Tasting Notes Podcast

In this episode I sit down with my first winemaker, Mike Kush of Chasing Harvest. Mike and his family have been 'chasing harvest's' all over the world for more year than they can count and Mike finally put all that knowledge into bottling his own label. In today's episode we sit down and talk about 3 of his favorites, New Zealand, Portugal and we skim the surface on all the things that go into making great wine.

Follow along with Mike:
https://www.chasingharvest.com/
Instagram @chasingharvest

On this episode of Tasting Notes, we welcome Steve Morgan, wine sommelier and Midwest Regional Sales Manager for The Sorting Table. We start off by discussing our favorite local wine shop, Bottle Up! and why he started Champagne Happy Hour. Then we move right into some of Steve’s favorites:

Wine #1:
Producer: Waris Hubert
Name: Albescent
Vintage: --
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Steve and I chat about whether or not champagne is still good after it loses its bubbles, what food to pair it with (pizza, fries, caviar?), and how to break the cycle of only drinking it during celebrations.
As we dive into tasting the Waris Hubert, which comes after my candid thoughts on what denotes a classic American chardonnay. When smelling this first wine, Steve notices citrus, granny smith apple, and pear notes. When tasting it, Steve describes a somewhat baked quality, like white baking flour, with a white floral note. This wine has a bit of weight to it, but is punchy, acidic, bright, energetic, and very crisp.

Wine #2:
Producer: Vigne Marina Coppi
Name: Fausto
Vintage: --
Variety: Timorasso
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Our next wine is a Timorasso from another family-owned business in the Piedmont region of Italy, where there’s an influence from the Mediterranean that adds a saltiness to all of their white wines. The timorasso grape has a natural tannin and ability to age.
This Fausto is pretty high in alcohol, coming in at 14.5%, but you’re not going to taste how alcoholic it is. It’s not fruity… it has significant body and tannin to it but it’s super layered and textured, with minerality, saltiness, richness, and ripping acidity. This one truly blew my mind.

Wine #3:
Producer: Rizzi Winery
Name: Barbaresco Rizzi
Vintage: 2015
Variety: Nebbiolo
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Before tasting the third wine, Steve explains the difference between a Barolo and a Barbaresco and tells the story behind the family that created the Barbaresco Rizzi. Nebbiolo wines are also not as fruit-based. There’s definitely fruit there, but when you put your nose in it, it smells leathery, mushroomy, earthy, and musty, with notes of red and purple flowers. There’s also a bright, orangey acidity to the wine with notes of black and red fruit. It has a soft mouth feel, almost melting in my mouth. It also has an orange, brassiness color to the edge of the wine, an indicator that you have a wine from the Nebbiolo grape.

About Steve Morgan
Steve Morgan is the Midwest Regional Sales Manager for The Sorting Table, which is an importer, marketer, and distributor of wines. Steve’s views on wine were really defined by his time working with Elisabetta Foradori at Foradori Winery during her switch over to biodynamic farming. Steve has worked as a Sommelier at Del Posto, Dressler, Tribeca Grill, and Alinea, and created the ‘Best Medium Sized Wine List in the World’ according to the World of Fine Wine at Formento’s.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/morgansteve
Champagne Happy Hour: www.instagram.com/champagnehappyhour
Plant Shop Wine Shop: www.instagram.com/plantshopwineshop

Connect with Tasting Notes
Web: www.tastingnotespodcast.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tastingnotes_podcast
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Bottles Up! on Instagram: www.instagram.com/bottles_up_chicago

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Pack your bags because on this episode special guest, wine educator Madison Varunk and I take a short flight over to Spain to taste some fantastic Spanish wines. We start out with general deep dive on Spain, then things get exciting as we open three unique Spanish bottles, a 2018 Cune Monopole Blanco (aka a white Rioja), then a 2015 Rioja Alta Alberdi Reserva and then we wrap up with a 2017 Bernabeleva Camino de Navaherrreros Garnacha. Pick a bottle up and tune in for the deep dive on Tasting Notes!

On this episode I sit down with Ryan Baldwin and he absolutely blows my mind with 3 incredible wines. Ryan and I make our way through a 2017 Domaine Denis Race Chablis, a 2017 RIchard Kershaw Pinot Noir and a 2017 Pierre Gaillard Saint Joseph. All three of these wines we picked up from Bottles Up in Chicago, so swing through and let them know you're there for the Tasting Notes Podcast wines. Ryan was an incredible guest, who helped me through each wine where I knew just enough to get myself in trouble. 

