#spotify or apple podcasts like. it feels like its everywhere | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aliload81 · 2 years

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Spotify.exe

Chocolatey Software | Spotify 1.1.84.716.

Spotify for Artists.

Web Player - Spotify.

GitHub - master131/BlockTheSpot: Video, audio & banner.

Spotify – Web Player.

Get Spotify - Microsoft Store.

Updating Spotify - Spotify.

Repair and Download S.

Spotify: Music and Podcasts - Apps on Google Play.

S Windows process - What is it? - file.

Spotify ++ sideloaded.

Spotify Won't Open: How to Fix Spotify Not Opening on.

Equalify Pro - Equalizer for Spotify (Windows only!).

Download Windows - Spotify.

Chocolatey Software | Spotify 1.1.84.716.

Latest version. 8.7.24.1111. Apr 29th, 2022. Older versions. Advertisement. If you haven't already heard of Spotify, listen up. It's the world's go-to music app when it comes to streaming top international artists—whether on your desktop or on your phone, Spotify's got you covered. Listen to thousands of albums, singles, or pick out your. The latest version of EZBlocker may be picked up by a few anti virus programs. This is most likely due to the way EZBlocker disables Spotify's ads. If you do not feel comfortable downloading the executables directly, feel free to view the source code and compile it yourself. Spotify gives you advertisement free music spilling. With its Premium variant, you can download any tune from Spotify to your System. Spotify Offline Installer Download Latest Full Version Setup 32 & 64 Bit for PC: Technical Details: File Name: S Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10.

Spotify for Artists.

Apr 24, 2022 · Spotify gets better with every update. Pick your device for how to keep up-to-date. iOS; Android; Desktop. Equalify PRO is an equalizer plugin for the Spotify desktop version. It is a continuation of the highly successful Equalify free plugin, this time it features a fully parametric equalizer that is 100% customizable. It integrates seamlesslty with spotify and is the only spotify equalizer available! Download it now !. Windows download - Spotify Download Spotify Play millions of songs and podcasts on your device. Bring your music to mobile and tablet, too. Listening on your phone or tablet is free, easy, and fun. One account, listen everywhere. Mobile Computer Tablet Car PlayStation ® Xbox TV Speaker Web Player.

Web Player - Spotify.

What Is a Spotify Code? A Spotify code is a machine-readable code in an image. It's much like a QR code that you may already be familiar with. You can't read this code, but the Spotify app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone can. When a user scans this code with their phone, Spotify takes them to the item for which the code is. You can play on many more devices too, with wireless connections such as Spotify Connect, Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay, Chromecast, Alexa, Google Assistant, and more. Check out Explore Spotify for compatible devices, or check with the manufacturer. Note: Spotify content may only be accessed with the Spotify app, the web player website, or apps.

GitHub - master131/BlockTheSpot: Video, audio & banner.

Spotify - Web Player.

Spotify – Web Player.

Spotify is all the music you'll ever need. Enjoy ad-free music listening, offline playback, and more. Cancel anytime.

Get Spotify - Microsoft Store.

Explore audio features and in-depth audio analysis of tracks. Find out the danceability, the instrumentalness, or the valence of your favorite tracks. Get an analysis of a song's segments, bars, pitches, and more. With the Spotify developer platform, you can power up your app with advanced music metadata. Feb 08, 2013 · Choose a ready-made playlist that suits your mood or get personalized recommendations. Listen for free. • Play any artist, album, or playlist on shuffle mode. Spotify Premium features. • Play any song, any time on any device. • Download music for offline listening. • Enjoy amazing sound quality. Upgrade to Premium. Try Premium free for 3 months. Listen to your music offline and ad-free. Monthly subscription fee applies after. Open only to users who haven't already tried Premium.

Updating Spotify - Spotify.

Apr 24, 2022 · This is so Spotify can collect play data to compensate artists. How to download. Mobile and tablet; Desktop; Switch on Offline Mode. Downloads play automatically when you lose internet, but you can use Offline Mode to make sure only your downloads play. Mobile and tablet; Desktop; Not downloading? Make sure your device is ready to download.

Repair and Download S.

Apr 24, 2022 · Explore and discover! The more you use Spotify, the more we get to know you and can recommend music and podcasts just for you. Pick your device for the basics of how to play. Mobile and tablet; Desktop and web player; Tip: Like your favorites to save them to Your Library. This helps you keep a collection and helps us get to know you for. Spotify is a digital music streaming service, I made several tools for you. music bot spotify bot-api spotify-api spotify-library music-bot spotify-alternative spotify-sdk spotify-connect spotify-downloader spotify-web-api. Updated on Aug 24, 2021. PHP.

Spotify: Music and Podcasts - Apps on Google Play.

1 - Installing using the offline installer (SpotifyFullS): It opens up, installs spotify and it works until I close it or reboot my PC, then it goes back to stage one. 2 - Doing a clean install using the offline installer: Simply did the same thing as the first try. 3 - Moved the spotify folder from appdata/roaming to Program Files (x86. Getting access to Spotify for Artists. Popular. Music mixed up with another artist. Popular. Pitching music to our playlist editors. Browse help topics. Getting started. 9 articles. Everything you need to know to get started on Spotify for Artists. Team management. 12 articles. The premium version of Spotify allows you to take your music and podcasts anywhere your internet can't go. With the premium version, you get the option to download albums, playlists, and podcasts for offline usage. View lyrics; Spotify has another best feature that shows you the lyrics of the playing song.

S Windows process - What is it? - file.

Mar 29, 2022 · Step 1 – First uninstall Spotify if it is already installed on your smartphone. If you have the official Spotify app or another modified version of Spotify, try to uninstall it. Step 2 – Download the modified Spotify APK (very reliable) which will allow you to have Spotify Premium free for life on Android. Spotify Lite is a no-nonsense, compact version of the original app that does exactly what you'd expect Spotify to do, but without all the frills. Best of all is its tiny size and high capacity to budget your data usage. Another nice feature is that you can set up a monthly limit for the data Spotify Lite consumes from your data plan. Inspire fans with your creativity. Showcasing your artistry goes deeper with Spotify for Artists. With our profile tools, you can change your bio and photos whenever inspiration strikes. Let fans into your world with Artist Pick, featured playlists, and fundraising links — and by adding looping visuals to your tracks with Canvas.

Spotify ++ sideloaded.

Spotify Premium apk features. • Easy to operate- Just search for the music and click play. • Download music for offline listening. Enjoy anywhere you are. • Enjoy b etter sound quality than ever. • No ads - just uninterrupted music. • No commitment - cancel any time you like. For example, if is found in folder C:\Program Files\Dummy game\**some subfolder**, it most probably belongs to "Dummy game" software package. If your problem persist and you are not able to remove file that way, go to the search results (step 2) and try to manually delete all the occurrences of. Spotify App 1.1.84.716 download page. Download SpotifyS free. Spotify App Size: 0.682617Mb. Downloaded: 4,608 times.

Spotify Won't Open: How to Fix Spotify Not Opening on.

When Spotify is downloaded from and installed, it will land in %appdata%. When Spotify is installed via Microsoft Store though, it gets called a Windows App and thereby lies in a hidden WindowsApps folder under Program Files. It's not only hidden, but guarded pretty well, so you'll need to gain permission to open the folder. Visit: Enter App ID, App name or Appstore Link to Search Input and press Enter. If valid or app avaliable decrypted, the result will show immediately (zero time searchingD) One more way quickly find decrypted app, replace in appstore link with Sample. Apr 05, 2022 · This free software is a product of Spotify Ltd. The common filenames for the program's installer are , SpotifyL, VSW311A_5F6A36B, SpotifyB or S etc. The most popular versions among the program users are 1.1, 1.0 and 0.9. The software belongs to Multimedia Tools.

Equalify Pro - Equalizer for Spotify (Windows only!).

UkeySoft Spotify Music Converter not only can batch convert Spotify songs and playlists to MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG and AIFF format at 10X faster speed, but also can download over 82 million songs, playlists, albums, Podcasts and Radio from Spotify to high-quality MP3 audio formats for offline listening on all devices. S is located in a subfolder of the user's profile folder —mostly C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\. Known file sizes on Windows 10/8/7/XP are 13,179,660 bytes (46% of all occurrences), 7,736,128 bytes and 28 more variants. The S file is not a Windows system file. S is certified by a trustworthy company. Spotify is arguably the most popular streaming service in the world. It has a massive library of music as well as a sizable library of podcasts.In this Free Spotify vs Spotify Premium breakdown, we're going to see if the paid version is worth the monthly fee, or if you're better off bearing through the ads to save money.

Download Windows - Spotify.

TunesKit Spotify Music Converter is the perfect accessory for this famous music platform because it lets you download any song directly from Spotify to your computer. Using TunesKit Spotify Music Converter is really simple because it includes a really intuitive interface, so there's no need for manuals or tutorials to take advantage of it.

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your-dietician · 3 years

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Best Amazon Echo smart home devices and Kindle e-readers and more are on sale

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/health/best-amazon-echo-smart-home-devices-and-kindle-e-readers-and-more-are-on-sale/

Best Amazon Echo smart home devices and Kindle e-readers and more are on sale

We may receive commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

Nearly every Amazon smart home device and e-reader is on sale. (Photo: Amazon)

Hooray! Prime Day is going strong! Day 2 is here! Amazon has slashed prices on nearly all of its devices for the mega-shopping event, which ends at midnight PST. So if you’ve been reluctant to “add to cart,” there’s still time to save…but not too much.

What’s on sale? Just about all Amazon smart-home devices, Fire TV and tablets. A highlight: The very popular Echo Show 5 is on sale for its all-time lowest price ever ($45!). This display brings together all your smart-home devices, while also serving as a visual companion to Alexa. And right now it’s nearly 45 percent off!

What else is discounted? Audible, for your Amazon devices: Get a whopping 53 percent off the first four months of Audible Premium Plus, so you can up game with great audio books and more; summer “reading” has never been more fun.

Important: These deals, including the Echo Show 5, are exclusive to Amazon Prime members. Not yet a member? You can sign up for a free 30-day trial here and take advantage of all the deals below, plus free shipping and all sorts of other Prime benefits.

Scroll to get your hands on the best Prime Day, Day 2 deals on Amazon devices.

New Echo Buds are here — and they’re 33 percent off for Prime Day! (Photo: Amazon)

The latest Echo Buds feature active noise-canceling (not available with the first generation). Now you can enjoy your favorite music and podcasts free from annoying background noise. Score a pair for $80 with the standard charging case, or $100 with the wireless charging case, for Prime Day.

These second-generation Echo Buds are built for long-lasting comfort with a new, sleeker design that fits securely in your ears (unlike Apple AirPods). They deliver high-quality audio that’s well-balanced and clear with deep bass. These babies are durable and tough, with up to 15 hours of battery life per charge (and an extra two hours with a 15-minute quick charge). And your trusty Alexa voice assistant is built-in.

Story continues

“A quality pair of buds. Out of the box, setup was easy,” wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. “I already had the Alexa app on my phone, so all it took was having the app open while I opened the case on the new ear buds…. The audio playback is excellent. Experimented with some heavy metal and classical, and the sounds were great. Even the classics like Sinatra sounded great, with the vocals loud and clear.”

The new Echo Buds come in Black and Glacier White.

Read thousands of e-books with the Kindle Paperwhite — save nearly 40 percent! (Photo: Amazon)

Discounted from $130 to just $80, the Kindle Paperwhite is a great all-around e-reader. Thanks to its six-inch display with a built-in light and 300ppi (pixels per inch) for clarity, it reads just like paper — hence the name. Plus, it’s got lots of on-board storage (8GB), so it can hold thousands of e-books and digital magazines from Amazon’s digital bookstore.

“Best Kindle yet,” said one of many five-star reviewers. “This Kindle is lighter and thinner than the last generation, noticeably so. The flat edge-to-edge screen is an improvement in feel and makes it much easier to clean. It still has an excellent non-glare screen that I love for reading outdoors.”

One of the Kindle Paperwhite’s best features is its looooong battery life — it can go for up to six weeks per charge. That’s weeks, not hours!

