Episode 70: Burning Wine Questions & Moving to France

Episode 70: Burning Wine Questions & Moving to France

Our latest #W25Challenge winner, Lynn Gowdy, linked up with us for chatter about a classic cocktail and how she ended up moving to France to study – what else – wine! Lynn shares her philosophy on changing up her life for the love of wine as well as her approach to the #W25Challenge. Steph shares her Sidecar study story and Val trolls the bar for a breakfast gin. The new ‘Burning Wine Questions’ segment premieres and we drop a special announcement. Too much fun packed into this cast, so pour a glass, click, sip, giggle and enjoy!

Intro

Steph: “Hey everyone, welcome to episode 70 of Wine Two Five! Steph here, along with Val and a special co-host…and a special announcement.”

Val: “Yes, we have a special announcement later in the show. Stoked. But first, co-hosting with us today is Lynn Gowdy.  She is joining us all the way from Bordeaux, France!”

Steph: “Lynn, Congratulations again on winning our #W25Challenge! It’s so great to have you with us on the show! Why don’t you get things started – what’s in your glass this evening?”

Lynn: “Hi ladies! Of course it’s six p.m. where I am, so I’m having a rose’ from a tiny producer in Bergerac.”

Steph: “What about you, Val, are you having a breakfast wine?”

Val: “I’m having a breakfast gin. I just finished my coffee, so it’s weird to be trolling the bar downstairs because I didn’t want wine. I know. This is Uncle Val’s Botanical Gin – the one we had at Il Posto back in November. It also has a cool name…. Steph?”

Steph: “I’m drinking sparkling wine again because It’s Not 5 o’clock and I Don’t Care. Today I used that chilling method Val talked about in episode 67 where you wrap a wet dish towel around your bottle of wine and JAM it into the freezer for 10 minutes or so. Mine was in there while I was showering and getting primped. So, as a matter of fact, the bottle of Gruet Blanc de Blanc came out chilled and ready for the popping!

“Let’s shine the spotlight on Lynn and get to know her more!”

Discussion: Interview with Lynn Gowdy

Lynn’s background is varied, focusing on managed health care, food, and wine. She was a Director of National Accounts and Product Manager for a managed health care company based out of Chicago for 16 years. She left that job, relocating to British Columbia for a year to learn more about food, cooking, and wine, attending the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. During that time she explored wine in the Okanagan Valley, BC’s primary wine growing area. Upon returning to California, she directed the culinary center for a Whole Foods Market where in addition to teaching classes and arranging guest chefs, she developed a wine series inviting local winemakers to discuss and share their wine paired with small plates.

She left that position, choosing another opportunity that knocked on her door. Lynn most recently worked for Covered California implementing the Affordable Care Act. One of her most rewarding jobs, she choose to leave because the pull of wine was stronger. Wine was in the background for as long as she remembers. She took classes for fun in Chicago, then, when relocating to California, took classes through the UC-Davis extension. Last fall she relocated to Bordeaux, France with her husband to “pull all of the plugs out” and study wine. She is WSET Level 3 certified, currently pursuing the French Wine Scholar through the Wine Scholar Guild.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Colorado,where she emphasized cultural differences in business and spent a year studying in Switzerland and drinking wine. She is an avid cyclist and traveler, with time spent hiking, and exploring wine and food in Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Chili, and Argentina.

Classic Chatter

Lynn talked to us about how she ended up in France with her husband. She also mentioned she was house and cat sitting in a farmhouse about an hour and a half east of Bordeaux (hence, some slight audio issues, but overall pretty good). She shared the genesis of her love affair with wine and some great stories.

Also, she had some cool things to say about how she discovered the Wine Two Five podcast and why she’s been diligently engaged in the #W25Challenge from the beginning!

Her discussion topic today, besides being a part of the entire show – she really did fit in nicely, by the way, as a co-host – was about the classic cocktail, the Sidecar. Lynn fell in love with the Sidecar in Vancouver, British Columbia and explains why. We also talk about the potential history and the variations (French, English) in recipe.

Sidecar Recipe:

• 1 1/2 oz Brandy – the higher quality, the better the sip
• 3/4 Cointreau (don’t you dare substitute for triple sec)
• Juice of 1/4 lemon
• Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

New segment: Burning Wine Questions!

Val: “We mentioned our new segment called ‘Burning Wine Questions’ where listeners can leave us a voicemail. We will choose one to play on the show and give you all the answer.

Steph: “Well we have our first one: it is from Lisa in Chicago.”

Lisa is asking about rose’ wines, increasing manipulation and how to tell if one is good quality.

Val: “That is an awesome question, Lisa. She sounds great, too, doesn’t she, ladies?”

