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Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
14: Colorado Chardonnay Against the World with Kyle Schlachter
Apr 21, 2018
14: Colorado Chardonnay Against the World with Kyle Schlachter
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:00
[upbeat music] Denver Wine Radio with Paul Bonacquisti and Cha Cha Chavez, presented by Bonacquisti Wine Company and Cha's Back in the Day Cafe. Some folks are born. Is this CCR?
0:18
Yeah. I love CCR. Ooh, red and blue. John Fogerty and the band. And when the band plays. A little rock and roll. The old, the old swamp rock. It is the swamp rock. And they're not even from the swamp.
0:29
[laughs] They're not? Where are they from? They're like from LA, but they developed the, you know, he's, they were the ones that- I never knew that, Paul... created that sound, that swamp rock sound. Yeah.
0:39
I never knew that. I thought they were from down south. Nope, they, they- Well, there you go... there you go. [laughs] All right. You learn something every day.
0:46
Hey, welcome back to Denver Wine Radio, Paul Bonacquisti, Cha Cha Chavez, and Kyle Schlachter in the house today, 40 under 40 from Wine Enthusiast. He's the man.
0:55
He's also on Littleton City Council and, um, and he works with the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, helping us, uh, promote Colorado wine all over the state.
1:05
So, uh, we're tasting Chardonnay today and, um, we just, uh, we just tasted, uh, Two Rivers, uh, 2015 Chardonnay. A- and just a little note to what we're tasting today, they, all these run about 15 bucks. Okay? Oh, okay.
1:19
Yeah. They're 15- Good price... 16 buck price point. Right. Uh, a couple of them were on sale yesterday. I saved three bucks a bottle. Nice. So it was an easy grab for me.
1:27
[laughs] And, um, but anyway, uh, that, that's what's going on. Yeah, I love the sale stickers. Yeah. Yeah, so, um, let's see where we're going next. What- What region? What region?
1:39
Okay, so we just did Colorado, so let's go, uh, let's go over to France- Ah... and, um, and try this Burgundy, okay? Let's go to France. Burgundy is the ancestral home to Chardonnay. Oh, okay.
1:49
You say white Burgundy, it means Chardonnay. Okay. Just a little, Paulie. There you go. Ooh. Yeah, so this is the, uh, the Joseph Drewhin, uh, 2015 Chardonnay,
2:03
and, uh, it's just Appalachian, uh, Burgundy Control A, so just the general Burgundy area. Yum. Ooh, this, a, oh, do you have a, like a baguette and some cheese- Wow... or something- So, yeah, so this one-...
2:16
since we're in the region? This is good... this one already is, it smells, uh, lighter. Uh-huh. Uh, more citrus fruit to me. Very citrusy. More, and more minerality. So. Yes. Very citrusy.
2:26
Just a different, uh- It's very good... so it's a different style. Oh. [laughs] Almost broke the glass, Paulie. [laughs] You're trying. You're gonna break something today. [laughs] It's good.
2:37
We're looking for a sippy cup sponsor. That's what we need in here. Exactly. Ah, this is really good. Got that citrus, but it's got a nice bright apple. It is. A nice crisp apple. Ah. And should this be chilled?
2:52
I mean, do you drink this cold? Can you drink it warm? I mean- Yeah, white wine generally should be, uh, chilled. Okay. But not, not to the point of, you know, coming out of your refrigerator. Oh.
3:02
Like room temperature, kinda like a little cooler? Not room temperature, but a little cooler. Okay. Probably, uh, probably about 50 degrees. Okay. Hmm.
3:09
Yeah, so what I did, uh, purposely with the, these four wines was I left them in the car overnight. Mm-hmm.
3:14
And I knew it wasn't gonna be a super cold night, so, um, so no, I didn't really do any ref- any other refrigeration. I just left them in the car, brought them in, 'cause I, I wanted, I knew they would be cool- Mm-hmm...
3:24
for tasting purposes for us- Right... and not, not cold. Most people would serve these a little bit colder. Right. I, I- But I was trying to get more flavor out.
3:31
The, the colder the wines get, the more muted the flavors are. Oh. So a really, really cold wine, wine pulled right out of the fridge at, you know, 37 degrees, it might not smell like anything, but- Okay...
3:40
a good rule is if you got a white wine, put it in the fridge overnight, you have a dinner party, pull it out about half hour, 45 minutes before dinner. Oh, okay, because- So it warms up to the right temperature...
3:48
I mean, seriously, the reason I asked is because it is, it's like the perfect temperature. It's not too cold. It's not warm. Perfect, Paul. Yeah. Wow. Very good. Very good. I like that a lot. That's very good.
4:03
Very fruity, nice little aftertaste there. Really good. I like the color of it. Yeah, it's a little bit lighter, lighter in color. Yeah.
4:13
And, um, yeah, so this is, this is really nice and, uh- Yeah, this is the, uh, this is the entry level for, uh, Chardonnay or white Burgundy.
4:22
You get there, you can get some of the most expensive wines in the world, a couple thousand dollars a bottle for a bottle of Chardonnay from Burgundy, depending on the very specific vineyard. Wow. Very good. All right.
4:33
Yeah. Well, shall we, you wanna- Me gusta... you wanna, you wanna go around? You wanna go around the world now? [laughs] Yes. Let's go. We started in France.
4:40
[laughs] The only thing missing was a baguette and some cheese, but, you know, I'll forgive you. Little, some figs. All right, so, uh, now I think we wanna go to, um- California there?
