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Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
16: Italian Chardonnay tasting with Kyle Schlachter
Apr 23, 2018
16: Italian Chardonnay tasting with Kyle Schlachter
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00:00
09:09
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:00
You gonna get down? What you gonna do, Cha? We're gonna get down. You gonna get down? That's what I'm hoping. You gonna get down? With Cha is back in the day cafe. What you gonna do? Oh, I miss this music, Paul.
0:10
I miss this music. This is the music of, uh- You gonna get down? Soul. This is the music of our soul. Oh, definitely. Like wine is the music of your blood. You gonna get down? Okay, that was... Okay, see, see.
0:22
[laughs] Dude. Okay, I think I got a buzz. [laughs] I think you did. Oh, I don't even know what the hell that meant. Stay off the fumes. Look, I g- [laughs] I got all Courtney Love on you. [laughs] I'm like, "What?"
0:37
Okay. Get down. This is, this wine right here- Yeah... is, like, smelling butterscotch. Yeah. It is like- On the wall Okay, so- I could just sit here and smell it all day long. All right.
0:49
So Kyle, tell us what wine you brought in today. So I brought in a, uh, 2007 Rasteau, uh, from, uh, Gaja. It's an Italian producer. Oh.
0:58
So he makes wine, uh, up in the northwest part of Italy, and he's known for making big, expensive, uh, Barbarescos and Barolos. He kind of fucked the system. He was kind of a maverick up there.
1:11
And, um, it b- really brought northern Italian wines into modernity here. They were kind of rustic. They used to blend all the wines, and he really wanted to make single vineyard wines, which wasn't done there before.
1:21
And so he did that back in, uh, oh, the '90s, '80s and '90s. And this is a, a Chardonnay. It's a little bit of Sauvignon Blanc then blended. Oh, it is... So I brought this in for two reasons.
1:33
I wanted to talk about two things with this. One, you notice it's a different size bottle than everything else. Right. It's a little small bottle. Yeah. It's a half bottle.
1:39
And it's one thing I wish more winers would do more of, is produce wine in half bottles, because, you know, sometimes- Yeah... y- if you're by yourself, you don't want to open a whole bottle up. Right.
1:47
It's not about size. Yeah. No, no, no, it's not. But, uh, it, it, it's just fun. You can take it easy. It's, it's nice if you wanna try t- uh, three or four different wines in a night. Exactly.
1:55
Rather than open all the wines- Right... full bottles, you got these half bottles here, and it's, it's great. Awesome. And the other thing is, it's a, it's a 2007, so it is
2:04
11 years old right now, and it, it, it shows what aged wine can be like. You know- Oh...
2:09
most people think Chardonnay doesn't age, but some of the Chardonnays in France and Italy are some of the longest aged white wines in the world. And it's very, very different than all the other wines here.
2:19
Oh, it is so good. So, so to me, it's, it's- The butterscotch. It's buttery... it's buttery. It's buttery. It's, it's nutty. It tastes like a- Mm-hmm. Oh...
2:27
really ripe, not crisp apple with caramel and some, uh- Yeah, absolutely... some salted nuts with it. Absolutely. Oh, this is so, so good. And you notice you- And it smells so good... said the color, too. The color.
2:39
Color is quite- Darker... a lot different. Mm-hmm. It is, uh... It's a, kind of a deep golden straw color. Yeah. And as, as white wines age, they kind of go from that yellowish to golden to almost brown. They'll...
2:51
Th- this wine will turn brown, but it'll still be drinkable probably. Oh, it's very good. Yeah, it's- Very good. [laughs] Really good. Yeah. The, um, um... It's just, uh, the, the acid...
3:04
It's still got really good acid and, um, almost fresh, but it, it, but it does have the baked- Mm. Uh, like you were saying, the baked fruit- The smell... and, um, that real rich butterscotch-y thing.
3:14
Oh So still- Smells good... still great. Yeah. This is... I have, um, five or six bottles of this, and, uh, it's, it's hit or miss with older wines.
3:22
Especially in half bottles, they age more quickly, so you can't keep them as long. Mm-hmm. And, uh, but- So tell us the story with this one. Uh, normally this bottle, or- Well, a full s- Or a full bottle...
3:33
a full bottle, a regular bottle, uh, it depends on where you buy it and what vintage. Run a r- roughly $100 a bottle. Yeah. Somewhere between 75 to 125, but call it 100. Wow.
3:42
And the little half bottles are, mm, we'll call it 50 to 60 bucks a bottle. Wow. So I got lucky. I actually found a bunch of these, uh, on a closeout shelf at a liquor store.
3:51
Walking by and I saw them, recognized that label, and- Wow. Yeah... saw the price that was not anywhere near that. The label's awesome, too. And two, two, two birds. Scooped them all up, and, uh, been enjoying them. Wow.
4:01
It's really good. It was the saddest day of my life when I saw my wine on the, [laughs] on the closeout shelf. [laughs] I'm like, "What are they doing? That was a gold medal winner." Well, anyway. [laughs] Yeah.
4:12
For all those, uh, wine shoppers out there looking, go, go look at the closeout shelves in some of these liquor stores, 'cause- Yeah, sometimes-... there are some good deals there... you, there are some good deals.
4:20
[laughs] And it's not necessarily the wines are bad that are there. They're just not selling for whatever reason. Exactly. Mm-hmm. And I think, you know, a half bottle of Italian Chardonnay at $50 a bottle- Oh...
