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Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
29: Meet Up Part Two: Vino Salida Wine Cellars
Nov 15, 2019
29: Meet Up Part Two: Vino Salida Wine Cellars
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:00
[upbeat music] You're listening to Denver Wine Radio. It's a DJ and a winemaker yakking about music and wine. Presented by Bona Questy Wine Company. And now here's Cha and Paulie. Hey, everybody.
0:13
Welcome to Denver Wine Radio. Hey, we've got... It's a very special night here in the winery. Yeah? Yeah. I've got Cha Cha here. [laughs] Well, hey. [laughs] Well, thank you, Paul. Yeah, you're welcome.
0:24
I wasn't expecting that, but- Yeah, but we have a house full of winemakers, uh, from, uh, around Colorado. Right on. And so, uh, we're gonna try to talk to every one of 'em tonight.
0:34
And you know what they say about winemakers. What do they say about winemakers? They make great wine. Oh, good. I- [laughs] Yeah, right. [laughs] That's what they say. [laughs] I guess so.
0:43
Hey, but anyway, our, uh, our special guest, uh, right now is Steve Flynn from Vino Salida. Did I get that right? You got it right. We ca- we call it Vino Salida. Oh, do you say Vino Salida? Yeah. Salida.
0:53
Oh, that was gonna be my next question. We say Vino Salida- So okay, well-... as well, so... well, uh, we wanna be proper here.
0:58
Yeah 'Cause, uh, you know, like here in North Denver, we call this the North Side, and I'm not gonna let you call it, uh- [laughs]... something different. [laughs] Right. Right. How's that? So let's go with Vino Salida.
1:09
Salida. Vino Salida. Yeah. It's the same in Spanish as it is in Italian, so- True. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, makes sense. Yeah. Well, so, uh, tell us about Vino Salida. Man, you've been around a while. Yeah, been around a while.
1:18
Uh, well, officially 10 years. Um, but, uh, you know, I started, uh, working for Mountain Spirit Winery in Salida, you know, for four years, so they're winery- Oh, yeah... number 15 in the state. Are they really?
1:30
So- I know they've been around a long time. I didn't realize they were fif- Long time... number 15. The doctor and his wife started the winery in 1995, and, um, I didn't start working t- for them till 2002.
1:40
That was my first harvest, and, and I haven't missed one since. So, but, uh, working with them, I got inspired by the local winemakers. There's like 70 to 80 local winemakers in Salida. You know, all Italian. Wow. Yeah.
1:51
You know, the Italians came for the railroads and the mines, right? Yep, definitely. So, um, all had their bubble in batches in the cellars making their super setare and- [laughs]...
2:01
all the different kinds of stuff they used to make that it, they don't anymore, you know? So, um, so I learned a lot from the locals as well. So I started foot stomping myself with friends in the backyard in- [laughs]...
2:12
2004. And so we've been, I've been collecting barrels and, and, uh, wine drinker since. So, so that one barrel led to, uh, you know, quite a full- Right... full winery up there, and we're in Poncha Springs now, so.
2:27
Oh, are you really? Yeah, right at the crossroads where 50 and 285 meet. Okay. We had a winery built for us right there.
2:33
Been there for over four years, and, uh, have a kind, similar experience as you, you know, wine bar, food, uh, just tying that, the Italian, uh, experience of wine, um, coming to the table, and it's not, it's not anything that should be, you know, you know, uh, you know, treated like a drug and it's just food.
2:54
So that's my philosophy. Exactly. [laughs] So, and the Italian, true Italian is sourced as local as possible. So- Right...
3:00
you know, just really being inspired, you know, and then inspired by, you know, what you've done for 13 years. You know, that it's the same, same vein, you know, the Balestrieris and- Yeah...
3:10
Spero and Bona Questy, you know, all of that. The Italian way is the best way. Come on. [laughs] Always. So that's, uh, my inspiration, so.
3:18
So when, before you started, uh, working at the winery, your first winery, uh, did you know anything about wine? Or is that where the bug kinda hit you, or- That's where the bug hit me.
3:27
I mean, I started experimenting and I, I was geeky in, um, in, uh, high school. I started making wine in my closet in high school. Okay.
3:35
[laughs] So, you know, I had little batches going, but I was always a cook, and my background's art as well. So I went to art school. Okay. So I was always cooking and doing art since I was a little kid.
3:45
You know, our chores in, in school, our, our parents worked weird hours. We had to have food ready when they got home. So, so it's, it's always been in my blood.
3:54
So you started working at the winery and just started to learn and just said- I read every book they had... "I gotta do this for myself," and- Yeah. Wow.