In this episode Jordon (Dialogue, Santa Monica) and I dive deep into one of his favorite grapes, Riesling! We go into all kinds of rabbit holes from exploring the versatility of the Riesling grape, to matching Rieslings with his favorite albums. Jordon and I start in Austria (Wachau) with the FX Pichler, then head to France (Alsace) to taste the Trimbach and end in Germany (Mosel) with the Selbach Oster. Each wine presents a fascinating expression of Riesling, which are all so similar yet vastly different, so grab a bottle and lets dive in!

Jordon's Insta
www.tastingnotespodcast.com

I've always been anti Rosé. I just never considered it a "real" wine, but Brian twisted my arm and I'm glad he did. So much to unpack in these easy drinkers.

About The Wines:
Producer: Flowers

Vintage: 2019

Country: US

Region: Cali Coast (sonoma)

GRaper: Pinot Noir

Color: lighter salmon pink

Aromas: Peach, Strawberry, Floral, Stone fruit, minerality

Palate: medium high acidity, clean and crisp, light bodied, low alcohol, grapefruit

Producer: Summer Water

Vintage: 2019

Country: US

Region: California, Central Coast 

Grape: Grenache/Syrah

Color: Pink/orange hue

Aroma: Very aromatic, peach, candy, jolly rancher watermelon, strawberry, citrus, lime, melon

Taste: mild acidity acid, long finish, 

Sunstone Winery is the Central Coast winery I visited on my baby moon. Great wine and great setup for an afternoon. 

Open range on temperature for Rose, with colder drinking having the ability to hide wine flaws

Producer: La Bandol Blanche

Provance, France

Color: Dark Salmon, Nantucket Salmon Pants

Aroma: Fruit Driven, spice, red fruit, grassy

Taste: red apple, citrus, 

Alcohol: medium

Grape: Movedre driven

Local wine expert Brian Giegerich and I sit down to talk about some of his favorite summer drinkers just as summer winds down. Three wines I've never tried before but really enjoyed. We'll go deep on each of these and a whole host of other topics from tasting to weather patterns. A great way to kick off the new podcast we can't wait to get to tasting with you!

Today's episode is supported by Wavoto. Catch your online wave with Wavoto at www.wavoto.com/tastingnotes to get 30% off your first 3 months with promo code 30for3

About Brian Giegerich:

• Kendall College Wine Professional Program
• Sommelier certification
• Level 2 Court of Master 

Wines - 

Albarino - 

Cellar Tracker - https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3026993&searchId=A3985259%23selected%253DW3223220_1_K16eb7bc43c7e75d9527b894847827b8e

Producer - Nora

Cost - $12-$15

Country - Spain

Sub Region - Rias Baixas 

Vintage - 2017

Basic Structural Components - Light bodies white, generally dry, higher acidity, medium alcohol

Basic Structure - medium bodied, light, easy to drink, softer edges 

Aroma - Citrus flavors, lemon, grapefruit, pear, soft melon, some minerality, honeysuckle or white flower, or slight wet stone

Specific Detail

Sight - light wine, young, green around the outer rim

Aroma - medium bouquet, soft melon, honeysuckle, 

Taste - high acid, but balanced well with the alcohol

Food Pairing - spicy food, seafood 

A note about Rias Baixas, which is no where near San Sebastian, but hey directions are hard.

When to drink: hot day

Tasting exercise - determine citrus flavors by adding each one to a glass

Consider what something might taste like based on how it smells

Vermentino: https://www.binnys.com/argiolas-costamolino-vermentino-105132.html

Producer - CostaMolino

Cost - $11 - $14

Country - Italy

Sub Region -  Sardinia 

Vintage - 2019

Good for: good summer group event, picnic, BBQ

Visual - straw hue, green edges. Tells us it’s a bit younger, looks healthy

Aroma - very aromatic, fruit forward, tropical fruit, sweet, mango, some citrus, nutty, blanched almond, grapefruit, young fruit

Taste - High acid, tart, dryness, scratchy on top of the tongue, higher alcohol, mintiness, green apple, lime

When to drink: hot day 

Torrontes: https://www.wine.com/product/bodega-colome-torrontes-2019/566827#

Producer - Colome

Cost - $12 - $15

Country - Argentina

Sub Region - Salta

Vintage - 2019

Visual: light, pale yellow, green around the edge

Aroma - fruit driven, peach, lemon, floral, nutmeg

Taste - medium acid, full bodied, 

Native grape to argentina

Welcome everyone to the Tasting Notes Podcast! I'm Eric and I'm gonna be your host. Each episode I'm gonna sit down with a wine professional and taste some wine, talk about wine, dissect wine and probably go deep deep down rabbit holes about wine but today is just a quick review of the podcast, what to expect and how to follow along. If you want to stay in the loop on upcoming content, follow along:

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Web: www.tastingnotespodcast.com