Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Welcome enthusiasts to wine and the bottle, the podcast, where we taste a wine from the cellar and discuss the people, places, geography, and history that went into creating that wine. I'm your wine and spirits education trust level three certified host Sarah. And today I've invited my cousins over for a holiday happy hour. We have two bottles of backstage wines to try the 2018 central coast Pinot noir and a 2019 slippery slope vineyard, Russian river Chardonnay. So grab your glass and join us for a nice fulsome wine tasting.
Speaker 2 00:00:41 Hi, I'm Erin. I currently live in LA or I work at a children's
Speaker 1 00:00:46 Hospital. And what's your writing experience? I
Speaker 2 00:00:49 Would say beginner novice. I've been on like a few tastings in Cambridge and then Santa Barbara, both of which I very much enjoyed, but I have so much more to learn about why,
Speaker 1 00:01:03 Who are you, sir?
Speaker 3 00:01:04 All right. And Hey, I'm Austin <inaudible> and I'm currently living in Fairbanks, Alaska. I would say I'm a rookie wine drinker. Uh, I would say like whatever the lowest level of knowledge is, that's me.
Speaker 1 00:01:20 Not often that I get to actually open a bottle of wine, cause usually for just myself, when I'm just carbonated,
Speaker 3 00:01:26 What does that mean?
Speaker 1 00:01:28 Corvette? And it is a tool that punctures the wine bottle with a needle and basically keeps it good for a long amount of time. So you can drink the whole bottle over periods of months.
Speaker 3 00:01:43 So it's basically like a syringe, basically. I've never heard of that.
Speaker 1 00:01:46 It's got the capsule with the Oregon gas. Then you press the trigger, which releases the argon gas into the bottle, pushes the liquid through the needle out the spout. So all you have in the cork is this little, teeny tiny hole that since pork tends to expand, it just fills the whole backup social events. Oxidation
Speaker 3 00:02:10 Is such a
Speaker 1 00:02:11 Cool tool.
Speaker 2 00:02:12 That is very cool.
Speaker 1 00:02:13 This is a lot of tasting rooms we'll use. This Gets pretty neat. So we're gonna start with the Chardonnay 2019 Russian river valley Chardonnay from backstage wines, specifically sourced from the slippery slope vineyard. Russian river is a really great place for Sharnay to grow. Cause it gets a nice long sunny summers, but missed from the river and fog from the bay. So perfect. There it is pop to it. So I'll be interested to see, cause a lot of California Chardonnays are super
Speaker 2 00:03:00 That's why Wine tasting experience Santa Barbara and like talking, I guess it was a style that was big kind of back in the text, but now people are kind of figuring it out how to move away from it or has to deal with like, oh, versus non
Speaker 1 00:03:21 Yes, the buttery comes from malolactic conversion where the malic acid in the wine, um, is eaten up by bacteria basically and converted into lactic acid, which is the same stuff as in milk. So that's why it has on a creamy kind of buttery texture and flavor. This is the same passive it's in milk. So it was a huge thing, especially in like the seventies and eighties. So all the big names like Rombauer cake Stag's leap, Chateau Montelena they would make their Chardonnay. They're very malolactic forward and ways they do like a hundred percent conversion. Now it's really more popular to do a semi conversion. So they'll do like 50 or 60%. And the other, you know, 30, 40, 30, 40% is zero malolactic fermentation. So it's all still upright with fruitiness. So
Speaker 2 00:04:21 It's more like the bright, that's usually the right
Speaker 1 00:04:23 For me. I tend to
Speaker 2 00:04:24 Like to like, I want it
Speaker 1 00:04:25 To have a little bit of creaminess just cause I Chardan. They should have that like round texture where it sort of coats everything in your mouth and feels kind of goopy. Like I think that's stylistically my favorite style of Chardonnay, but I don't know, like I like the fruit forwardness to like, if it's too buttery, it just literally tastes like you're picking up a stick of butter and eating it. And I stopped doing that when I was seven,
Speaker 3 00:04:50 I kind of get like a sour, apple smell.
Speaker 1 00:04:54 It definitely get like a nuttiness, like cashew kind of hazelnut. So that tells me that it's probably seen some Oak that nuttiness is typically like from oxidation. And if it's aged in Oak, even if it's neutral Oak, it does still get a little bit of the air.
Speaker 3 00:05:16 Is that common for Chardonnay?
Speaker 1 00:05:18 Yeah. Hmm.
Speaker 2 00:05:20 I do get that like smooth finish that it still has that like, right. Like it like starts Sprite and then ends kind of with this.
Speaker 1 00:05:31 Yeah. Oh wow. There's like a honeysuckle
Speaker 2 00:05:35 Like
Speaker 1 00:05:35 Honeycomb do it. That's really interesting. I wouldn't expect that in a wine this young, I would expect that more in like an aged shortening, but this is a 2019
Speaker 2 00:05:50 Apple and I do get honey and I do get that like kind of smooth her more Nettie finish.
