Weekly Wine Show

We continue our summer wines series. Since it’s well into summer, we thought it was a good time to take about the new trend of canned wines. When picking wine to sample for this episode, we only purchased canned wine that was strictly wine. We decided to just stick with straight wine so we could make a fair comparison to other wines.   Wine Recommendations Tangent Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Nose of white grapefruit, lime, arugula and a hint of dry hay It’s dry with medium plus acidity, light bodied with flavors of white grapefruit, lime zest and dry hay It’s crisp, light and refreshing - great for light dishes like salads, light cheeses and hot days on the patio Priced around $7 for a 375ml can which comes out to be $14 for a bottle of wine You can purchase this wine here   Alloy Everyday Rose NV This wine has a nose of wet rock and strawberries It’s dry, light bodied, medium acidity with flavors of strawberries and cream and grapefruit It’s light and fresh tasting, perfect to chill for the patio Priced around

This week we continue our summer wine series with white blends. A blend is really a wine containing two or more grapes which means there is an unlimited amount of options. Some regions are famous for their white blends and we’ve covered quite a few of them in previous episodes. Ep 068 – Soave Ep 044 – Winter Whites From Southern Rhone Ep 014 – Any Day is Special when you’re Drinking Cava!   Wine Recommendations Anne Amie Vineyards 2015 Cuvee Amrita - priced $15. Blend of Riesling, Muller-Thurgau, Pinot Blanc, Viogner, Gewurtztraminer, Chardonnay This wine has a nose of Wet rock, lime, peach, starfruit and wax It’s off dry, a little fizzy with medium acidity and flavors of elderflower, honey, tangerine zest and lime This blend gives an interesting and complex fruit and floral aromas and flavors, it has a lot going on in terms of flavor but still light and with enough acidity to pair with food You can purchase this wine here   Field Recordings Hock 2017 - priced around $15. Blend of Gewurztraminer,  Pi

This week we continue of series on our favorite types of wine for summer with Riesling. Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany but it's grown all over the world.   We covered Riesling way back in March 2016 in episode four. Click here if you want to take a trip down memory lane.   Wine Recommendations 2016 Hogue Late Harvest Riesling - priced around $10.  This wine has an intense nose of apricot, tangerine and lanolin It’s sweet, with high acidity and medium body with flavors of apricot, peach and tangerine 12.5% ABV but with the high amount of acidity and sweetness you can get away with pairing this with spicy food   Schlink Haus 2017 Riesling Kabinett Nahe - prcied around $12. This wine has a nose of peach, orange zest, and a hint of wax It’s medium sweet with medium plus acidity and medium minus body with flavors of candied orange and peach, apricot and honey This wine is sweet with ripe fruity flavors but not a flabby wine still lots of acidity with a long f

We are start a new series talking about our favorite wines for the summertime. These next few episodes are going to be like our four wines episode but instead of four random wines, we're going to talk about wines from one specific place or grape and why we love to drink in the summer. We start the series with Vinho Verde. Way back 100 episodes ago we talk at length about Vinho Verde so feel free to check that episode out if you want to learn more.   Check out our episode on Vinho Verde Check out the Vinho Verde DOC for more information   Wine Recommendations Broadbent NV - priced around $8. This wine has a light delicate nose of honeydew melon It’s dry with medium acidity, light bodied with flavors of green apple and melon Very fruit, light, crisp, fresh, delicate, perfect for hot weather Light alcohol with only 9% ABV so this is the only wine we are recommending that I think you can get away with pairing with some spicy food   Quinta da Raza Raza 2016 - priced around $11.  Nose of graphite and lime It’s

Time for another Wine in the News! Below are the articles we reference in this episode and links if you want to read more.   ARGENTINE WINERY LAUNCHES WINE-BASED CRYPTOCURRENCY By Lauren Eads, June 4th, 2018 from The Drinks Business.com The Rebellious French Village Making Wine Banned by the E.U. BY ERIC J. WALLACE JUNE 04, 2018 Everyday Wines: The Most Important Bottles You Will Drink By Eric Asimov March 22, 2018 New York Times Rosé: Wave hits Wall? By W. R. Tish over at Beverage Media Group, Apr 24, 2018 The wine bots are coming by Liza B. Zimmerman, May 29th, 2018

