Episode 183: A Punch of Fall
This is our annual celebration of all that is fall! We talk flavors that find themselves into nearly every eat and, yes, drink! Also, we toast #MerlotMe month, discuss post harvest winery activities, and fall cocktails.
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Merlot Intro
We give a little nod to #MerlotMe month with a wine from our sponsor and a flashback to season one of the Wine Two Five Podcast, way back in Episode 28.
#MerlotMe month is an annual October homage to one of the more versatile grape varieties. Remember that time we learned about why Miles hated Merlot in “Sideways?” It’s a great story!
In the Glasses (1:34)
Steph: 2015 Chateau Tessendey Fronsac, Bordeaux, France. It is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc and hand selected for Weekly Tasting by Laura Maniec. (above)
Val: “Fall and Stormy” cocktail: Trader Joe’s Ginger Brew, pumpkin spiced apple cider, dark rum, squeeze of lime, stirred, added wedges of candied orange and lemon (also from TJs).
Rollin’ in the Deep Fall Flavors (4:00)
We like to call this the podcast equivalent of rolling around in a pile of autumn leaves – with a cocktail in one hand.
Sweater weather, cool mornings with a hot beverage, and seasonal flavors mark this favorite time of year! Pears, apples, chestnuts, and squash.
Pumpkin is a favorite ingredient for everything from pasta dough, pancake batter, breads, cookies and even a pasta sauce with sage and sausage.
We love anything heavily herbed and even more heavily spiced – we’re talking sage, thyme and rosemary. All of these can show up in cocktails by the way, as can cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove.
Hence, the above cocktail. Pumpkin freaking spiced apple cider.
Don’t forget that wines like the one Steph is drinking can have spicy notes that hearken to those fall flavors. We are also fans of Sherry and Madeira with a bisque and hearty soup.
Ironically, as this blog is being typed it is SNOWING(!!!) in Colorado Springs.
So … we had one week of fall.
Cocktails (10:22)
We are fans of hot toddies, amari, and digestives.
Anything with bourbon, warm or hot. Next.
Or see:
Episode 131: Fall Fever & Celebrating the Season
Episode 30: Warm Cocktails, Toddies, Tipples and Tips
#W25Challenge Update (13:28)
There are some fun posts in our Community FB page that are inspiring.
Lynn: A Tahitian wine from the Atoll de Rangiroa region -a blend of Muscat de Hamburg, Italia and Grenache.
Mary Lou: 100% Marsanne
Sebastian: Kirkland brand of Tawny Port
We had to actually look up the Italia grape (17:10).
Factoid (18:35)
Most of the wineries are in crush right now, as harvest in the vineyard wraps up (Northern Hemisphere).
This time of year the wines are either going through maceration cold soaking, fermenting, or malolactic fermentation. All of these things can last weeks before heading into aging vessels. Our point? This is not a time to kick back and relax for winemakers.
Also in this segment? A deep, dark confession of a freshly harvested olive oil addiction.
Wino Radar (21:10)
Viticulture Video
Also, check out this new video (14 minutes) from GuildSomm titled Viticulture.
Master the World (22:22)
Master Sommelier, Evan Goldstein’s new project, Master the World: Blind Tasting Wine Experience!
You get six wine samples shipped to you in a kit every month. The idea is to help you get better at tasting wine by focusing on your senses. Check out the link and the 2 minute video on IndieGoGo.
Their goal is to start shipping in February 2019. Incidentally, Evan will be here to tell us about it in next week’s episode! Psyched!
Shoutouts (25:30)
No Pomp on the Pod, Please!
“The W25 ladies do a fabulous job bringing a variety of content weekly that exposes me to wine philosophies, trends, and personalities that you’d never find otherwise. And they do it all with humor and genuine passion for the subject without any pretension and pomp that many other wine podcasts can’t seem to avoid.” ~ Heloboy
Weekly Tasting from WTSO is our Podcast Sponsor! (26:35)
Shout out to WTSO, our show sponsor who brought us these great Right Bank Bordeaux wines! This is great wine at the best price online, one at a time, til sold out.
Can’t find it? Just ask, WTSO has thousands of wines from all over the world.
Follow them on Instagram, FaceBook and Twitter and see what’s new and good!
Meanwhile, our listeners have their very own listener page at: weeklytasting.com/W25 to sign up and get started!
Or just click on the WTSO logo on the top right of this web page.
Big Patreon Love (27:22)
Thank you to our patrons who support us on our Patreon crowdfunding platform!
*We do read all the names on the show, and feature the list on our Support page.*
Connect (28:42)
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.
Steph is in all the social spaces as @TheWineHeroine.
Reminders
- Remember you can always leave us a question or comment via Speakpipe. We’ll be doing an entire show on Burning Wine Questions next month.
- You can also find us on the My Wine Society App. There are also channels on travel, wellness, events, wineries and more.