Speaker 3 00:05:58 Honestly,
Speaker 1 00:06:00 He definitely has that like mouth coding, texture.
Speaker 3 00:06:04 Yeah. It's very smooth and it's not dry at all.
Speaker 1 00:06:09 Yeah. It's um, sugar wise, like sugar level wise it's definitely would be classified as a dry line, but as for like the juiciness of it, what you're feeling is the acidity pulling forward. All of the juiciness, the way to judge acidity in the wine is if your mouth waters a lot for a long time after you saw all of the why then you know, it's got a lot of my city now.
Speaker 2 00:06:34 I think I like acid lines. <inaudible> Like juicy.
Speaker 3 00:06:44 Yeah. But for some reason it just kind of reminds me of like a, because usually it's used with white wine, the wine base sauce that you would get, if you weren't like some muscles or something like that, I'm just kind of picking that. I just get that flavor, the creamy kind of flavor. I want like a plate of mussels in front of me.
Speaker 2 00:07:05 That's perfect. There's a little place in my neighborhood that is known for that. And um, bigger OB stro. And you just like sit outside you people down the street in Los villas. And like people have a plate of mussels and a glass of wine.
Speaker 1 00:07:23 And
Speaker 2 00:07:24 I feel like mentally, that's a great place to be.
Speaker 1 00:07:28 Yeah. This would be perfect with that. Cause it's almost like, um, there's like a lemony, like you mentioned, like grab the apple kind of complexity going on where you still do get a lot of that fruit, but it's, it's mostly the complexity from the verification process, like clove and there's almost like an urban Dell type a room. I do it maybe like Terragon. Mm. Yeah. I would definitely put pair this with shellfish of some sort with a white sauce. It almost evokes being a kid going to the beach. Like I assume this is what my parents would have been drinking.
Speaker 2 00:08:19 Yeah. We'd be like running on the beach and they just be like,
Speaker 1 00:08:25 Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 00:08:26 This is definitely a one you could drink by itself. You don't need it. You don't need food with it.
Speaker 1 00:08:31 No, I mentioned Joanne.
Speaker 3 00:08:33 Yeah. Quite impressed Because I am more of a red guy. Yeah. So, you know,
Speaker 2 00:08:45 Yeah. For me, I've learned, I tend to like white wines. I think it's like what you're talking about that you see absent forward now it's like adult juice to me drinking.
Speaker 1 00:08:59 I'm almost falls in the middle for me. It, cause it definitely adds up fruitiness when it also has that kind of complexity that you find more in red wines. So it's kinda, it's weird. It's like right in the middle and it's very interesting. Have you ever heard the term porch pounder?
Speaker 2 00:09:15 Yes.
Speaker 2 00:09:22 And I bought one in Bainbridge and that's what, like the nickname was the, it was like the danger with bridge or
Speaker 1 00:09:29 Porch
Speaker 2 00:09:29 <inaudible> but yeah, I would say this is like, not quite a porch pounder, but like you said, it's like, it has that complexity. You want to like more, enjoy it versus pound it, but it still has kind of like easier to gain.
Speaker 1 00:09:48 Yeah. This would definitely fall right in the middle. This is a saver wine. It's not quite a porch pounder.
Speaker 2 00:09:55 I said like a sunset, like a summer sunset at the beach.
Speaker 1 00:10:00 I don't know. I like that
Speaker 3 00:10:03 With the plate of muscles.
Speaker 1 00:10:06 <inaudible> Sharon is so interesting because you can make it in a range of styles. Like in Shipley, France, they make Sharnay. That is pure acid. You would love it. It's pure acid lemon, lime grapefruit.
Speaker 2 00:10:29 Yes. This,
Speaker 1 00:10:30 This Chardonnay is like pear fruit bomb, but then you get to California and they're opening it. They're aging. It it's a totally different beast.
Speaker 3 00:10:42 So they don't put it in open France.
Speaker 1 00:10:44 They do. They put it, especially in Alsace in these giant hundred gallon neutral barrels that are hundreds of years old. So they have all this tartar caked on the inside. So while it is technically being maternity Oak, um, it doesn't get any of the Oak flavor at all.
Speaker 2 00:11:06 That's amazing.
Speaker 1 00:11:07 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:11:09 Wait, can you teach me that technique you're doing with
Speaker 1 00:11:15 Think of it like mouthwash Why'd you really want to, do you want the wine to coat your entire mouth, including your grounds?
