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Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
45: Carboy Wines
Oct 19, 2022
45: Carboy Wines
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:00
All right. Let's drink some vino. Let's do it. Let's drink some vino. [upbeat music] You're listening to Denver Wine Radio, the podcast about Colorado wine. My name is Paul Bonacquisty.
0:16
I'm the winemaker at Bonacquisty Wine Company, an urban winery I launched back in 2006 in Denver, Colorado, where I've been making and learning about wine ever since.
0:26
I'm sitting down with other wineries and wine experts to find out what makes Colorado wine so unique, and to help you find the wines you like to drink. And now, let's put some altitude in your glass.
0:40
Special guest in the studio today. Ooh, special. Very special guest. Ooh, very special. Let's see what else I can think of. [laughs] Oh, stop it. [laughs] You haven't even started drinking yet. Cha Cha's in the house.
0:52
[laughs] Hey, everybody. Yep, came out of hibernation for a couple weeks. The last couple of shows we haven't done any tasting on the show. Mm-mm. I mean, what's the matter with me? We are in a winery.
1:03
I had to bring you back so, uh, you could taste and, uh, get me tasting some wine today, so that's what we're gonna do. And I just want everybody to know that you, Cha Cha, have the best palate- Ooh... around. Really?
1:18
[laughs] For someone who doesn't drink wine. Wow. [laughs] Or doesn't drink, you can sniff a wine and, and tell me, uh, you know, five, six things that you smell in it.
1:29
But, you know, you know, maybe that's why is because the palate is st- is, is almost, it's so clean because I don't drink. So- Yeah... so the flavors and it, it's so new. It's so, you know what I'm saying?
1:43
That's been my problem. It's- [laughs]... years of abuse of my palate. [laughs] That's why I was trying not to go there, Paulie. Yeah, maybe that's why. It's not often that I taste the flavor, so when I do it's like
1:55
the Temptations are dancing in my mouth. You like how I s- [laughs] I don't know where to go with that one, but- No, okay, don't. [laughs] The, uh, you like how I set the mood here in the studio today? I do.
2:06
It's very nice. I wish I could show the, uh, listening audience, but we have a, a nice vineyard, uh, shot playing on, uh, YouTube. So there's a TV here and, uh, it's a beautiful vineyard shot, and it sets the mood.
2:20
Oh, it's beautiful. Look at, look at all those beautiful grapes that you smash with your own feet to create beautiful wine. [laughs] That's another thing. [laughs] We don't use our feet. Okay.
2:31
[laughs] That was- That's just I Love Lucy? That's just I Love Lucy. [laughs] And I'll you what, in the '50s, 'cause that show was in the '50s, right? Yeah. I Love Lucy. Yeah.
2:40
The wine industry was totally, uh, industrial- [laughs]... mechanical. [laughs] And that, that set the stage. I mean, everybody, "Oh, you're, you make wine. Do you stomp on it like Lucy?"
2:55
[laughs] They look straight at your feet to see your grape feet- Yeah... your grape-stomping toes. There's people who do it. Yeah.
3:02
So, but- I, I would think maybe if you were making, like, a little batch or something, just to kind of, you know, do, do it, you know? Yeah. But not when you're cranking out, like...
3:11
We don't expect you to, you know, get your FitBit miles stomping grapes there, Paulie. [laughs] Get your stair stepper in. Yeah, [laughs] get your stair stepper in. Man, you could get some quads out of that though.
3:22
Oh, I'm telling you. Yeah. A couple of cases of, uh, Vini No Neck. [laughs] You'd be like the Hulk. Okay, so- Are we gonna drink? We're gonna drink. Okay. We're gonna taste some wine today.
3:33
Okay, so let me tell you what happened. This was back in, uh, September. It was Colorado Wine Week. Mm-hmm. The third week of September, as it is every year. Uh, we did a tasting downtown at Blanchard Family Wines.
3:45
Great winery. Uh, in fact, they just opened a, another location up in Fort Collins. They have a tasting room up there. Mm-hmm.
3:52
And, uh, so James Blanchard invited four of us winemakers to his place, and we each poured one of our wines, and we had a nice, uh, nice crowd down there.
4:03
And they all got to taste these wines individual and hear about them from the individual winemakers. Oh, nice. Yeah, so one of the winemakers, uh, well, one of the wineries was Car Boy Winery.
4:14
That's the first wine that we're gonna try. Okay. Well, that's the only wine we're gonna try in this- Uh-... particular program. Okay. [laughs] Okay? Okay. We keep our palates fresh, keep our minds- Right, open...
4:24
[laughs] open. Right. [laughs] Doesn't mean we can't drink the whole bottle. It's just- Right... the only one we're gonna have today. Usually we line up four or five wines, but- Uh-huh. And then I'm buzzing down Pecos.
4:34
Mm-hmm. We can't have that. And I can't have that. Mm-mm. Okay, so Car Boy Winery- Okay... with four locations, I believe, uh, around the state. They are the most aggressive winery.
