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Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
4: Welcome Cha Cha Chavez to DWR
Feb 17, 2018
4: Welcome Cha Cha Chavez to DWR
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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. You know what that sound is.
0:19
What? That's the sound of Mardi Gras season, y'all. Ooh, ooh. [laughs] And- Big Chief coming down, coming down low... and this is Gumbo La Funk. They're a local Denver band. Big Chief coming down, coming down low.
0:31
This is their, their version of Big Chief, which is a, a, a classic New Orleans song, and, um, they're per- That's great it's local. That's amazing. Yeah. And they're, uh... Oh, yeah, a lot of great bands.
0:42
Uh, we love local music at the winery, and, um, of course we, we feature live music every Friday night and, uh, other times in between. But, uh, yeah, they're performing tonight at Ophelia's.
0:52
It's their big Mardi Gras show, 'cause, you know, Fat Tuesday is this Tuesday. I didn't realize. I gotta get ready. Yeah. [laughs] I gotta, I gotta debauch for the next couple of days before.
1:01
[laughs] Hey, uh, it's my pleasure to welcome to, uh, Denver Wine Radio, fresh on an hour and a half drive from Thornton- [laughs] And... [laughs] My dear friend and co-host, Cha Cha Chavez. Hi, Paulie. Wow.
1:15
Hi, everybody. I am so sorry. But I debut the show and it snows. We haven't had snow in how long?
1:21
[laughs] We forgot how to drive in it, you know, and I'm coming down from Thornton, and it should not take over an hour to get to downtown, but it did. So everybody out there, just be careful. Yeah. Take it easy.
1:33
Because yeah, it's, it's, it's really, uh... It doesn't, there's not a lot of snow, but it's very, uh, it's very slick, and then you have those, those drivers, you know, that are in the big trucks, you know?
1:42
I call them big sandwich, little pickles. Yeah. [laughs] You know what I'm talking about? That think that they could just, you know... Uh, yeah. And they're causing havoc everywhere, and I'm sure we're gonna get calls.
1:52
But anyways. [laughs] Hi. Yeah. I made it. You made it. Yay. You al- you alm- uh, g- almost gave me a coronary, uh, when I was here.
2:00
I was just waiting, uh, Vincent and I were waiting in the lobby here, and, and I, I said, "Vin, it's my worst nightmare. It's the debut show and I gotta do it on my own, 'cause-" [laughs] "... Doug, Doug wasn't here yet.
2:10
Cha's not here yet." I said, "I'm not a talk radio guy." [laughs] But you know what? It's weird, 'cause I was, I was listening coming in and I thought to myself, "Wow," because you haven't been on the air in how long?
2:22
Like, Le- Alice? Uh- No, Jam'n... over 12- Jam'n. No, Jam'n, over tw- yeah, 2005- 2005... was the last time. Yeah, Jam'n, uh, 10- uh, Jam'n 92.5, the original. Yeah.
2:31
And then I left three years ago coming up on February the 19th, and [laughs] and here we are. [laughs] Going, "Whoa, what do we do now? What do we do now?" That's right.
2:42
But it's, uh, uh, it's good to be back, and thank you so much for having me on and being a part of your, uh, your Denver Wine Radio. Yeah. I love it. Denver Wine Radio.
2:51
Yeah, we, uh, yeah, I was talking about it a little bit ago. We, we laun- uh, launched an online radio station, uh, broadcasting from the winery. Mm-hmm.
3:00
Uh, I think I'm the only winery in the world with its own radio station, Doug. I think you are. Oh, that's something we need to promote. We do need to promote that. Absolutely. Yeah. With that, with that, yeah. Yeah.
3:08
Absolutely. And there's more. There's a, there's a bigger vision for it. Uh, we, it's a, it's more of a community. It's, it's what we...
3:13
The winery's been a community, uh, gathering place for the neighborhood, uh, over in Sunnyside, uh, Northside as we like to call it too.
3:21
Um, but uh, this is just a continuation of that, and, uh, I've got some plans for it to, to, to bring the music of the neighborhood together and, uh, that's the, the idea.
3:32
And then Cha comes in, 'cause she's launching her Cha's Back in the Day Cafe. Yeah, February the 19th. That's exciting. Yeah. What- It's, it's ve- it's...
3:40
Well, you know, um, like we were talking about when we got together, uh, at 92.5, it's an old school, you know, radio station. And, um, I, it's just the genre that, you know, I, it, it's, I've loved.
3:55
You know, I've done 30 some years of radio, and that's, that's my favorite genre. That's great.
3:59
So I left about three years ago and decided, "Oh, you know, okay, I'll come back on the internet and, you know, put some songs together," and, and Paulie and I were talking about it, and like, I was listening to you guys come in, and, and wine and music, you know?
4:13
Perfect. I mean, it's, it's a perfect pairing. I mean, it's absolutely perfect, and with Paul's, you know, musical background and his radio background, you know, it's, we're radio geeks.
