Three ladies are on deck and in a decadent discussion. Dr. Susan Golicic, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University, and author of Contemporary Wine Marketing and Supply Chain Management: A Global Perspective joins us this week. She is our #W25Challenge winner, a spinner of great stories, including how she found her way to Amarone. Susan continues to find links to wine and wellness, including the genesis for future research on the topic. We also announce some exciting wine events coming up this summer, and share some epic laughs. We hope you’ll enjoy this super fun guest host edition of W25!
Val: “Welcome Wine-Two-Five listeners! This is episode 55 and there are three of us this week whooping it up about wine!”
Steph: “Isn’t everything better in threes? Like, I’m on my 3rd glass of wine – not really. The first quarter winner of our quarterly #W25Challenge for 2016 is joining us on her lunch break. Welcome, Susan!”
Drinking:
Steph: “My lovely sister-in-law, Lindsey, just whipped up my drink for the show – a Greyhound made with Tito’s vodka and the fresh squeezed grapefruit juice from the neighbor’s grapefruit trees! This hits the spot – and is one of the reasons I love being in Phoenix – the citrus trees.”
Val: “I’ve got my nose in this lovely Chateau Val D’Arenc 2010 Bandol. It’s an appellation in Provence, France. Now, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a red Bandol, but there are plenty of Rose’ Bandol wines to be found, as that’s mostly what they produce (60%). The reds require a higher percentage of Mourvedre (50 – 95%) & are accessorized by Grenache & Cinsault as well as tiny bits of Syrah & Carignan. It also has to age in oak for at least a year and a half.”
Susan: “A 2016 Cran-Raspberry LaCroix poured lovingly into a big red wine glass. I’m on my lunch break and still have a lot more work to do. Hopefully a bit later I’ll get into something a little more fun than the LaCroix, although the LaCroix is quite nice.”
Discussion: Guest: Dr. Susan Golicic, our #W25Challenge Winner for the 1st Quarter of 2016!!
A little bit about Susan: She is the Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University. She also runs a non-profit organization (My Team Triumph) that provides race experiences for athletes with disabilities. She’s also an entrepreneur who has recently started her own wellness business and is a certified life coach. Wine ties into most things she does – including her research with CSU and wellness.
She shares with us how her research for the university landed her in some beautiful wine places, including Germany, Italy, and Australia and stoked her passion for wine. As a result, she has recently published her book Contemporary Wine Marketing and Supply Chain Management: A Global Perspective with co-authors Dan Flint and Paola Signori.
Being a fitness junkie, Susan tells us how she initially brushed off the #W25Challenge, but then developed a strategy for tasting new things. She talks about what she has learned from the experience, including how to stretch outside of her usual drink choice comfort zone, and has made it part of her 2016 goal. She’s a huge fan and supporter of the W25 podcast and explains what she personally gains from listening (we loved that part).
As for the discussion topic … Susan chose Amarone. Born out of her 2007 trip to Italy for a marketing conference at the University of Verona, her deep love for this wine is evident, often to the detriment of her pocketbook. How she first came across the wine is as enchanting as the wine itself.
Factoid:
Amarone – or Amarone della Valpolicella is toward the top Valpolicella pyramid, if you will. In the wine world we put everything into a pyramid when trying to explain it – have you noticed that? It can be translated as “big bitter.” This luscious, full-bodied wine loaded with flavors like chocolate-covered cherries and spice is made with grapes that dry for about 100-120 days before fermentation. What these dried grapes bring to the party is concentrated sugars which give the yeasts more to convert to alcohol. Normally these wines are about 14% or more as a result.
The grapes? We’re talking indigenous varieties from the Veneto region of Corvina or Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara (although less of this grape is used now, but some producers, like Masi, still use it) and other grapes from the authorized growing reg
ion in the Verona province.
