Minisode #15: Why Total Wine is Sus!

Chenin Blanc is the “it” wine in South Africa, but is it worth the hype? Spoiler alert - if you like an oaky Chardonnay or white wines with some body, you may really like this wine! No one is really sure how Chenin Blanc got to South Africa, or why it has been called Steen there for centuries, but one thing is for sure - if you want to taste some of the best Chenin Blanc in the world outside of France, the first place you need to turn to is South Africa. South Africa makes more than 50% of all the Chenin Blanc in the world, and has a strong reputation today for making excellent wine - but it wasn’t always the case. In this episode, we explore a bit of the history of Chenin Blanc from South Africa, and we taste and review two reasonably priced and easy to find South African Chenin Blancs which we bought at Total Wine (boo!) to see if they are worth your hard-earned money. And a shout out to listener Dominic who suggested this episode. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2024 Blaauwklippen Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc, 2023 Spier Seaward Chenin BlancSend us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

This week we had the honor and privilege to sit and talk with Leslie Frelow and Aamira Garba, two amazing women making waves in the wine world. Leslie calls herself the Owner & Chief Discovery Officer of The Wine Concierge, and that title is perfect because she seeks to sell wines from boutique wineries owned by women and underrepresented groups. Aamira is the CEO and Winemaker for LoveLee Wine who built her wine brand from scratch after deciding that she was tired of living the “checkbox life.” Leslie and Aamira share with us how they each came to careers in wine through passion and perseverance, and both of their stories are examples of grit, determination, hard work, and talent. We think after you hear from them you’ll want to learn more and experience what each has created. Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

Picpoul translates to “lip stinger” in the original dialect, and this is not your typical high acid white wine. In fact, we were pretty surprised by this wine overall. It had more body (read: alcohol) than a typical zippy white wine, and more body as well. Although it is often called a summer sipper, this wine felt more like a fall wind-breaker. Picpoul is not a commonly grown wine grape, and does best in Mediterranean climates like where it is from in Languedoc in the south of France. We explore a bit of this wine and wine region’s long history, and learn about how this wine is made and a bit about the winemakers themselves. If you are a white wine lover, or even if you are white wine curious, this is a great episode for you to expand your wine horizons. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Domitia Picpoul de Pinet, 2022 Domaine Font-Mars Picpoul de Pinet.Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

You may think that Rosé is a summer wine, made for sipping by the pool - but did you know it is the perfect pairing for Thanksgiving?!? We ain’t sh*&^ing you! The kind of Rosé you serve matters, because after all Rosé is a way of making wine, and so the grapes in the Rosé and the style in which it is made make all the difference. And so in this episode, we talk about what to look for in a Thanksgiving wine, and in a Rosé wine for Thanksgiving in particular, and we have three amazing Rosé wines that will work out perfectly with the whole meal. Bird? Check. Stuffing? Check. Mac & Cheese? Check. Mashed potatoes and gravy? Check and Check. This episode also saw a couple of our highest rated wines of the year, so don’t be a turkey - listen in! We won’t steer you wrong! And you may find that you want to serve all three of these wines this year - and we won’t stop you! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2023 Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Rosé, 2023 Scaia Rosato, Hubert Meyer Crémant d'Alsace Brut Rose'Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

We generally have pretty good luck with Kirkland wines, and we put our good fortune to the test in this episode by tasting the 2022 Napa Valley Red Blend vs. two other Bordeaux-style blends. How did the Kirkland wine do?!? Well . . . we don’t want to give too many spoilers, but let's just say that we gave it a fair shot. We also dig into what exactly Bordeaux-style blends are because, let’s face it, when a wine says it is a “red blend” that could mean a whole bunch of things. So, we demystify what Bordeaux-style blends are and how to tell if a wine is one, and we also go into some detail about the difference between wines made in Bordeaux and wines made in Napa Valley - two of the most famous and highly prized wine regions in the world. While they share a lot of similarities in terms of the grapes they use, they are pretty different when it comes to winemaking, and we tell you why.  2022 Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Red Blend, 2021 Market Vineyards Derivative Red Wine,  2019 Château Michel de Montaigne Bergerac Bordeaux Blend.Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

Bread & Butter Wines is one of the fastest growing wine brands in the United States, but does that mean they are any good? Even more importantly, are these wines worth the price? And because these wines rarely show up in the ratings and reviews of the major wine publications, we figured we’d do you a solid and share what we think. In this episode, not only do we taste and give our totally honest review of three different Bread & Butter wines, we spill the tea on what we think is the allure - and the problem - with these mass produced wines. Let’s just say the goal for wine brands like Bread & Butter is consistency over everything else. And for some people that is exactly what they are looking for, and for others, it is just not enough. You may agree with our assessment, or you may totally disagree, and not only is that absolutely fine with us, we want to hear what you think! We don’t pull any punches, and we hope you won’t either! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Bread & Butter California Chardonnay, 2023 Bread & Butter Sauvignon Blanc, 2022 Bread & Butter Cabernet Sauvignon.Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

Armenia may be the oldest wine making region in the world, and yet, have you ever had wine from Armenia? There are some good reasons why that may be, and probably most likely because when they were part of the Soviet Union, the government forced them to make fortified wines like brandy, and the winemaking industry was forced to go underground. Over the past few decades, however, winemaking is having a bit of a renaissance, led by people like Vahe and Aimee Keushguerian who literally risk their lives to make wine. Inspired by the documentary Cup of Salvation based on a recommendation from a listener, we set out to find some Armenian wines - and we found them (and so can you!). The story of these wines and the people who make them is fascinating and more than worth learning about. Please join us to start your own journey to find out more about Armenian wine! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2019 Van Ardi Red Blend, Keush Origins Sparkling WineSend us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

It may have an odd sounding name, but Furmint is a wine we are delighted to add to our wine list! Hailing from Hungary, where it is often made into the famous sweet wine called Tokaj Asuz, dry Furmint is a crisp, refreshing, and yet medium bodied white wine that can give any classic white a run for its money. In this episode, we learn a bit about the wine industry in Hungary (they are the 14th largest wine producing country in the world!), and we spill the tea on what exactly Furmint is - and this wine is the epitome of why we create these WTF episodes - to find wines that are fantastic but under the radar, so you can stop drinking all that crappy Chardonnay! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2021 Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Dry Furmint, 2022 Disznoko Dry FurmintSend us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

Look, Total Wine is big, it has a ton of wine (obvi), and it is often conveniently located, but we just are not convinced about Total Wine, and we do not enjoy shopping there. For a wine store that is so huge, the selection seems kind of crappy frankly. Why is that? In this podcast, we go into some depth into explaining why, and what some better alternatives are. This is just our opinion, though, so hear us out, and we would love to hear from you to hear what you think. Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]

Sake is often called rice wine, but is it actually wine?!? You may be surprised to find the answer! And for this minisode, we are joined by our daughter Marianna who you can find on Instagram at munch.with.mar! They have been making sake in Japan in the same way for more than 500 years, and there are 12 steps to making it, so, whether it is wine, beer, spirits, or its own thing, it is a very involved process! You may also be surprised to find that they make wines from grapes in Japan, and there is a wine grape unique to Japan called Koshou that we are dying to try! Join us for this taste spoon of our podcast, and speaking of tasting, we give a little tasting of a sake just for good measure.  Send us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: [email protected]