4:28
probably not gonna move all that quickly. Yeah. Very good. Yeah, that is a good one. So, um, yeah, we've tasted, uh, five Chardonnays today, Cha. I'm proud of you. I'm a little tipsy.
4:42
[laughs] So, um- Um- That, that, that was the reference to the, uh, wine as the, in the blood that you- Yeah... said before. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. You're just trying to just make something out of it. I know you are.
4:54
[laughs] It was, uh... Yeah, no. This is really good. I really like this one a lot. A lot. So, um, [laughs] sorry, I lost my, uh, my information here- [laughs]... that I was gonna read to you. That's okay.
5:10
That's all right, Paulie. I'll, I'll get it back. All right. Um, I was thinking the other day, speaking of, um, upcoming, you know, summer, we flip back. Don't we do the time change this weekend?
5:22
Yeah, we f- we- That's n- tonight? Tomorrow? Yeah, tonight. Tonight. Well, in the morning. Yeah, or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. They should just leave it. They should leave it. Whoever thought of that- Oh, it's the w-...
5:31
did not have kids. No. It's the w- they were just talking about that on the news, it affects children more than anybody else. Mm-hmm. Just really wreaks havoc on their little sleep schedules.
5:40
Oh, I've got little kids, and tomorrow's not gonna be fun. Oh, no. Why couldn't this happen on a weekday where everybody had an excuse to be late to work? That's what I wanted to know.
5:50
[laughs] Everybody just said, "Well, shucks. Jiminy Jillikers." [laughs] I w- I was reading a thing last year that, um, there's, uh, i- increased heart attacks. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh, people go- And crashes...
6:01
and then also, uh- Like, construction workers, that type of thing, um, they have to, they have to really, uh, hammer the safety down because, um, 'cause their schedules are off. Yeah.
6:13
So they could hit the wrong button or whatever, fall off a ladder- Yep... that type of thing, so. And you're most likely to get broadsided,
6:21
along with having a heart attack, the day after the change of daylight savings time. Ridiculous. I'm staying in the house. [laughs] Me too. We'll take the rest of these wines. We ain't going nowhere. That's right.
6:31
[laughs] Got all we need right here. That's all we need. Hey, uh, by the way, this segment's brought to you by Right Coast Pizza. They're over at, uh, 7100 West 30th in Wheat Ridge, and a real laid back joint.
6:43
They have Jersey style pizza, okay? What's a Jersey style pizza? Well, it's, you know, that's the right coast, okay? That's- Right... they're on the right side of the country.
6:50
Like thin crust kinda- But yeah, thin crust, and then, uh, and they do a lot of cool things, uh, over there. But, uh- Yeah... what's really cool about, uh, Right Coast Pizza, they have an all Colorado beverage menu.
7:00
So course Colorado beers, which is easy to feature, but then they have all Colorado spirits, and all Colorado wines on their list. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, so, um- That's very cool...
7:10
yeah, if you get a chance, you want some good pizza, head out to, uh, Wheat Ridge and see Right Coast Pizza. Right on. We need more, uh, more restaurants to do that.
7:18
Uh, I go to a lot of places that have all Colorado beer, but Colorado wine, often kinda left behind there. We need to get some more. We do. We need, we need more people, yeah, picking up the Colorado wines.
7:27
Uh, they're obviously really good. And, um, um, so put the bug in your ear- Yeah... of your favorite, uh, your favorite retailer, your favorite restaurant. "Hey, do you have any Colorado wine on the list?" So, um,
7:40
and we'll keep- Yep... and we'll keep hammering on it. Every time you're out, ask. Ask for it. Right on. [laughs] I'm tipsy. I got nothing. [laughs] Uh-oh. [laughs] We're gonna have to put Cha to bed here pretty soon.
7:54
No you're not. Her afternoon nap. [laughs] No, I'm okay. Hey, hey, hey. Oh, I know. I'm okay. So, um- Well, all right. Well, thanks Kyle for, uh, coming in today, man. Yeah, thanks for having me.
8:04
And, um, man, we didn't really get to... It's not a political show, but I'd love to hear about Littleton City Council. [laughs] Yeah. What's going on in Littleton. Exactly. It's funny. It keeps me busy. Yeah, I bet.
8:13
Yeah. Do you take wine? Well, no, no, no. I'm just joking. I'm just joking. [laughs] Sometimes I wish I had, but no. Exactly. [laughs] Exactly. Well, thanks for coming on. We appreciate it. Yep. You know?
8:23
And, uh, keep killing it over at the Wine Board. And then I know sometimes you, you, you show up on TV, on, uh, on the morning shows, like on, uh, on Fox, on Fox, and, uh, on Channel 9, and- Yeah, every once in a while.
8:35
I usually get about a 24-hour notice when- Yeah... "Show up tomorrow." "Oh, okay." Yep. Yep, that's kinda how it works. And then you have to cram in all this information into, like, two minutes. Yeah. That.
8:43
Two minutes, yeah. [laughs] So it's fun. This is the first time I've been on radio, so. Well, see. Right on. Yeah. It's, it's really laid back. Hey, making his debut- Right on... right here with us, Paulie. I love it.
8:52
Okay. Well, we're gonna, we're gonna keep drinking Colorado wine. And, uh, your job is to put some altitude in your glass this week, and grab something local. All right? Right on. Thanks for listening.
9:02
And, uh, this is Denver Wine Radio on Mile High Sports. Man, it's cold outside. But the-
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