4:48
They've been the most aggressive here the last four years or five years. They've only been around, I think they opened in 2016. Wow. Maybe 2017.
4:57
But now they have, uh, they have a Denver location, they have a Littleton location, and one in Breckenridge, and most recently in Palisade. Wow, nice. Yeah. They had purchased a vineyard, uh,
5:11
a, a winery vineyard that was up for sale, and they've turned it into, uh, another location, and they are doing some really exciting things. So, um, w- w- what type of wine is this?
5:21
What kind of wine is this and, and what was the process in, in them making it and stuff? Well, this is, uh, their 2019 Riesling- Okay... from Grand Valley, which is, uh, the area in, around Palisade. Okay.
5:35
That's our, uh, one of two AVAs in Colorado. Grand Valley AVA, so 4,700 feet above sea level, and some of the highest vineyards in the world. This is what we tasted. That's what he presented.
5:49
Oh, I'm sorry, the winemaker at Car Boy is, his name is Tyzok Wharton. Tyzok? Tyzok, yeah. Okay. Okay? We call him Ty for short. Okay. Great guy. Great winemaker. And so we brought his Riesling 2019.
6:05
For the show today for you to try All right, I'm excited Okay, so- Yum. Is this, uh, sweet? Is it, or is it... Where's the balance in it? Is it kind of real sweet, not too sweet? What do you think? Well, you know what?
6:19
[laughs] Glad you asked that, Cha, because I have, um, I had the Denver Wine Radio microphones rolling [laughs] Oh, you did?
6:28
Back at, uh, Colorado Wine Week You sneaky little wine maker, you Yeah, so I miked everybody up and, uh, I've got, uh, Ty's audio here today, and I'm gonna play it for you right now. So he can tell you about the wine.
6:40
Okay And then we'll, we'll taste the wine right after. Okay? Gotcha. All right. So here's Tyzek Wharton from Carboy Winery I'm Tyzek Wharton from Carboy, the wine maker.
6:50
We launched in 2016 in Littleton, a- and we processed no grapes from Colorado that, that season. We didn't have the equipment. So 2017 was in fact our first foray into making wine from Colorado fruit.
7:04
300 and, ex- excuse me, 240 miles west of here is where the grapes are grown, where the peaches reside in Palisade, Grand Junction area.
7:13
The other AVA, the other viticulture area is West Elks, which is about a hour and 30 minute drive southeast of Grand Junction. So we're gonna start with the, the Riesling, is a 2019 Riesling.
7:26
Most folks, there's a, a common misconception that Riesling's always sweet. Riesling can be made in many different iterations. It's very versatile as a grape, both dry, off-dry, and as a dessert.
7:39
And so the one in front of you is off-dry, so it's about 12 grams of residual sugar. Less than 1%, less than 10 grams per liter of residual sugar is construed as dry. So the, the, the wine in front of you is off.
7:54
In regard to residual sugar, to give you kind of a, a bearing, most, most reds are dry, less than four grams of residual sugar.
8:02
You will have some more, I guess, mass produced reds that have a little bit higher of a residual sugar, say, say ménage à trois, 12, 12 grams sometimes, 10 grams. So s- some are sweeter, some are drier.
8:12
A Coca-Cola, for instance, has about a little over 100 grams of residual sugar per liter. So this is 12 grams. The means by which we a- uh, attain that sweetness was somewhat of an accident.
8:27
We harvested the, the grapes, threw them into a, a, a bladder press, a cylinder with a canvas bladder on the inside, and the other side of the cylinder is perforated, and as it spins around and the bladder inflates, it squeezes all those grapes, and the juice is collected in a pan, and, uh, pumped into a tank to settle and then ferment.
8:47
So this is all stainless steel fermented as to capture more lively acidity and more fruit forwardness. Chardonnays, for instance, are t- sometimes fermented in barrel.
8:59
It gives it a little more texture and sometimes a, a buttery co- which we, we can talk about later, the, the malolactic conversion. But this is stainless steel fermented.
9:07
Two separate tanks, one of them finished fermentation. So two, two separate yeast strains.
9:13
One of them finished, the other didn't, so there was residual sugar remaining in tank B, and, uh, we decided to blend them together as a trial, and I felt, and, uh, and the, the tasting panel felt like it tasted all right.
9:25
So I invite you to, uh, to take a sip and a swirl and a swirl and a sip, whichever you prefer in that order.
9:34
So we have a group of, a, a mixed, a mixed group of tasting room staff as well as production staff that will sit down and taste blind multiple samples. There were
9:47
different iterations of this depending on proportions from one tank and the other, so the level of sweetness. So we kind of landed and agreed upon this, this level of sweetness. Again, it's an, an off-dry version.
9:59
It pairs quite well with, with spicier fare in my opinion. Stylistically, are the leanings, do people... Let me sh- show of hands, who prefers a drier Riesling? Very fair. And who prefers a sweeter Riesling?
