Episode 109: A Trepat and Alicante Grape Gab and a bit o’ Bubbly Banter

Posted onAuthorWine Two Five Podcast

Episode 109: A Trepat and Alicante Grape Gab and a bit o’ Bubbly Banter

We’re spending some time in the wine glasses this week with some bubbly banter to find that Steph and Val share a similar South African sparkling wine story. Then it’s time lay down a double dose of grape gab about Alicante before bringing it home with more sparkly speak and a flirty, fun factoid about Trepat. The May Patreon winner is announced and there are shout outs galore!


 

What’s in our glasses:

Steph:  “We all know by now that drinking bubbly is not just for celebrating, THANKFULLY! Today I’m thoughtlessly drinking the NV Graham Beck Brut Rosé

Cap Classique from South Africa. But … maybe you already knew that it was from South Africa when I said “Cap Classique”. I like how the back label reads “flirtatious and fun”… when doesn’t that make you smile? This pretty bottle is 54% Pinot Noir and 46% Chardonnay. Go on and get some for yourself, it is only $18-20/bottle.”

Val: “I love that one! It was the first one I had when I landed in South Africa, got to the beautiful hotel, showered, and took in the garden views over a glass of this. Gorgeous. Makes me want to go back to South Africa, truly one of the most striking places I’ve ever visited on our planet.

NOTE: During the recording Val made a reference to the High Constantia sparkling wine using the term “Kaapse Vonkel” on the label, but it was actually the Simonsig. These are also two great producers of Cap Classique or classic method sparkling wines, and you can see the use of the different terms on these labels.

“But then … this makes me want to go back to Spain. In my glass is the El Miracle by Mariscal, Garnacha Tintorera, from the producer Vicente Gandia in Valencia. This is a 2013, about a $12 bottle. As I mentioned, the grape is Garnacha Tintorera from old vines, but it’s not Grenache! It’s Alicante Bouschet!”

 

Discussion Topic: Grape Gab

This leads us into our Grape Gab. First up? Garnacha Tintorera – or Alicante Bouschet – since we’re already rapping about it.

While Grenache is it’s “daddy” as we like to say, along with Petit Bouschet, this grape is actually Alicante Henri Bouschet, known as a teinturier, or a grape with pigmented juice. Other names include Alicante, Alicante Bouschet, or Tintorera.

Most people don’t realize most grape juice is white and the color only comes from the skins.

And because Val had to dig in a little more about this grape, here’s a little factoid for you: this grape was used quite a bit during prohibition. Because you could still get color after a 3rd press, it’s a high yielding, easy-to-grow grape, it was quite popular. Who knew? We certainly didn’t!

 

Factoid:

This week’s Fun Factoid is about a lesser known grape called Trepat. Steph recently tasted a 100% Trepat brut rosé Cava from Pere Ventura called Tresor and thought it would be fun to mention it on the show, especially since it runs about $15 and tastes great!

Here’s the down-n-dirty:

  • Trepat is a red grape, indigenous to NE Spain, historically used for rosé/rosado Cava
  • Trepat makes light-medium bodied wines with bright acidity (Pinot Noir as a reference)
  • It typically expresses notes of strawberries, raspberries, cherries and rose petals
  • It even has its own festival – Festa del Trepat The first one was in 2010!
  • Trepat is getting more attention and experimentation now, so stay on the lookout for elegant, still wine styles.

 

Wino Radar:

Steph: “WineTutor.tv  – video on Malolactic Fermentation – saw it on Instagram on 4/26/17… and that’s how geeky wine news gets on the radar from time to time. Now, although this material is free, you do have register. What I like about it is that it is great, studious wine information condensed into 8 minutes. I also like that Tim mentions Biogenic Amines like we briefly talked about in episode 104 titled “When Wine Makes You Sick.”  You know that WineTutor.TV has your back when they say, “Study smart, stress less” – what a great tagline!”

