Episode 175: Wine Tasting Potpourri Podcast Party
Podcasters, patrons and listeners, lend us your afternoon! We Like Drinking Podcast host Jeff E. and die-hard supporter Diane H. enthusiastically join us to taste some #W25Challege wines. For this episode, we popped some crazy, unusual bottles, and got some unfiltered input from around the table.
This episode is a little different because we typically do not just taste wines and spew forth tasting notes. But we really wanted to share some bottles with hard core local supporters and see what happened. So while we are at wine camp this week, please enjoy some #W25Challenge fun!
[This episode was recorded on 8 August 2018.]
In the Room
Behind the mics are Diane Howard – one of our “It’s not five o’clock and we don’t care” Listeners and a friend of Val’s. Diane is retired Army, a lover of wine, and a podcast junkie like the rest of us. She’s been a supporter of the show from practically the beginning.
And – Jeff Eckles – one of our “TENacious Tasters” and our podcast brother! Jeff was on this show back in December of 2015. Way back then! He is the host and producer of the award winning We Like Drinking Podcast, and records every week with his co-hosts Jeff Solomon and John Ruyak.
In the Glasses (6:05)
We are tasting four very unique wines and two even more unique spirits today. Each of these bottles has a story as far as how it got to the table. They are from different parts of the world and reflect production and stories from different cultures. What’s in them is even more fascinating. At least we think so.
So we decided to build a show around it to (hopefully) entertain you while we’re at the Society of Wine Educators (SWE) conference in New York this week.
*Note: if you want to see what’s happening, follow the #SWECONF2018 tag on Social Media. Val does, just so you know, consider this the most wonderful time of the year – yes, even more than Christmas.
This is the whole show, yo. Steph, Val, Diane and Jeff are tasting this stuff and giving you the 411. So let’s dig in.
2017 White Mischief by The Hunting Lodge, Auckland, New Zealand
This is a white wine Diane brought back from New Zealand. Here’s the thing – no one knows what grapes are in this bottle, but we had a fun time trying to figure it out.
We got the ripping acidity & herbal goodness (hello pyrazines) from what we attributed to Sauvignon Blanc, but hey, there could have been Albarino’s juicy fruit and orange aromaticity, and a detectable phenolic bitterness from something like Pinot Grigio.
As we sipped the wine later, after recording, we imagined there could also have been some Chardonnay’s fingerprints on this in the form of weightiness.
Despite what you heard, it did not/NOT taste like chicken.
https://www.thehuntinglodge.com/
2012 Sivi (Pinot) Grigio Ambra by Movia, Goriška Brda, Primorska, Slovenia (11:27)
Steph brought this baby back from Italy a couple of years ago. This wine was made with the Pinot Grigio grape in the style of the amber wines typical of this region of Slovenia and neighboring Northern Italy.
The color was a beautiful copper – or ramato – color due to 10 days of skin contact, followed by wood aging.
Please excuse the fact that Val spit on her microphone while trying to get ahead of the slurp fest. And please excuse that too. We suspect the still prominent acidity had something to do with it.
2012 Koloni by Solms Delta, Franschhoek Valley, Western Cape, South Africa (16:50)
This wine is made with Muscat de Frontignan and de Alexandria, harvested late, and freaking aged on the less for 10 months.
Let that sink in. You’ll have time. Because Val goes around her backside to get to her elbow in describing lees aging using the second fermentation in bottle in the classic method sparkling wine production. See, Diane loves her some Champagne, and she’s a hard core bread baker extraordinaire. So she got it.
The wine was dry, believe it or not, and really rocked the Cambozola cheese we were nibbling on. The acidity was still quite fresh, which was also a surprise, and balanced out the 14% alcohol!
Solms Delta is a special, cultural experience – in addition to the winemaking – that is not to be missed. Please give them a visit.
2014 Halleck “Find Your Light” Pinot Noir, Sebastopol Hills, Sonoma County, California (23:15)
Ross and Jennifer Halleck, Josh Groban, and the Find Your Light Foundation were partners in producing this beautiful Pinot Noir.
The only thing that would make this better would be Josh Groban serenading us as we sipped.