Never switch out batteries again with this hardwired gadget. (Photo: Amazon)

Although it resembles a standard doorbell, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is super-powered. This smart doorbell provides a 24/7 video stream and a nice wide field of view (up to 155 degrees horizontal and 90 degrees vertical), meaning you can see a broad swath of your property and any activity that might be occurring. And it syncs to your smartphone, tablet, laptop or streaming device (it’s easy — there’s a Ring app), so you can keep an eye on your home whether you’re inside, at work or away on that big vacation you’ve got coming up this summer. And this is the exact right moment to snap one up. For Prime members only, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired is down from $60 to just $45.

“I absolutely love this doorbell. I’m thrilled the doorbell doesn’t need batteries. I hated that,” said a five-star reviewer. “The setup is so easy and the doorbell notifications come through my phone and my Alexa Echo Dot…Plus, the quality of the sound from outside is really good too…. I would absolutely purchase this particular Ring doorbell again.”

The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is hardwired into your home’s electric system, so there’s no need to worry about replacing batteries every few months. As long as there’s electricity flowing through your home, this guy is on the job.

Save 50 percent: Echo Dot

Want to turn your home into a smart home? Start here. (Photo: Amazon)

With an all-new sphere design, the fourth generation Echo Dot — marked down from $50 to just $25 (half off!) for Prime members only — is a small but powerful smart speaker with a glow-light base that can not only channel Alexa but can also stream tunes from Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Sirius XM and more. It offers clearer, more robust audio quality than earlier iterations. Pair it with another Echo Dot to create amazing stereo sound — a particularly smart deal now that it’s half off!

Shoppers love the compact dimensions — it’s 3.5-inches high — which make it great for smaller rooms. “This is exactly what I was looking for,” said a happy Amazon shopper. “The sound is loud and clear. Now I am able to hear all online stations with no interference. The design is space-saving, with rubber underneath to prevent sliding.”

The Echo Dot 4 comes in Charcoal, Glacier White and Twilight Blue.

Stream live TV and free TV instantly. (Photo: Amazon)

Watch more TV for less with the Fire TV Stick Lite — on sale from $30 to just $18 for Amazon Prime members. It’s easy to set up: It plugs into just about any HD or 4K TV’s HDMI ports, syncs to Wi-Fi and then provides access to hundreds of streaming apps and channels, including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, Starz, Showtime and much, much more. For someone looking to cut the cord with their cable provider, this is perfect.

“…I’m very pleased with the Fire TV Stick Lite,” shared a satisfied Amazon shopper. “Alexa is installed, and using voice commands to change the TV is so wonderful! I can also turn the lights off from my remote control when it’s time to movie-watch. I love it! Let’s see the cable companies let me do that! I figure I’ll be saving about $230 per month now, and all for an investment that was less than paying one month of a cable bill.”

For anyone wondering: The Fire TV Stick Lite is the same as the standard Fire TV Stick but with a different remote. This remote has Alexa voice assistant built-in, but it doesn’t have a TV on/off switch or volume controls, which is why it’s deemed ‘Lite’.

The Echo Show 5 is a smart-home display that covers a lot of ground — but takes up very little space. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale for $45 for Prime members only (was $80), the Show 5 is Echo’s smaller, sleeker model. Armed with a 5-inch display, the Echo Show 5 is the perfect compact and lightweight companion to your nightstand. This smart-home display can double as a digital alarm clock with Alexa built-in. In fact, Amazon has a wide range of personalized clock faces to choose from, so you can bring a little bit of your own personality to this device.

“This is the best alarm clock I’ve ever had,” wrote a delighted five-star reviewer. “The clock face is customizable and very easy to read from anywhere in the room. The screen has no distortion or discoloration from any angle, so it is easy to see from everywhere…Perfect for checking the time in the middle of the night.”

The Echo Auto makes your car as smart as your home, and is down to just $15, from $50. (Photo: Amazon)

If you’ve ever called out to Alexa in your car, only to find she wasn’t there, this is for you. The Echo Auto — on sale for a mere $15 from $50 for Prime members only — is a clever gizmo that instantly makes any old car smart. It connects to your car’s stereo via auxiliary input and pairs to your phone with Bluetooth.

The Echo Auto is designed with eight mighty microphones, so it can clearly pick up voice commands (no worries about a loud engine, or noisy traffic). It’s great for making hands-free phone calls and searching for your favorite tunes on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora and more.

“I’m actually impressed with this little device….” shared a five-star Amazon reviewer. “It always picks up my voice no matter the sound level.”

The Blink Mini HD security cam keeps an eye on your home. (Photo: Amazon)

Some security cameras will set you back hundreds. For Prime Day, you can get this Blink Mini for just $20 — that’s $15 off — if you’re a Prime member.

This smart-home security camera detects motion — it can snap into record mode whenever it senses activity around your home. It comes with free cloud storage until the end of 2021, and It features Full HD live streaming and two-way audio, so you can talk to house guests via the Blink app.

“This is a great little camera monitor,” raved an excited five-star shopper. “It’s easy to set up and easily managed with your smartphone. Can be set up to arm and record at any time. I bought this to use in my master bedroom by my desk where I keep sensitive information.”

Save a third for Prime Day on this Insignia 43-inch Smart 4k Ultra HD TV. (Photo: Amazon)

On sale from $320 to just $220 for Prime members only, the Insignia 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD TV — Fire TV Edition is a total steal. This is its all-time lowest price ever, so it’s the perfect moment to grab it for a bedroom or guest room. With a beautiful, crisp image, this TV lets you stream movies and shows from Netflix, SlingTV, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video and more. Armed with an Ultra HD resolution of 2160p, this model is so popular it has earned a five-star rating from nearly 1,000 reviewers.

“I am so happy with my new Fire TV. The instructions weren’t complicated. I was able to switch flawlessly between my cable and the Fire TV apps,” shared a savvy Amazon shopper. “The clarity of the picture is wonderful…This is so perfect for me.”

Echo

Halo fitness

Luna gaming

Fire TV

Fire TV Cube, $80 (was $120), amazon.com

Fire TV Stick 4K, $25 (was $50), amazon.com

Insignia 24-inch Smart HD TV — Fire TV Edition, $100 (was $170), amazon.com

Toshiba 32-inch Smart HD TV — Fire TV Edition, $130 (was $200), amazon.com

Toshiba 43-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD — Fire TV Edition, $350 (was $240), amazon.com

Fire tablet

Kindle

eero

Blink

Ring

Ring Spotlight Cam, $150 (was $200), amazon.com

Ring Stick Up Cam, $75 (was $100), amazon.com

Ring Alarm 5-piece kit (second generation) , $120 (was $200), amazon.com

Ring Alarm 8-piece kit (second generation), $150 (was $250), amazon.com

Ring Floodlight Cam, $140 (was $180), amazon.com

You know… for kids

The Mandalorian: The Child, Stand for Amazon Echo Dot (third generation), $22 (was $25), amazon.com

Echo Dot Kids Edition (fourth generation), $35 (was $60), amazon.com

Fire 7 Kids Tablet, $60 (was $100), amazon.com

Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet, $70 (was $140), amazon.com

Fire HD 10 Kids Tablet, $120 (was $200), amazon.com

Fire 7 Kids Pro, $60 (was $100), amazon.com

Fire HD 8 Kids Pro, $70 (was $140), amazon.com

Fire HD 10 Kids Pro, $120 (was $200), amazon.com

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

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Wine 101: Rhône

This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by J Vineyards and Winery. For over 30 years, J Vineyards and Winery has developed a reputation as one of the top sparkling and varietal wine producers in California. With styles from bright and bubbly to bold and complex, J Wines offer a remarkable range and exceptional craftsmanship that you’ll want to share. J has come to be known for its celebrated estate vineyards, contemporary winery, and world-class hospitality. Uncork joy with J, and let life bubble over.

In this episode of “Wine 101,” VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers discusses France’s Rhône Valley. Listeners will learn about all the appellations that make up the region that produces some of the finest red and white wines in the world.

Listeners will also learn about the unique differences between the northern and southern Rhône. The northern Rhône produces 5 percent of the total wine in the Rhône Valley and is best known for its Syrah and Viognier. The southern Rhône produces the other 95 percent of the region’s wine and is more commonly found on the American market. Despite these distinctions, Beavers explains why wines from both Rhône Valley regions are worth tasting.

Tune in to become an expert on the Rhône Valley and its wines.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check out the Conversation Here

Keith Beavers: My name is Keith Beavers, and I went down a duet rabbit hole this weekend. And I gotta say, “Endless Love” or “Baby Come to Me” are the best duets out there. I miss karaoke so much.

What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to Episode 13 of VinePair’s “Wine 101 Podcast,” Season 2. My name is Keith Beavers. I’m the tasting director of VinePair. How are you doing?

I’m sure you see Côtes du Rhône or Rhône wine all over the place. Every supermarket, every wine shop. Let’s break it down a little bit to understand, what is the Rhône? What are we doing here? What’s the Rhône? It’s wonderful.

I feel like the words “Côtes du Rhône” American wine drinkers are very familiar with. And it seems like everywhere you go in the United States, no matter whether it’s a wine shop or a boutique wine shop, a liquor store, or a supermarket, there’s always a Côtes du Rhône in the French section. I also feel that Côtes du Rhône is very popular in America, but it’s not so popular like Malbec, where everyone’s ravenous for it. It’s almost a go-to European wine for Americans, which is really cool. The thing is, Côtes du Rhône is just one wine that comes from the Rhône Valley in France.

When you buy an affordable Côtes du Rhône on a Tuesday night for burgers, you’re just scratching the surface of the possibilities of what you can enjoy from the Rhône. Partly why we’re secretly obsessed with Côtes du Rhône wine and the reason why it’s on all the shelves, I think, is because in the 1980s, there was a small group of winemakers in California. One of them was Randall Grahm from Bonny Doon. There was Bob Lindquist from Qupé. They decided it was their mission in life to make wine from varieties that were native to the Rhône Valley. These were grapes that were just sitting around in California in vineyards, not really being paid attention to. They decided to grab that by the horns and create this new style of California wine at a time when Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay were the dominant wines of the region.

I believe this is the moment in our history where we started being curious about wines made from grapes that are pretty much native to or thrive in the Rhône Valley. Today, besides just the ubiquitous Côtes du Rhône wine, which is awesome and we’re going to get to it, but there are so many other great wines from the Rhône. You may not know it because it doesn’t say Côtes du Rhône on the bottle all the time. Let’s get you familiar with the Rhône wine region of France, because the Rhône Valley growing region of France has a dual personality. Let’s get into it.

The Rhône River begins in a mountain reservoir in south-central Switzerland. It then flows west through Switzerland, through the Alps. It dumps into Lake Geneva, and then continues on the other side of that lake, eventually making its way into France. Once this river gets into France, it starts to head south. As it gets further south, when it gets past the town of Lyon, it begins to cut through the Central Massif and the Alps. The Central Massif is that large piece of land we talked about in the Burgundian episode. From Lyon, it goes south and cuts through a very continental climate full of schist and granite. As it moves south, it leaves this continental granite-like land and goes into a more Mediterranean climate, where the land flattens out a little bit. It’s a lot warmer. And eventually, it dumps into the Mediterranean. This is the Rhône River.

The thing about the Rhône River is it is one of the major trade rivers throughout the history of Europe. Thus, humans have been hanging out around this river for a very long time. Wine has been around for a long time. This is Europe. This is France. We had the Greeks doing it. We had the Romans there. The dukes of Burgundy were there. Wine has been made for a long time in a lot of places in Europe. As usual, the history is deep, complex with twists and turns. I love it, and I can’t talk all about it, but just know that there’s been human activity here for a very long time. One of the reasons why we can’t get into all these really fun and cool stories is because this region is pretty huge. It spans 150 miles of the Rhône River, from Lyon down to the Mediterranean. From Lyon, going south, the first 60 or so miles of this river is what is considered the northern Rhône. It’s one section of the Rhône wine-growing region.

