Archive
Subscribe
Search
Login
Subscribe
Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
24: Part 2: Jo Mama and Guy Drew Vineyards
Nov 3, 2018
24: Part 2: Jo Mama and Guy Drew Vineyards
15
30
00:00
23:14
IN THIS EPISODE
LISTEN ON
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Spotify
YouTube
YouTube
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Castro
Castro
FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:01
You're listening to Denver Wine Radio. It's a DJ and a winemaker yakking about music and wine. Presented by Bona Quisti Wine Company. And now here's Cha and Paulie. [singing] Can't get enough of your love, babe.
0:18
Oh, yeah. [laughs] Ow. Ow. I went back to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles in about 1983, '84. Dude, they were all wearing white, including Barry White, and it was a full orchestra behind him. Oh, really?
0:32
It just took you into another world. I- I... Barry White. What a great experience. Oh. I never got to see him. Man. I never did either. Wow. I never saw him at all. How many babies were conceived- Oh, yeah...
0:42
to a Barry White album, you think? I am sure. And remember the big, uh... I remember, like, he had that, this big resurgence after that TV show, Molly, uh, Molly MacBee. Molly MacBee. Yeah, I don't remember that.
0:52
It was a lawyer-type show and, uh- Ally McBeal. Ally McBeal. Oh, Ally McBeal. Oh, what did I call it? Oh, yeah. [laughs] Molly? [laughs] Molly MacBee. I was gonna call it Molly McButter. That's what we used to call it.
1:03
See- But Ally M- Ally, yeah, Ally McBeal. And that's why you don't- Thank you... invite men- [laughs] See?... to baby showers. No. I just ruined the, uh, yeah, the cocktail show. Paulie's crashing our baby shower.
1:11
[laughs] The tea party. [laughs] Ally McBeal. That's right. Ally McBeal. Yes. Yep, yeah. Yes. Big surge in Barry- Yeah... yeah, yeah, Barry White music, so. Oh, I love Barry White. He's the best. Ugh.
1:22
Hey, welcome back to Denver Wine Radio. Paul Bona Quisti and, uh, Cha Cha Chavez, and special guest in studio, Joe Mama Myers. Hi. From way back in the day, uh- Way. KZY...
1:33
all the g- yeah, KZY, all the great radio stations here. Mix 100. Way back in the day. I'm kind of a big deal. Yeah. Mix 100, right? You did M- uh, you worked at Mix for a while with Dom. I did. Yeah.
1:42
I did work with Dom. And, uh, KZY. Where, where else? Where else did you drop a mic? I worked at KOZY. That's right. Yeah. I forgot you worked at KOZY. I did. I worked at KOZY for a while.
1:53
The first station I worked at when I came to town was KLIR. What was that? Well, it was, uh... It became KMJI, I think. Isn't that right? Do you remember that, Paulie? You're a native. No. KLIR?
2:07
That was the, um- That was the alt, the other one... the, the, it was at the far end of the dial, right? [laughs] Yeah. Well, K People was in the same building. KPPL. Okay. And they'd say, "We're K People."
2:18
[laughs] And our byline behind the scenes was, "We're Clear People." Oh. KLIR. [laughs] Um, and it became another station. I was working that day when, when we f- switched to, um- They flipped it? Yeah.
2:30
I'm pretty sure it was KMJI. Huh. Yeah. And then I worked at KIM-FM- That's right... for a little while. Yeah. And '70s Feel Good Oldies. That's right. See? Oh, that was, that was a fun one. There we go. Yeah. Yeah.
2:42
Awesome. All right. So I'm gonna, we're gonna drink some wine now and, uh- Yay... clear our minds. [laughs] Then the memory'll come back. I know it will.
2:49
Hey, so we've got a special guest on the line, uh, all the way from Cortez, Colorado. Guy Drew. What's happening, folks? Hey, man. Hi. We're just drinking your wine. Woo-hoo. We're loving it. Loving it. Very tasty. Yeah.