There is a sweeter version called Recioto della Valpolicella at the top of the pyramid. Same dried grapes, but the fermentation is arrested to leave some residual sugar. These are ½ bottles and expensive, but believe it or not you can find them. Val found a 2004 in Frisco of all places!
Something you could try if you want that richness of the Amarone without forking out the cash is something called Ripasso. This one is easier to find for under $30. This is made by taking that leftover grape skins from the Amarone adding it to Valpolicella Classico (the bottom of they pyramid) to macerate and get all happy. So it’s still a full-bodied wine, but not as much cha-ching.
Winoradar:
Susan: “I’m looking forward to my trip back to Verona this summer.”
Steph: “On June 9th and 10th, join the Society of Wine Educators for this Finger Lakes focused mini-conference, hosted at the picturesque Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, located just outside of Rochester, New York. This event will feature one day of seminars and tastings, followed by one day of winery tours around the Finger Lakes region.
The Finger Lakes Wine Adventure Mini-conference is a great opportunity to learn more about this growing wine region, meet and network with wine professionals from around the country, and taste notable New York wines, including rieslings, rosés, and sparkling wines. Registration will close on May 16 and space is limited, so register now!”
Val: The 11th Annual People’s Choice Podcast awards closes out this week, the 30th of April. Thank you so much for those of you that have already nominated us – or your favorite podcasts! There are so many categories, so if you’re a podcast junkie check out www.podcastawards.com. If you love W25 and would like to see us do greatness, then we can be entered under the “Arts” category. Just type in our name, Wine Two Five, and our url: www.winetwofive.com. You only get one shot at nominating to keep it fair for the “little guys” but you can nominate a bunch of categories while you’re there. It’s fun!
We also are absolutely giddy to announce that registration is now open for the 40th Society of Wine Educators Conference, otherwise known as WINE CAMP, is now open! It’s in DC and there are so many seminars and master classes – from Spanish wines to Aquavit, to wines of Mexico and an Irish Whiskey master class! Mark your calendars for 11-13 August and we hope to see you there!
Shoutouts:
Steph: Thank you to our new listeners posting on our Wine Two Five FaceBook Page. Thank you to Davon Robinson & Dawn Sloan. We love Dawn’s comment about W25: “What I enjoy most is that this show is informative, easy to follow and fun- the way wine and food should be enjoyed”
Susan: Susan gives a shoutout to Lynn, her fiercest competitor on #W25Challenge; Lynn has access to some great wines and is inspiring! Also, her partner in crime, Dan, on research project who is also a terrible better when it comes to football and hockey. Poor Dan often loses these bets (which are often pricey bottles of wine). Needless to say, it’s the beloved bottle of Amarone that is often at stake.
Val: Gave a shout out to everyone who joined in Saturday morning for the Gems of Eastern Europe SWEbinar. We had about 78 or so folks in there from around the world. Jane Nickles was magical as she told us about the underground cellars of Mileștii Mici – and here’s your factoid: So where is the world’s largest wine cellar?
The answer is Moldova! They have over 135 miles of underground caves – more than all the Champagne chalk crayeres – and you can actually drive your car through them. There caves can hold 2 million bottles & in the collection and is listed in the Guinness Book of World records as the largest in the world at 1.5 million bottles. 70% of the wines stored are red. Oh by the way, Moldova has been making wine for over 3000 years. And who knew?!
Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and on the Vino With Val FB page, and on instagram as Vino with Val.
You can find me on Twitter @Albarellosoap and on the AlbarelloSoap FB page, and check out the videos on the Albarello YouTube channel!
Susan, where can our listeners find you?
Susan: Uninhibited Wellness Facebook Page
Val: you can visit us on the WineTwoFive website, FB page, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube. You can also email us at winetwofive@gmail.com.
Also please share Wine Two Five with your friends and online community.
We appreciate all your involvement and feedback and especially iTunes reviews.
One more thing… Don’t forget to use the #W25Challenge when you are trying new wines and drinks.