Then there’s about a 25-miles-or-so gap along the river between vineyards. Then, the last 60 miles or so is what is called the southern Rhône. A good way to start understanding this region is that there is the northern Rhône and then there was the southern Rhône. With that big gap between the two wine-growing regions, it’s pretty interesting why it’s all one region. It’s all in this one valley, but they are very different wine regions within this region. It’s almost as if a wine-growing region has dual personalities. The northern part of the Rhône only produces about 5 percent of the total output of the entire region. It’s here in these granite, poor soils that hug the Rhône River where Syrah shines the brightest. This is also the area where they believe the vine was first cultivated in this area when it was called Gaul back in the day before the Romans.

In the northern Rhône, Syrah is the only red variety allowed to be grown and made into wine. For white, it’s a grape called Viognier. For the northern Rhône, because it produces so much less than the south, I can get a little bit into it. The most northern appellation of the northern Rhône is an appellation called Côte-Rôtie, otherwise known as the roasted slope. It’s named that because of the way the vineyards are trained. They get a ton of sun but what you guys should know about the Côte-Rôtie region is that it is small and the majority of the wines are expensive. The unique thing about this appellation is that they often blend Syrah with the white wine Viognier. It’s an absolutely stunning result for a wine. You have this roasted, peppery, awesome Syrah blended with this very floral, aromatic Viognier, which makes these awesome, supple, smooth wines. They’re expensive, but if you get a chance, wow.

Now, this is on the left bank of the river. As we keep going south on the left bank, we hit the next appellation called Condrieu. I’m so bad at French. But this wine appellation only does Viognier. It’s a small appellation so it can be expensive but this appellation is how America fell in love with Viognier. If you see Viognier a lot in California, that is because of the popularity of this appellation. When done right, Viognier is stunning, almost dizzying with its floral notes, very aromatic. It’s a very satisfying white wine when it’s done in small quantities and this appellation does it.

Still in that bank of the river going south, you hit this large appellation called Saint-Joseph. You will see a good amount of Saint-Joseph on the market. If it’s red, it’s going to be all Syrah. It gets very close to the crazy, pure expressions I’ll talk about in a second but it’s awesome. It’s affordable, spicy, peppery, and it’s good. They also make white wine, and it’s not Viognier. There are two other white wine varieties in the Rhône that are often made and blended together with a grape by the name of Marsanne and a grape by the name of Roussanne. The wines made from these grapes are super cool. They’re almost savory, a little bit peppery, oily but not in a bad way. It has a viscosity to them, beautiful stuff. White Saint-Joseph would probably be a blend of one of those two, not Viognier. Viognier stops at Condrieu.

From the middle of Saint-Joseph, if you cross the river over to the right bank, there is a hill right on the river. That hill is full of granite, and it is its own little appellation that makes some of the best, most expressive Syrah in the world. If you follow me on Instagram @VinePairKeith, at one point I had an opportunity to taste one of these wines recently. No words, it will blow your mind. Some of the smokiest, peppery, savoriest, umami-est, concentrated, age-worthy wine in the world is grown on the Hill of Hermitage. It’s named after a knight that was in the Crusades. He came back and ended up being a hermit on that hill. It’s a legend. I don’t even know if it’s real or not, but this is it. This is the pinnacle of Syrah. It’s expensive stuff.

Wines from Hermitage will age 30 years or more. This is where Syrah is. It’s everything, but it’s expensive. It’s almost impossible to approach, only on special occasions and all that. However, what’s really awesome is there’s a larger appellation that surrounds that small little hill. It’s called Crozes-Hermitage. This area also grows primarily Syrah. It’s not just going to have that crazy concentration as you would get in Hermitage, but it’s a larger appellation, and it is an awesome expression of Syrah. Whereas Saint-Joseph is dark, smoky, easy to drink, and more depth of fruit, the Syrah from Crozes-Hermitage has this awesome bright, cinnamon orange peel feel to them, along with the pepper and along with the savory. They’re a little bit lighter, they’re a little more acidity, they’re very approachable. They do whites here as well, and it’s usually a blend of Roussanne and Marsanne. But it’s the Syrah’s in Crozes-Hermitage that I think is a great introduction to a Syrah from the northern Rhône. Then, you can move around from there, but Crozes-Hermitage is an awesome place.

Back over on the left bank just south of Saint-Joseph, is one of the smallest wine regions in France called Cornas. This place is the deep, dark, concentrated wine that Saint-Joseph can’t be. It is a nice, age-worthy alternative to the craziness of Hermitage. The Syrahs in Cornas are deep, dark, and smoky and have almost a mocha-heaviness to them. They’re just powerful wines and they can age a long time as well, but they’re approachable earlier than the wines of Hermitage. That’s basically the northern Rhône we’re going to see on the market. There are a couple of other small things going on in the northern Rhône that we don’t really see so much here. There is an estate that is literally one appellation. There’s also an area that does sparkling wine from Roussanne and Marsanne, but you’re not going to see a lot of that here.

With the northern Rhône, if you noticed when you see the wine labels, you’re going to see Saint-Joseph, you’re going to see Condrieu. You’re not going to see Côtes du Rhône. You’re just going to see those words. The northern Rhône is not something you’ll see on a label, but those appellations I just mentioned are what you will see. If you see Saint-Joseph, you know, “OK, northern Rhône, that’s only Syrah, I got it.”

Now, everything changes 25 miles south of the northern Rhône. The northern Rhône is basically 5 percent of the total output of the Rhône region. The southern Rhône is the other 95 percent. The majority of the wine from the Rhône that we see on the market, in the United States, is from the southern Rhône. It is huge! It’s very flat land. It’s not as hilly and granitic as far as the continental climate. We’re in a Mediterranean climate here. It sprawls out and is centered around this city called Orange. This is a much warmer area. It gets more sun, and Syrah doesn’t jive well in this area. It doesn’t ripen that well. Down here, there’s a whole different list of varieties that are used that are not used in the north. There’s a couple, but not much. Actually, there are well over 20 varieties of grape that are allowed to be used in the southern Rhône to make wine. It’s crazy.

This is where Châteauneuf-du-Pape is, one of the most famous noble wine regions in France, in the southern Rhône. This is the area where the blueprint for the appellation system of France, which inspired every other country, this is where it began. And part of it was in response to fraud because of the popularity of the wine in the area. Crazy cool story, I wish I could tell you all of it but what I will say, what’s important is the number of varieties that are used in this place is a result of that. It was a list of varieties that were in the area that could be used. To this day, you can still use them. The thing is, the majority of the winemakers in this area basically use two varieties, Grenache and Mourvèdre. There are other varieties like Carignan, Counoise, and Cinsault were other red varieties of grapes they used to blend into it.

Then, there are all these other varieties you can use, and that’s a general statement. Trends change because Mourvèdre is more popular today. It wasn’t always that popular, but those are the main varieties. There are all these other varieties that winemakers can use to make small amounts and blends to make the individual wines their own. There’s some white wine here, but the Rhône Valley in general, wine lovers, is a red wine region. There is white wine being made in the south, Châteauneuf-du-Pape does have white wine and in some other areas and it’s usually going to be a blend of Roussanne and Marsanne. It’s just a very, comparatively, extremely small amount.

This is how the southern Rhône shakes out for you guys to understand. It’s a three-tiered system. I want to start from the outside, and I’m going to work in. At the beginning of this episode, I talked about a wine called Côtes du Rhône. This category is almost 50 percent of the entire output of the Rhône. If the southern Rhône has 95 percent of the output, the majority of the Côtes du Rhône that you’re buying for $15 a bottle is going to be from the southern Rhône. Now, some of the grapes might be sourced from the northern Rhône. Côtes du Rhône AOC appellation from France can have wine from anywhere in the valley, north or south. That’s almost 200 villages with vines they can source from. That’s why it’s usually good, young burger wine.

Then there’s Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. You remember the village idea from the Burgundy episode. It’s basically villages. This is a category of wine in the Rhône where you’re getting a little more geographical. You’re not necessarily going to be sourcing from all over the Rhône. You’re sourcing from 48 specific villages and the vines within those villages. Those villages at some point, if they gain reputation in recognition, can be elevated to the next category. That category is Côtes-du-Rhône Villages as well, but with a geographical name. Right now, and it’ll always change, but there are 21 villages that can put their names on the label. I can’t go through all the names now and some are pretty long, but when you’re going to a wine shop you can say, “Can I get a Côtes-du-Rhône Villages with a geographical name to it?” They’ll know what you’re talking about.

The next level itself is an actual appellation. You’ve gone from Côtes-du-Rhône in general, to Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, to Côtes-du-Rhône Villages with an actual geographical name, to that geographical name becoming the actual appellation. That’s when we have Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vacqueyras, and Gigondas. Actually, before 2009, I sold Côtes-du-Rhône Rasteau, which was a village with a geographical name. Then, after 2009, a couple of vintages later, I sold just “Rasteau” because it was elevated from a village with a geographical name to an actual appellation. It’s crazy, it’s wine. This stuff happens all the time. In all these Gigondas and Vacqueyras that I mention, when you see the bottle, it’s just going to say that. It’s not going to say Côtes-du-Rhône, it’s just going to say Vacqueyras, Gigondas, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

These are all wines that are blends of what is being used in the area, but because of their terroir and because of their traditions of making wine in those areas, they are different. Therefore, they can be separated out and called their own thing. It’s how wine works. If you guys have ever had Châteauneuf-du-Pape or any of the wines from the southern Rhône that are actually from these deep concentrated appellations, is they’re big, full-bodied wines. Across the river from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône River, is one of the only primarily rosé regions in France called Tavel. Provence does a bunch of rosé, but they also do red wine and white wine.

Tavel only does rosé. This is very cool. The varieties are Grenache, Mourvèdre, and a little bit of Claret, which is a white blending variety. These rosés are deep ruby red. They’re refreshing and serve chilled, of course, but they have moderate acidity. There’s more weight on the palate, but they are savory. You sometimes get a little bit of tannin in there, and what’s cool about the rosé wines of Tavel is that they actually age. I’ve heard of them aging up to 10 years, but the norm is five years. They don’t get a lot of play on the American market, but when you find one, grab it. They’re really cool, and they’re awesome with food.

All right, guys, that is a Rhône Valley snapshot. That is the Rhône. Now, you can go out there into wine shops, go to the Rhône section and say, “I know what all of that means. Is that a Châteauneauf-du-Pape? That’s 100 percent Syrah. Syrah is really good. Oh, Gigondas? I know the blend.”

That is going to be so much fun. Enjoy!

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. It really helps get the word out there. And now, for some totally awesome credits.

“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big ol’ shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. And I mean, a big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darbi Cicci for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.

The article Wine 101: Rhône appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-rhone/

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johnboothus · 3 years

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Wine 101: Rhône

Tune in to become an expert on the Rhône Valley and its wines.

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What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to Episode 13 of VinePair’s “Wine 101 Podcast,” Season 2. My name is Keith Beavers. I’m the tasting director of VinePair. How are you doing?

That is going to be so much fun. Enjoy!

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. It really helps get the word out there. And now, for some totally awesome credits.

The article Wine 101: Rhône appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-rhone/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/wine-101-rhone

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delfinamaggiousa · 4 years

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Wine 101: Merlot

Inspired by one of VinePair’s most popular site sections, the Wine 101 Podcast takes an educational, easy-to-digest look into the world of wine. This episode of Wine 101 is sponsored by William Hill Estate Winery. To experience William Hill Estate Winery is to discover another side of Napa Valley. William Hill Estate Winery is a place where extraordinary vineyards are tucked away along the serene Silverado Trail. A place where you can still discover an incredible wine for the first time. A Napa Valley winery that is off the beaten path. At William Hill Estate, we believe the beauty of wine is in its simplicity, sincerity, sun, soil, and the power of human hands and minds. That’s the spirit in which we make our wines, staying as true to nature and its fruits as we can. William Hill Estate Winery, pair with life.

Welcome back to Wine 101. In this week’s episode, VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers goes through everything you need to know about Merlot: Its parentage, its use as a blending variety in wines like Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and how its extreme popularity (and a line from the movie “Sideways“) has given it a bad reputation in more recent years.

As Beavers explains, the Merlot group came from two orphan grape varieties: Cabernet Franc and Madeleine. In France, Merlot is predominantly grown in Bordeaux, where it is celebrated for its blending abilities.

