Archive
Subscribe
Search
Login
Subscribe
Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
5: Colorado Malbec with Bookcliff Vineyards
Feb 19, 2018
5: Colorado Malbec with Bookcliff Vineyards
15
30
00:00
08:50
IN THIS EPISODE
LISTEN ON
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Spotify
YouTube
YouTube
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Castro
Castro
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 Café. All right. That guy sounds so official. [laughs] I told you. Wow.
0:17
We're legit now. We're, we're validated. Yeah, we're legit. [laughs] I'm gonna wear hammer pants next week. Right on. [laughs] Hey, welcome everybody to Denver Wine Radio. It's a gorgeous Saturday- Oh...
0:29
in the Mile High City. I can't even believe it. I mean, compared to a week ago today. [laughs] Yeah. Well, what a difference a week makes, huh? [laughs] Wow. Little crazy last week. So hey, you know what?
0:40
Uh, well by the way, I'm Paul Bonacquisti and, uh- [laughs] And I'm Cha Cha Chavez Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. Feels good to be behind a, a microphone again with my friend Paul. Yeah, this is awesome.
0:51
So, um, so I've been in the wine world for about 12 years now, after I left radio a long time ago. And, um, gonna talk about wine. And music. And music too. And the way they blend together so smoothly. Oh, yeah.
1:06
And you know what? Uh, it's National Drink Wine Day. And- And you... We're gonna start early. [laughs] We are. As I see all these bottles on table, right? That's right, that's right.
1:16
So, um, it could be tomorrow, I'm not sure. I, I got a little confused, but, um, you know, every day is National Drink Wine Day at the winery. Right.
1:23
But, um, hey, but we've got, uh, a special guest coming in, uh, in a little bit, uh, John Garlich, who's the owner and winemaker at Bookcliff Vineyards up in Boulder. Okay.
1:34
So, um, he's gonna bring, he's bringing in, uh, his Malbec, a Colorado Malbec. I brought in a couple of Malbecs, uh, today. Um, one from Argentina- Mm. And, uh, one from France, where, uh, Malbec, uh, originates. Okay.
1:50
So. And since, um, this is the part of the show where they educate me and you on wine, and my first question is, okay, what is it? Yeah. Because y- y- that's the thing, you know?
2:01
You, you say, "Okay, y- this wine pairs up with this kind of food," or why? Well- You're gonna- Well, because- You're gonna tell us... yeah, I'm gonna tell you. So, um, yeah, so wine, you know, wines have...
2:13
You, you hear these d- metaphorically speaking, all these- Okay... flavors, okay? Right. I smell cherries, I smell cinnamon, I smell- Right... yeah, apples. Boone's Farm. Yeah, so.
2:21
[laughs] So yeah, I smell Skittles, uh- [laughs] But anyway, um, yeah, so look, when you, when you cook food at home- Mm-hmm... all those, all those foods you make at home have, uh, have similar smells, right? Oh, yeah.
2:34
I mean, you cook- And flavors... hey, if you're, you're cooking chicken fajitas- Yeah... you got a lotta lime in there, right? Right. Okay.
2:39
So then it's easy to match up a wine that has that characteristic to it, citrus, some kinda citrus characteristic. Oh, that will blend in with it. Yeah.
2:48
And will enhance the flavor of whatever the, the, you're cooking, whether it's beef or chicken or fish or whatever. Exactly. Okay. So- Huh... that's what that's all about. But where do the names come from?
2:59
Like Malbec, what does that mean? Well, Malbec is the, uh, is a name of a grape. Oh- Okay... it's a name of a grape... that's a name of a grape. Okay, okay. And- See, I didn't know that...
3:09
right, and that, uh, that grape, uh, originates in, uh, the, in southwestern France. Okay. And, um, but Argentina, uh, planted that grape long time ago, and they've made a name for themselves- Okay... with Malbec.
3:23
So, uh, whenever people hear Malbec now, they, they kinda think of, uh, Argentinian, uh, wine. So. So is it just kinda like, okay, um, is it kinda like chilies?
3:32
Like, if a chile is grown in a certain region, it will have a different flavor, a different, uh, size, a different, uh, texture. I mean, is it the, kind of the same thing? It's the ex- exact same thing. Wow.
3:44
So, so chilies, um, so like your favorite, Hatch- Dude... New Mexico. [laughs] You know what?
3:50
My, my mind is going, okay, 'cause I'm originally from New Mexico, and as e- most everybody knows, I'm living, uh, in Colorado and New Mexico, kinda going back and forth.
3:59
And Paul and I were talking last week, and I said, "Well, maybe I'll buy some land in New Mexico, and I'll start growing grapes there." But I have a better idea now. Okay, what if we got like,
4:10
w- we- we became like, I don't even know what you would call it. What do you call p- uh, wine people who mix different grapes and all that kinda stuff? Oh, like a viticulturist? Yeah, that. I don't know, is that right?
