Steph and Val return from the 2016 Society of Wine Educators 40th Annual Conference and have fun new beverages to talk about. We learned a lot, laughed a lot, and are already looking forward to 2017 in Portland, OR. We have favorite sips, presentations, moments, and a healthy shoutout-palooza to some seriously dedicated listeners and fellow podcasters. Needless to say, we are having a “whale” of a good time with this episode. Eh hem.
Steph: “Hey everyone, welcome to episode 71 of Wine Two Five! I’m back in the FoCo after our wine-tastic trip to “wine camp” in Washington DC.”
Val: “And I’m back in the Springs after schlumping in last night. Still kind of letting everything settle after a whirlwind week, washed off the airplane juice, unpacked and ready to go.”
Steph: “Val, before we get too carried away with flashbacks of the conference… let’s chat about what we are drinking right now! Day 2 Post-WineCamp…”
Val: “I’m having an Orowines Albarino called Kentia. It’s a 2014, and another Gil Family Estates wine. This is from the Galicia area in Northwest “Green Spain” and the region is Rias Baixas. It has some good fruit like white peaches, tropical fruit, tangerines and that salinity that I love, beautifully balanced in terms of acidity, intensity and body and an awesome food wine to go with my curried chicken salad that John had waiting for me when I got home last night. Oh, BTW, this is about a $10-12 bottle. Steph?”
Steph: “I’m attempting to be a mixologist today – just for our listeners – because my neighbor brought over her pickled peaches brine last night, and I felt the #W25Challenge wash over me. I actually was wondering if Doreen’s brine was similar to a shrub. Shrubs, or drinking vinegars, are kind of a hip thing right now. My immediate mixology idea was to mix it with brandy, but because we have quite the inventory of Bourbon, I went to Google for some ideas on Peach Shrub with Bourbon. OMG this is YUM! I think our buddy Juliette Miranda from the Unwritable Rant Podcast would be proud to drink this. It is inspired by SaltandWind.com ‘s recipe called Bourbon Peach Smash. I didn’t follow it exactly, so it has the W25 spin on it.”
Discussion: SWE Conference Recap
Favorite (Top 3) Seminars and why – Go!
Val: “You know, I can’t really pick a favorite. Each one had it’s own “something special” in terms of a presenter, wines, or unusual beverages about which I knew virtually nothing. So for presenter and wines I’ll go with Single Vineyard Estates of Spain with Nora.
“Also, Tania of Sogevinus and the Colheita Port – particularly the 1966 – since we all know that was such a rockin’ year!
“Unusual beverages goes to Aquavit with Christer Olsen. But I loved Champagne and Cava, too! So I guess that’s what people mean when they say you can’t have a favourite child, so I’d be the worst mom ever. What about you, Steph?”
Steph: “Tough call with 13 powerful seminars!
- Think Like a Grapevine – Frog’s Leap vertical – Frog’s Leap Winery and Jonah Beer the GM of Frog’s Leap
- Colheita Ports, as you mentioned, Sogevinus Fine Wines
Aquavit, also a highlight of yours, Arcus Beverage and Christer Olsen.”
Factoid:
This week’s factoid stemmed from Steph’s master class, Cognac vs Armagnac. Also, we mentioned Brandy & Cognac while chatting about the SideCar cocktail last week. Major differences: look – a chart (Note: these were study notes & probably contain gross grammar & spelling errors while Val was typing feverishly to complete this particular assignment. Just so you know.)