Outside of France, the grape is also grown in the Friuli region of Italy, as well as in Croatia, Slovenia, California, Washington State, and New York. Following the wine’s peak in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it began to decline after being overly mass-produced and saturating the market, but, as Beavers explains, Merlot is worth a second try. The grape is used in many blends on the U.S. market — especially Pinot Noir, thanks to the 75 percent rule — meaning most are already consuming it, whether they are aware of it or not. And when it is done right, Merlot can be a beautiful, soft but round wine.

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My name is Keith Beavers, and Mercury is in such retrograde right now. Can you feel it?

What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to episode 22 of VinePair’s Wine 101 Podcast. My name is Keith Beavers, I’m the tastings director of VinePair, and salutations!

OK, here we are. We are at the Merlot episode. This is going to be awesome. It’s time to set the record straight on this awesome grape. I promise you’re gonna love it.

Often throughout these episodes, I have mentioned the variety Cabernet Franc, and I call it an orphan grape. And I never really explained what that means. We know that Cabernet Franc originated in the Basque region of Spain, where it was called Achéria. DNA profiling cannot find its parentage, so it’s an orphan grape. It appeared in the Basque region of Spain, and then it began to travel with humans, eventually making its way to the Bordeaux region.

If you were to head north off the coast of the Basque region of Spain, you would be in the Bay of Biscay. And if you go straight north from the Basque region, the town called Bilbao, which is the capital of that region, you would hit the northwestern peninsula of France, which is called Brittany. Inland from the coast of Brittany is a town called Saint-Suliac (my French is terrible). Here, in the middle ages, was a monastery or an abbey — monks were everywhere around this time. And of course being monks, they had vineyards and it’s thought that the Cabernet Franc grape, at the time, made its way to Brittany. And then from Brittany down into the Loire Valley, then from the Loire Valley down into Bordeaux.

One thing about Bordeaux that I couldn’t mention in the Bordeaux episode is that the majority of the activity in old-school Bordeaux before the Médoc was even created, because it was created, took place mostly south of the town of Bordeaux. A lot of wine was made in Entre-Deux-Mers, that big swath of forested vineyard land, where all the white wine is made now.

But there are a lot of vineyards all around that area. There’s also islands in the Garonne River where vines were planted back in the Middle Ages. And early on, these vineyards were not one set variety, they were field blends of different varieties. And it’s here in this mix of vineyards, maybe even on one of those islands and the Garonne River, where Merlot was born. And the DNA profiling for a long time showed that Cab Franc was a parent of Merlot. But at the time, no one could figure out what the second parent was. So let’s say Cab Franc was the father. Who was the mother?

In 1996, there was a vine sample that came from that little town Saint-Suliac from an abandoned vineyard on a slope called Mont Giroux. Brittany had abandoned all winemaking 200 years prior, actually to this day there’s only one vineyard in that area making wine. Nobody knew what this vine was, it didn’t even have a name. And then, a few years later in the Charente Department, which is just northeast of Bordeaux, this same vine was found on the front of four houses in four villages in that department. Is that cool, or what?

They actually named this grape the Grape of Madalena because at the time, the grape ripened around the holiday of Saint Madeleine, on July 22. Initial DNA profiling showed that it was also an orphan grape, so they named it Madeleine Noir de Charente, the black grape of Madeleine from the Department of Charente. And then in 2008, further DNA testing showed that it is, in fact, the mother of Merlot. No one knows where Madeleine came from. But two orphan grapes that probably came through Brittany and made their way down to the mixed vineyards of Bordeaux back in the day, and somehow, Cab Franc and Madeleine cross-pollinated and created Merlot.

And in the early 19th century, the Médoc has been around for a minute, and there is documentation coming out showing the origin of the name Merlot, which is really cool as well. It says that the name was given to the variety because there’s a blackbird in this area that likes this grape very much. And in the old tongue called Occitan, which is this very old language that’s been around this part of France and Spain for a long time, the name of the bird was Merlau. We started to see documentation about the Médoc, celebrating the Merlot grape as a blending partner to Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as Cab Franc, but Merlot has this softness to it that rounds everything out. And of course, on the Right Bank, Merlot is being focused on because it is an early ripening variety. And over on the Right Bank, it thrives because of the climate over on that side. And this is the home of Merlot. This is where it came from. And like we talked about in the Bordeaux episode, it reaches its peak of awesomeness on the Right Bank, specifically north of Saint-Émilion in the Pomerol appellation, specifically with Pétrus being a hundred percent Merlot, and another one called Le Pin. And this is something to know about this grape. It is not really known for its varietal character, so much as it is known mostly for its blending ability.

Merlot is a lot about texture, more than it is about varietal characteristics and aroma. But the cool thing about Merlot, and somebody who was part of the DNA profiling had this to say about it: From its mother Madeleine, it gets its early ripening because that grape was an early ripening variety, from its father Cab Franc, it gets it’s high-quality tannin and pigment. Also, when it’s grown in cooler climates, you can get some of this herbaceous nuance with Merlot and that is absolutely a characteristic that comes from Cab Franc.

It’s kind of wild. Cab Franc gives Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon its peppery stuff. I mentioned this in the Bordeaux episode, but we might as well mention it again because it’s the Merlot episode, the majority of those affordable Bordeaux coming from the Right Bank from the Côtes de Bordeaux and Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux AOC Supérieur, those are all primarily Merlot blends. And this is aided by the fact that it is an early ripening variety but also it’s very friendly to a high yield. And speaking of high yields, California, my god … we’ll get there. So in its home, it’s known mostly as a blending variety, with few exceptions.

What happens when this grape leaves its home? We don’t see a lot of Merlot being celebrated outside of Bordeaux. There is Merlot being made in the southwestern part of France, north of Bordeaux, and also in southern France, but Bordeaux is really where it shines. But because of its early ripening and because of its friendly high yielding, it is the blending grape for the world, it seems, for red wine. As of 2010, it was the second-most-planted grape on the planet.

I love Merlot. I think it is such an awesome grape that makes awesome wine. It’s a workhorse around the world for blending, but there are places in the world outside of France that do 100 percent Merlot that is just stunning as well. If it’s done right, in the right soils, and the right climates, it is just beautiful. Even though the thing is it’s not really about aroma, you can get some blueberries sometimes, and there’s that peppery note that comes in, but it’s the texture of Merlot that is so wonderful. And one of those places in the world outside of France that makes Merlot this way is Italy. And not just Italy, Friuli. One day I should do a Friuli episode, am I right? The Merlot coming out of Friuli can be so wonderful. It’s often a 100 percent variety, sometimes it’s blended with Cab Franc, but the climate there and the soils and the slight elevation of their vineyards, just make the most beautiful Merlot. There actually is Merlot made on the lower plains area, which is a little more basic, but still beautiful and plump and juicy. But Merlot in Friuli is a thing, it’s not often available, but you should definitely try to seek it out, because that’ll give you a sense of what a 100 percent Merlot can taste like in one of its purest forms.

Actually, Merlot makes up 15 percent of the wine produced in Friuli. And sometimes they call it Merlott, with two “T”s at the end, because it’s part of their dialect. But what’s really interesting is there’s an actual agriturismo touring route called Strata de Merlot. It goes along one of the main rivers in Friuli, the Isonzo river. And you can travel along the river and you hit all these little towns and you drink Merlot the whole time. It’s real. It’s awesome. Outside of Friuli in northern Italy, Merlot has grown all over the place in the Veneto and the Trentino-Alto Adige, but significantly. Merlot plays a big role in the central part of Italy in Umbria. In Tuscany, in Chianti Classico, Merlot is allowed in their blends. And I have to say, there’s something really nice about a Merlot and a Sangiovese being blended together. Sangiovese has this crazy ripe cranberry and cherry thing going on, and Merlot comes in and softens and rounds it off. It’s just beautiful. Also in Bolgheri, which we’ve talked about before, Merlot is allowed in those blends and it softens the Cabernet that’s grown in that area. Just south of Tuscany in Umbria, there is a grape that’s native to that region called Sagrantino. It’s one of the most tannic varieties on the planet. It’s huge and ages forever. And sometimes, they blend that with Merlot and it’s just an amazing thing. What it does is it softens and keeps the depth, and it’s really an awesome blend. And they call that Montefalco Rosso, which is an appellation in Umbria.

Just across the border from Friuli in Slovenia, Merlot is awesome as well, because political lines don’t define terroir. So it’s a similar terroir to Friuli, it’s awesome stuff. Also down into Croatia, Merlot is done as well. I just say that because those wines are coming onto the market, and it’s something to look out for, but what we really have to talk about is why a lot of people are like, “Should we hate Merlot?” Thanks California.

OK, so it’s not California’s fault as a whole. In wine, it’s usually the human’s fault, not the wine’s fault, because the humans are the ones that make everything crazy. And this thing went crazy.

Merlot in California wasn’t really a thing before Prohibition. It wasn’t until the late ’60s, ‘69 into ‘70, that Merlot began to be experimented with as a blending variety to Cabernet Sauvignon, which was quickly becoming a very popular vine in the area. And it wasn’t until after the 1976 Judgment of Paris, and in 1980 when the first AVA was awarded to California in Napa Valley, that Merlot started really making a name for itself. Cabernet Sauvignon was so popular, and Merlot was such a great blending variety, Merlot was just everywhere. People started making Merlot on its own as a variety itself. And people started thinking, “Hey, this is really nice. It’s soft.” There was a quote calling it “Cabernet without the pain.”

So in the ’80s, it built and built, and by the 1990s, Merlot became one of the most powerful, popular wines out there. It was one of the most popular glass pours in America in the 1990s. In 1991 or ‘92, there were about 8,000 acres of Merlot under vine in California. By 1995, there were 26,000 acres of Merlot under vine in California, and they got more and more popular, and it got crazy. By 1999, this dude named Rex Pickett was writing a book about two loathsome dudes rolling around in wine country in Santa Barbara. For research, he would go to wine tastings. It was like $4 for a wine tasting back then, so he went to all these wine tastings, and what he realized was that no one liked Merlot. The people that were working the tasting rooms weren’t really a fan of it. And there was this perception at the time, Merlot had saturated the market so much, and so much mass-produced Merlot was being made, it went from being one of the most popular varieties to a variety that was so overdone, that people were done with it.

And the book “Sideways,” Rex Pickett had a few versions of it, and in one of the versions of the novel, that famous line from the movie is in it, but he deleted it from the final novel. And when the movie was being made, he gave the director of the movie every version of the novel that he had, and the director found that line and kept it in the script, because it was a good punchline for the movie.

But by 2003, there were over 52,000 acres of Merlot under vine in California. So in 2004, when the “Sideways” movie came out and that line hit, Merlot had been suffering for a while. It had not been a popular wine at all because of its over-saturation in the market. And of course, because of that amazing Pinot Noir monologue in the movie, Pinot Noir becomes the No. 1 grape in the world. It kind of takes Merlot’s place, if you will, as the soft alternative to Cabernet Sauvignon. And within a year after the release of the film, Merlot’s sales in California dropped by $77 million. That’s a big hit, it didn’t destroy the Merlot industry, but it definitely messed it up. And there were winemakers that make great Merlot in California that were like, “What going on?”

Merlot is not bad. It doesn’t make bad wine. It’s sort of what we’ve done with it that turned it into what it was. And Pinot Noir went down that path for a while as well. The popularity of Pinot Noir, and the oversaturation of it. You can’t mass-produce Pinot Noir, so it had to be blended with other varieties like Merlot and Syrah and be called Pinot Noir because of the 75 percent rule that’s available in the New World. It was a trend. Merlot is awesome.

To this day, 10 to 15 percent of all Merlot made in California goes into a California blend. It’s a blending variety. It just is. But when it’s in the right place. it can be beautifully done. And there are places, specifically in California, in Napa, that are very good for Merlots, that are often 100 percent Merlots. You have the cool climate of the Carneros region, which actually has some fun Merlots. Coombsville, Oak Knoll, and, of course, the famous Stags Leap district, which is near Carneros. Those areas have great soil and climate for good Merlot that people make, and they don’t have to blend it with other varieties.

Outside of California — Merlot is grown everywhere, it’s all over the United States. If there’s a wine- growing region in the United States, Merlot is being grown. It was once a big deal in Washington State, and they make great Merlot over there. But, like California, it was more popular in the ’80s and the ’90s. It’s still there, but just not as popular as Riesling.

New York is doing Merlot in a really wonderful way. Last episode, we talked about the Riesling happening in the Finger Lakes. Well, the Finger Lakes also does really great Cab Franc and Merlot. But Merlot really shines on Long Island, specifically on what’s called the North Fork of Long Island. It’s a bunch of old potato farms that are now vineyards, and it has a great climate. There’s actually a sign when you’re going to Long Island saying, “Last stop before Bordeaux,” because it’s across the ocean and stuff. But it’s a great place for Merlot, and I’m sure you’ll see some of that on the American market.

That’s Merlot, guys. Are you guys into it now? Is it something that you’re like, “You know what, man, Keith, you’re right. I’m going to go check out some Merlot.” Check it out, guys. It’s a great blending variety. It’s going to be in a lot of wines, whether you know it or not, especially in American wines. But it can really shine on its own as well. And it’s great in blends from Bordeaux. Give it a chance.

If you’re digging what I’m doing, picking up what I’m putting down, go ahead and give me a rating on iTunes or tell your friends to subscribe. You can subscribe. If you like to type, go ahead and send a review or something like that, but let’s get this wine podcast out so that everybody can learn about wine.

Check me out on Instagram. It’s @vinepairkeith. I do all my stuff in stories. And also, you got to follow VinePair on Instagram, which is @vinepair. And don’t forget to listen to the VinePair Podcast, which is hosted by Erica, Adam, and Zach. It’s a great deep dive into drinks culture every week.

Now, for some credits. How about that? Wine 101 is recorded and produced by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin. I also want to thank Danielle Grinberg for making the most legit Wine 101 logo.

And I got to thank Darby Cicci for making this amazing song: Listen to this epic stuff. And finally, I want to thank the VinePair staff for helping me learn more every day. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Merlot appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-podcast-merlot/

source https://vinology1.wordpress.com/2020/10/22/wine-101-merlot/

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parktrashpod · 4 years

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Episode 14: Cooking Up a Themed Restaurant

In their second pod of quarantine, Rosie and Miya fondly remember restaurants, specifically, themed ones! After some brand new, shelter-in-place friendly segments, Miya gives a quick(fish) Wikipedia history of the themed restaurant and Rosie has some things to say about Margaritaville. Then they go in depth with their respective top 5 themed restaurants (including a debate over the Rainforest Cafe) before throwing it all away to create their own. Cooking Mama would be so proud!

You can listen to the episode here or on Apple & Spotify.

We’re still a long distance, quarantining podcast and we’ve adjusted our intro segments a little more. First up, we’re still doing––how many movies have we watched since the last podcast, and what is the last movie we watched (not the best! not the worst! not a rec! simply... the last one). [4:10]

In lieu of “would you eat this?”, since theme parks are closed and not rolling out new foods but also looking at churros feels like a bummer right now, we’re debuting a brand new segment: what’s given us heartburn this week? [11:45] Friendly reminder that this is, at its core, a heartburn and acid reflux podcast. This go around we are suffering at the hands of melted Junior mints, whiskey, and coffee.

Now that you all know too much about our digestive systems, we’re ready to throw it all away! [16:55]

Before we get into our themed restaurant concepts, I dive into a short (sort of) (is anything we do short) history of the themed restaurant.

Then Rosie and I RANK our top 5 favorite themed restaurants [38:38]

A few relevant links:

CHARLES ENTERTAINMENT CHEESE

A great podcast episode on tiki bars

Ok now, finally, we’re ready to throw it all away. [1:13:55] Mine owes a lot to this idea and Rosie wants to experience a classic but very un-Californian high school experience.

Usually we like to tell you about our other interests, but aren’t you tired of quarantine recs? We’re here to give you some un-recommendations [1:34:07]. I am begging you to get off your phone, not that I’m going to do that, and Rosie is begging you not to mess with your acrylics–leave it to the professionals, and tip very well.

Thank you for listening!

Our theme music is by Milan Music (@milanmusicofficial) and our cover art is by Jonathan Flores (@jonnytheartist). Sound assistance by Adam Brown (@digzep). Special thanks to Brit Wigintton (@thehalfblackprincess) and Ikya Kandula (@IkyaKandula).

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lingthusiasm · 7 years

Audio

Lingthusiasm Episode 9: The bridge between words and sentences - Constituency

How do we get from knowing words to making brand-new sentences out of them? In episode 9 of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne talk about how words form groups with other words: constituency.

Once you start looking for it, constituency is everywhere: in ambiguous sentences like “time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana”, in remixed films like “Of Oz The Wizard”, and even internet dog memes.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here

Announcements:

This month’s Patreon bonus was the backstory about the linguistics of the doggo meme and its connection to Australian slang, which grew out of this NPR article about doggo. You can get access to it and previous bonuses about swearing, teaching yourself linguistics, and explaining linguistics to employers by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.

Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

Alphabetizing Every Word in Star Wars

Alphabetizing Every Word in The Wizard of Oz

Illustration of Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

A course on understanding people in Ipswitch

Etymology of constituent

Lingvids: Structural ambiguity, is language more like a bracelet or a mobile?

How to draw syntax trees (whole series is useful, but particularly past 7 & 8)

A concise video (for people familiar with constituency tests)

A longer introduction to parts of speech

Linguistic constituent (Wikipedia)

Dog Feelings (Twitter)

Prosody and grammar (Wikipedia)

Constituency and natural language processing

Time flies poem

Time flies clock

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

To receive an email whenever a new episode drops, sign up for the Lingthusiasm mailing list.

You can help keep Lingthusiasm ad-free, get access to bonus content, and more perks by supporting us on Patreon.

Lingthusiasm is on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our producer is Claire Gawne, and our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

#lingthusiasm #podcast #linguistics #episode #episodes #episode 9 #constituents #grammar #structure #English #diagram #ambiguiity #dog feelings #prosody #syntax

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years

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Wine 101: Terroir

This episode of Wine 101 is sponsored by E&J Gallo Winery. At Gallo, we exist to serve enjoyment in moments that matter. The hallmark of our company has always been an unwavering commitment to making quality wines and spirits. Whether it’s getting Barefoot and having a great time, making every day sparkle with La Marca Prosecco, or continuing our legacy with Louis Martini in Napa. We want to welcome new friends to wine and share in all of life’s moments. Cheers! And all the best.

Welcome to Season 2 of Wine 101. VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers kicks the season off with a discussion about “terroir,” a concept even he has trouble defining. While the term can refer to a number of different factors, terroir essentially connotes a sense of place.

Beavers works his way through different AVAs — from macro to microclimates — to explain how two identical vines growing side by side can still produce different wines. He says terroir is ultimately the process by which soil composition, sun, and climate come together to produce a specific wine. He perhaps sums it up best by saying “it’s a way for winemakers to express to you that what they’re doing is unique within their area.”

He also goes on to explain which wines are the most influenced by terroir, and when it makes sense to splurge on a “single-vineyard” wine. At the end of the day, he emphasizes that “terroir” is an ongoing conversation, and encourages listeners to discuss it with friends — hopefully over a glass of wine.

Listen online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or check out the conversation here

My name is Keith Beavers, and oh, hi. How have you been? Welcome to Season 2 of Wine 101. Let’s do this.

What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to Season 2 of VinePair’s “Wine 101” podcast. My name is Keith Beavers. I’m the tastings director of VinePair, but you already knew that. So Season 2. It’s because of you guys that we have a Season 2. And I got to say, we’re going to start this off right. We’re going to get down into the dirt. We’re going to go up into the sky. We’re gonna go all around the vineyard. And we’re going to talk about terroir. What is terroir?

Wow. Season 2. Thank you guys so much. You love what we’re doing here, and now I get to talk to you about wine for another 30 episodes. Yes! So I guess the best way to start Season 2 is to really get nice with this thing called terroir. Let’s just get it out of the way so we can understand it and move into some really cool stuff. Because terroir, the idea, the concept of terroir will help us going forward — in life, in wine, and in this season. But I don’t want to decode terroir. I just wanna discuss. Because the thing about terroir is terroir is a discussion. There’s no actual definition. There’s no actual concrete definition for what this word is. There’s actually no English translation.

So let’s get into terroir. I mean, just the thought of, OK, I’m about to talk about terroir. I’ve got to take a breath. Because “terroir,” the word, it’s not odd but what’s odd is how our industry — the wine industry — has attached itself to this word so much that we use it in marketing. The thing is, in my comeuppance in the wine industry, I was a wine buyer, I had a restaurant, I had a wine shop. So I bought wine for a long time. And when you’re buying wine, and the person is talking to you about the wine they want to sell you, they’re giving you the attributes, and the characteristics and “it’s made in this area.” All the things you need to know in your brain to make the decision beyond how awesome the wine is or not is. What I found very interesting is the organic movement — because when I had my businesses, it was right when the organic movement started hitting the country. It started in California and worked its way to the East Coast, and oh my gosh, it was everywhere at one point, like in the early 2000s. And I was buying wine before the organic movement hit. And I was buying wine after the organic movement hit. And after the organic movement hit, people started really getting into like, “oh my God, how is this wine made? Are there any sulfites?” All that stuff. And that’s when people that were selling wine to me started using the word “terroir.” It was just every wine that came my way was like, “oh, you have to understand the terroir here is blah, blah, blah.”

And what’s interesting is — is this interesting? I don’t know, you tell me what it is. But when we in the wine industry, we sort of latch on to certain buzzwords and terms. And sometimes those terms and buzzwords don’t really have a definition. One of them being terroir, another one being a term called “natural wine.” They become a popular parlance in the wine industry, and at some point, that injects itself into the mainstream. And now, you have people marketing to consumers with a word like “terroir” with no real definition as to what terroir is. People have a general idea maybe of what terroir means, but they just assume, “well, if it says terroir, that means something about it is good.” And that’s actually true. I mean, the word terroir connotes this idea of purity, and that is what we want in our products — wine or otherwise these days anyway. Right? But if the word terroir connotes this sense of purity, but how does it? What is terroir? What is it about terroir that’s attractive to wine buyers, wine sellers, and eventually the consumer? Let’s talk about what it actually means, and then get a sense of it, and also learn not to completely let it rule your life. And then knowing about terroir is just fun. It’s a nice thing to know while you’re drinking wine. So let’s get into it.

And as I’ve been known to do, I want to start with a quote from the Jedi wine master, Jancis Robinson, about terroir. In the “Oxford Wine Companion,” it says, “Terroir is a much discussed term for the total natural environment of a viticultural site.” That’s the definition in one of the foremost primary sources of wine information in the galaxy. You know what I mean? And you notice the word “discussed” is in there — “much discussed.” Because that’s what terroir really is. It’s a discussion, as I said before. Because the word terroir and gosh, I mean, hey, listeners that speak French, I’m very sorry. But the thing is, it’s a French word. “Terroir,” it’s probably stupid, but the word is not new. It’s a very old word. And as we discussed in Season 1 in the Burgundy episode, it’s a word that was developed around the Middle Ages when the Cistercian monks were running around Europe, documenting their winemaking, documenting all kinds of soils and all the stuff. They were the first to really do it in a very organized, funded way. And in doing so, in Burgundy, we talked about how crazy the soil is in Burgundy. The monks started noticing things that were very bizarre, but also joyful, if you will, in that one row of vines produces a different wine than another row of vines next to it. But those two rows of vines have the same grape, and they freaked out. So this was an ongoing thing in Burgundy, and then eventually moved its way around Europe because of the Cistercian monks.

And the word that they came up with to describe all this was terroir. Now, this is all legend. There’s no documentation about this. But this is sort of what everyone talks about because that’s what terroir is. And it’s a discussion, right? And I feel like it’s a word that was developed to explain something that was almost inexplicable. And it’s a French word. It’s such a French word that it has no translation in any other language. The “Merriam-Webster Dictionary” attempts to define it, saying it’s “the combination of factors, including soil, climate, and sunlight that gives wine grapes their distinctive character.” But that’s about as general as general can get. “A distinctive character?” What’s that?

OK, this is how I see it. Vines grow in vineyards, but they’re not naturally part of the ecosystem of where vineyards are planted. There were never vines in Napa Valley until humans put vines into Napa Valley. So this idea of terroir is this combination of natural factors that affect the way a vine grows. Because you’ll remember all the way back in Sseason 1 from the first episode, what we do is we put vines into certain areas that we know are going to stress the vine out so we can sort of recreate its natural ability to survive and produce the fruit that we need to make wine. So throughout history, humans have figured out a way to plant these vines — these foreign plants — into different areas with the surrounding conditions that benefit the way this vine grows, produces, and then we harvest.

And of course, now with modern science and GPS mapping and soil testing and all this, we can actually find a great place to plant vines based on the vine we want to plant and all this stuff. But back in the day, they didn’t have that kind of science. And actually the word terroir was, like I said, it comes about during the Middle Ages. But the idea of “sense of place” has been around since antiquity. The Roman Empire would stamp their amphorae with specific places that wines are from because they were known to be good from certain areas. So this idea is just nature. It’s been happening for a long time.

But the monks, of course, had all the funding and they had all the time. And they were the ones that really kind of organized this idea and then came up with the word terroir to sort of define what they were experiencing. The natural effects of terroir can be understood in three categories, really. You have a macroclimate, and then within the macroclimate, you have a mesoclimate and within a mesoclimate, you have a microclimate. And these three categories interact with each other in many, many, many different ways in many different parts of the world to create a specific kind of wine.

For example, let’s see if I can do this here. So in California, you have the Central Coast AVA. It is huge. Now that could be considered a macroclimate, because that was demarcated for a reason. There’s a general climactic thing going on in the Central Coast that is advantageous to wine — whether it’s the influence from the ocean or the general daily temperatures. That’s why it’s called the Central Coast AVA. Within the Central Coast AVA, there is a large wine region in itself called Paso Robles. We can call this a mesoclimate. The reason why Paso Robles was demarcated within the Central Coast AVA is because it has something special to offer, even more so from the larger Central Coast in that it has a lot of limestone in the soil. It has very unique fluctuations of wind and sun and all that. And it just creates these big wines that have nice acidity. And just within itself, it’s pretty awesome. Within the Paso Robles AVA are 14 even more focused, sub-appellations or districts that are demarcated because of their special, unique soil and compositions and wind and sun.

That could be considered a microclimate, but this is where it’s crazy. You could even call Paso Robles a macroclimate. You could call one of the districts within Paso Robles a mesoclimate like the Adelaida District. And then you could call a vineyard or group of vineyards within the Adelaida District a microclimate. So you can go further and further and further until you get down to the actual vine itself. That’s originally what the Burgundians were doing. The monks in Burgundy were thinking, “oh my gosh, this one row of Pinot Noir is different from this row of Pinot Noir right next to it. And we harvest it and we produce it the same way.” And the reason why there are 14 unique districts within Paso Robles alone is because of terroir. Winemakers have found out that there are certain areas that get better wind, certain areas that get better sun, certain areas that benefit from certain soil composition, certain elevations. And they know they get a specific style out of these areas, so they want to go ahead and draw a circle around it and go, “this is Adelaida wine.” I mean, you can see the same thing in New York State. You have the Finger Lakes, you have all these lakes. And there are plans currently of trying to develop the appellation system in New York. People are like, “well, I make wine on Cayuga Lake, I make wine on Seneca Lake.” Because it’s different from the other one, they want you to know that. This is all what terroir is. It’s a way for winemakers to express to you that what they’re doing is unique within their area.

But nature is crazy, and it’s always being studied. To this day, the idea of terroir, sense of place, and natural factors affecting a vine are always being studied. But what it comes down to is how much sun is the vine getting? What kind of soil is the vine in? What kind of topography is around this vineyard? And how is the climate of the area affected by those things and vice versa?

And all of these conditions also factor into what’s going on even deeper into the idea of terroir, which some people call “microbial terroir.” And it’s important, because you have this vine that’s not used to this area, and all these conditions can create certain things like, is the temperature in this area conducive to a population of pests that messes with the vine, or not? Are there natural plants growing around that produce too much nitrogen and mess with the vineyard? What kind of potassium in nutrients are in the actual soil to help the vine grow? All of these factors are part of the overall terroir. So it’s kind of an insane, intense idea that started out — again, we’re going back to the monks — started out with this sort of simple idea of, “oh, this is different than this.” Now, we have science to basically understand terroir down to the actual microbes.

And in addition to that, what happens when we irrigate? That’s not natural. But when you irrigate, you are affecting the terroir because you’re actually putting another influence into the natural things. So you see what I’m saying here? Terroir is just all these factors in nature coming together to help this foreign thing grow in soil so that we can enjoy a bottle of wine. And it just so happens that sometimes, in the most microcosmic part of a vineyard, there are these absolute differences from row to row. And sometimes, we understand it and sometimes we don’t. We? I don’t make wine. Sometimes they understand it and sometimes they don’t. So this idea is just mind-boggling, right? Oh my God, terroir. I didn’t realize it was that crazy. And it is!

And the thing is, it’s an Old-World idea because the Old World in Europe is where all of the more focused vineyards were. The appellation system was created in Europe and France, specifically, and other countries took that on within Europe. And that appellation system was built off the idea of sense of place or terroir, those different climatic categories. In the New World, it’s a little bit different. We’ve had, in the United States alone, we have hundreds of AVAs, American Viticultural Areas. And not all of them were created specifically because of terroir. They were created because of just sometimes political reasons. And sometimes like, “hey, we used to do wine here. We can one day do it again.” And for us — more in modern times, actually sort of post-Prohibition, 1960s and beyond — our idea of terroir in America started to emerge when we started bottling single-vineyard wines, which should be considered a microclimate.

But here’s the thing: Nature is fragile and forceful at the same time. The fragile-ness of terroir is a thing, and the idea of a vine or vines being able to express themselves in a certain way, in a certain place, every factor has to be happening all at once. And part of that is how much of a harvest there is. We talked in the Burgundy episode, we talked about how Pinot Noir is known to express its terroir, because that’s where it all began. But in that episode, I talked about the yield of Pinot Noir. I talked about how over a certain yield, like 50 hectoliters per liter, you’re making a Pinot Noir, but you’re losing the subtleties of it. Pinot Noir needs under 50 hectoliters per liter — actually 30 hectoliters per liter — you really see the subtleties of a Pinot Noir.

So the idea of terroir is really for the wines that are made with a specific kind of care. The more large-production wines out there that sometimes you don’t know what the wine grapes are in the wine or if it’s just a mass-produced wine, you’re not always going to get terroir out of that. Usually when you get a wine that’s going to be like $8 and it says Pinot Noir and it’s from California but it could also have Syrah because of the 75 percent rule, you’re not going to get terroir. Terroir comes into play when a winemaker is trying to express to you how special their place in the world is and how special the wine is that comes from there. That’s why when you see a single-vineyard wine, they’re trying to tell you, “look, this vineyard is special because it’s a specific kind of terroir.”

So there you have it, a sort of general roundabout idea of a word that is used a lot that doesn’t have a concrete definition, but has ideas and concepts around it. Terroir. And for you as a consumer, for a wine consumer, terroir is as important as you want it to be. I mean, if you have the cash, and you want to buy two bottles of wine from a specific grand cru in Burgundy that were harvested next to each other in different rows and has a completely different flavor or aroma to it, it’s a really awesome experience. It is an awesome experience. And it’s just as fun to experience different Pinot Noirs from the 18 different AVAs of Sonoma County. That’s fun, too. So now you have a little bit of information about terroir, so you can actually have your own discussion with people, because it’s going to be interesting when you talk to people about terroir. Everybody has their own idea about it. So I hope that this episode helped you get started.

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. It really helps get the word out there. And now, for some totally awesome credits.

Wine 101 was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big ol’ shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. And I mean, big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also Darby Cici for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week. See? Totally awesome credits.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Terroir appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-terroir/

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johnboothus · 4 years

Text

Wine 101: Terroir

Listen online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or check out the conversation here

My name is Keith Beavers, and oh, hi. How have you been? Welcome to Season 2 of Wine 101. Let’s do this.

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. It really helps get the word out there. And now, for some totally awesome credits.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Terroir appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-terroir/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/wine-101-terroir

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lukerhill · 6 years

Text

#130: Can Science Help Us Make Our Homes Happier?

Can the colors, furnishings, and accessories that we choose for our home actually make us feel quantifiably happier? Today we dive into the science of joy and learn how some tried-and-true design tricks might actually be affecting our daily moods (and how to make tasks that we don’t love a little more enjoyable). We also pin down a few ways that we’ve unknowingly added joy to our house, and a few others that could still use some work. Plus, the lesson we learned from waiting too long to give up on a piece of furniture, and a big dollhouse fail.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

That’s the Instagram photo above where many of you noticed that we had a new coffee table.

Here’s a better shot from the other side of the room, where you can see the X-base a little better (with those nice little nooks on each end to slide two white poufs from upstairs).

And here’s a closer photo where you can also see that the finish isn’t totally perfect, but it’s functioning just fine for our family (much better than our ottoman in those final days). And we’ll share all the details if we tile the top or refinish it in some other way.

For reference, here’s a shot from a couple of years ago that showed the big leather storage ottoman that it replaced. It served us well for around 8 or 9 years, so we’re not mad at it.

I tried to dig up some photos of its deterioration (and the “dandruff” it left all over the house) but we apparently avoided capturing it – or at least vacuumed it up before taking photos. But here’s a random iPhone shot we took last year where you can kind of see the bare spots forming along the top where the faux leather had started to peel. And those white dots on the floor are all ottoman confetti.

Sherry also mentioned that headboard in our guest room, which is actually the BACK of a wicker headboard that we got on craigslist. Here’s a shot of it below, and you can read more about it in our second book, Lovable Livable Home ;)

That’s Embarrassing

Here’s a photo of the Sweet Shop in progress, and the dozens and dozens of little pieces we were tasked with turning into some semblance of a dollhouse-sized candy store. (Note the paper fan blades in the foreground that were meant to become a ceiling fan. Spoiler – that did not happen).

Like I said in the episode, I think Sherry did it a great job getting something together just in time for Christmas, and our daughter LOVES IT. As Sherry pointed out, it doesn’t look much like the picture on the box, though.

And if you missed the previous discussions about our family’s recent foray into dollhousing, you can catch Episode #124, Episode #125, and this post about the first dollhouse makeover.

“Joyful” Decor Discussion

First things first, here is a link to the book Sherry loved (she finally finished it so I get to read it next): “Joyful: The Surprising Power Of Ordinary Things To Create Extraordinary Happiness.”

And here are a couple of the spaces we referenced in the discussion, like the “surprise” DIY fabric covered wall in our daughter’s closet…

…and the removable wallpaper murals that we recently installed at the duplex.

You can also scroll up to see all of the “circles” and round objects we didn’t realize we have in our living room. When you start to look around, they’re EVERYWHERE.

And if you want to add some “celebration” to your house in the form of string lights, these are the patio lights we have in our backyard (and the outdoor smart plug we use to control them).

And here are the salt lamp nightlights that Sherry turns on every single day to add some glow around the house (we have three in the kitchen and one in each bedroom upstairs).

We’re Digging

You can see Sherry’s big gleaming “brasshopper” (brass grasshopper figurine) in the photo below (and you can kinda see the little one that lives on our mantel at home in the second photo of this post).

Below is the Paymaster painting we bought from listener Vita who painted it while listening. And check out all of the round objects in our office too!

Sherry did a little hunting for some other unexpected or whimsical things that might make you smile: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

Lastly, here’s the podcast episode where we first talked about getting our driveway paved. It was especially used last week when we had a random bought of 70-degree weather!

And if you’re curious, this is the portable basketball hoop my parents got the kids during Christmas sales. It too felt like it had a thousand pieces, but I managed to put it together all by myself!

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to Annie Selke for sponsoring this episode. Their big Presidents’ Day sale kicks off this week on Thursday (Feb 14th, aka Valentine’s Day) and you can get 20% off basically the whole site! Check it out at annieselke.com/YHL.

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #130: Can Science Help Us Make Our Homes Happier? appeared first on Young House Love.

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johnboothus · 4 years

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VinePair Podcast: Discovering the Fascinating Wines of Alentejo Portugal

This episode of the VinePair podcast is sponsored by The Wines of Alentejo. Looking to discover new wines, experience quality blends, and support environmentally conscious producers? Then Alentejo is the place for you. This region in southern Portugal boasts an array of native grapes, a centuries-old history of blending, unbroken traditions of amphora wines, and an award-winning sustainability program. Ask your local wine store for a wine from Alentejo, or order online from one of our small-business retail partners.

In this bonus episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” your hosts Adam Teeter and Zach Geballe are joined by Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein to discuss the wines of Alentejo. The historic wine region sits in eastern Portugal on the border of Spain, making up about a third of Portugal’s entire land mass. Consequently, there is a bit of crossover with Spanish varieties and the grapes grown in Alentejo, but the wines produced by Alentejo winemakers are rare in their own way.

Goldstein runs through the most popular grapes grown in Alentejo, including Aragonês, Alicante Bouschet, and Alfrocheiro. While many know the grape “Aragonês” by another name — Tempranillo — Alentejo has honed its own tradition for the grape through the use of amphorae. Amphorae, or large clay pots used for aging wine, have become increasingly popular throughout the world but have been used in the Alentejo for hundreds of years. Goldstein likens them to “steel drums” that may look exactly the same but have their own timbre. In this way, he explains that, while amphoras may all look similar, each will lend a different body to the wine produced.

Along with a strong tradition of grape growing and winemaking, Goldstein celebrates Portuguese recipes and explains that many everyday drinking wines from the Alentejo pair perfectly with Portuguese cuisine. He lists the largest producers, like Esporão or Rocim, and shouts out the most influential winemakers who are working hard to keep the Alentejo on consumers’ lists of new wine regions to explore.

Listen online

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Or Check Out the conversation here

A: From Brooklyn, New York, I’m Adam Teeter

Z: In Seattle, Washington. I’m Zach Geballe.

A: And this is a bonus episode of the “VinePair Podcast.”

Z: Happy holidays.

A: Yeah, you should feel so great that we gave you this gift. In this episode, we’re gonna talk about the wines of Alentejo. And so first a word from our sponsor, the Wines of Alentejo. So this episode of the “VinePair Podcast” is sponsored by the wines of Alentejo. Looking to discover new wines, experience quality blends, and support environmentally conscious producers? I mean, we all should be. Then Alentejo is the place for you. This region in southern Portugal boasts an array of native grapes, a centuries-old history of blending, unbroken traditions of amphora wines, and an award-winning sustainability program. Ask your local wine store for a wine from Alentejo or order online from one of our small-business retail partners. And of course we’ll have some notes in the show notes of this podcast. But yeah, man, I think people got to get into Portuguese wine. So I’m really excited to talk about these wines today, Zach. So why don’t you kick it off and introduce our special guest?

Z: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a thrill to be joined by Evan Goldstein, he is a Master Sommelier. A man of — Evan, I don’t know that you recall this, but I have attended a few different masterclasses that you’ve taught over the years — I was just one of those people in the back who were trying not to look too in over their head. But it’s been a pleasure to learn from you over the years, and it’s super exciting to talk about these wines. Portugal is high on the list of places I have not been that I wish to visit one day when we can do that again. So thank you so much for being here.

E: Oh, it’s a pleasure to be with you. And I hope if you were in the back and sitting there quietly and all that, I didn’t pick on you or anything crazy, but I’m delighted to, number one, be in your sphere and in your orbit, if you will. And I am doubly delighted to be talking about a place that I know and love well, which is Portugal in general, and the Alentejo specifically.

A: Well, so Evan, before we kick it off, I just wanna let you know you have full permission to pick on Zach as much as you want.

Z: It’s a podcast tradition.

A: Yeah. It’s all good if you did, at least with me. So, yeah, thank you so much for joining us. I’m really excited. Can we kick it off by giving us just a brief overview of the wines of Alentejo so that those who are unfamiliar with this region also — I would say potentially unfamiliar with Portugal and Portuguese wines in general — can get a clear picture before we really get geeky with it?

E: Absolutely. No, it’s always important that you land the plane gradually from 30,000 feet before you just pop it on the ground. So let’s get a little bit of a direction on Portugal first, then I’ll get into the Alentejo specifically. So Portugal, as many of your listeners know, sits on the Iberian peninsula, southwest Europe, it runs roughly 350 miles long, a little less than 115 miles wide, which makes it just a tad over 35,000 square miles, which to equate to those people who are spatially challenged, makes the country about the same size as say Indiana or the state of Maine. Which is very interesting, because despite its relative diminutive size, it is the ninth-largest planted vineyard acreage in the world at over 480,000 acres, which is amazing when you think about that, because here’s a country that’s the size of Indiana or Maine, and the United States, which is infinitely larger ranks, just six. So we’re just a couple of clicks ahead. And they’re 11th in production compared to us at fourth, which means that pretty much any place that you can plant grapes, you will plant grapes. And that’s not just in large vineyard areas, but people’s front yards, people’s backyards as they load their lug boxes and take them to the local co-op at harvest time, et cetera. So they do make a fairly good volume of wine. And they’re also, by the way, just for your readers information, the largest per capita consumers of wine in the world, more so than the French, and certainly a lot more so than us. Now, Alentejo sits in the center-east of the country, it’s on the border of Spain on its far eastern side, and it covers approximately a third of the landmass of the country. So it really is a big area. It’s almost all of the South and a good chunk of the center and even pushing northwards there. It is about the size of Massachusetts, if you wanted again to give it a reference, and being inland and being Mediterranean, although having some areas that have, for lack of better words, horizontal traverses that go out, there’s actually an Alentejo Costa, or a coastal area that actually touches the coast. But the rest of it is clearly Mediterranean, clearly inland, and very, very hot in the summer, very cool in the winter, and gets its rain during the winter months when it does get rain. So a pretty neat area to visit and wonderful people. We’ll talk all about it.

A: So let’s maybe jump in and talk a little bit about grapes here. Because I think obviously when we’re talking about a region that is relatively unfamiliar to people like Alentejo , one of the things that most everyone wants to know is, “OK, well, what do they make the wines out of?” So can you maybe, Evan, just walk us through the important varieties, both white and red in the region?

E: Yeah, most definitely. And white and red is a good place to start because although rosé is a happening thing in Portugal in general, and Alentejo specifically, it’s not the biggest deal. It’s mostly red. The area is approximately 75 percent red, then about a balance of that in white and just a little bit of rosé. And the grapes again, remembering that we’re in Iberia — that long before there was Spain and long before there was Portugal, there was Iberia. So a lot of the grapes that you hear about, in Alentejo and in Portugal in general, you’ll also hear about in Spain, although under different names. So from a grape variety standpoint, the most planted grape is a grape called Aragonês, and Aragonês is the same grape that we would call Tempranillo if we were on the other side of the border over there. And that’s a very important grape for reds. Another grape that is probably the most celebrated red for the Alentejo specifically is Alicante Bouschet, which, although it was developed in France post-phylloxera issues a couple of hundred plus years ago, it is a grape that is probably more associated with Portugal and specifically with the Alentejo. It’s their signature grape, and a grape that they love and do really well with. They have other grapes there. They have Alfrocheiro as a grape, which carries no other geography or home outside of Portugal. You have lots of different, good grapes, obscure grapes. Tinta Grossa that again, you find primarily in that region, but I would say Aragonês and Alfrocheiro would probably be the two big ones, along with Alicante Bouschet. And then for whites, it’s really the workhorse grape of the region, one grape called Antão Vaz, and Antão is the Portuguese word for Anthony; Vaz would just be “Vaz” the word. And what you find in Portugal is that so many grapes, whether it’s Maria Gomes, or Fernão Pires, or in this case Antão Vaz happened to be named for people whose vineyards those grapes were essentially discovered in and propagated in the future. So a long time ago in the Alentejo, somebody named Antão Vaz had a vineyard, and everyone loved his grape and planted it everywhere. And it’s a huge grape. It’s unique to not only the region and their most important grape, but I think we haven’t seen it anywhere else, which I think in the climate-change world in which we’re living in right now, it’s a grape that does very well in warm climates. And I think you’ll start to see some global celebration there. They have Arinto which is a grape that came from Bucelas and the Lisbon area originally. And we find it up in the Douro, too, but that’s a grape that does well in Tagus, primarily for acidity reasons and, gosh, a few others, but I would say Antão Vaz is a basic focus grape if you’re thinking about getting the round tasting notes for white and Alicante Bouschet and Aragonês for reds.

A: So, first of all, I mean, now I know what my goal in life is, it’s that in the future, we will all be drinking Adam Teeter. And it will be delicious. And that is just amazing. So in terms of Alicante Bouschet, what style of wines are we seeing made from this grape? If I were to find wines from this grape on the shelf, obviously from the region, what would I be looking for? What would I be experiencing?

E: Yeah. Well, first of all, what’s interesting about this grape, which was developed, like I said, by crossing Alicante — which is the southern French colloquial name for Grenache — with Petite Bouschet, which was a grape that was crossed years earlier for volume and stuff like that. You get a wine that, first of all, is very interesting. It’s a tintilia grape, which is to say when you squeeze it, the juice that comes out is red. There’s not that many grapes like that. The Mission grape that we know of here in California, or as it’s known down in South America, Pais, is another grape, but it’s very deeply colored. The wines are kind of inky and opaque in appearance, and they tend to be a little bit more on the rustic side of things. So they’re fairly tannic. They’re fairly big. They’ve got ample acidity, and very wonderful dark black fruit flavors, and then things that run literally from an India ink, not that we drink India ink, except perhaps when you were in grammar school. But iodine-esque type things, seaweed notes, and then notes of meat and olives and the “garrigue,” as we would know it, are underbrush and herbs. It’s a very cool grape. But what I will tell you in general that people should know is don’t expect it to make light, elegant wines. It is a bold grape, and while it makes fabulous, big, powerful wines on its own, it’s often added to other wines in the Alentejo for color, tannin, and rusticity to add to the mix.

A: And would you typically then find wines made from Alicante Bouschet to be blends themselves with maybe the Alicante Bouschet as the principal variety? Or are you getting a lot of 100 percent or nearly 100 percent Alicante Bouschet from the Alentejo?

E: I would say the answer is yes, yes. And actually, yes. And not only the people who were making pure Alicante Bouschet wines — and some of those wines are fabulous and will be varietally labeled, if you will, somebody can go out and say, “I’d like to get a bottle of Alicante Bouschet from the Alentejo” and actually find it — but perhaps more importantly, and more commonly you would see Alicante Bouschet as a driving grape blended again with the Alfrocheiro and other red grapes to be named later, but also blended with Aragonês and other things as a primary blending grape without being the most significant percentage. So, lion’s share blended, they do exist pure. You’ll always know these wines, whether they participate as a player or independently, simply because of their really dense volume and high level of color.

A: Very interesting. So can you go back through a little bit of that history of winemaking in the region? ‘Cause obviously, you talked a little bit about the cool fact of people actually discovering grapes, then naming them after the person who was originally growing them. But I know this is obviously a region that uses a lot of amphorae, that has a rich history of doing that for a very long time. How long has wine been made in this region, and how has it evolved?

E: Yeah, I’m glad you asked that question. A lot of people think of everything as “if it’s an old region, it must’ve started European-wise during the times of the Romans” and all that, but you could actually go back — for fans of European history — go back past the Phoenicians to actually the Tartessians as a tribe who were the first people to establish grape growing and rudimentary winemaking there. And it existed through various tribes, but it was really the Romans who, as they came across and conquered virtually all of the world at that time who really brought winemaking as a bonafide tradition to the area. And a lot of the techniques that they brought with them, such as amphorae, came from old Rome at the time. And even some of the tools that are used out in the field for harvesting and stuff like that date back to Roman times. So, it goes back a long period of time. They have a long tradition, and again, long before stainless steel and oak barrels, they were using these big clay pots. I always tell people that amphorae, in general, are a lot like steel drums. Each one has a different timbre or a different tone because the clay itself is molded by, for lack of better words, by hand or very carefully so that you could have seven different amphorae and they could be the exact same size and visually look the same. But each one is going to be a little bit different. So that goes back a long way and has been re-birthed. But then over time, obviously winemaking evolved into the rest of the European tradition as Europe grew and wines were being made in the 1600s and the 1700s and all the way through. They had phylloxera issues, too, and have grown up since then, but it really dates back in terms of, for lack of better words, ground zero, most people would associate it with Roman times.

Z: And it’s interesting to me that you mentioned amphorae, because we think about that as an old and new tradition all at once but I’m curious, because another thing that seems interesting about the Alentejo is the connection to cork, and to cork forests. Can you talk a little bit about that?

E: Yeah, well the amphora tradition is very interesting because amphorae are all the rage now. And not only are they making a comeback in places like Alentejo, and in the southern part of it in particular, which is what they call talha is the word for amphora down in that part of the world. And people have them in their basements and in their cellars and again, people grow grapes and make their own wine. They would have their own amphorae and make their own wine, too. And now of course, because they’re the rage, people literally go around town and knock on people’s doors and say, “You got any extra Talhas that you’re not using? Because we’d like to buy them.” But today amphorae are huge. Not only are they made in Portugal, from the Alentejo but people are using new tahlas there are actually, talhas made of resin now that are being used and experimented with porosity. Talhas have been used, of course, in Italy and the northeast towards the Slovenian border and all over, but Portugal along with some smaller parts of Spain and Turkey probably have the longest continuous tradition of making it that they didn’t stop ever. They always started to make it during the Roman times. It continued along the way. So it’s very much in their DNA in that part of the world. And they are, in fact, leaders in revitalizing, certainly in Western Europe, that technique again. But to your point, yeah, the Alentejo is vast and it’s not just about grapes. So although they make significant volumes of wine and are what I would call the *people’s choice award winners, more people drink Alentejo wines in Portugal than any other region or province for their day-to-day drinking, but they also have vast amounts of grains planted and vast amounts of trees, and specifically cork trees. As you pointed out there, roughly a third of the world’s cork comes from the Alentejo area, which is great, not only from the vantage point of having good quality cork in the world, but it’s a natural, renewable, reusable, recyclable source of wood that we now know is actually not only carbon neutral, but carbon positive in the sense that they absorb more CO2 than they put out. It’s a great thing. And then also the other things that people don’t know about like the whole pato negro thing, the black acorn-eating pig that people think is associated with Spain actually came from the Alentejo and was brought down there. So it’s a tremendous resource and breadbasket of all sorts of cool things beyond grapes and wine.

Z: Well you mentioned the most important thing to me with talking about this, which was food, because I had the opportunity — you guys were kind enough to send some wines to Adam and to me — and I had the opportunity to taste the wines, and in tasting them along with enjoying them, I thought: “Goddamn I am hungry.” And as is the case for lots of different European wines in European wine regions the wines certainly co-evolve with the cuisine. So can you talk a little bit about the food of the region and what some classic pairings from the Alentejo are for some of these wines?

E: Absolutely. Well, certainly it’s very much of a food-centric area. The people, and I would highly encourage it when it’s safe for all of us to get back on airplanes and go to places like that. The Alentejo, although it seems like you’re in the middle of nowhere, is about a 90-minute train ride from Lisbon. So you can literally land at the Lisbon airport, hop over, catch a train at a local station, and be there in literally less than a couple of hours. But it feels like it’s rural, it’s pastoral, it’s pacific. It’s old again, you’ll see Roman ruins and stuff like that throughout the area, but it’s very simple, too. It’s not the big city. They’re very happy in their more, not even suburban, but just very rural lifestyle. Lots of sweeping fields and rolling hills that are there. And as far as the food goes, they take advantage of a lot of these things. They have like I said, lots of grains. So they have a lot of these famous for breads, in that part of the world, but also famous for cattle, great beef, but also pork as I alluded to earlier, and interesting vegetables. And what’s interesting for me personally, and I’m not saying this simply because I like these people and I work with them a lot, but it’s my favorite food region of all of Portugal. *And I say that not because it’s the fanciest, there’s no three-star Michelin restaurants at every corner and things like that, but it’s comfort food. It’s comfort food at its finest. And I think, especially in these times right now, I know for me, when times get tough, you gravitate towards your pastas and pizzas and roast chickens and very simple types of food. And that’s where a lot of Portugal’s base food comes from. So whether it’s their most classic soup, which is one called “absorba,” which is a very rich broth with leftover bread that’s thrown in it to reconstitute it, and crushed garlic, and you can put green herbs and stuff in it, and anything else you want. But that’s a classic dish of the area. Roasts of all sorts. Pork and beef, served alongside with something called “migas.” Migas is basically a blend of leftover meats and bread that has been put together almost like a dense side dish — almost like a very rough polenta, but studded with vegetables and meat and different kinds of migas are made and served alongside stuff like that. But it’s very rustic, delicious food. And it seems to work well with the wines, because the wines themselves are wines without pretense, although certainly some of the most amazing wines in Portugal. But some of their most famous wines, be it Pêra Manca or things like that that come from the Alentejo. But the everyday drinking, again, the people’s choice award-winning wines there are just tasty, delicious, honest. In Portugal and then in Alentejo, wine tastes like wine, food tastes like food, bread tastes like bread. And there’s something just very gratifying and comforting about it.

A: Well, I’m really starving now.

Z: Welcome to my world, Adam,

A: Well I just ate lunch, too. So I should be fully satiated, but then Evan just really — phew! So Evan I’m gonna give you a task here.

E: Yup.

A: I want you to sell me. So basically, I’m an American consumer, right? There’s so much wine on the shelf. And I get that this region is the most consumed in Portugal. Why should I drink it? Or if I’m one of the amazing members of the trade that listens to the podcast weekly, why should I sell this wine? Or why should I sell the wines from this region? What makes this region so special?

E: Yeah, well first and foremost, and I think Alentejo very much like many wine regions of the world makes the most sense and gives anybody the greatest level of emotional connection if you do have an opportunity to go there, walk the vineyards, go to the wineries, meet the people and eat, all that. So it’s an area I think that will connect more so than when you do it. But I think one of the things that’s very enjoyable, one of the other areas of the world that I love and I have the pleasure of working a lot with is the Rhone Valley. And the Rhone Valley, the red wines are delicious. And whether they run from the top of the line, things you would find in the north, as I said before, you do have some of the most well regarded of wines coming from the Alentejo, whether it’s a Pêra Manca, or Cartuxa, or Buçaco. Our wines that come from this area are considered to be amongst the best wines of the entire country, the most interesting, the most flavorful, the most complex, but so much of the wine is everyday drinking wine, and very much the way it’s impossible to find somebody who you give them a really good glass of Cotes du Rhone, and they say, “Eh, I don’t really like that that much.” It’s just tasty, delicious stuff. Be it red, be it white, or even be it rosé. I would say that’s true for Portugal as well, too, in terms of the bottle that you buy very inexpensively or moderately is going to give you that sheer pleasure factor. And while they might focus on grapes like Grenache down in the Southern Rhone, here you have again, these wonderful combinations of Aragonês, Alfrocheiro, Alicante Bouschet for the reds. And Antão Vaz and things like that for the whites that make for these just delicious, flavorful wines coming from a very warm part of the world. Very much again like the Rhone Valley, the wines tend to be fairly generous. So a lot of people like bigger wines. So if you tend to be somebody who likes all of your wines at 8 to 11 percent alcohol, you probably won’t be very happy. But if you like your red wines generous and your white wines flavorful and moving to generous, this is going to be an area for you. And then also, like I said before, when we talked about the grapes, the grapes are fairly unique, but for people who are into discovery and, “Do I need to have another Cabernet Sauvignon? Do I need to have another Chardonnay? Do I need to have another Zinfandel?” these areas provide discovery, both of grapes and flavors that are different to people in terms of the usual trail head that they’re used to walking on and drinking down, but also grapes that in many places you don’t find anywhere else, as I said before, that provide interesting intrigue and flavorful differences that you’re simply not going to find in other parts of the world. And they also represent great value. So even at the top end, their most expensive wines when compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world, still punch above their proverbial weight in terms of giving you great value for the money, great flavor for the bottle. And again, as you mentioned earlier, fabulous food friendliness. So I would tell people that are A) into discovery B) into unique flavors. C) as you both mentioned into food friendliness, the wines are almost architected there. You will never find wines that are over-oaked, overworked, overdone in this part of the world. And today to me, one of the things as an avid wine drinker, and I know you guys both drink your fair share of wines, too — I’m saddened by wines that are losing their sense of place. And I’m saddened to have a wine that may be made out of a particular grape variety that comes from somewhere in Spain, for example, but is vinified in such a way that it tastes like it could have been made in Napa Valley or the Barossa. And I like wines that taste like wines of a place. And the thing about Alentejo is you taste those wines, you pop them open, and boy, they don’t taste like they really could be made in many other places except where they are from.

Z: And one last quick question for you, Evan, along those notes for our listeners who are interested in giving these a try, obviously in some parts of the U.S. there’s a wide range of Portuguese wines available, but for people who might not be in a major city, or just might not know where to go looking, are there a few larger producers or at least widely distributed wines from the Alentejo that they could look out for, whether it’s at the local wine shop or even at a grocery store, potentially?

E: Yeah, absolutely. Portugal is not going to have as many, for lack of better words, household-name wines as you’re going to find in other parts of the world. Probably the most available brand across the country, and one that you can even find in some of the larger stores would be a brand called Esporão. Esporão makes wines of various different grapes, whites, reds, and things like that. Various different price points as well, and they’re fairly well widely distributed. They have a nice touch of the old and the new. Their wines are driving new winemakers, a gentleman named David Haverstock who moved over from Australia years ago and brought a New-World sensibility to the Old-World fruit. But Sandra Alves, who is the day-to-day winemaker there, makes sure that everything still tastes Portuguese and very good. Another brand would be Fitapreta. Those are the great wines of António Maçanita, who also makes some killer wines out of the Azores as well. But his wines are very cool. He makes some very forward-thinking wines using Portuguese grapes. He makes a wine, actually out of Touriga Nacional, which is a grape many of us associate more with the north and the Douro, but he makes it in the Alentejo and he makes a wine called “Nua” which literally translates to nude, which is just the purest form of that grape that I’ve ever found and I’ve ever tasted. He makes that in the Douro, but brings that same sensibility here. João Portugal Ramos. His wines are widely available. And then finally Rocim along with Esporão, I think, are the two brands I see most often. Rocim makes tremendous wines, both whites and reds, and with a focus primarily on Portuguese grapes. But all of these houses, with the exception perhaps of Esporão really don’t spend a lot of time with international grapes, which is something that you see a bit of in the Alentejo, but not as much as the other parts of the world. There’s not this great influx of Cabernet and Chardonnay into this part of Portugal.

Z: Awesome. Well, Evan, thank you so much. It was really super interesting to learn about a region that, at most for me, had been maybe a place on a map that I didn’t really think a whole lot about. But I am definitely excited to continue to taste the wines that you sent and to try to take a trip over there when the world permits it, which would be delightful.

E: Yeah. Well, it’ll be well worth your time when you do. And until then, we can at least live vicariously through the bottles. And if people want to track down some Portuguese recipes, if you just Google it, there’s some wonderful classic Alentejo recipes that people can make at home.

A: Evan, thanks so much. This was awesome. You’ve definitely made me want to go out and drink more of these wines. Obviously, as I’ve already said, you’ve made me very hungry. So I appreciate your time and your willingness to share all of your amazing wealth of knowledge, and everyone out there listening at home, we hope that you enjoy this bonus episode. Again, you’re welcome. And Zach, I’ll see you back here next week.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair Podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits. VinePair produced by myself and Zach. It is also mixed and edited by him. Yeah, Zach, we know you do a lot. I’d also like to thank the entire VinePair team, including my co-founder, Josh and our associate editor, Cat. Thanks so much for listening. See you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

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