4:54
Yeah, let's go to California, and, uh, we're gonna try this Russian River Valley Chardonnay. So- 'Cause Cali's where they put their Mack down. [laughs] California. And if you act up, I'm gonna put the smack down.
5:10
[laughs] Who likes to party with some Chardonnay? So this is, uh, Foley Adieu, a winery out of Sonoma, and, uh, Russian River Valley is a, uh, area, uh, kinda up, up north of, uh, north of Napa.
5:27
I know exactly where it is. Do you really? I spent a week there. We went camping. Beautiful area. It was awesome. It is awesome. Oh, my goodness gracious. Oh, yeah. It was beautiful.
5:34
Yeah, so, uh, it, it- Wow, so way up north... way up north, more, you know, it's a cool climate. Yeah. Russian River. Yeah. A lot of great wines come out of there, a lot of great, uh, um, everything.
5:44
Yeah, Russian River's known for the, their Pinot Noir and their Chardonnay. Yum. So this one already- No, double yum... [laughs] is a double yum. Oh, dude, this one is really good.
5:53
So this is kinda what I expected, uh- Yum... just in my head, uh, was a richer style, a, you know, some, uh, barrel aging. A little, the texture on the mouth is a little oilier almost.
6:06
It's a little, it's a little thicker. Yeah, this one, this smells like crème brûlée. Mm-hmm. Oh. [laughs] You get that- And it's so smooth... pineapple and- Yes... that nutmeg with that, uh- Mm-hmm... that cream.
6:20
Oh, this is, this is really tasty. Yeah, this, this is why- My fave so far... so, so far, I mean, we've... You see why Chardonnay is such a- Yeah... a popular grape- Absolutely... and a popular wine- Ab-...
6:31
'cause it comes in all styles, hits, hits everybody. Yeah. There's something for everybody. Oh, this one is really good. I- the one before that was just as good. It was a lot...
6:39
It was very fruity, but this is just smooth. And they're just so different, too. Yeah. Yeah, that's the fun thing about wine.
6:46
You could, you know, try the same wine, you know, the Chardonnay, but depending on where it's made and who makes it, it's gonna be a different wine. Mm. Yummy, yum, yum, yum. I may be taking the leftover of this one.
6:58
[laughs] And you are welcome to. [laughs] For a little dinner, a little maybe I'll throw a little, I don't know, uh, Cornish hens in the oven. [laughs] Yeah, so I'm right now in the, uh, I'll tell you something, Kyle.
7:12
You might, you might like this. Um, you may not. Uh, I've got, right now I've got a barrel of Chardonnay. It's, uh, aging in a whiskey barrel. Okay. Yeah. So, so it was actually used once.
7:23
Uh, I got the whiskey barrel, ran some, uh, I already ran a, uh, wine through it, a Syrah, but then, uh, so then I, I, I put some, some Chardonnay in it just to see.
7:33
I, I, I actually had an idea, uh, for it, but, uh, what I, I, what I found out now after tasting it, it's been, uh, it's been in about six months.
7:42
Uh, it doesn't really have the whiskey character I was expecting from the barrel, uh, but it really smoothed out, uh, out the wine. Uh- Yeah, I can't say I've had a white that's been aged in a whiskey barrel.
7:52
There's been a few reds that I've had. That's kind of a, a new, a new thing, a new fad going on. You'll see, uh, whiskey barrel aged wines. Uh, what is it, what did it taste like, Paulie?
8:01
What did, what did you get from it? I get, uh, well, it has the, it has all the bright fruit because it was a, it was a stainless steel up to, uh, Chardonnay up to that point.
8:10
And, um, and then now it's, uh, it's developed some of that, uh, real soft, like we just ta- tasted in this Russian River Valley- Oh, yeah... really soft, uh, creamy texture to it.
8:20
Probably got some good spice and, uh- And yes, there's just a-... smokiness. Exactly. Just a little bit of spice and smokiness.
8:25
At first I was, uh, really, I was hoping for a big punch like a, uh, that, like a, what you'd get in a whiskey- Uh-huh... uh, that- Yeah... uh, because we were gonna use it as an aperitif wine.
8:34
But now, um, I'm, I'm taking it out, uh, the barrel next week, and we're gonna get it bottled as a, uh, just a f- a fun Chardonnay. [laughs] Is that, is that gonna be the name, Fun Chardonnay? Fun Chardonnay, yeah.
8:46
Well, we were thinking- There you go... of something. Now maybe I got it. Fun Chardonnay. So anyway, um- That sounds interesting. I look forward to trying that.
8:52
Yeah, I should've, I should've brought a barrel sample in, but hey, where's my manners, right? Live and learn. Live and learn. So, um, all right. All right, we got about a minute left in this segment, so, um- So chug.
9:05
Yeah. [laughs] Start chugging. 'Cause we're gonna go back to Colorado, uh, when we come out of the break, um, and we're gonna try this Plum Creek, and, um, maybe we can talk about...
9:15
So, so far what we've tasted were 2015s. We're gonna go to a 2014. If there's any difference in a year, would it- Yeah, we could talk about age and stuff and, and- Would it, different teammates.
9:24
And then we'll, and then we'll jump way back in time. We'll go back about 11 years. Okay. Yeah, Kyle brought in a special, uh, a special wine. I would love to go back 11 years. To try today, so.
9:34
[laughs] But in wine, yeah, I'm, I'm down for that too. Right on. Yeah. I'm waiting for the 50, over 50 or the [laughs] something category I can qualify for.
9:42
Hey, all right, uh, coming right back on, uh, Denver Wine Radio here on Mile High Sports.
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