Val: “There must be about seven new podcasts in my phone this week, but only one has to do with booze. Just heard the first episode of Tannins and Tunes. With Jessica and Jonathan as your hosts, this show chats about musicals (which I love) and they pair them with wine. It seems you can pair anything with wine these days, so why not some Broadway? So, I found the hosts absolutely audibly adorable, and I hope I’m not prematurely shouting out to these guys, because the last time we found a podcast that paired wines and movies they podfaded. Don’t podfade, guys! I think you’re onto something fun!”

Listeners, here’s the Urban Dictionary definition of podfading, by the way. It’s something we’ve so far been able to avoid due to YOU guys! And we love you for it.

podfade

When a podcast begins putting out episodes more and more sporadically and at greater intervals. Typically begins with only one episode missed, but if a podcast isn’t careful, it can compound, sometimes as severe as one podcast every other month. Podfade often leads to podcast death. (source: urbandictionary.com)

 

Shoutouts:

Steph: “Gunpowder Irish Gin! I tasted it at the Palm Bay International tasting in Denver. Not only am I tickled to meet Irish men behind spirit brands, but this gin has a jackalope as a mascot and is distinctly different from other gins because of the infused Chinese gunpowder tea.”

Val: “My shoutout goes to Carl Rosa & his lovely wife, Sonya, for bringing: www.ExploreSushi.com to Colorado Springs. I learned more about sushi – and how most of us really don’t understand it! The event was sponsored by Williams Sonoma (Colorado Springs Location), and Cherye and Tammy from the store joined in the fun. The Loft also did a great job and the house was packed. Everyone who attended was courteous, engaged and I loved chatting with the folks about wine afterwards as well.

“Which reminds me: some of you new listeners asked about Sake, so I promised to hook you up with Episode 27: A Master Sommelier Joins W25 for Wine and Sake Talk.”

This was a fabulous interview with Master Sommelier Sally Mohr who has the distinction of being the 2nd woman in North America to earn the MS title, and is also an Advanced Sake Professional, which is “…the only English-speaking examination held in Japan to test the comprehension of all things related to the production, styles, and taste profiles of that unique Japanese beverage – Sake.“ (source: sallymohrms.com)

 

Patreon Love: 

Thank you so much to our Patreon supporters! Sending out some Patreon Love to:

“TENacious Tasters”: 

 

Jeff E from the hilarious drinking show, We Like Drinking!

 

Lynn G from Savor the Harvest!

 

 

 

Sebastian S of Sassi Italy tours!

 

“It’s not five o’clock and we don’t care” listeners: Thank you:

  • Meg from South Dakota!
  • Clay from Arizona!
  • Jon in California!
  • Andrew in Illinois!
  • Aswani in California!

We thank you for being a vital part of the W25 listening and sipping community.

Patreon Perks:

You, too, can jump on the Patreon bandwagon – If you like what you hear, you like spending time with our W25 community, then it’s like buying Steph & Val a glass of wine, really.

Why become a Patreon supporter? You get early releases of all episodes, exclusive content, shoutouts and swag!

Also, each month we draw a winner for a “surprise wine gift” for any Patreon supporter  at the $2/month Tastemaker Listener level and higher.

Speaking of which, this month’s winner is Andrew Villareal. You will get a copy of the Girls Gone Grape game, courtesy of Robin Salls! Congratulations.

Do you want to get in on the monthly wine goodies? Go to our Patreon page for details. www.patreon.com/winetwofivepodcast

This episode also brought to you by …

Bright Cellars! Have you taken advantage of the special Wine Two Five listener deal on Bright Cellars? Let us know what wines you got!  https://www.brightcellars.com/WineTwoFive/

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ALSO,

But wait, there’s more! Check out our store where you can score wine books & accessories (for sure). It’s all on our website, along with links to FB, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, & Google+

Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and as Vino With Val on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest.

Steph is on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as the Wine Heroine. You can also connect with her personally on FaceBook.

Until next week, Cheers!