We're kicking off the winter months with new world versus old world wines. Our intro to new world Italian varietals starts with the 2017 Barbera from Idlewild. If you aren't familiar with Italian varietals being grown in California, you aren't alone. Before prohibition, Italian varietals were grown more predominantly than French grapes because of similar soil and climate conditions. We love this Barbera because of the bright acidity and complexity of the wine. We'll be back next week with the old world counterpart. Enjoy, Witches!

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Our final Thanksgiving-ish wine is the 2016 Ladoix from Edmond Cornu et Fils. This Burgundy is incredibly sultry and is a bottle we'd actually recommend for a date night over a holiday with your family. This is our first real French red and we discuss a few regions of France and the types of grapes they grow. This is our crash course on French wines, but we'll be featuring more throughout the winter. Put on something sexy, light a few candles, and drink this wine with your boo. 

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Our untraditional white wine pick for Thanksgiving is the 2017 Domaine de la Bergerie Savennières. Savennières is a region of France known for growing Chenin Blanc. Chenin or Savennières is known to have some interesting phenolic compounds, which bring bitter characteristics to the palate. Color density and hue, tannin level, and texture are all determined by phenolics, which are typically extracted from the skins and stems of grapes during the wine making process. While tannins give wine a mouth feel, phenolic compounds give wine flavor. 

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Ever wonder what the fuss about Beaujolais is? Or have an experience drinking a Beaujolais that tasted like bananas? We're hear to break it all down for you. The 2019 Le Ronsay Beaujolais from Jean-Paul Brun is a classic example of the Gamay grape. This producer uses organic grapes and native yeasts, which along with aging, removes any hits of banana or bubble gum. We talk about the Beaujolais classification system and what a Nouveau wine is. We also go on several tangents about our opinions on Thanksgiving foods and Halloween candy. All of which is to say, this is absolutely a wine worth having during your Thanksgiving meal.  

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We couldn't end spooky season just yet. We're bringing you one more to celebrate el Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Our featured Mexican wine from the Baja Peninsula is the 2020 Canto de Luna from La Carrodilla. This red blend is 25% Syrah, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% Tempranillo. We love how balanced the acid and tannins are, not to mention the completely on brand label. While we've featured blends before, we go in depth on regions that typically produce blends (like Bordeaux) and how winemakers create blends. 

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We're closing out Spooky Season with a wine from one of our favorite producers - Subject to Change. We'll admit it, we got got by their Zodiac pack. BUT the Scorpio season wine, Wild Child, is very appropriate! Made of old vine Petite Sirah and Carignan, these grapes are full of power and resourcefulness, inspiring the match with determined Scorpios. Plus, Halloween is the one night we adults get to act like wild children without judgement. We also discuss secondary wine aromas. Secondary aromas and flavors derive from winemaking processes like fermentation and barrel aging. Think of things like yeasty notes in Champagne that appear from wine aging on lees (the effect when yeast dies off), or the very distinct buttery aroma occurs after malolactic fermentation in many Chardonnays. It also includes all of the characteristics that are imparted by oak aging, like vanilla, clove, smoke, and coffee.

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We have one more orange wine for spooky season, this time on the funky side of things. Doccia Fredda from Controvento is a blend of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo and Passerina (a rare, local varietal). Meaning “Cold Shower” in Italian, Doccia Fredda is a refreshing and fun orange wine. With a lot of acidity on both the nose and palate, we discuss volatile acidity. Fear not! While VA is sometimes seen as a fault in wine, it can lead to some interesting characteristics. Volatile acidity is mostly caused by bacteria in the wine creating acetic acid, the acid that gives vinegar its characteristic flavor and aroma, and its by-product ethyl acetate. In this wine, VA lends a kombucha-y characteristic. If you're feeling adventurous this is a wine to try. 

If you liked this episode or wine we hope you'll rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @witcheswinecast and now TikTok @witcheswinecast! As always shoot us an email with your wine questions - [email protected].

We're talking hybrid varietals today. Lightwell Survey's 2020 Strange Hybrid Moments is a fun and funky rosé made of a blend of 33% Vidal blanc, 22% Chambourcin, 21% Blaufränkisch, 17% Petit Manseng, and 7% Traminette. Vidal blanc, Chambourcin and Traminette are three examples of hybrid wine varietals. Most of the wines we enjoy today are produced from Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine species responsible for well-known grapes like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. Hybrid grapes, made by crossing European Vitis vinifera vines with American Vitis labrusca or Vitis riparia grapes, were originally cultivated in response to phylloxera. Because American grapevines were resistant to phylloxera scientists responded to the crisis by grafting Vitis vinifera vines onto to disease-resistant American rootstock. While these may not be varietals you recognize, they are certainly worth giving a try. Happy Spooky Season, Witches! Drink some pink wine, you deserve it.

But, if you liked this episode or wine we hope you'll rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @witcheswinecast and now TikTok @witcheswinecast! As always shoot us an email with your wine questions - [email protected].

It's a special two part episode today! First, we took a field trip to a local winery and had the chance to try a Riesling under active fermentation. We talk about the process of fermentation and Brix, and what this grape tastes like in the early stages of fermentation. Then we dive into our final bottle of September with a Grüner Veltliner from Austria. The T26 Dürnstein Grüner Veltliner is bright with a hint of spice, and would pair perfectly with a fall salad. 

If you liked this episode or wine we hope you'll rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @witcheswinecast and now TikTok @witcheswinecast! As always shoot us an email with your wine questions - [email protected].