3:02
Good. I never thought I'd say I like this Chardonnay. There you go. Well- I do... yeah, that's, that's... You know, that Chardonnay is kind of interesting. It, uh,
3:12
um, there's a story behind it, if you want me to get into that. We like stories. Yeah. We do. You like stories. Uh-huh. But do they have to be truthful or just a little true? No, no, just kidding. [laughs] Just try us.
3:23
Anyway, th- this goes back to 2006.
3:28
Uh, we had, uh, in our winery down here, we had, uh, original- we had planted, uh, w- well, our first planting was, uh, six and a half acres, and there was some Chardonnay in there and so forth.
3:41
And, um, and the 2000, uh... So we planted that, we started planting that in '99. And, and, uh, um, in 2005, I had a crop, and I, uh, uh, Chardonnay off of, off of, uh, the, the winery vineyard, and it was beautiful.
3:58
And then in 2006, um, we had very cold, uh, we had really [laughs] we had a, a... That was our first, that's the first time I experienced a 10 below temperature in the wintertime.
4:12
Needless to say, at 10 below, Chardonnay doesn't survive. It goes to the ground. And in, in 20, at the end of harvest 20- 2006, I had, uh, heard that there was some Chardonnay that went unsold up in Grand Junction.
4:30
The conversation I had with him was about mid-December. Mm-hmm. And I said, "Okay." I said, "I'll take it."
4:37
So I, so the juice got delivered, uh, mid-January, and I started fermentation, and this fermentation took three months. I mean, it was, it was so long.
4:48
And I'm out there, and I'm, I'm going out, and I'm tasting it every, you know, m- day or two at least.
4:54
And I'm tasting these flavors that I'd never tasted before in a Chardonnay, and I said, "Wow," I said, "I really like this," you know? And it, it finally finished out, and it was just, uh, it was just really cool.
5:07
[laughs] And, and people loved it. And so every Chardonnay I did after that, uh, w- was done in that style with that same yeast at the same temperature. Um- In the same three months?
5:22
Actually, for some reason, it got shorter. [laughs] Oh, okay. [laughs] Now it only takes about a month. [laughs] You got it down. All right. I don't know why that is. Yeah. I mean, it- Well, we like it. Yeah.
5:33
We, yeah, we, this was really good. So and this is, so this is Chardonnay from your, from your vineyards? No. No, it's- Oh, no, this came from Palisade. Well, ac- uh, the one you're tasting is- Yeah...
5:41
a combination, actually, of Palisade fruit, and, and I had been buy... The fruit I get from up there was from one particular vineyard that, that seemed to be, you know, a little,
5:52
little higher acidity, you know, a little bit less ripe at the same time as other Chardonnays, which is what I like. I don't, you know- Yeah... I, I don't want a, you know, I don't want an alcoholic Chardonnay for sure.
6:03
[laughs] And, uh, and it just has really good acidity and nice flavors.
6:07
So the, the 2015 that you're tasting is a combination of that vineyard in Grand Junction and then, uh, a vineyard that we have since planted down here. All right, cool.
6:17
What do you, what do you grow, uh, on your, on your property? Well, uh, y- you know, I, it, going back in the last conversation about that 10 below, well, we had a succession of about six years [laughs]
6:31
in a row that we had at least a 10, 10 below temperature. And, and so after, you know, after that I just... I mean, I, I pulled the vines out here. Sure.
6:42
And, and started replanting on this property, 'cause the winery's in a canyon, so it's, you know, it's in a hole, and cold air sinks. And so it, it...
6:53
This property really, you really w- We've planted, um, replanted to some hybrids, and we'll be coming out with our first releases of a Baco Noir- Very cool... which very few people even know what that is.
7:08
Yeah, I don't know what that is. I don't know what that is. Yeah. Well, let me- I know what it is. Yeah. [laughs] Okay, you can come to the party then. [laughs] See how I show off? La-di-da. He may touch you.
7:18
Dad, I know, right? [laughs] But then there's a, there's a down here- That's how I get 'em. That's how I get 'em, Guy. That's right. [laughs] I just come in and I just, you know, body slam.
7:29
[laughs] So the, uh, we have since planted other vineyards. Um, I mean, I don't own them. Uh, some people just grow and, and I buy the grapes from them.
