Grape Minds

Like it or not, we're sliding into the last few months of 2021, and you know what that means; holidays.  The piles of traditional foods demand a versatile wine, and we found one in Tom Mortimer's Le Cadeau Pinot Noir. I his episode we get super wine geek-y from yeast, to carbonic maceration to suffering vines. Of course, we laugh a lot too-  Cheers!  

Julie sand Gina have been on the road a lot this summer, and collected some fabulous wine and cocktail intel along the way.  Leave it to Gina to find a wine tasting room after discovering good wine is made in that beautiful state- from the noble grapes we all know so well. She also found a sweet place to sample some wines in Telluride. Julie found the coolest bar in the Midwest when she went home to KC for her BFF's wedding.  While Julie couldn't transport that experience back home, Gina had some Colorado wines shipped in, and we get to try them (including a Pet Nat which leaked in shipping but survived, nonetheless). Join us for a fun recap.

A bit of a cynic, I never gave a whole lot of credence to glassware intended for specific grape varieties. But this incredible experience with Maximilian Riedel made me a believer.  No exaggeration- the difference between glasses when trying the same wine was mind blowing. The fact that global warming is now impacting the shape of the bowls is another staggering fact we learned in this episode.   

We wrap up our grilling series with a slab of ribs and some good ol' American wines. We revisit the first clever label we remember from the 90's, 7 Deadly Zins- which is, as we remember, a decent value that is perfectly suitable for Barbeque sauce slathered goodness.  And what grilling podcast with American wines would be complete without a cabernet sauvignon- namely Ancient Peaks cab from Paso Robles.    

Despite what some might think, port is not the only outstanding wine export from Portugal. The country has a vast, diverse wine region and it's where we travel to next as an extension of our traveling through the glass series. We're also looping in the summer grilling series because- as it turns out- these wines are GREAT for grilled goods. In this oceanfront country, it's more about grilling fish and we taste-test a popular white blend called Vinho Verde. Portugal is also famous for its black pork and cured meats which pair particularly well with the county's rustic red blends that use both noble and indigenous grapes. It's a delicious, beautiful country. Join us as we explore.  

In honor of  rosé month, we continue making converts of the un-initiated to join in our love of the most appropriate shade of wine for hot weather.  This time, Morning Edition host John Davis is our hapless victim- dragged in from the hallway- to try a beautiful Argentinian rosé of Pinot Noir. 

We kick off our summer grilling series in the world headquarters of beef with Argentinian wines. Drink like a Gaucho (Argentinian cowboy) as you tend your backyard asado (grill).  We found some decent value wines in the bunch, too!  

With labels as cool as this, one might wonder if the wine in the bottle can deliver on the promise of the crushed velvet-covered passion pit one imagines their taste buds frolicking upon once it's in your mouth.  Well, it does.  And the winemaker is among the coolest we've met.  Rock on, Mr. Page!  

When one thinks of wine from Canada, most people immediately think of the well-marketed and delicious ice wine which stormed south about the time Generation X started learning about wine. But here to dispel any illusion that our northern neighbor is a one trick pony, is Martin's Lane Winery.  They're producing shockingly good, world class Riesling and Pinot Noir in the British Columbian Okanagan Valley. In this episode we talk with winemaker Shane Munn about these incredible wines, the valley's deep namesake lake and the microclimate it creates.  We also wonder about climate change speculators gobbling up real estate for ensure a foothold in the future of wine.    

We've talked about wine in a can before, but now that summer is sizzling, the beverage marketing people have gone full tilt with weird stuff in a can. One cannot turn a corner in a grocery store without being visually assaulted by sassy marketing on slim cans with pinkish hued graphics promising low calories, lots of flavor, and a little booze-from lemonade rosé blends to straight up cocktails to alcoholic kombucha. One of the joys of having a wine podcast is that people will send the occasional unsolicited sample. Gina has been compiling an assortment and so, here we are taking the bullet for you, dear listener, as we try through the lot of odd offerings (except for the one kombucha that blew up).