10:12
Okay, so we, it's a, it's somewhat of a mixed crowd. The goal was to appease both crowds [laughs] by landing in the middle. So 12 grams of residual sugar, not quite too sweet. What does it mean when a wine is balanced?
10:25
It's the tannin, the acid, the alcohol, the fruit, uh, harmonize. They play well together. They're not disjointed, so it's smooth. It's a smoother operator, if you will.
10:35
This, this was fermented at a colder temperature in stainless to maintain that fresh aromatic profile. I would say it didn't exceed 58 degrees the entire f- fermentation process. Well, what do you think now? Yum.
10:50
[laughs] Yeah I gotta tell you, it is the perfect sweetness. It's still a little on the dry side. You get that little bit of dryness. Mm-hmm But the sweet is just, it's just, like he said, it's just right there.
11:06
It's not overly sweet. But I gotta tell you- Right... the first sip was like, man, real fruity, real light, real s- just pop in your mouth.
11:14
And then the second sip is where I caught a little bit more of the spice, like a little bit of, uh, maybe even like cinnamon, a little black pepper it tasted like a little bit.
11:23
Mm-hmm But I gotta tell you, it is absolutely the perfect balance. The, the ab... This is one of the best as far as balance.
11:32
It's not real, real sweet where you want it for dessert, or it's not real, real dry, 'cause I'm, I'm not into the real, real dry stuff. Yeah. This is, uh... it's really nice, uh, real fresh.
11:43
Mm-hmm Uh, it has that classic, um, Riesling, that petroleum nose. Yeah. You k- I d- What's the petroleum nose? I... Well, like when you smell it. Oh, okay Okay, so, uh, give it a smell,
11:56
and y- Yeah, totally Yeah, a little... It's described as petroleum. Yeah. Okay Uh, some, some from around the world smell like diesel, or they could be really strong. But, a classic component- Ooh... of Riesling
12:10
Um, lots of fruit, tropical fruit It's- Little lime zest. Yeah And, uh...
12:18
But you're right, then when it hits, the acid is high, where it balances out the sweetness, so it doesn't taste it- so it comes off like a dry wine. Yeah. Yeah.
12:29
And the aftertaste, it just leaves just this, ugh, this really... It's just good. Wow. Yeah, that- It is. It's- It's really good Uh-huh. Yeah, really fresh. Yeah, I can s- that spiciness. Can you taste the spiciness?
12:44
I can, yeah. Yeah. There is. This would be really good with spicy food because it's got enough fruit, too. It would- Oh, that is good... kind of, uh, put the fire out. But yeah, really good. That is a really nice wine.
12:55
Well done, Ty. We like this one. Well done. Yeah. A lot. 2019 Riesling from the Grand Valley, and I'm gonna try to look it up here. Yum See if they are offering this one. 2019 Riesling. Oh, yeah, here it is.
13:13
24 bucks and, uh, comes in at 14.8% alcohol. Really? That's really good. That's what it says. Wow, that's up there. [laughs] So, but 100% Riesling. This is a great... This is a winner. It's a winner. Yeah.
13:30
Winner, winner, for sure. Oh, and, uh, yeah, speaking of winners, uh, congratulations to Carboy. They have three wines this year in the Governor's Cup. Wow, nice.
13:40
Yeah, so in the Governor's Cup Collection, you know, so... And they actually, they won last year, uh, for best, uh, they won Best of Show. So, uh, good luck with that. That's coming up on November 5th, uh, 4th.
13:53
I'm, I'm sorry, November 4th. They'll ha- There's the Colorado Wine, the Governor's Cup Tasting down at the Western History Mus- Museum, so. That's gonna be so much fun, huh? Yeah.
14:03
Wine, great food, great little tapas and pairings of wine and food. It's a great event, so try to make it out there. That's what you get today. We get one wine. It's a one wine tasting show. And it is delicious.
14:17
One-trick pony. It's delicious. [laughs] I don't know if I wanna taste anything else after this, 'cause it's really, really good, you know? So leave it on the high note.
14:26
All right, thank you so much for listening today to Denver Wine Radio. Thank you, Cha, for coming down. You're welcome, Paul. Thank you for inviting me. Tas- and tasting one wine. And [laughs] we'll see.
14:36
Maybe we can do, uh, we'll do another show and do another wine for you. Okay. Coming up next week on Denver Wine Radio, we'll hear from Vinnie Fero Winery in Boulder, Colorado and taste their 2019 Hogback Malbec.
14:52
That's our show for this week. Thank you so much for listening to Denver Wine Radio. Your homework for the week is to go out and taste some Colorado wine.
15:01
If you have any questions or comments, or just wanna let us know what you're drinking, go to denverwineradio.com, where you can email us or leave us a voice message. We'd love to hear from you.
15:12
And remember, put some altitude in your glass. Produced and distributed by the Sound Off Media company.
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