7:39
There's a 10 and a half acre vineyard seven miles directly south of me, and it, it's a, it's really cool vineyard. It's on the side of the Sleeping Ute Mountain. It, it's, uh, just really [laughs] really neat.
7:51
And we've got, uh, Cabernet planted there and Chardonnay and Riesling. Wow. So is that the... I mean, so tell me, like, the Four Corners area, that's, is that undiscovered country- Oh, oh, it is... for grape growing?
8:04
And everything else, 'cause- I discovered it, but I, you know, and it, it's, it's the unacknowledged. [laughs] Yeah. And I shouldn't say that either. And everything else. Avocados? Do you mean by that? What do you mean?
8:14
Avoc- avocados. He said everything else. Grapes and... And what else, Guy? Peaches, apricots. Peaches. What, what else grows, everything else? Oh, yeah, all that, all that stuff grows. All that stuff grows.
8:24
Does it really? All of it. Oh, yeah. You know, actually, the f- the fruit growing history of, uh, you know, we're Montezuma County, and the, the, the general area is called the Montezuma Valley.
8:37
It's kind of a really big valley.
8:40
And in the 1880s, there were advertisements to get people to come, you know, uh, in magazines that went back East and so forth, telling people about the, the fruit growing potential of this area.
8:53
And so really the fruit growing industry here got started about the same time as it did in, in Palisade- Hmm... and Grand Junction. Then the apple growing went away. Hold on, Guy. Sure. [laughs] We gotta take a break.
9:08
Oh, okay. And we, and we didn't even taste your wine yet. [laughs] We didn't even taste the reds, but we're gonna do it, I promise. We'll- I'm going, I'm going to. I'm just gonna do it right now. Yeah, hold on.
9:16
I'll do it right now too. Yeah, you hold on. We'll talk about it. You stay on the line.
9:19
We're gonna drink some wine, and then we'll be back in a few minutes with more Guy Drew, and Guy Drew's Syrah double gold medal here on Denver Wine Radio. Mile High Sports. This is good. I like it. Get up and boogie. Ooh
9:37
I can smell the polyester all the way over here. Ah, burning. Which... Okay, which segment on Cha's Back in the Day Cafe will this song fit into? That's right. You 'member?
9:46
[laughs] You 'member I've got this segment called You 'Member. I love it. You 'member. And it's all songs that you 'member, you know, you haven't heard in a minute, you know? Yeah. So yeah, you 'member.
9:56
So for those who don't know, Cha Cha is, uh, launching an online radio station called Cha's Back in the Day Cafe. May 4th. May 4th. We're kicking it off. We are. Bona Quisti Wines. Yeah. We'll give you more details.
10:05
We'll start, uh, hitting you up on Facebook and stuff like that, posting it. That's exciting. Yeah. That's a fact. And you're gonna be there, Jill Myers, right? Okay, I'll be there. Yeah, yeah. All right, good.
10:12
Gotta keep up with us. And we'll be back in Mexico, yeah? May 4th I will be here. Right on. Okay, good. Well, that's gonna be a fun party. Singo then drinko. [laughs] And we're gonna- Bye bye...
10:20
we're gonna host it at Bona Quisti Wine Company. Yep. That's my place, 4640 Peco Street. And, um, yeah. More details to come, as they say in radio. More de- more details to come. [laughs] Yeah. Stay tuned.
10:32
We know you're locked in. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. You can't wait. You're locked in. Stay tuned for more to come. [laughs] Hey, Guy Drew, you still there, buddy? I'm here. Right on. [laughs] Sucking it up.
10:44
Okay, so, uh, during the break, we, uh, we opened your, uh... And thanks for twist tops, by the way. [laughs] Hey, we tasted your- Thank you... uh, your 2015 Meritage. Yeah. Uh, delicious.
10:55
Uh, 60% Merlot, 20 Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 Cabernet Franc. We all loved it. I'm just, uh, we're gonna bypass and say go out and buy it. It was super delish, really soft. Um, and now we opened up your 2015 Syrah- Oh, no...