3:59
Yeah, I started making a bunch of carboys for myself, picking dandelions, getting fruit wine, fruit in from- Mm-hmm... Paonia and Palisade, and yeah. And then, and then grapes eventually, so. Nice. Yeah.
4:11
That's good, man. And you do a lot of different wines. We do. Yeah. Y- you've, you've expanded. I mean, you've just grown over the years, and you're doing... So t- so tell me about some. I know you're doing...
4:22
Do you do some mead as well? We do mead. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. When we first opened the winery in 2009, um, it was a great harvest, you know. But, uh, 2010, we started having all those cold events.
4:33
In 2010, I could only source enough for my foot stomping, um, 'cause I, I haven't quit doing the foot stomping. We're having our 17th annual this year or something like that. Oh, wow. So I'm losing count.
4:44
And, uh- So it's totally the Lucy and Ethel when you say foot stomping. It is. Totally. Oh, yeah. And we make wine out of it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, like Balestreri, but we actually let adults in too. Okay.
4:55
[laughs] So- No, Balestrieris only do the, they let the kids do it. Oh. The little feet. That's the little, the little feet. Ah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So. But, um, uh, uh, what was the question again?
5:06
Uh- Well, mead, we were talking about. Oh, mead. Mead, yeah. A little mead and some of the other, uh, products that you make, so- Right...
5:12
now- Well, mead, actually, we had a fourth generation, um, beekeeper move to town, and she was only two doors down. We were kinda similar to this, but actually a way junkier. This is real classy- [laughs]...
5:23
strip, strip place here. Yes, it is. Yeah. Um, but, uh, ours was, you know, pretty, pretty... The mechanic and doggy daycare and- Right. [laughs]...
5:30
and then, but we had, uh, a me- uh, you know, honey production move in two doors down, and a young gal, Jamie Johnston, and, and it's, she brought in all this l- raw local honey, alfalfa clover, and I was like, "Okay, well."
5:42
2010 we could only source, you know, just about three tons, which isn't much to make a business out of. So I'm like, "Okay, well, how about making mead?"
5:52
So we, we've started making mead and haven't quit, quit that either. Oh. So, you know, that's how we brought that into the portfolio and- Yeah... we just kept adding stuff as we found... what people wanted, you know.
6:04
Um, you know, if we've specialized in one thing, if we grew it Pinot Noir, we'd make, like, seven kinds of Pinot. But we have people
6:12
waving their credit card and they're like, "Well, if you make sweet wine, we'll, you know, we'll buy it." Yeah. So, you know, we started doing a, you know, from sweet to semi-sweet, off-dry, really dry.
6:23
Um, my passion is dry reds in barrels. So, uh, staying with my passions is important too. But I like, I like doing styles, like breweries do. Right.
6:32
You know, a good pilsner style or, you know, um, a stout or a porter, you know, so we have that in wine as well. So it's nice to bring that to the table, and a lot of people don't know those styles.
6:43
So, and, uh, Colorado offers a lot, so being innovative or revolutionary, as we've been called in some articles, revolutionary. So, um, um, I started to think what other kind of products would be different.
6:58
So we do sangria as well, which really we were just doing for parties and for festivals, and there are people like, "Well, if you bottle that, then- Mm-hmm... or-" Yeah...
7:07
you know, we'll- And are you, are you exclusively using, uh, just Colorado grapes? Or are you- We are. Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. We, we were able to do that as of 2016. Oh, nice. Uh, 2015 we could have.
7:17
We were locked into some contracts, but it was, it was just we c- we couldn't predict it from year to year. Right. So we brought in, we were always bringing in some Zinfandel and Sangiovese for our local Italian. Yeah.
7:29
But, um, but now we bring in all Colorado in- including the cold hardy varieties. Um, for when there are more cold events, we're ready, 'cause we've already put them into blends.
7:39
So, um, so we're trying to work with growers and not just get what's f- what's popular. Mm-hmm.
7:45
You know, Cabernet Sauvignon, yeah, that's the most sold grape in Colorado, and everybody knows it, and there's a reason for, for that. But, you know- Yeah... I think Cabernet Franc does better, so I'll do more of that.
7:57
And then I'll make sweet Cab Franc all the way to dry Cab Franc- Wow... and everything in between because I know I can get that. Same thing with Riesling, and that way I can always buy Colorado.
8:07
That's, that's very important. Very cool. Yeah. All right. So you, well, you brought wine tonight, and we wanna t- we wanna taste them. All right. All right. Well, I should- So what do you got for us first?
