with any special occasion, sparkling wine is perfect, and what better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with a good old American sparkling wine! We are joined in this episode by our daughter Marianna whose birthday just happens to be July 4th (that is not a joke!) and her friend Jack who help us rate and review three sparkling wines from the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. We learn about how much ...
Jun 25, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 80
Cirò may be the longest continually produced wine in the world, and legend has it that it is the wine that the Greek gods drank during the original Olympic games. So, if you haven’t heard of it yet, or haven’t tried it yet, we have one question for you: “Do you even lift, bro?!?” Cirò is the flagship wine of Calabria in southern Italy, and is a great choice for those who like Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and other food friendly, medium bodied red wines. It is also a wine with roots in Greece, a 3...
Jun 18, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 79
There is a famous Latin proverb “In vino veritas” which means “in wine there is truth.” In this new recurring episode series, we do something really different: We throw away the script, let Carmela do a lot more of the talking, and we find out just how much truth there is in wine. Listen in as we drink some wine, and while the wine does its work, we let the truth just pour out! Today we drink a Cava while on vacation in New York City and talk about our first experiences with sparkling wine, if y...
Jun 11, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 78
We are back with one of our popular Costco Kirkland wine challenges! Now, Chianti has not always had the greatest reputation, but over the past several years it has improved in quality and popularity, and it is one of the flagship wines of Italy from the beautiful Tuscany area. Costco has their house version of a Chianti Classico Riserva, and in this episode, we compare it to two other Chianti Classicos and give you our honest opinion of how the Kirkland Signature version stacks up. We also talk...
Jun 04, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 77
The 2004 movie Sideways did a number on Merlot, hurting its reputation and suppressing sales. But was that impact justified? Did we judge Merlot too harshly? Is it time to let Merlot rejoin the cool kids table?!? In this episode, we give Merlot a fighting chance to win back a place in our hearts - and our cellar. We admit we are not the biggest fans of Merlot, but can one of these wines change our mind? We selected three highly rated wines, all under $20, and two from the Bordeaux region of Fran...
May 28, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Looking for the perfect Summer Sipper? Then you need to know about Zweigelt! Wait, what’s that you ask - WTF is Zweigelt?!? We’ll tell you! This light, fruity, and fun red from Austria is an excellent Cookout wine, and pairs wonderfully with BBQ. If you like Gamay or Pinot Noir, this is a wine you really need to know! You can drink it chilled! It’s a red wine that can be paired with fish! It often comes in a 1 liter bottle and with a screw cap! C’mon, what else do you need to know - it’s like th...
May 21, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 75
It’s never too late to have Sekt for the first time! Yes, we use that bad joke A LOT in this episode - but we also explore German Sparkling Wine - which is called Sekt - and discover what makes it unique,. Did you know that Germany is the third largest producer of sparkling wine in the world? We didn’t either! So there must be something about this German Sekt that is worth your hard earned money, and you don’t have to pay a lot for good Sekt! And, yes, we use that joke A LOT in this episode, too...
May 14, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 74
How do you show mom you really love her on Mother’s Day? By serving her favorite wine, of course! But what if you don’t know what her favorite wine is?!? No worries, we’ve got you covered. No matter who occupies that mom-space in your life, Mother’s Day is the perfect time to show her how much you appreciate her and think about her, and we think a great way to show some of that love and appreciation is through a thoughtful wine choice. (What did you expect us to say?!? We’re a wine podcast, afte...
May 07, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Babich Wines make world-class Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and other varietals. They are also the largest family owned winery in New Zealand, and the story of how the family came to make wine is fascinating to say the least. We are honored to have David Babich, CEO of Babich Wines join us for this special episode. David took on the role of CEO in 2001, and has helped to lead Babich Wines into one of New Zealand’s leading wineries and a highly regarded global wine brand. What comes ac...
Apr 30, 2023•55 min
Ever walked into a wine shop or the wine section of a grocery store and been totally overwhelmed and confused by the vast sea of wines that are simply labeled red blend? Us too! So to remove this confusion, in this minisode we do a quick overview - a primer if you will - on the two major types of red blends that most (but not all) red wine blends are based - Bordeaux and GSM. Both come from France, and both are known by other names that you may also be familiar with, like Meritage and Claret. Th...
Apr 23, 2023•13 min
If you have ever wondered what legs in your wine glass mean, we are here to tell you. Guess what - it’s probably not what you think (unless you are some sort of scientist, of course). If you have been out to dinner or to a wine party and watched people wax poetic about the legs, or tears, in their wine glass and wondered “that the hell are they talking about?” - we are going to solve the mystery. And, we are going to help you explain to them what the legs in their glass actually mean. Long thoug...
Apr 16, 2023•10 min
The search for high QPR (quality to price ratio) wine is like our lifequest! And, the peak of this quest is for high QPR Pinot Noir because finding great, reasonably priced Pinot Noir is so damn hard! If you are a Pinot Noir lover, we have a GREAT wine for you in this episode that hits all the marks, including price point. And if you are not a Pinot Noir convert, we think this wine may just change your mind! We talk about why we love Pinot Noir, why Pinot Noir is one of the most expensive wines ...
Apr 09, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Wondering if you should get on the Orange wine bandwagon but a little hesitant to try? Don’t worry - we will demystify Orange wine for you and help convince you that it is a bandwagon you should just jump right on! Not sure what Orange wine is? Well, it’s not wine made from Oranges, but it is a style of wine you need to know because it is growing in popularity and even getting some hype! If you are a rosé drinker, this is a wine for you. Wait, you say you are a red wine drinker? Then this is als...
Apr 02, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 71
The next time you are at an Italian restaurant, do yourself a favor and reach for a Salice Salentino! Never heard of it? Well, now’s a great time to find out more. Hailing from the Puglia area of Southern Italy, Salice Salentino is a wonderful, rustic wine that will make red wine lovers, Italian food lovers, and basically anyone who likes food and wine, rejoice! Made from the Negroamaro grape which is almost exclusively found in Italy and widely grown in Puglia, Salice Salentino is a wine known ...
Mar 26, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 70