Cognac Armagnac
| Grape growing regions | North of Bordeaux, Charente River | South of Bordeaux, Garronne River, slightly warmer climate than Cognac region. |
| Permitted grapes | 6 (Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, Colombard, Montils, Folignon, Semillon) Some sources also mention Meslier St. Francois, Jurancon Blanc, Select (which, combined with Folignon can only comprise 10% of the blend) | 10 (mostly Ugni Blanc, Baco 22A, Folle Blanche, Colombard, among others). |
| Resulting base wine | Higher acidity, low sugar and alcohol. Ugni Blanc is used most (98% plantings) so base wine is pretty neutral, about 8 – 10% abv. | More variety of flavours for base wines due to more grape varieties. Base wines can be range from floral from the Folle Blanche to earthy from the Baco. Additionally, warmer climate generally yields higher alcohol base wines (8-11%) with lower acidity. |
| Distillation | Pot still in copper Charantais still (unique to Cognac) and double distilled for a new make spirit of 72.4% abv max. | Continuous distillation in Armagnacais single column still (also unique to Armaganc) & lower resulting strength spirit of 52% – 72.4% abv. (*Double pot still is authorized, not widely used). As a result of lower strength, can be more intense in aromatics. |
| Maturation | Must be matured in oak for 2+ years | Must be matured in oak for at least a year (with exception of Armagnac Blanche, unaged). |
| Resulting styles | Bottled at 40% abv VS/*** = youngest, 2 years is min age of spirit in blend VSOP/Reserve = further aged, min age of spirit in blend must be at least 4 years old XO/Napoleon = aging must have been at least 6 years for youngest spirit in blend (will be 10 years min as of 2016). Some age for much longer and house styles differ Can be sweetened, caramel color can be added, normally filtered. Fruits are main flavour profiles, increasing with richness and complexity with age; longer wood aging develops more earth and nut character as well. Again, depending on barrel rotation and wood used, age of wood etc. styles can differ. Additionally, styles from houses that used lees in distillation can develop rancio characteristics. |
Bottled at 40% abv (can be bottled at cask strength) Blanche = clear, unaged, 3 months in stainless prior to release VS/*** = min age of youngest spirit of the blend is only 1 year (as compared to 2 year min in Cognac) VSOP = same as Cognac, min 4 years old aging requirement for youngest spirit in the blend Napoleon = The youngest spirit blended in a Napoleon is 6 years old. XO/Hors d’age = Must be at least 10 years old (youngest spirit in the blend) Additionally, there are aged-indicated and vintage labeled wines Armagnac as well. Vintage implies all spirits come from the year stated AND must be a minimum of 10 years old. For all other age-indicated Armagnacs the age stated on the label is the minimum age of youngest spirit in the blend. Often Armagnac is more aromatic (as a result of lower alcoholic strength distillate) with fuller body and richness. There are a wider variety of styles, aging categories, and the unique Blanche, unaged brandy. |
We actually enjoy the heck out of this dude’s videos on Cognac and Armagnac. He’s actually a brandy expert!
Winoradar:
If you are in or going to NZ in September, we should tell you that the New Zealand Food & Wine Event will be happening at, where else, the NZ School of Food & Wine in Auckland from 10 – 12 September. We’ll link up that information for you, and of course you’ll be hearing our complete interview with owner, Celia Hay, in a couple of weeks!
Mark your calendars for next year’s Wine Camp in Portland, OR Aug 10-12, 2017
Labor of love book events: Please check winefamilies.com for more events as they pop up.
- Denver – Book Bar – Sept 23rd
- New Orleans – Rebellion – October 25th
Shoutouts: 
Jon Govind is a superstar W25 listener in San Francisco who actually treated us to a custom happy hour based on things he heard us talking about – get this – in the show. We love you John … and Krug, Riedel, Sugarfina!
We also want to thank our friend Cathey from Tennessee who always is so generous with her Champagne selections from Somm Select. Rebecca Fletcher – in Napa who is another great friend (and retired AF!), listener, and member of our wine tribe. Also, we can’t forget The Johnson & Wales crew and a University that supports SWE, and our friends Catherine, Sarah & Bob.
Shoutout to Andrew Villarreal in Chicago- also a dedicated listener
Shoutout also to I Ricchi Ristorante – our talented server, Keenya Walker. She’s got a bright future in hospitality, that’s for sure.
Shoutout to the lovely, historic Mayflower Hotel
Finally, the Society of Wine Educators freaking KILLED IT by putting on an incredible conference. The staff and volunteers – and board members – put so much work in behind the scenes, not to mention that there were other things going on like the WBC and TEXSOM. The conference, as all of them are, was all class.
Wrapping it up:
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 @Albarellosoap and on the AlbarelloSoap FB page, and check out the videos on theAlbarello YouTube channel!Ste
Please visit us on FB page, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube, and we’ve finally started unscrewing Google +. We had like three pages, not sure why or how, so if you were following one that suddenly disappeared, then you should be able to easily find our new one. We’re mugging on the profile page, so you can’t miss it. 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 and 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!
Check out the entire episode!