Our month-long summer in Italy is coming to an end but not before we pop some corks on Italian bubbly.  From Franciacorta (we try an Extra Brut from Le Marchesine) through Prosecco to little regional sparklers, there is no shortage of frizzante in the boot.  Let's look at the whole country's most famous and fabulous sparkling wines. Also, don't forget to check out this episode in which we talk with Matteo Lunelli from one of our all-time favorite Italian sparklers, Ferrari Trentodoc. And check out this delicious rosé from Corvezzo. (newly allowed DOC from our people in Prosecco)

Guys, there is just too much goodness in all of Italy and in this episode we're trying to hit the highlights of the great northern zones of the boot.  From Amarone to Barolo, we're discussing the reds while sipping on the oft-overlooked (yet DELICIOUS) white wines.  It is summer after all, and this is a summer in Italy series. We discuss a prior interview with Karoline Walch you can find here if you're interested in more detail about Trentino Alto Adige.   

Moving up the boot, we wander into the vineyards of Central Italy, which contains Tuscany, which is world famous  for its delicious Sangiovese; Chianti, Brunelo di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and lets not forget those rogues, the super- Tuscans. With the judicial addition of select international grape varieties we get the big dogs like Sassicaia, In this episode we check out some lesser- known wines from Montecucco. The we slide over to Abruzzo ( next door) for a little sip of everyone's favorite, affordable, pizza wine; Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Not to be confused with the Vino Nobile mentioned above.  Don't worry.  We sort it all out.   

The farthest south most tourists get past Rome is Naples, but there are some cool things to see in the foot of the boot.  Calabria's rustic cuisine and hot peppers will leave a mark on any traveler's memory. Basilicata's stunning Matera is a sight to behold, and the sheer abundance of Puglia's fresh produce makes one thirst for wine as straight-forward as the people in this part of the country. In this whirlwind tour of the south, we talk about and try several of the wines and pine for our next trip overseas.  

This week we are hitting the road again- journeying via our wine glass to Italy for the summer.  We're starting in Sicily, the Island right off the boot's toe, where the idyllic village of Taormina sits in the hills between the strait of Messina and Mount Etna (which has apparently been pretty active this year).  It's a must-stop destination for people traveling by car once you've gotten off the ferry. In this episode we try some deliciously affordable wines and talk about what, exactly makes a grape "indigenous."  

An addendum to your podcast on father's day wines!  Reviving the practice we began before the pandemic sent up all home to work remotely: the drive-by wine tasting, in which we gran someone walking down our halls to pop into the studio and try a wine or two.  This time, we roped in local father and innocent bystander, David Oquendo to select his favorite from our lineup of dad wines.

Today (May 25) is National Wine Day! Tis the season to break out the flip flops, don a visor, and fire up the grill.  Memorial Day, Father's Day, and the beginning of summer has us thinking grilled anything. We're cracking open a can of Rosé and testing out some of grilled meat and veggies' best pairings.  We also check out a few big daddy wines like this elegant Zinfandel from Baletto.  

As in-person interviews become part of life once again we are a little overly-excited to welcome Kyle Janzen, of Janzen Estate. We get to taste and compare Cabernet Sauvignon from the Baccio Divino line, from the ToKalon Vineyard and the Missouri Hopper Vineyard. We also try the Pazzo, blend which is described as "unpretentious" on their web site. Just like us!  

This mother's day we give mom the kind of wine that reflects the strength, stamina and poise she (hopefully) displayed over the past pain-in-the- butt year.  The dishes, the cooking, the working from home, the distance learning. Ladies, time to raise a glass of some big, bold wines as strong (read: high alcohol content) as you.  We also offer a tip of the hat to Cabernet Sauvignon's mom, Sauvignon Blanc- who is having her day this beautiful Wine Wednesday.

After fifteen months, Mauritson Wine's founder Clay Mauritson gets to travel! So. naturally he came straight to the Grape Minds studio to talk about the seven generations his family has spent in Sonoma, the wines he is proud to make from his family's iconic vineyard, and taste the Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel and Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.