Steph, Diane, Val and her hubby finished this bottle later on the back deck with a lovely sous-vide pork tenderloin finished on the grill. Sorry, neighbors, we’d been sipping for about seven hours by then.
http://www.halleckvineyard.com
http://www.joshgroban.com/news/2015-find-your-light-pinot-noir-now-available-1117336
On to the Spirits! (29:22)
Träkál, spirit from Patagonia (SGC Destilados), Osorno, Chile
Well isn’t this fun? This is a unique category of spirit that Val believes falls somewhere between a brandy and a gin. It was distilled with tree fruits like apples and pears, but also through indigenous fruits and herbs. While triple distilled, it’s quite complex in aroma and mouthfeel.
Delicious on its own, it would be great with tonic water. There are cocktail recipes on the (gorgeous) website, but Val has been making Negronis with it.
From the mountains of Patagonia to the Colorado Mountain town of Crested Butte, this is one very cool liqueur that captures the outdoor, adventurous spirit.
Licor de Manzanilla, Xoriguer, Mahon-Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain (34:17)
While Steph was touring Xoriguer gin distillery, she came across this bright yellow beauty. We were so happy to share such a rare treat because although the Xoriguer gin is available in the US, this liqueur is not.
It’s made with a proprietary blend of herbs and botanicals, but chamomile is the main ingredient. It’s electric yellow, sweet, a little syrupy, and a little goes a long way.
We all finally agreed that in the hands of a skilled mixologist, however, that some brilliant cocktails could be made with this. That is, if it ever shows up in our markets.
Embarrassing Wine Stories from our Guests (37:18 )
In this segment we hear from Diane and Jeff. We learn where the name of Diane’s business, Dinaripper Creations came from.
Then, what happens in Vegas ends up on our podcast, as Jeff gives sage advice about walking with that cell phone in hand and not watching where you’re going. Doh!
Shoutouts (44:17)
Thank you to Diane and Jeff for joining us for this #W25Challenge tasting extravaganza! They both actually took the day off work to hang out with us!
Sponsor & Partner in Wine: Weekly Tasting! (44:25)
Shout out to Weekly Tasting, our show sponsor, and part of the incredible offerings from WTSO! Wine at the best price online, one at a time, til sold out. WTSO offers free shipping options and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
We also enjoy being tempted by their Twitter and Instagram offerings, and think you will too.
Meanwhile, our listeners have their very own listener page at: weeklytasting.com/W25 to sign up and get started! Or just go to our web page and click on the link to get started!
Patreon Love (45:00)
Thank you to our patrons who support us on our Patreon crowdfunding platform! This week our actual patrons are doing the shouting outs!
“Riserva Superiore Supporter”
- Robin from Girls Gone Grape
“Riserva Supporter”
- Antti in Georgia!
“TENacious Tasters”
- Jeff E from the award-winning We Like Drinking podcast
- Sebastian of Sassi Italy Tours
- Jen in Maryland (and the world, according to her Instagram feed)
- David and Lisa in Illinois
- Ann Marie in Virginia
“It’s not five o’clock and we don’t care” Listeners
- Meg in South Dakota
- Clay in Arizona
- In California – Jon, Andrew, Aswani
- Chantel in Ontario, Canada
- Mary Lou in Pennsylvania
- Cathie in Georgia
- In Colorado – Chris and Janet, Diane
- In Illinois – Steve, Renee
- Cathey in Tennessee
- Ashley in North Carolina
- Sean in Ohio
“Tastemaker Listeners”
- David in Scotland
- Carole in Kentucky
- Karen in California
- Chip & Karen in Pennsylvania
- Danielle
- Sirena in New York
- Our newest “Tastemaker” is Annie in Colorado! She says, “Happy to support your awesome podcast. Thank you for making my frequent commutes between Fort Collins and Denver soooo much more enjoyable!”
Thank you, Annie!
Our Patreon page has details www.patreon.com/winetwofivepodcast on how to be entered into our monthly giveaway, receive exclusive content and swag.
All Patrons at the $2/month or higher donation level are entered into the drawing.
Connect: (47:08)
Connect with Diane:
Website: Dinaripper Creations
Facebook: Dinaripper Creations
Instagram: Dinaripper
You all should know where to find Jeff E. by now:
Website: We Like Drinking
Intstagram: We Like Drinking
Facebook: We Like Drinking
Twitter: @WeLikeDrinking1
Private Facebook Group: The Tavern
Oh, and …
Between each weekly chat you can find us on the social spaces @WineTwoFive, and play in our private FaceBook group called Wine Two Five Community!
Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and everywhere else as @VinoWithVal.
Connect with Steph online as @TheWineHeroine.
Also, find us on the My Wine Society App.