This week we wrap up our series on lesser known Spanish wine regions with the Toro DO. Toro is a Spanish DO for wines in the province of Zamora, which is in the northwest of Castilla y Léon.  If you are looking at a map of Spain this area is in the west central part of Spain. The DO is named after an ancient settlement called Toro which is 40 miles east of the Portuguese border.  Toro means bull in Spanish, although no one really knows why the town was named Toro. The area of Toro DO is about 154,000 acres but only 20,000 acres are vineyards with 14,000 acres registered with the Regulating Body of the DO.   In this episode we discuss: History of the Toro wine region Climate and Terroir Grapes and the wine Food pairings   Wine Recommendations Teso la Monja Romanico 2013 - priced around $19. This 100% Tempranillo wine has been aged for six months in 100% new French oak.  It has a aromas of blackberry, red plum, black cherry, dusty leather and beef jerky - smoky and sweet. It’s dry, with medium acidity and tan

This is week three of our Spanish wine series and this week we are talking about the Valencia DO. The City of Valencia is Spain’s largest port and third largest city, located in the center of the Spain's east coast. It's also the name of one of five DOs located in the region of Valencia, which is the DO we are focusing for this episode. The Valencia D.O. was established in 1957 and is one of the largest in the Valencia region with around 45,000 acres of vines.   In this week's episode, we discuss: History of wine in Valencia Climate Sub-regions, their differences and their wine   Wine Recommendations Celler del Roure Cullerot 2016 - priced around $17. Certified Organic White wine blend of all native Spanish grapes: Pedro Ximénez, Macabeo, Tortosina, Malvasía, Verdil, Merseguera, and others The nose of this wine has a lot of clean, steely minerality aromas as well as lemon and white lilies. It’s dry with medium high acidity, medium body and flavors of lemon and white flowers The acidity is lively and dancin

This is week two of our Spanish wine series where we take a journey to learn about lesser known regions. This week we are talking about Cariñena a Spanish DOP located in the Ebro Valley in Spain’s northeast region of Aragón,   In this episode, we discuss: Cariñena scope in the wine world Cariñena's history of wine Climate and geography of Cariñena Grapes and the wine of Cariñena   Wine Recommendations El Jamon Garnacha 2015 - priced around $10.  This wine has aromas of cherry, raspberry, cranberry and a hint of oregano. It’s dry, with medium acidity and tannins and lots of red fruit flavors- cherry and strawberries with a slight savoriness This wine is juicy and fruity, very approachable, a real crowd pleaser wine Pair with pizza or pork You can purchase this wine here   La Fea Blanco 2016 - priced around $10.  This is a rare white wine from the area with light Aromas of pineapple, mango and lanolin or waxy aroma. It’s dry, light bodied with medium acidity with flavors of tropical fruits, white peach, gr

This week starts a new series on Spanish wine regions. A couple of summers ago we did a series on Spanish wines which we really enjoyed. We love Spanish wine and wanted an excuse to drink more and learn about lesser known regions within Spain. So this week we are kicking things off with Ribera del Duero.   On this week's episode we discuss: Where is Ribera del Duero? Brief wine history of the area Climate and geography Grapes grown and the amazing wine it makes Wine classifications Food pairings   Wine Recommendations Convento Oreja Crianza 2014 - priced around $25. This wine has aromas of black cherry, spice, vanilla and a hint of tobacco. It's dry with medium acidity, medium plus lush, smooth tannins with flavors of black plum, blackberries, vanilla and leather with a long finish. We love the texture of this wine, not as fruity as we were expecting but it has a lovely, long finish.  You can purchase this wine here   Quintana de Cue Crianza 2011 - this wine is a Winery Direct selection from Total Wine and