11:11
uh, named one of two wines that prove Colorado is the next wine region to watch, according to Vinography, a wine blog. Mm-hmm. Yep. And, uh, yeah, you won double gold with this in the Governor's Cup last year.
11:23
I did, yeah. So, uh, what... Yeah, what's going on with this one? Mm. Where'd the fruit come from? I know what's going on, but- It's so good... tell me where, where'd you, where'd you source the fruit from?
11:33
That, uh, uh, typically the fruit that I don't use that's grown down here in, uh, southwest Colorado I get from Grand Junction. Okay. And, and the Syrah I've, I've always sourced from, again, the Talbots, uh- Sure...
11:48
up there. Uh, um, I think it was the Searcy Vineyard. I'm not positive. Okay. But you, but you wanna hear [laughs] kind of a...
11:59
No, I'll share this because it, because it's just, it, it, it might strike a chord with some people. Um, this fruit was not beautiful What? No Was ugly?
12:16
It w- well, it was, it had been, uh, uh, again, I called, I called Bruce and, and, and said, and this is right,
12:25
um, right around a busy, well, I think it was right around Wine Fest, which I d- which I don't go do, and I, and which, which I like 'cause that then, you know, everybody else is not taking fruit, so I can get whatever the hell I want and, and get it delivered down here on that weekend 'cause nobody else is doing wine.
12:42
They're, they're trying it on [laughs] selling it. But this fruit had been turned down by a winery. And although, you know, e- e- the, the common knowledge i- or the, uh, I guess the perception is, you know, the, the
13:00
great fruit makes great wine. Yes. But this, and, and I've, and, you know, I, I've, I've won lots of awards making Syrah. Guy, we know, I know, and you know great wine makers make great wine. That's right. Yeah.
13:13
That's not where I'm going with this, but the, well, it kinda is. So was the fruit a little just over-ripened? Oh, I mean, it was, it was almost- A jelly. It, no, no.
13:22
It was the, they were, what they do is they shrivel up. Okay. And actually Syrah, when, when it, people like to see it wrinkled anyway. Wait a minute. Is this like a raisin? Raisins. Is this raisin wine I'm drinking?
13:32
Not raisin, but just wrinkled. So- A little wrinkly... little wrinkly, like, you know, we won't get into that. It used a little Botox. [laughs] It's very, very delicious. It's, it's very, um, to me, it's very bold.
13:47
The color's just beautiful. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's sweet, but it to me has a little bit of sweetness, but not real deep. Cherry. And now- Is that what you, is that- Yeah I taste cherry. Yeah.
13:56
Yeah, a lot of cherry. Uh, d- you know, to me, there's like a, like a blackberry- Yep... jammy style to it. Oh, yeah. This is so good.
14:03
And a little bit, little bit spicy, really nice, and, uh, I mean, this is a wine that you should have around all summer long. All the time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, this is a great barbecue wine. Mm-hmm.
14:13
Anyone coming over, and it, you know, and it, it, um, dude, I picked it up for $16.99 at Molly's. Wow. That's killer. Yep. Yeah, it's a killer price. You should run out and buy a case. You should.
14:23
And keep it around all summer long, and, um, or hey, call the winery, right? Yep. Oh, this is so good. I'm gonna go buy this. Seriously. You know, and, and- I'm gonna keep this in my house...
14:33
the thing with that wine, y- you know, when, when fruit gets really, really ripe, then all the acids start to fall apart and, and go away. Mm-hmm.
14:42
And so one of the biggest things about that wine was really just kind of rebuilding it and, and replacing, a, replacing the acids that burnt off because it was so ripe. Yeah.
14:56
And then, and then, uh, what we call a clear alcohol reduction, um, to, so that the alcohol isn't 17 and a half percent. [laughs] Mm-hmm.
15:05
But- And it's a very tasty wine, and I can see how you won, uh, the gold medal with it. Yep. Congratulations. Well done. Congratulations. It's very, very, very good.
15:14
I'm, I'm seriously gonna go and buy a couple bottles to keep this at my house for when guests, special guests come over. Yeah.
