Chenin Blanc and Pinot Bianco - Episode #604

Chenin Blanc and Pinot Bianco - Episode #604 Hello everybody. Welcome to Wine Library TV. I’m your host Gary Vaynerchuk and this, my friends, is the Thunder Show a.k.a the internet’s most passionate wine program. And today, we’re going to talk about a grape varietal that you know what for lack of better word is under the radar. Mott-, you like that under the radar? Gets this a little too much for me. And the wine world communities actually has a lot of respect but it’s a grape varietal that I think coming off from yesterday Mouvedre episode, it’s all about 2009, expanding the palate, keep pushing that palate from the door. And it’s a great that I think it has a great tradition. I mean first talked about and discovered in the 1400s. This isn’t yesterday. A grape that made its premier in South Africa in the mid-1600s, 16, 15 or so. I mean a grape that’s been around for a long time and that is Chenin Blanc. Chenin Blanc is a grape varietal that does amazing damage alcoholic even in Loire Valley in France which is one of my favorite areas in the world. They’re very crisp, clean wines, and it’s a very versatile grape because it is absolutely prominent and skillful in making both dry sweet and sparkling wine. You could almost call it a triple threat. It’s a Beyonce up in here. You know what I mean, Chenic Blanc is a very versatile grape. You can do a lot of things and I think that it’s a grape varietal that deserves a lot of attention. And just to cap it off because we have two Chenins here today and instead of mixing it up because we’ve been really team oriented, I also threw in a Pinot Bianco right here. Pinot Bianco, a really prominent Alto apple J. This is from the Collio region in Lombardy, really interesting white grape as well. I think it’s another classic example of white wines that are under the radar. So, two Cheninsm one Pinot Bianco, just for kids and girls really because you know what it’s my show I can do what I want. So let’s get right into the first wine which is the Mulderbosch, one of my favorite labels of all time. I really like the design. This label is like always be one of my favorite. Mulderbosch, 2008 Chenin Blanc rose at eleven US dollars, great time to get a big shot into Kellen Clemens. Oh we forgot about Kellen Clemens. It seems like three, five, fifteen years ago. Mulderbosch is one of the great producers of South African wines, period. And Chenin Blanc should really be catching your attention in South Africa. I think it’s a place where the grape does extremely well. They can herbaceous and clean, and crisp and very vivacious and it’s really an interesting place. First, like I said, hit the scene in South Africa in the 1650’s and really probably one of my “go to” new areas to recommend people who like New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio. I’m really pushing, heavily pushing people to start drinking Chenin Blanc from South Africa in that $8 to $50 price range that like those varietals. Let’s get this wine a sniffy sniff. It comes across with an interesting mix of hay like really dry hay taking a little bit of like, limes like squeezing it over the dry hay. So it’s a dry hay meets lime juicy kind of component on the nose. I’m also getting a little bit of like a bit of butter squash. Like a squash kind of thing going on on the nose which I find quite fascinating a little different but very vibrant, very spritzy as I might say. Almost like seltzer coming through on the nose but it’s not bubbly. Let’s give it a whirl. Really nice acid on the back end, which is something that I believe Chenin Blanc is consistently giving me. I also get big gaps of honey. One of the few things that I love in the world is honey, but really showing quite well. And then, when I do like honey, it’s usually when I’m in a cheese platter, and there’s sliced apple. I take the apple and I dip into the honey. Mott, you know what I’m saying right? That’s why you're looking at your chops. I get that kind of component coming through on this mouth fill. I get a very serious, heavy, actually very dominant Granny Apple Smith component. This is almost apple juice like on the palate. I like the acid in the back end. I think this is a very friendly wine for food that gets exciting. At the same point, with all the good thing going on, it is not the sharpest tool in the shed. You know what I mean. It’s kind of like a friend you have that kind of pick in high school, right. It was only limited to a certain amount of skills set. That’s what this wine is. This is a high school picking wine. I like it. It’s good. Hooray! It was rocking at 16 years old but then kind of like fell off. And that’s, not to talk about the way the wine feels because it’s got a good finish just globally, it’s a very one-dimensional like “hey, I’m going to give you some apple juice, high acid, good with foods, drink me in a porch but don’t ask too much from me”. And that is what this wine is doing. And I’m not asking too much from you Mulderbosch. Let me give you the 87 points you deserve, and I’m going to move on because it’s a perfect example of solid Chenin Blanc, which I’m very thankful for. I appreciate it. I’m going to shake your hand but I’m gonna move on. Mott, let’s move on. It was good. I liked it. It was fine. Now, let’s talk about the area in the world where Chenin Blanc is really doing damage and that is in the Savennieres in the Loire Valley, that’s right here. And this producer of the Baumard 2005 is one of the grape producers in the world. I would say that they made the Baumard and Nicolas Jolay are probably the two top producers