It’s time for another four wines. Every couple of months we dedicate an episode to talking about four wines that we’ve enjoyed recently and want to share with our listeners. So let’s get into it…   Joseph Drouhin Mâcon-Villages 2016 - priced around $15. This white wine from Burgundy has aromas of lemon, wet rock, and white flowers. It’s dry with a medium plus acidity and flavors of lemon curd, white peach, white flowers and a hint of grass on the finish. This wine is light, crisp, very fruity - a great warm weather wine to pair with lighter dishes but could be enjoyed on it’s own. You can purchase this wine here   Van Loveren Family Vineyards Neil’s Pick Colombar 2016 - priced around $7. This white wine has intense aromas of tropical fruit - pineapple, passion fruit, guava and red grapefruit. It’s off dry so just a hint of sweetness with medium bodied and medium acidity. The flavor of this wine was not are strong as the aromas but those tropical fruits still shine through in the taste  We loved this wine a

We have been using the ArT Wine Preserver since October 2017 and it's our go to wine preserving method . So when we had the opportunity to interview the founder of this product Ryan Frederickson, we jumped at the chance. Thank you to Ryan for sharing his knowledge of oxidation and wine preservation.   You can learn more about the ArT Wine Preserver here You can purchase the Art Wine Preserver here The Amazon link is affiliate link so we’ll get a few cents if you buy something but Amazon promises us it wont raise your price for the item. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do and thanks for supporting us!

Every couple of months we talk recent wine news. Below are the new stories feature in this episode so click on the title if you want to learn more.   California's Cabernet Cult Keeps Growing by Liza B. Zimmerman Posted Wednesday, 04-Apr-2018 on wine-searcher.com Wine Industry Under Attack in Napa by Dawn Dolan, March 23, 2018 from Wine Industry Network Battle for Napa Valley’s future: Proposed curb on vineyards divides county by Esther Mobley, April 8, 2018 in the San Francisco Chronicle How environment changes the taste of wine, Friday, 23. March 2018 in the Meininger’s Wine Business International Total Wine & More Sharpens Focus on Winery Direct by Cyril Penn, March 22, 2018 from Winebusiness.com New Polls Shows Broad Support for Laws to Protect Against Misleading Wine Labels Press release by The Wine Origins Alliance, March 5th, 2018 published in Wine Industry Network

Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Ken Friedenreich the author of the new book, “Oregon Wine Country Stories, Decoding the Grape.”   Before I interviewed Ken, I had a chance to read his book and I loved it. No matter where you are in your wine journey, it's a great read and I highly recommend it.   You can learn more about the book here   Ready to buy the book? Click here to order from Amazon and you won't even have to leave your house.  

This is our last week of our Australian wine series. In this episode we brief cover two regions, New South Wales and Tasmania.   In this episode we discuss: New South Wales' impact on Australian wine History of New South Wales wine Hunter Valley and it's wine Tasmania as a wine region   Wine Recommendations - Finding wine for these regions in the Twin Cities was a challenge. Most of the New South Wales wine was bulk wines and Tasmania is such a niche area, I was only able to find wine thanks to a wine buyer from a local shop.   Brokenwood Wines The Bunkhouse Semillon 2017 - priced around $20. This wine has a nose of fresh spring breeze, minerality and lemon pith. It’s dry with medium acidity and flavors of lemon and lime. It’s crisp and refreshing - especially after a long winter of drinking full bodied reds and the alcohol is low so great for warm weather. You can purchase this wine here   Maison L'Envoyé Pinot Noir 2015 - priced around $25. This wine has a nose of cherry cola, black pepper and black dirt

This episode we are talking about a wine area unknown to most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Western Australia.   In this episode, we discuss: Western Australia's wine impact The three major wine region of Western Australia: Swan Valley, Great Southern, and Margaret River Tasty wine recommendations - you might have a difficult time finding several options from this wine if you live outside of Australia.   Wine Recommendations Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay 2016 - priced around $25. This 100% Chardonnay wine has aromas of spice, stonefruit, pineapple, yeast and lemon curd.  It has medium plus acidity, it’s dry with flavors of strong lemon and a hint of vanilla. Such a great balance between fruit and oak - the oak is there but not a buttery style chardonnay. It’s fresh, crisp and we really love the acidity in this wine, it’s not flabby at all. You can purchase this wine here   Madfish Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 - priced around $18. This wine is actually a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabern

This marks week three of our Australian Wine series and for this episode we focus on the state of South Australia. South Australia produces more than half of all Australian wine and some of the most  prominent wine regions in the country.   In this episode, we'll discuss: When did grape growing and winemaking start in South Australia South Australia's many zones and regions Some awesome wine recommendations   Wine Recommendations D’Arenberg The Hermit Crab 2016 - priced around $15. Lovely white blend of Viognier and Marsanne with aromas of chalky minerality, grapefruit pith, flowers and stone fruit. This wine is dry with medium acidity and medium body and flavors of toasted oak, white flowers and grapefruit. A nice nod to Rhone with just the right amount of oak to add flavor, texture and complexity but the oak doesn't define the wine. Purchase this wine here   Mitolo Jester 2015 Shiraz - priced around $22. A 100% Shiraz wine that's aged in used French oak for 18 months. This wine has a nose of berries, a

Welcome to week two of our Australian wine series. This week we are discovering wines from the state of Victoria.     In this episode we discuss: Victoria's has a lot of wine diversity and a lot of wineries A little wine history Lots of wine zones/regions and a few facts about each area   Wine Recommendation (yes we didn't talk about Shiraz, don't hate on me) Frisk Prickly Riesling 2017 - priced around $12. This actually a blend of 85% Riesling, 10% Muscat Gordo, and 5% Gewurztraminer. This wine has aromas of pear, white lilies, lemon and wax or lanolin. It's slightly fizzy, off dry with medium acidity and flavors are more citrus driven versus on the nose we thought the pear and flowers were more intense.  All the flavor in this wine are in balance with each other. It has 10% ABV, it’s right on the cusp for pairing with spicy food. We really enjoyed this wine with Mexican food that had green bell peppers and jalapenos which can often be difficult in pairing with wine. I would describe this wine as soft and

This week starts a series of episodes on Australian wines and wine regions. We haven’t talked about Australian wines on this podcast yet so this topics is a long time coming. This week is going to be an introduction to Australia and it’s wine and over the next few weeks we will talk about different geographic areas and showcase some Australian wines from those larger regions. Australia doesn’t have a very long history in terms of wine but there is a lot of learning to unpack.   This week's episode we discuss: Short history of Australian wine Climate and Geography Grape varieties and winemaking Australia wine laws   Stay tune for upcoming episodes where we dive into specific wine regions.        

This is our last wine of our dessert wine series. This week we focus our attention on ice wines. Ice wines are risky, time intensive and expensive to produce but the results are delicious.   In this episode, we discuss: Where is ice wine made? History of ice wine Ice wine has standards Ice wine is difficult to make Grapes used and what to expect in ice wines Food pairings   Wine Recommendations Heidmann’s-Bergweiler 2016 Polar Bear Eiswein - priced around $38 for 375ml bottle. This wine is made with Riesling grapes from the Rheinhessin area of Germany. It has a medium lemon color with medium intense aromas and flavors of lemon, slate or minerality,  and a hint of flowers. It's full bodied with medium acidity, but a lighter ice wine style and not as sticky in texture compared to other ice wines. This is a winery direct selection from Total wine which you can purchase here.   Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estates Vidal 2015 - priced around $24 for a small 187ml bottle so definitely special occasion wine. It's made

  Vin Santo is an Italian dessert wine traditionally from Tuscany Italian Vin Santo is not related to Vinsanto the Greek dessert wine, even though they do have a similar name. In Tuscany, it’s mostly made from white grape varieties Trebbiano and Malvasia, and Sangiovese can be used to produce a rosé style known as "Occhio di Pernice" or eye of the partridge.   In this episode we'll discuss: History of Vin Santo How it's made? Flavor characterisitics Food pairings   Wine Recommendations: Bellini Vin Santo 2009 - priced around $30.  This wine is aged for at least 5 years in the barrel, giving it a medium orange color. It has a medium intense nose and aromas of honey, hazelnut, dried apricot and Dulce de Leche. This wine is delicious, sweet but not sticky and not as vicious as we expected. This is a winery direct from Total Wine and you can purchase it here     Felsina Vin Santo 2004 - priced around $55 but worth every penny. Aged for seven years in the barrels and at least 6 months in the bottle before rel