15:21
You know, that's, oh, the, the article that Paul talked about, you know, uh, you know, when he reviewed that wine, he talked about something that you don't normally find in, in Syrahs, and it's strawberry.
15:31
And I, I think that is a direct relation. Uh, you know, there's your basic, the basic acids in wine, uh, tartaric acid, which actually grapes are the only place that tartaric acid comes from.
15:46
And, uh, like a cream of tartar is tartaric acid. Hm. And, uh, and the, uh, that's the primary acid.
15:53
And then malic acid, and you need malic acid to do a malolactic conversion, which gives it more of that creaminess and like Chardonnays that, you know, the buttery sensation and all that kind of stuff.
16:06
But when, when, when fruit is really ripe, I mean, there was virtually no malic acid in this.
16:11
And, and so we adjusted the acids to, you know, what they, what they would be when you're, you know, if you picked it at the optimum time and, you know, kind of the voila moment. Mm-hmm.
16:23
You know, you, you've, you, you, you, you know, get it where you want it, and then you just go to town fermenting and, and- Well, your timing was perfect 'cause it's absolutely delicious. Yeah. Yeah.
16:36
I, I, I agree with that. Right on, Guy. Hey, um, we appreciate you being on today. My pleasure.
16:43
I, I really appreciate you guys asking me to be on, and, uh, it, uh, now I g- now I get to go finish my day job, which is pruning. Oh. [laughs] There you go. [laughs] Yeah. Right on.
16:53
Hey, so, uh, what, the, what's your website? GuyDrewVineyards.com. Okay.
16:59
I encourage everyone to check out GuyDrewVineyards.com and then, and make a trip down to Cortez, um, anytime this summer, uh, this next weekend, and, uh, but for sure, get out and buy some of Guy Drew's wine. Absolutely.
17:13
And if, and if your liquor store doesn't have it, they can get it. I have a distributor up there, so it's j- for them, it's just a phone call away. Right on. Right. Jo Mama Myers. Hey. [laughs] Man,
17:24
time flies when you're having fun drinking wine and- I know it does. I know. I, I'm enjoying this. Can I have a little bit more, or are you gonna leave this for the producers? No, no. No, no.
17:34
They're, they're all underage. [laughs] Ah, you should see his face. So, um, Jo, who was your favorite rock and roll or artist that you ever met while you were in radio? Like, that brings back memories.
17:44
Oh, it's so har- oh, probably Joe Walsh. Joe Walsh? Yeah. Awesome. Was he cool? He was, well, he signed my arm with a Sharpie. Okay. Got any gum? Joe Walsh. I have a long arm.
17:55
[laughs] And then he invited me to go back to the hotel. Oh. And I was like, "Joe, I gotta go home and make breakfast for my kid." You know? Rock and roll. No. Paulie, who is fun?
18:06
Who was the- Who was, who did you meet that you got with us? Oh, Carlo- Carlos Santana blessed me and touched my cheek. Oh. What? My. Yeah. What? Wow.
18:14
Yep, right dow- downtown over at the, when there was a club called Sevilla. Uh-huh. Yeah. Down in the Icehouse. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah.
18:20
We, uh, we kinda crashed a party, uh, that it was for hi- when they were in town for their concert. This was in '99 and- Yep... right when, uh, Supernatural hit. Oh my goodness. Yeah, and I went up to him.
18:30
I mean, he is my, ugh, so- I went up to give him the hotline number and told him we were playing his song, and he put it, yeah, right there. Oh, dude. [laughs] Ne- next to the Virgin of Guadalupe, he's my go-to saint.
18:41
Oh, he's the man. He's the man. He's the man. All right. Mine was Tina Turner. I was gonna ask. Woo, Tina Turner. Yeah. Tina. Okay. Yeah. Asked if I could borrow her legs. She said no. [laughs] Sorry.
18:51
Okay, that wraps it up for this week. [laughs] But thank you all for listening. Check out more at denverwineradio.com. This is Denver Wine Radio on Mile High Sports.
New episodes, straight to your inbox.
Subscribe