4:20
Yeah. So we'll take- Enologist. Yeah. Oh, an enologist. [laughs] Is that what it is? Okay. I don't even know the term. [laughs] So we'll, we'll, we'll take some chile seeds and some award-winning Bonacquisti, uh, grapes,
4:33
and we'll put them together, and we'll make a wine called Inchaquinis. [laughs] Good God. Like you like to say, right? That's right. What, nice little wine- When you're-... with just a little kick...
4:43
uh-huh, when you're, you're half Italian and half Mexican- There you go... you're, you're Inchaquini. You're Inchaquini. [laughs] So that's the new wine, Inchaquini. All right. How you doing? Good.
4:52
This is John from Bookcliff Vineyard. Yeah, John Garlich is in the, in the house, and he brought some wine. [laughs] So, uh, hey, welcome. Thanks. Welcome to Denver Wine Radio, John. Hey, thanks for the invite, guys.
5:02
Man, anytime, anytime. Anytime. So, um, what'd you bring us? Uh, speaking of Malbec- [laughs] Yeah... I happened to bring a couple bottles. That's awesome.
5:12
I didn't get to the store to get some more, but I think four bottles should do us- [laughs]... for an hour. Should do us, yeah, for an hour, yeah. [laughs] Yeah, three of us and Jake- And Jake... behind the glass. Yeah.
5:21
Well, that's four of us. Well, yeah, okay. It, it's Jake from State Farm. [laughs] Okay. I get that so many times. [laughs] But no, I think Malbec's pretty cool.
5:29
You know, it's not a lot, uh, grown in Colorado yet, but, um, it's, I think, a really good grape for Colorado. Yeah? High mountain desert, just like Argentina. Yeah. Tell us, uh, tell us a little bit more about that.
5:42
Well, um, yeah, I was down in Argentina a few years ago. Were you really? Yeah. No, our, some of our Malbec was taken down by a person that was invited down by Cantina, large, uh,
5:55
operation that's been kinda promoting Malbec down there. They're kind of the Mondavi of, of Argentina.
6:02
Do lots of research and have figured out like the best growing areas and, uh, all that all around Argentina or, uh, Mendoza. Mm-hmm. And, uh, some of our wine made it down there with someone from Boulder.
6:15
They tasted it at this Cantina and loved it, and so it was kind of an opening for us to go down with some of our staff and check it out. Very cool. And they were very nice. They were really, uh...
6:28
rolled out the red carpet.
6:29
We were there for like a day, uh, touring their vineyards, drinking some wine in the vineyards, looking at soil pits to see the profiles, and then went to their experimental winery for a bit to taste all the different things they're tr- testing out.
6:43
And then after lunch, the neat thing is we sat down with the production winemaker and had seven different Malbecs, all different vineyards, the difference mainly being just different elevations for the, the different vineyards.
6:59
And they kept getting better, of course, as you go through these, uh, different wines and the, uh... is because it's going up in elevation, each vineyard. What does the elevation have to do with it? God only knows. Wow.
7:13
No, it- That's interesting. [laughs] No, you know, there's lots of theories, but- No, is there, is, is it the, is it lack of oxygen or the grape doesn't grow l- No...
7:19
as long or- I think we could rule out the lack of oxygen. [clears throat] Um, no, I think it's, um, more, yeah, more intense sun- Okay...
7:28
and then cooler, you know, it, you know, things like in the, uh, higher elevation cool off quicker at night. Yeah, they do. Yeah, so it gets really cool at night. Yeah. In the high desert. Yeah.
7:37
I mean, it's, it's, it, it fo- that fools a lot of people 'cause they go, "God, I didn't think it got cold in the desert," but yeah, at night it- Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's a big part.
7:45
And then, yeah, the elevation, you get more of the, uh, UV light. Okay. You know, at the higher elevations. Right. So- Interesting...
7:52
you know, it, it affects the skins, which is where all your color and flavor is, so I think that is something that, that play, plays into it. Um,
8:02
but yeah, basically, their best vineyards were about the same elevation as what we have in Colorado. Wow. Around, yeah, Palisade. Interesting. Yeah.
8:10
Yeah, right, right around- Which would be the same around like New Mexico. Yeah, so- Certain areas of New Mexico. Yeah, Palisade, it's about 4,800 feet. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So... Huh. Well, all right.
8:21
I'm thinking grapes. [laughs] I'm thinking planting grapes. Well, we're gonna crack some of these open here, uh- All right...
8:29
and then when we come back, we'll tell you, uh, we're gonna compare Colorado to Cahors in France and also Argentinian Malbec, and I got a feeling we're gonna crush 'em. Crush 'em like a jelly bean.
8:40
[laughs] Crush 'em like a grape. [laughs] No doubt about it. [laughs] All right, you're listening to Denver Wine Radio on Mile High Sports. Hey, yo. Check it, check the groove, paying out
New episodes, straight to your inbox.
Subscribe