4:23
[laughs] I mean, that's what we are. We, you know, I always tell him there's no rehab place for radio people to go. [laughs] It just, you're never gonna be cured once you get bit by the bug. You never will.
4:33
You go to a winery to get over it. You get- You go to a winery- You go to a winery, and then you put a studio in the winery. [laughs] You know? Exactly.
4:39
So anyways, we, we thought, "Well, how can we, you know, kinda tie together and, and try to, you know, make this work," you know? Do, you know, get his awesome winery and award-winning wine more recognition, you know?
4:52
And we put some music together, old school music together, and, and voila. So here we are. That's great. Yeah. Well, and, and thanks for having me, uh, on your first day. Well, yeah. I appreciate it. It's, it's a thrill.
5:02
And why didn't we bring some, uh, sparkling Colorado something in here? [laughs] We should've, you know, broke a glass on the, on the table. [laughs] I know.
5:10
I come in and there's just coffee cups, and I'm like, "You're talking about wine. Come on." [laughs] But you know, you said something interesting when I was listening coming in.
5:17
You said any p- you know, this list, uh, where can you grow grapes? Yeah. And you said anywhere you can grow peaches and apricots and whatever, right? Right. You can grow grapes.
5:27
And I thought, "Well, I'm originally from New Mexico. I'm from the desert Southwest." Yeah.
5:31
And, you know, I just semi ret- tired, so I'm spending a little time there and a little time here, and I thought, "Hmm, maybe I'll start growing grapes in New Mexico." [laughs] There's a lot of grapes in New Mexico.
5:42
There are. Yeah. They do. There's, there's a lot. Um, up in, um, the eastern part around Alamogordo. Okay. Somewhere around there, uh, where Holloman Air Force Base is, they, they have a lot of vineyards out there.
5:55
And see, I, I don't drink, and that's the irony of this whole thing. [laughs] I, I don't drink [laughs] at all. So, um, I've never tasted their wine. I, I don't know, blah, blah, blah, blah.
6:05
I know they make wine with chilies, you know, but they put chilies in everything in Mexico. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know? Yeah, they do. They, uh, I can speak from experience, they, uh, the, the fruit is really good.
6:13
I've had- Is it? Yes.
6:15
I've had wines from other wineries down there and, but then, uh, a few years ago, let's see, it was about, uh, 2014, uh, when there was a, it was a really bad year in, uh, over in Palisade for grapes.
6:27
There just, there was no grapes on the market for me to buy. Mm-hmm. And, um, so I went to New Mexico and, uh, hooked up with a, a vineyard, and it was way down south. So most of the grapes are grown around Deming. Yeah.
6:39
And then, then, uh, this particular vineyard was still even further, uh, west and south of there, and it was 15 miles from the Mexican border. So I, I got, uh, Montepulciano- Oh... which is an, an Italian grape.
6:52
Oh, yeah. Um, I think I had some Grenache, and, um, wow, and I'm a little bit blank. Some, oh, some Carménère, and, uh, made, I made some wines and, uh, they were, they were fantastic.
7:05
So the cool thing about it was that their harve- they harvest a lot earlier. They start in July. Yeah. Right. And they're done. By the end of August, they're done. Right.
7:12
So and that's when I start thinking, "Okay, I gotta get ready." And so typically, I'm not ready to start making wine in July, right? [laughs] Right. Yeah.
7:20
So, but that particular year, they were, they were, uh, their harvest was running about two to three weeks later than normal, so I got grapes, uh, the first week of September. So it, that year, it just worked out.
7:31
That's great. And, uh, and it was just fun to ex- uh, you know, to present those wines to, to my customers, and they loved them. Is it the, is it because of this kinda the same temperature?
7:41
Like, it's, it's hot, like in Grand Junction, it's hotter than Denver, right? Is it the- Yeah... is it the climate? Yeah. Yeah, a lot of it.
7:48
I mean, the, the winter average temperature in Grand Junction and that area is about 10 degrees warmer than it is here during the- Right... the winter. Right.
7:56
Uh, uh, I mean, and it's not that we get consistently cold here, but we have much lower lows than they do in Grand Junction usually. Okay. Um, a- and the same is true in, in New Mexico. Mm-hmm.
8:08
And actually, you know, if you look historically, not that anybody cares, but it's interesting to me, um, uh, the Four Corners states all started their wine industries about the same time. Hmm.
8:18
In the '70s, there was a federal research grant that was looking at grapes, a- and whether or not they'd be a viable, uh, agricultural crop alternative for those four states.
8:29
And indeed, um, you know, you look at the beginnings of the industry, the modern industry in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and it all comes from that same, uh, research project.
8:40
Utah obviously wasn't a conducive climate- Mm-hmm. Right... for making [laughs] Right... making wine or selling wine, but out of the Four Corners project, I understand there was a grape, uh, variety created- Hmm...
8:51
called Utah Noir, and I've had one or two of them, and they're really good. I've, I've never seen it outside of Utah, but maybe it's- Hmm... a trademarked thing. You can't grow it outside the state line.
9:00
Yeah, maybe it, or maybe, yeah, maybe it's a Utah thing. They can't [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] They won't- They won't let it out of the state... let it out of the state is right. Exactly. Huh.
9:08
Well, maybe I'll start growing some grapes for you, Paulie. Yeah, let's do that. [laughs] That's right. That'd be great. Bring them down. Give me that Thornton, uh, whatever we wanna...
9:16
We'll have to think of a name for it. [laughs] The Ann. Yeah. [laughs] Thornton wine. Yeah, the Thornton, yeah. The Thornton wine. All right.
9:23
So, uh, I mentioned, uh, going into the break, there's some Colorado-friendly places. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, don't look so shocked. [laughs] But, um, uh, I, you know, there's, um,
9:37
I, I was- you know, Right Coast Pizza is, um, over in Wheat Ridge, and they launched with a exclusively Colorado-focused, uh, beverage, uh, program. Great.
9:47
And, uh, and they continue with it, and not just beer, 'cause they, obviously it's easy to do beer, and, uh, a lot more spirits, uh, coming along online, too. So they have that.
9:55
But they, uh, every one of their wines is, uh, is, is made here in Colorado. Outstanding. So, um, so that's just one. There's, there's plenty more, but, uh, we're, you know, we're running out of time.
10:06
[laughs] So maybe, uh, maybe if you have a, uh, friendly, uh, you know, a Colorado wine-friendly place you wanna share with us, uh, send it out, uh, send it to us on the, uh, on the DRed Twitter line.
10:20
You can hit me @denverwineready- [laughs]... radio. See, you like that sponsorship drop in there? I do. I did. Okay. You can hit me at, uh, @PaulBonaquistie, @Chotwoman, or yeah, that's your Twitter handle. Yeah.
10:32
[laughs] Okay. Well, you'll, you'll figure it out. I'll figure it all out. So, hey, well, thanks for coming down, Doug. Um, thanks for having me here. I'm honored to be here. Yeah. I'm, uh- It was a lot of fun...
10:42
I'm glad you're here. So, uh, uh, keep drinking Colorado wine. Drink local. Uh, d- uh, you know, search out some local music whenever you can. Absolutely. There's so much good local music here.
10:53
I mean, you know, sometimes I think, remember back... Okay, we're gonna go back in the day, okay? 'Member, y'all 'member back in the day, right? There was so many places to go see live music, right? Oh, yeah.
11:04
You could go anywhere. You could- Yeah... there was a lot. There was dancing clubs. There was... There's not a whole lot of that in Colorado anymore. There really isn't. Is it just me?
11:15
There, it's, uh, no, it's, it's probably not like it used to be, but there's still, there's a lot of places around. Uh, you know, check, check wineries. Check breweries. Check, uh- Right... there's- I guess. I guess.
11:24
May- maybe- It's not just the big places anymore. Right. There's a lot of little, yeah, little places doing it, so. Yeah. And I think that more and more places should.
11:31
And, and, and I think that your platform is gonna be good for getting the word out there on who's playing where and stuff like that because, I mean, you bring some phenomenal acts into your, uh, into Fridays Uncorked.
11:43
Thank you. I'm lucky they like, they like to play there. Oh, my God. Great music, great wine. It's so awesome. I mean, these bands are, are really good. It's a really awesome spot. It's right off of I-70 and Pecos.
11:54
It's very cool, and the music's always good, and it's just a good place to go and hang out on a Friday. It really is. After work to unwind, to uncork yourself. It's awesome. It's whole new dimension of wine- Yeah...
12:05
and, and wining. It is. Yeah. It is. A fun place to hang out. And- Thank you, Chot You're welcome, Paul. I appreciate that. And, uh- All right... I, I am still working. Do I got, I, do I have six minutes?
12:13
How many minutes do I have? We got a minute left. We can, we can go- Just one minute? We can go another minute Okay, I'll go really quick. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'll do what all programmers tell me to do. Don't talk so fast.
12:20
[laughs] Okay, Chot's Back in the Day Cafe is gonna debut on February the 19th. We're still working on all the, uh, social media links and all that kinda stuff because, you know, we had to have somebody do that.
12:30
I can't do that. I can't even tie my shoes sometimes. So, and I'm in my 60s, so what? Snap who? Snapchat what? [laughs] Really. Like, what? Yeah, that's why I brought Vinnie B with me. Yeah, right, right.
12:42
So February the 19th, it's gonna be all old school. You know, mostly '80s and '90s, some into the 2000s, you know, and we'll hit the old soul stuff, too, like James Brown and all that stuff.
12:51
But it's gonna be a blast, and I, I can't even tell you how excited I am to be back on Denver radio, baby. I can't believe it. I know, right? That's awesome, Chot. I know. I know.
13:01
It took me a minute, and I'll explain later why it took me a minute, but- All right... it took me a minute. Thanks for listening, everybody. Our debut show on Mile High Sports Radio. [clapping] This is Denver Wine Radio.
13:12
Ooh, ABC. Pretty young thing. Give me some love. ABC
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