in all of the Savennieres. Very interesting area in the Loire Valley, about 300 hectares planted—excuse me, the area is about 300 hectares, it’s about halfway planted. Half of those hectares are planted in Chenin Blanc. This wine rolls in a 20 US dollars. It is 90 points wine spectator and I think it’s kind of neat. I want to give you a little fun fact. Mott, I’ve been saving this one. This has been the back pocket kind of like the ace of spades if ever needed it. I’m going to give you a fun fact in a half. I’m talking like whip this fun fact out this weekend and I guarantee you nothing but ladies, cash and riches. Chenin Blanc is the third most planted grape in all of California. Mott, see you reacted. Maybe not the coolest thing you ever heard but it is a solid fun fact because absolutely nobody talks a bout it. You would have never have guessed that. I would have took your money and I would’ve been great. It is an absolutely under the radar grape. Now, why is there so much Chenin in California and you’ve never seen it? Almost all of it goes into those big ass jugs of Carlo Rossi and Taylor and all those brands, Almaden. So it is a jug wine varietal in the US. A shame. Some people should really start focusing. Let’s give this a sniffy sniff. Now this has a totally different thing going on. Well, this is wild. I get a little bit of a classic. It actually smells like Cointreau, like liqueur, it got like that orange peel Grand Manier kind of thing going on on the nose. I also get a very heavy dosage of like ripe pear. You know one that is like dripping all over you. I get a lot of that on the nose. I also get like a classic sugar cubes coming through. I get a little bit of that on the nose as well. Also, very high on the floral component. Mott, if you get that the little dandelions, acacia flowers, I know you like to pick in this summer. You know that kind of stuff so a lot of that kind of stuff going on. Very spicy and racy too, I almost get like a radish. Like radish coming through on my nose. Intriguing, very complex. Did you get a little bit of burnt rubber? You did right? Because you know just a hint not a lot nothing like we’ve seen, probably the least of anyone we’ve ever had on Thunder Show, but there’s still just a hair, like somebody just skidded out yesterday. You know what I mean cutting down a little bit. Let’s give it a whirl. Very dry, again this is the 2005, this white wine of Chenin Blanc can last a little while in bottle. Three to seven years, a lot of Savennieres have really done well. This is an exceptional food wine. If you’re into shellfish, you need to really expand the Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chancero play. Chancero was so 2008. Come on, you need to absolutely expand your palate. Savennieres is a play if you’re a big waster head, little west coast oyster, Kumamoto’s, Olympia’s, great stuff. This wine is very creamy on the palate, which I’m enjoying. It’s got a very distinct and heavier viscosity and mouth fill that I would’ve expected from a Chenin Blanc where you get a lot of acid. We’ll give it one more shot. Undeniably, this wine has very pure pear flavors on the mid-palate which I like quite a bit. It’s got a good lengthy acid that’s coming through even more on the back end on the second taste of this wine. You know, I like this wine but I’ve got to be honest with you it is missing a little bit of the “oomph” that I kinda thought. I was really, really excited about trying this one. I haven’t had it yet. Good score, good price point for a Savenniere. The area I’m very passionate about that I’m really hoping that a lot of viniacs out there. Some question of the day, have you ever had a Savenniere? Give me a little yes-no’s. Let’s see it out there. Something I was really hoping to induce people to get excited about. Again, it’ juts one wine from the whole area but it’s a big producer and a great producer for that matter. It just didn’t bring as much “oomph”, lacking a little bit on the acid. And a little bit more distinction of flavor would’ve been appreciated. Other than that, it is still got a very gorgeous mouth fill. It’s creamy which I like. It makes me wonder if you know if Chardonnay fans can get into a wine like this. Though there’s much more crisp, unless maybe you look at Chablis for Chardonnay drinkers. I do find this wine as something that you want to drink now because it might be losing a little bit of its luster. I would pair it, once again, with a lot of shellfish. I also think that it would go tremendous with the baloney sandwich. And I think it’s a solid wine. I’m going to go 88 plus on this wine. A little disappointed and not so sold that I wouldn’t enjoy drinking a Mulderbosch a little bit more. Just for the acid that brings at the table. A little disappointing. Sorry Mott. Now let’s move on. Now let’s talk a little bit about Pinot Bianco. This is little Russiz Superiore, 13.5% alcohol content, Collio 2006 vintage, 90 points wine spectator, 18 US dollars, it comes from the Marco Felluga family. This is in Friuli, which is easily and probably the best area in the world producing white wine that nobody talks about. I get big ups to the Mary of Italy group in New York City. They’ve really done a good job with bringing Italian white wines more to the fold in New York scene, still lacking pretty much across the rest of the US and even in New York, it hasn’t totally blown up. Pinot Bianco is not to be confused with Pinot Blanc. And so kind of excited about this little wine. Let’s give it a sniffy sniff. Now this has a beautiful—this has like a custard component on the nose which I find quite