The first part of the question was regarding news about increasingly manipulated wine, particularly from Provence:

Answer:

“It’s true that there is a sea of rose’ wines coming out of Provence, Southern France (about 89% of their production), and the rest of the world. It can be made several ways.

“The first is direct press method or what the French call rose’ de presse. This is the traditional way rose’ wines are made in Provence, or at least the higher quality wines. The grapes will be picked a little earlier to ensure a good acidity balance and the intention is, from the beginning, to produce pale pink, fresh rose wines with minimal skin contact.

“The second as a byproduct of red wine production where juice is bled off after hours or a day of skin maceration. The macerating skins will go on to produce a richer red wine, while the pink juice that was bled off will be fermented as a white wine. This method is known as saignee, which translates to “bleeding method” and these wines will have a darker, more cherry pink color).

“Finally, blending red and white wines together is another method to create a rose’ wine (in France this is only allowed in Champagne for rose’ production) but in the new world it is quite common to buy bulk juice and blend it to get pink.

“Sometimes these methods can be varied or combined using either a rapid soak at higher temps before pressing (versus a gentle extraction of color and delicate flavours), for just one example.

“Now, about that manipulation: it can come in the form of back-sweetening, adding sugar, color, artificial flavours aromas, and using commercial yeasts that invoke certain flavours and even textures. Also, some wines are rushed to the international market to get shelf space before summer (like in early March!) because of the recent and increasing interest and demand for the stuff, implying that the care taken in the past to ensure the wine was ready for release may not now be common practice.

“To answer the second part of the question, “How can you tell if a rose’ wine is high or low quality” you do have to actually taste the wine, unfortunately. You’ll rely on your purveyor or trusted wine writers like the Eric Asimovs of the world.

“First of all a low quality wine will be harsh and/or off-balance in terms of acidity, fruit, sugars and other characteristics. The flavours and aromas can be either overbearing and almost candied, often in an effort to hide unripe, green, vegetal or perhaps off aromas.  The alcohol can be high and not well-integrated, or the sugar can be much higher than the acidity leaving the wine flabby. On the other hand wines that are dilute and stripped of any enjoyable character are also a sign of poor quality. The finishes will be short to nonexistent. Chances are if there’s a little fizz (and the wine isn’t marketed as a petillant, spumante, or frizzante wine) then it had a little CO2 injection which means the wine was meant for Summer drinking and will be lame by Fall.

“Look for classic rose’ regions like Bandol, Bellet and Tavel and the Loire (Sancerre rose’ made with Pinot Noir can be excellent) but also look in Italy to one of my favourite (from the land of ‘my people) Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo (Valentini), or some Nebbiolo rose’ wines from Piemonte. Spain is emerging with some fine rose’ wines from Navarra as well.”

Wino Radar:

Steph: “The latest GuildSomm podcast episode about Beaujolais reminded me how much I enjoy that wine, but don’t buy it enough.”

Val: “Well, I’m betting you’re thinking we’ve forgotten that special announcement – or, by now you’ve forgotten about it, fixed yourself a cocktail and don’t really care. Oh, but we know you do care. So here it is. The Wine Two Five podcast is now on iHeartRadio! You can go to iHeartRadio.com or to the iHeartRadio’s iOS and Android apps and listen – and, of course, share the crap out of the show with your wineloving friends!”

Shoutouts:

Steph: “Shoutout to my wine industry buddy Megan Crane who works for Chips Distributing, a division of Classic Wines, LLC! Megan’s given me some great advice and insight on how to sell, merchandise and distribute my Albarello luxury hand soap for wine enthusiasts. Thanks for sharing your industry insights with me, pal!

Lynn: “I’d like to give a shoutout to my my younger brother who first got me into wine.”

Contact us!

Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and on the Vino With Val FB page, and on Instagram as Vino with Val.

You can find Steph on Twitter and everywhere in the social spaces as The Wine Heroine.

Lynn can be found interacting with the  #W25Challenge peeps on the Wine Two Five Facebook page and Twitterverse. Also look for her on her own blog, Savor the Harvest and FB page, Savor the Harvest and on Twitter, also as Savor the Harvest. (Updated 9/18 with current blog, contact information)

 Please visit us on our  FB page, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube. Also, if you want to build your collection of wine books or accessories, please check out the online store also located on our website!

We hope that you’ll share Wine Two Five with your friends and online community, and we certainly appreciate all your involvement and feedback. Leave us a burning wine question or comment on Speakpipe.

While you’re at it, go out to iTunes and show us some love there in the form of a glowing iTunes review so other wine lovers can discover our fun W25 community.

One more thing… Don’t forget to use the #W25Challenge when you are trying new wines and drinks. Until next week …. Cheers!

Listen to the entire episode here: