Gary Vaynerchuk: Hello everybody and welcome to Wine Library TV, I am your host Gary Vaynerchuk and this friends is the Thunder show a.k.a. the internet’s most passionate wine program. Mott, it’s good to be back to back hot seat players huh, getting into little rhythm here. And today we’re going to talk about Alentejo.
Alentejo is a region in Portugal. The southern third of the country produces some really interesting wines as many of you know who watched the thunder show, I am addicted to Portuguese wines as a whole as a movement. I think Portugal is bringing the best dollar for dollar value play in the US wine market today and the Alentejo plays very interesting to me. It’s a region that has the Vino Tinto designation and the Vino Regional designation which is very similar to the 135.
So the VDP kind of average bulk wine juice play that you see out of France and I think that’s a good thing. I think that keeps it under the radar, the - really interesting wines. Alicante Bouschet is a variatal you’ll see a whole lot of - and just a bunch of really different excellent wines, southern Portugal really known for it’s cork production more than anything else, but it has really picked up - as a red wine play recently, but we’re going to start with a white wine. The Pera Manca 2006, Alentejo Vinho which is mainly made from Arinto, it’s a great little grape 224 an 80 points Marques - this is the most expensive wine we’re tasting today, USD$22. It’s expensive white Portuguese wine. I’m excited about this wine, I’ve had it in the past and loved it. I don’t think it’s going wine library TV Mott believe it or not, way back, way back. I could be wrong.
Let’s see what’s going on here. Antao is a very high acid white wine. It really goes well with food, very clear, nice golden color, sniffy sniff. I got the phone, but I don’t have the comments. Thanks Mott, I appreciate it. Let’s give it a little sniffy sniff.
High dosage of lemon coming through, good fruit, little peach fuzz actually which is always fun. Let’s give it a whirl.
Mott: And you still love it.
Gary Vaynerchuk: I have one I printed out that was good. Mott, it’s probably in my main chair. Look over there somewhere. There we go Mott. There you go, it’s a wacky day on the Thunder show. Big wine. Good acid coming through. I get a lovely peach fuzz. Alentejo and by the way, this is why you want to really look for. We showed up before, but I want to show it again, you’ll see this very commonly on all the Alentejo wines for the majority now coming into the US, so look for that if you’re sticking into the scores looking for a good mouth feel, good roundness, I like the acid, I get a little banana peel action, banana in general in this wine, peach fuzz, sharp acidic backend which is really the kind of wine you want to have with some nice grilled fish, very Mediterranean in its approach, little pricey at 22 bones. I’m a little disappointed to that actually. I though we have more dimensions than it does. It does not and thus this wine really rolls into like an 86, 87 point wine and at 22 bones I would say a pass. So, for wine I loved in the past, this wine is disappointing. Let me give it another shot. Yeah not feel with it. It’s a pass on that guys.
Esporao 2006 Reserva, these guys make some really good wines, I like this -. It’s a beautiful label actually, not beautiful just caught me. I don’t know why. Esporao Reserva is USD$15. It is Aragonês, Trincadeira, Cabernet Sauvignon, Alicante Bouschet. And Alicante Bouschet is a varietal that a lot of you are not familiar with. It’s kind of like an interesting wine, it was a - Bouschet. Alicante Bouschet is a great little variatal I really think brings a lot of love to Portugal and Trincadeira is a great front of that really loves heat and does extremely well in this Southern Portugal area. It’s like a big third, it comes third of Portugal and that’s Alentejo, but sparsely kind of populated, lot of trees for the corks and then Cabernet and Aragones which - kind of thing going on, so really, really an interesting blend. Let’s see what’s going on here. No press, 15 bones, great color Mott. Check this out, oh this can be another use for the comment cheat. Right? Getting some good stuff there, doing some interesting stuff or not really? - not here. Oh into the mic, we’re going to do that today. Mott, but the mic people are saying they like the mic, do want me to do a little survey?
Mott: I mean, why not right?
Gary Vaynerchuk: So, - survey. This is the time to come out and leave some comments. It’s going to be easy, yes, not me should I wear a wireless mic, yes or no question of the day. That will be good right Mott, we’ll go class listen we live in America, let’s vote. I mean, it’s not like Russia where I came from. It’s not dictatorship between you and I. Let the vayniacs vote. Oh big news by the way. I’ve just confirmed the six wristband. A lot of the 703 on the fifth, I have to do something with that green wristband, but the crush it wristband Mott, that’s going to be pretty cool.
Anyway, sniffy sniff. This is gorgeous on the nose smell this. Strawberry pie, little floral action like a - you know those little flowers, what do you think of that.
Mott: That’s interesting.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Do you not like it?
Mott: It’s good.
Gary Vaynerchuk: No I mean, tell me I’m okay I don’t care. It’s very fruity and candy like.
Mott: It’ smells different. Something different to me.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Do you have anything? It’s creamy on the nose. Like a creamy strawberry popsicle. You know how like those weird creamsicle things, not like an orange creamsickle that we all love, but like almost like a yogurt-like, like yogurt ice cream. Are you sure I’m going with this, smell it again. It’s like yogurt-like. It’s like almost like a right it smells like a strawberry, raspberry yogurt.
Mott: There’s something else though.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Something different.
Mott: Something in there in the back. I can’t –
Gary Vaynerchuk: Do you like the nose? No you don’t, tell the truth Mott.
Mott: I didn’t hate it, I don’t love it.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Here is Mott.
Mott: Yeah.
Gary Vaynerchuk: I like the nose. I think it’s very floral, it’s fruit balmy without being oakey which is probably what I like about it. And it is creamy and yogurt-like believe it or not, but nose which I like. I don’t use yogurt I don’t think in any of the episodes. Let’s give it a whirl. I think the Portuguese government should hire me. There is something going on with my DNA that is gravitating towards the stuff. I think it’s exceptionally good. I think this is the exactly the kind of wine that somebody who spends 15 bucks should get. There’s - with minerality. There’s fruit, tons of it. strawberries four weeks. Great backend, chalky, dusty chocolate flavors which are just gorgeous, almost like–it’s like a dessert bar exploding in my mouth and I appreciate it. If you have something explode in your mouth, you’re not appreciative, in this scenario, you are, this wine has minerality structure, - balance length, chuck it up to a 92 point wine. I think this is spectacular and I love - yesterday yet this wine at $15.00 I think has that kind of quality, I’m not kidding. I mean, this is really good. Sour cherry. You know what it gets me, it finishes really, really well. Spectacular, 92 points, $15.00 that means drive those -. drive to your local wine shop and find which is going to label one more time Mott. Esporao the Reserva, there is something going on in Portugal. I almost like Mott, you know what’s crazy, I almost feel like Portugal has slit me a -, like I’m just always going on it like the white wine which is the most expensive. I hope I hate this wine because it feels a little weird like the cheerleader like and I like the color. Let’s see what happens.
2006 Vila Santa, USD$16.00, 91 Points, Wine Enthusiast, 30% Aragones, 30% 0% Touriga Nacional, 15% Trincadeira, 15% Alicante Bouschet, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Mott this is dark, I was making fun of the color right up the back, but is this darker than the last wine?
Mott: Very.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Yeah much darker than the last one. Is this white paper helping? Let’s see, I think some people leave some comments. Oh this is much darker. Let’s give it a sniffy sniff. Little black pepper coming through the nose, but tighter than the last wine. Smell this, I’ll show you great example for your nose how different, right like just–
Mott: Oh yeah.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Right is that wild? Like when you see it side by side, now you can really like articulate what a tight nose is. It’s a tight nose guys. Sometimes, tight is reviewed as negative. Sometimes tight is looked as a positive. In this scenario it’s a negative anything that’s aromatically challenged is not going to make me excited, oh I must love that person I’d held off pumped. It’s not going to excite me. Anything aromatic challenges a negative. It’s opening up a little. I do get black cherry coming through and I do get a little pepper and I do get a little beef jerky, I little of that action. Let’s give it a whirl.
Not as exciting and happy, happy as the last wine, but more serious. Very creamy and smooth, little oak, little settle oak in the back end there. I like it’s back going chalkiness, I like the bright fruit. I do get like almost like a blackberry component which is quite nice. It’s very tight. It’s very ripe, very dark, I would love to have this with grilled meats and cheeses and shark shootery that kind of scene, peppers, just got a whole like that kind of affair. Isn't that nice because it’s quite for like the first time at Wine Library TV, was there some - nap, I wonder did you enjoyed that, did you like the calmness, was that like a little massage, let me massage at Wine Library TV, did you like it, do you have a little second? All right. Black fruit, red fruit. New worldy and exciting, though I give it a 92, so not over the top fake, just truth, a little bit more old world action. If you’re Bordeaux fan, you’re Cabernet fan this is a little more uh, little more oh, caught me action like there, that’s where it hurts to actually appear. You will notice it has - shot and really puts up–anyway, this is a much more structured old world beefier, complicated, pipe smoking older man in the corner drinking expresso, there’s like a cool story in there. This is more like the fun, happy, just lively action, very different wines both serve a tremendous purpose. I think enthusiast won’t point high, I’m going go 90 points on this wine. There’s something about the charisma of this wine that really attaches into it, it’s probably because I’m looking for that escape for new world wines that are fun and over the top, that are fake and - and over the top and this does that for me. I do believer that some people that taste this wine will feel that I overrate it, but for my palate, this is like pinpoint right now what I’m looking for because it didn’t have the complexities to get 95, 96 or 97 points. This on the other hand is much more traditional and something I love and something that I’m kind of –if you noticed, I’ve been talking about getting open to more of the fruit lately, but the structure and the classicness of this wine is unparallel, 90 points, great wine, 16 bucks, 92 points 15 bucks, I mean, I’m telling you, it’s consistent. Guys, I’m drinking $7.00 Portuguese wines that are freaking me out lately. Alentejo and Region that needs to be paid attention to. Mr. Mott, big time show for Portugal again. By the way that doesn’t mean that you’re suppose to like Portuguese wines. If your palate is similar to mine, start exploring because every–
Burl bob says, another super show. When you buy yourself the 16 mini pimps seems right on and would you have a guest that seems like you needed an extra 15 minutes or so for the intro interaction, you - ones with the flip cam - seems after 678 episodes, you’ve really gotten a hang of it.
Mott you know I really like -, but don’t you think like you know I feel like I got the hang of maybe a little while ago, - couldn’t give it to me when I was in the 400’s or –remember that one–there’s one random like the 330 to like 360 rage rise crushing it. Do you remember, I still look at that as like my pentacle, though I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty good about what’s going on lately. Really like focusing on the this new region, the -, Alentejo which we’ve never done. There’s sort of nerding it up here talking about - Portugal, I want to throw little fun facts, things that people can text themselves and nerd about what they like.
Eric Godfrey says, Eric Godfrey my friend, we met Addison in 1982 that turned me into a Jets fan. Fun fact, so I have to read Eric’s comment. Eric I love you, first of all though shouting moments at Addison, New Jersey in the early 80 are cherished in my heart. Those basketball–Eric was like 6’9” and I was like 3’4” and we play basketball only a year apart. He’s really a great dude. GV first of all, you better keep me posted on the baby status, I will. Now - and wines, superb coverage in your -–oh by the way, Eric and I lost touch after like eight grade when I moved, didn’t talk to him for like 15 years and I found out he was also in the wine industry as a wine buyer in New Brunswick, New Jersey, can you believe that Mott. I mean, it’s amazing. - region is highly overlooked and has been worried too long like you lot of times I prefer them to expensive shot and thrill that you tasted - and enjoyed the way you did. I’ve been using it on my list for quite a while and I’ve always gotten great response especially from yours truly. Great structure, overflowing elegance and amazingly long finish, best wishes to you and Lizzy on the rival, Eric you at the apartment after the baby comes.
Paul - says, question of the day. This thing that surprise right, that what was going on. Been laid off after nine years to dedicated service for -, however, I’m extremely excited about a new opportunity with more money. Paul in October when the new book comes out, crush it, Mott I know you’ve been looking it up, I caught you as I was waiting for you to miss it yesterday, you came through, Paul you have to read crush it, step by step blueprint of how to crush it in the business world, put it out there, so I hope you could get up.
- says, just return from burgandy in the Rhone amazing wines, love the bone especially premier cruise, do a show at premier cruise. I will. We will - it up. We got a lot to do with Burgandy.
Question of the day, Mike yes no talked about it earlier. Please this one you all have to come out, lurkers you’re going to help the show. Swayve a needle. You –by the way, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for 678 episodes to be watching. There’s many of you and like Pete I think about who needs comments - They even cut and gets a little hairy once a while, they come in, the forum guys rest it up a little, big shout out to the old school forum guys. See in a little bit. Thank you. Thank you so much for supporting the show, allowing me to keep doing it because if you won’t watch, I’d stop as simple as that. I had to fire myself. You with a little bit of me, we are changing the wine world.
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