fascinating. As you can see very golden color. Mott, are you recognizing the skills? Get up here. Get a little high for me. Get a little high Mott. Gorgeous little golden colors on the color of the wine which I like quite a bit on the nose. I get a very beautiful custard component. I get a potpourri action, lots of little flowers bouncing about on my nose piece. I get almost like sugarfied lemons. I don’t want to go lemonade. Actually, what this really makes me think of is Robin and Claire open it up, take out the guck in the middle, the cream, put it on top of a half opened lemon, put a little sugar on that, put it in the microwave for a minute than smell it. That’s what this smells like. I hope that worked for you because that’s what this really smells like for me, and I like it. It’s quite pretty. Let’s give it a whirl. So what we allocated 93% of the show to Chenin Blanc, and the Pinot Bianco came in here and completely whipped their ass. This wine destroys these last two wines. Whoever is getting mad about scores because this only gets a 91 or so, an 87 what does that mean, please don’t send me that email. Let me give this one more shot. Pinot Bianco is a very interesting varietal. It actually is believed to originate from Burgundy. So don’t sleep on Pinot Bianco. This has tremendous weight. I mean just massive weight. Very heavy, I get peach fuzz on the back end which I like. Almost like a Bellini action on the back end. I get a little bit of oak. So I get a little bit of that Butterscotch, that caramel. This has got weight on the back end and finishes with great acid. I mean, this is what I look for in white wine. Give you some heaviness, give me some acid. This is why I really like Savenniere, Shibli, I tend to get that from grape producers in those areas. This wine completely overshadows the two Chenin Blancs which really kind of pisses me off. This is like a total after thought. But, it is what it is. You got to call them like you see them and what I see here is a spectacular under $20.00 white wine that, you know what I’m going to shed a tear, like I want to be like one of those rappers that gets a tear tattooed on their face right under their eye, because so many people in America drink $118.00 to $25.00 piece of crap Chardonay because it’s all they know, or even the worst a ballistically over the top, overrated garbage Pinot Gricio like a Sta. Margarita for 25 bucks when they could be drinking wine like this that’s real, that’s absolutely dominates, that brings thunder and meanwhile, 99 % of the souls out there are drinking this horse crap. And it makes me angry when this is right there in their face and they can drink it, enjoy it, love it, hold it, cuddle it like a little baby and really experience real wine. This is a tremendous effort. Kudos to the wine spectator for scoring it 90 points but you went a little low. I’m going 92 points on this because I’m not going be changing 2009 Mott. If I feel it and it deserves it, I don’t care. I’ll give 100 points to a Chenin Blanc. It’s going to be the way it’s going to be. This is spectacular to a 92 plus. Ninety-two plus on this, this is absolutely excellent Pinot Bianco, 18 bones, everything you could ask for. Great mid-palate transition, I mean anytime you’re going to throw me a little bit of like a white flower, acacia. A transition that has a little bit of Butterscotch, are you kidding me? This one rocks the house. And I’m drinking it. Now, I’m excited now. You know what’s funny Mott? I’ve notice when I was thinking about this we really need better wine in this show because when the wines are good, I get pumped, unlike when they’re not or kind of average it just kind of—you know what I mean? Let’s talk 87 tops. If you don’t want to talk baseball cards, it’s time for you to go. I appreciate, I hope you learned something. Eighty-seven tops. This is the set that basically sparked the baseball card revolution in America. This was the Wood Border set that every single person that is in my age group in your early to mid-thirties bought. I mean everybody had this set. Now there is gum in here, so Eric, for you and the viniacs, I am going to eat 22-year-old bubble gum and see which wine goes well with the 22-year-old bubble gum. But first, I’m going to show you a picture of Joe Nigro, who’s the younger brother of Phil Nigro. We just saw the Phil Nigro guard. Nigro was born in ‘39, right Phil? Because Joe was born in 44. I mean pitchers back then. Mott, zoom it. This guy looks like your grandpa. I mean, we got Willie Upshaw, Rick Aguilera, for all the Met’s fans. They really love this guy. Who else is in here? Mike Easler. Look at Jim Niland, coach of Tigers. There’s Phil. Looking good old Phil. So we’ve got the brother combo. Ironically that you're here because we got the Phil and Joe Nigro. Yes, I’m Phil. Actually Phil is not even much older than Joe. What else do have here? Dickie Thon who made an appearance at a Norther high school when I was a senior. Remember the gold cups. This was a big card back in the day. Julio Cruz, mark Portugal. I like Portuguese wines. You know what? Let’s save this from Portuguese wines. And that’s pretty much it. I mean these guys didn’t look like athletes back then. All right 21-year old gum, let see what happens. Oh I think this is going to turn into gum. It couldn’t turn in into a gum, Mott. It wouldn’t gum. It would not gum. No I’m telling you, I can’t turn in into a gum. It’s nothing. But what I think that goes well with the Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc. I was wrong. What is your favorite gum? You, with a little bit of me, we’re changing the wine world.