Speaker 2 00:11:25 Oh, well,
Speaker 1 00:11:27 Because you have sensory receptors everywhere in your mouth. So you want to be able to feel like, what is the weight feel like on your tongue? What does the acid feel like on your gums for red wines that we'll see with the Pinot noir? Where do you feel the tannins? Do you feel the grippiness in the center of your tongue or on your cheeks or on the roof of your mouth or your gums? Um, and it just, it sort of helps you develop a better fuller picture of what the wind feels like for you. So basically yeah. Like between like mouthwash she's swirling around and then you do like a little sucking of air into your mouth, uh, to the wine as you're swirling around methods thing. Right. And then you swallow it and you started after to get the flavors and everything it'll it helps also helps, um, sending the aromas Metro retro needs so that you're getting this right through a nasal receptors as well.
Speaker 2 00:12:29 It's so cool. I literally love why there is a science to it and it like, yeah, it just combines that like art, but also the science. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:38 Yeah. I taste wine. First thing I start with is actually the color. And typically you would want to do it on a white surface. Um, so if you have your coaster look forward, doesn't have a watery rim. And I think in this case, since it is so pale yes. And that just basically means the core of the color, like kind of pale yellow color and in w set terms, we would call it panel lemon. And then I think in, um, quarter of Somalia, they call it straw. So even line nerds have different names for things. And it gets so confusing because in the wrong context, like if on my w study exam, if I had called this straw, I wouldn't have gotten the point. Oh, because they want me to use the term of lemon
Speaker 2 00:13:32 Amazing distinction.
Speaker 1 00:13:34 Right. I'm
Speaker 2 00:13:34 Like, it's the
Speaker 1 00:13:35 Exact same thing. Just different words. So I'm called this pale lemon. If you could see the color go all the way up to the edge, to the watery edge, then it would be deep lemon. And if it's sort of somewhere in the middle where it almost was up to the edge, but not quite it's medium. And for white lines, the older they get the darker, they get red wines, the older they get paler, they get
Speaker 2 00:14:04 Really, I'm thinking about the line we had last night. And I just, it was, it was, it didn't look a little clear. I didn't look like super dark darker. It was kind of like a light raspberry, like here. I remember thinking that like, I'm like, oh my gosh, this looks like you can kind of see through it. Like it had that. I don't know crystal quality.
Speaker 1 00:14:32 Absolutely. It did have a little bit of age on it. It was 2016. So you could see that in the color of the wine, that it was a little bit paler than it might've been what we're having tonight. The second one is a Pinot noir as well. So same varietals, but it'll probably be quite different, um, because it is from different region and different vintage. It's kind of interesting. So the Russian river is sort of in it's cooler because it has it's on the coast and it has the Russian river influence. So it's got lots of missed, lots of fog and cool temperatures. So you get the lemon lime with some apple and some hair and, um, high acid. So they've done a little bit of malolactic conversion, but a lot. Yeah. A lot of times, uh, wine makers will use them at a lactic conversion to soften the acid so that it's not so punchy. Yeah. So we're ready to move on to the peanut
Speaker 2 00:15:36 Lovely, like russet red. Like I getting like red, orange Color.
Speaker 1 00:15:43 I don't know. Yeah. That's co Garnett. We would, we would call it
Speaker 2 00:15:52 'cause. Yeah. Like I felt like the one last I have more.
Speaker 1 00:15:55 Yeah, no, this is so pretty. Yeah. This one is definitely borderline Gordon. I probably, if I were writing an exam, I would call it garden. And that's pretty interesting since this is a 2018 central coast.
Speaker 3 00:16:12 So is it lighter than you would expect or darker,
Speaker 1 00:16:16 Um, color intensity wise? It's right. Where I think it would be it's pale, um, pale to medium. My, I would classify this pale, but the fact that it's garnished typically that indicates age, cause they'll start to brown as they get older, just as part of the oxidation process. So that could indicate before maybe even looked at the wine, um, could indicate that this was aged in Oak because it got a little bit oxygen.
Speaker 3 00:16:48 I'm getting like a very sweet and Berry
Speaker 2 00:16:51 I'm getting like strawberry
Speaker 3 00:16:52 Shortcake strawberry as well. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:16:56 Almost strawberry preserve like, like June
Speaker 1 00:17:07 I actually do smell the alcohol off of this. So it's a hot peanut bar a little bit like what varnish, um, what leaves and almost like a bubble gum also get some pretty strong prune and raising,
Speaker 3 00:17:27 You know, it's interesting after I taste it. And then when I go back to smell it again, I smell almost like a, almost a smokey note that I didn't have
Speaker 1 00:17:37 Before,
Speaker 3 00:17:39 Which is just interest, such a contrast, your first thing, going into it raw or whatever struck when I think strawberry and smoke. Uh, those are two very different smells. So I just think that's a really big, uh, you know, change.