8:16
Well, I have a barrel-fermented Chardonnay. Okay. And it's my favorite style of Chardonnay. Oh, ladies first. Is it good? Oh, very. Yes. Cha-cha. Feel good. Sorry to get my hand way out in front of you there.
8:26
There you go. Do a Paul, Paulie pour here. Thank you. That's beautiful right there. [laughs] Mm. Smells good. All right. Yeah, it smells delicious. So, um, a blend of two- Mm...
8:36
two different vintages, and I just found that they blended well together, and I wanted a bigger batch. And- Yeah...
8:41
um, one batch was, um, uh, fermented on new oak, and the other batch was fermented on second-year oak, so pretty- Wow...
8:49
pretty new and- Yeah, so tell people about, uh, barrel fermenting, uh, you know, what that in, what that entails.
8:55
Well, uh, barrel fermenting, um, is actually one of my favorite styles 'cause it's super, super, um, super easy and fun.
9:03
Um, uh, for Chardonnay, uh, the barrel fermenting, um, like it would be for other whites is, uh, we just crush the, the fresh grapes, press them, so we have grape juice. Mm-hmm.
9:14
Um, and then, um, then we pump them to barrels. So, um, the, in this case, we use all American oak, um, from, uh, uh, Lebanon, Kentucky, so bourbon country. And, um, as local as possible is our goal.
9:30
So it's a little bit of a sweeter oak than French oak or anything like that. Um, but, um, but it really kind of, those barrels are charred and s- they're not charred, like, they're toasted, dark toasted inside.
9:41
So- Yeah... um, it just, uh, that fermentation just, just bubbles all that flavor together. And you definitely don't wanna try it right away. I mean, as a winemaker I do,
9:51
but a customer, you know, you're gonna n- need to let that sit about six months minimum. But I let this sit, this was crazy, about about two and a half years. So- Oh, wow...
10:03
we, so, um, the '17 wasn't in that long, but it was blended together and then, um, and then aged longer in those same oak barrels. You can really smell that, huh? Yeah, you can.
10:14
You can, you can smell the oak, but- Big time. But it's so s- But when you taste it, there's so much fruit- Exactly... it, it balances- Smooth... out really nice.
10:21
It doesn't come- It's s- It's not over oaked or- No, not at all... anything. Yeah. Really nice flavor. It's real smooth. Thank you.
10:25
Well, with the oak as well, to differentiate myself from the other winery I worked at, they use- That's good... s- s- uh, second-year oak. So it's actually looser grained.
10:35
It's still tight grain oak, but it's only aged for two years in the cooperage yard. We use extra fine grain, which is of course more expensive, but doesn't penetrate the wood as, as much. Mm.
10:47
And you get a lot more subtle flavor, so it's not like a mouthful of, um, of wood or, or smoke or anything like that. Right. Yeah.
10:53
So, uh, um, so I, I chose to do that right at the beginning so we had a, a little bit of a difference of taste locally as well. It's very cool. It's very good. Thank you. It's very tasty. This is my style.
11:05
I like- It's- I like this style... you like this a lot, yeah. Yeah. Crisp too. Very crisp, very light. Yeah, and that's, that's- I, the fru- it's very fruity. And I love how you say it's your style because,
11:15
so for Chardonnay I've, I, I made a couple of barrel-fermented Chards- Yeah... years ago, but then, um, my customer base doesn't go for them for whatever reason. Oh, really? Interesting. Yeah. So it's, so no oak.
11:28
I've, I've always done, whenever I do- Right... Chardonnay, it's all stainless steel. It's interesting. Yeah.
11:32
There used to be so many barrel-fermented Chardonnays, and people were screaming for the no oak, which you're still experiencing. Um- Yeah...
11:40
and around us, our customers are like, "Oh, we haven't had oak forever," 'cause you can't find those anymore. But it's not like the in-your-face oak like some of the '80s Chardonnays were- Yeah... that they remember, so.
11:52
That's really good. I like that. Thank you. Very tasty. All right. So, uh, what's next? Oh, and then, so what does that, uh, retail for? Um, uh, both of these wines retail for $25. Oh, very cool. Yeah. Nice. Yeah.
12:06
We have a, we're a wine club supported winery, so our wine club can access that. Um, and so- And this? This is our, uh, Cabernet Sauvignon. It's non-vintage as well. Um, it's a blend of 2015 and '16 Cabernet- Nice...
12:21
Sauvignon. And we have a barrel trading program, um, with, uh, Deerhammer Distillery in Buena Vista. And we shipped up some of our red wine barrels that had, uh, some Syrah in them, and, uh,
12:37
um, they finished some brandy in those barrels, and I, I believe they actually got the, the wine from, uh, Julie Balestreri over there, and they made some brandy with them and aged them for a long time and finished them in those barrels.
12:50
We brought them back, and then, um, um, aged for six months in those barrels, uh, the blend of those two vintages. Wow. So, so we didn't want, um, to overpower the wine as well, so. Yeah, and it's, um- Wow...
13:06
it do- it's not o- yeah, it's not overpowering at all. Mm-mm. It's, uh, it's really nice. Uh, bourbon barrels can s- can overpower, uh, red wines, which actually I like,
13:17
but, um, being a Cabernet Sauvignon, it's- it's judged so harshly by judges, and I, um, want to enter, I'm entering this one in the Governor's Cup, so I was like, I wanted to make it more subtle. Yeah.
13:28
So not a lot- I think you did... of new oak either. I think you, I, I, I pick up the, like the, kind of the hint of the, of the, the bourbon barrel. Yep.
13:38
Um, that sweetness in the smell, but, um, but definitely not, uh, overpowering. Mm-mm, not at all. And, and flavor-wise, it's real nice. It's very good. Just, uh, there's, uh, some subtle tannin- Yeah...
13:49
to it, and, uh, very smooth- Fruit... very, yeah, [laughs] good fruit. I, at first it was like cherries- Yeah... just like- Cherries, yeah... right off the bat. Yep. It was like, "Whoa, this is so good."
13:58
[laughs] Which is classic Cabernet- Mm-hmm... so it's nice to keep that in there. Yeah. Yeah. Really nice. Thank you. Yeah, I like it a lot. Very, very good. That's very good.
14:05
Well, and this is crazy, aged in barrels as well. We bottled this last week, so August of 2019, so this has 2015 and 2016 vintages in.
14:17
So, you know, the '15 was in for, you know, a good solid three years in barrels, uh, three years plus, so, which is kinda crazy long. That's crazy long. [laughs] You have to watch your barrels very close.
14:27
We top every month to two months, so, uh, we watch it very close. Wow, very cool. What do you think? You like bourbon barrel chai? Oh, this is really good. Yeah. Yeah. It's very good.
14:39
[laughs] I mean, you can definitely taste a little bit of the, the, the bourbony kinda- Mm-hmm... but it's not like, it isn't, it's not the first thing that hits you. Well, and it is brandy. Yeah. It's not bourbon.
14:49
Oh, not bourbon. I mean- Brandy barrel aged... sure So it's all great product- Oh, okay, okay... which is exciting, you know- Wow... that some of that influence came from a local winery here in Denver. Yeah.
15:00
It's just r- really amazing. That's, that is, that's very cool. And Deerhammer does a- That's really good... a lot, uh, some great, um, expressions up there as well, so, and, and their brandy, which doesn't sell well.
15:10
A lot of people don't know brandy. They know whiskey. Right. Yeah. And even gin gets in the way of their sales, they say. Yeah. [laughs] It's just whiskey, whiskey, whiskey.
15:17
So to have something different, and their brandy is just- Yeah... it's off the charts, so, if you enjoy that product. Yeah. So. That's really good. Very, very good. Thank you. This is what you're gonna enter?
15:28
You entered this one? This is one of them. We're entering the Chardonnay as well, and then our, um, um, our mead, and we're doing, um, our Vino Rosso di Salida.
15:39
Uh, that was a blend, but, uh, uh, also our, um, Rosso Vermouth, so that is one of our revolutionary products that we do as well, so. Oh, they're all very taste- tasty. Excuse me. Yeah. [laughs] [coughs] Excuse me.
15:53
I gotta cough. It's very, very good. Thank you. Sounds like you're all liquored up already over there. [laughs] Yeah, I'm already liquored up, dang it. Well, right on, Steve.
16:01
For those of us who don't know where Salida is- [laughs] How would you get there from Denver? Oh, it's super easy.
16:07
Just, uh, hop on 285, head into the mountains, and, um, you keep, you go, um, if you're on the, the west side, um, from C470, you hop on 285 or wherever. Right from that junction it takes just over two hours. Okay.
16:22
And then you go south until you hit the winery where Highway 50 intersects it in Poncha Springs. Okay. So. Nice. Yeah. All right. Well, thanks for coming out. Yeah, appreciate your time. Yeah, Steve.
16:32
It's nice, nice- Make, yeah, I know you're ma- you've been making great wine for a long time, and- Thanks, Paul... I'm just glad to have you here today, so. I appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's great to reconnect.
16:39
Hey, well, good luck and, uh, hey, and salute. Salute. There you go
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