Speaker 1 00:17:58 Yeah. Evolution, evolution. Say we like to call that an evolution. I think that this would go really well. Most people would not pair up with red meat, red meat. I would say that this would probably be good, like a burger or some kind of rare to medium rare steak,
Speaker 2 00:18:24 Just stronger flavor. And I would say almost like a harsher aftertaste. I don't know that. Yeah. This one
Speaker 1 00:18:36 And classify black pepper, white pepper, jalapeno pepper.
Speaker 3 00:18:39 Um, maybe a little, maybe a little black, maybe a little black pepper. Um, right, right off the tip though. When I first did it though, a little cayenne though, just a little, I don't know, just, just very, it was like it was there and then it was gone.
Speaker 1 00:18:57 Yeah. Like I was kind of like a bloody,
Speaker 2 00:19:00 Yeah. I get this like harsh. I don't want to say maybe bitter, but I don't know. Bitter undertones, maybe. It's that like?
Speaker 1 00:19:07 Yeah. So I would like if I have this and in a blind tasting, I would be like, this tastes like a syrup, but it doesn't have any tennis.
Speaker 2 00:19:18 Yeah, exactly. Like it's like a fuller body and more
Speaker 2 00:19:26 Where, where would we drink this wine for some reason? Because we said like DME and blood, I'm imagining like a hunting lodge. <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:19:41 <inaudible> we didn't catch anything today.
Speaker 3 00:19:49 Yeah. Well it sounds like you're describing my life. See what you're doing there
Speaker 3 00:19:58 Am <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:20:09 It does sort of have that like by the fire, listening to grandpa tells stories, sort of five going on in here. I do a lot of unconventional pairings that I'll post them to my socials and people are like, why would you pair that? Like, cause it
Speaker 2 00:20:29 Was good.
Speaker 2 00:20:32 Yeah. It was worked
Speaker 1 00:20:33 For me. Yeah. That Chardonnay's some smooth drinking. Yeah. It's really classy. You know, I felt like not only is it the wine that your payments would drink on the, on the beach, you know, buy kids had fun. I also feel like that's something that you could sit in a piano lounge,
Speaker 2 00:20:55 100%
Speaker 1 00:20:56 Classy. It's elegant and smooth. And it's just something, a little rough and tumble about this peanut.
Speaker 3 00:21:03 Yeah. Now something to think about, you know, so with this peanut Nawara here, it just says central coast. So does that mean the grapes are coming from multiple locations within the central coast. So would that potentially contribute to this kind of interesting puzzle piece that we have going on with?
Speaker 1 00:21:25 And what it tells me is that they were looking to blend certain elements from certain different vineyards. So they're looking at what are these grapes spring to the wine versus what are these grapes on this side bring to the wine? So the harmony of it not great A little bit, but it would be, it would be interesting to find out where, um, where it was sourced from in central coast. Cause that central coast covers everywhere from Santa Barbara all the way up through Mendocino. So that's a central coast is like this big overarching Appalachian. It's not terribly specific. So this could have grapes from anywhere within that desert.
Speaker 2 00:22:18 That's so cute. Like that's such a hue who treat it. Like we talk about these microclimates I
Speaker 1 00:22:25 Know like
Speaker 2 00:22:26 Stand like hundreds of miles. It's interesting.
Speaker 3 00:22:30 Yeah. Whereas, whereas this came from just one single vineyard,
Speaker 2 00:22:35 Slippery,
Speaker 3 00:22:36 Slow vineyard. So
Speaker 1 00:22:40 It's
Speaker 3 00:22:40 Going to be a little more unify
Speaker 2 00:22:43 And maybe that's like the cohesiveness of like the taste experience versus this one. It's like, yeah, I know all over
Speaker 1 00:22:52 Cool tasting.
Speaker 2 00:22:57 Yes. Cheers.
Speaker 0 00:22:59 So in case you're curious about backstage wines, backstage is a family operated venture in Larkspur, California across the bay from San Francisco helmed by winemaker Angelo para the brand comes out of the mountain view winery helmed by Mr. Paris. Since 2010, the grapes are sourced from premium micro vineyards. Many only a single acre in size from all over California. Some of their most notable wines come from vineyards in Napa Sonoma and Monterrey with theatrical names like masquerade Encore and soprano para specializes in single varietals, single vineyard wine. But some of the backstage wines Cubase are single varietal wines sourced from a geographically broader scope like the central coast Pinot noir from today's tasting in an interview with Cape Cod sellers para explained. And I'm paraphrasing here that his desire for many varietals and varied terroir moved him to purchase vineyards all throughout California. And now mountain view winery has 19 micro vineyards in its holdings. The wines we tried today are available from the winery only. You won't find these wines in a grocery store or BevMo. So if you want to get a bottle stop by the tasting room in Larkspur, the Chardonnay retails for about $54 and the peanut retails for 45. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of wine and the bottle. I've been your host, Sara. Cheers.
