Gary: Hello everybody and welcome to Wine Library TV, I am you host Gary Vaynerchuk, and this my friends is the thunder show, aka, the internet’s most passionate wine program and I promise you here today that I will not spend the whole show talking about the other domination that my New York Jets put on the lowly Saint Louis Rams, but it is a tremendous day, and it has set a stage for one of the great football games of my life, probably top 40, so that’s a lot, you know, top 25, big time game this Thursday, in Foxbro, I’m going, on my anniversary night, I mean big shout out to Lizzy, ha, Mott, is that a wife, it is our anniversary, our fourth wedding anniversary and we will be in the stadium in Foxbro, getting booed at and thrown beers at as we root for our New York Jets, now you know why I married her, besides the fact that she’s the greatest of all time, clearly. I mean that’s an amazing wife, Mott. You think your wife will take you, you’d be able to, yeah. She’s pretty awesome.
Mott: She is awesome.
Gary: Awesome, alright, I tell you what else is awesome, awesome is this, awesome is when you get in pigeon holed into preconceive notions and you break out of them. And let’s see how I break out of this, because I’ve been shocked reading over the last trillion emails that I get, I did a lot of email work, I’m really behind, but tomorrow I expect to catch up, so if you got an email on my inbox, look forward to get answer tomorrow afternoon. That so many people think I don’t like California chardonnay, and that is a huge misconception, as a matter of fact, I’m probably pretty big proponent of California chardonnay, it’s just I love Chablis from, and I like steely, flinty chardonnays, and California wines tend to get a little oaky on over the top. And so, but there’s a time and place, as long as you’re not to gooky and gooby and, you know, too oaktified and to Hacksaw Jim Dogan in your mouth, and too much buttered movie popcorn in your mouth, I tend to like them. I tend, I think that a lot of times there’s not enough acid for my palette, but they’re very good wines, and so what I did today was I pick out three wines that are in that 25 to 35 dollar range which is where I tend to find chardonnays that I really get excited about. Three wines, all scored very highly, 91 spectator. 90 spectator. And 92 to 94 Parker, which is a sick score. Three wines, really great pedigrees, all three wines have pretty chardonnays that I’ve liked in the past, so I’m trying to set the stage for an episode, a show where I am going to like the wines. I’m excited about it, and I don’t see any reason not get into it. Mott, let’s link up the thunder cruise, we got more information there now, on the Gary V. thunder cruise page, we start announcing some of the wines that we’ll gonna have. I’ve added a couple of talks. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, so Mott, link it up baby. And other than that, I hope everybody had a tremendous weekend, loves their family and I’m not looking forward to this Friday on my 33rd birthday, Mott, I’m very, very upset about that. Okay, let’s get into it, first wine Truchard, 2006 chardonnay Carneros, this wine rolls in at 24 US dollars and is rated 91 points by the wine spectator, there is 3,200… three it should be, 3,232, double 32’s cases made of this wine. It was harvested between October 1st and 16th, I got a little fun facts for you guys, and it is really interesting because a hundred percent French oak program, but the third of it is new French oak each year. So, not a hundred percent new oak, which is probably a good thing, not too overbearing , big rinse, but Truchard is consistent pump out some of the better 20 dollar chardonnays that I’ve tasted. I’ve liked them quite a bit in the past, I think it’s a very good producer. Let’s take note of the color, very nice, golden pale, apple pretty, let’s swirl, Mott. Let’s show them the swirl skills, some of the best in the east coast I’ve heard, one of the great swirlers or our time, I will take credit for it. Let’s give it a sniffy sniff. Right off the bat, the thing that I noticed, of course, the thing I noticed is that, there’s a little hint of oak and butter, but not too bearing. I almost get like a baked apple component coming through on the nose, so Mott, I don’t know if you ever had baked apples, my grandma was big on those, big thing, and, thanksgiving, I’m probably gonna have some in a couple of weeks. Very big thing on the Vaynerchuk household, little baked apple action and I get that coming across a little bit. Almost like a baked apple squirted with little beach cola nut butter or whatever it is, like tsst, tsst, like fake butter spray, so I get a little bit of that, little hint of that butter. A little chard wood. Definitely apples. And a lot of peach fuss, a good peach component, which I like quite a bit, makes it very aromatically interesting. It’s a good nose, I like it. Theirs is definitely buttered oak component, though, we’re not escaping it, it’s definitely there. But I wouldn’t call it the aaah!, oak monster either. Let’s give it a whirl. Gabs of now and later apple candy coming through and it’s gorgeous. Great acidity. Very firm balance. This has an intriguing melon, cantaloupe flavor in the mid palette that is riding it to the finish. I mean just like, gabs of like honey dew and cantaloupe in the mid palette that are absolutely gorgeous. Very focus. Very focus fruit. Very focus. I’m a little caught off guard on the focus of this wine. Now, it’s ending as I, as I pat, and I puck, and I yap, I am getting a little hint of a little butter, and a little bit of cedar box coming on the back end. But it’s balanced. Oh, by the way, I sat with Thomas Jones’ parents at the game yesterday, which is a lot of fun. Him and his dad look exactly the same. His dad is really serious, the mom was pumped, it was awesome. Let me give it one more shot, one more time. I’m very impress with this chardonnay, good start. I was very worried that all the, coz I can be tough on chardonnays, that all the, you know, pre talked to this show, I go for 0 for 3 here, I’m gonna be in big trouble, I thought to myself. I like it. It’s very good. I think spectator is well within range, I’m gonna also score this wine 91 points, and 24 dollars, I think this is a magnificent effort. Solid structure. Good wine. Good chardonnay. If you’re a chardonnay drinker, to me this is leaps and bounds more exciting than gorgochills, than a Ferrari corano, than a Chalk hill , than a Farniente, all solid wines, but all that kind of seem pretty basic to me, and slightly over oaked, and all those wines I score in that 85 to 88 point ranged, though so many of you consumed those chardonnays when you go out, even Catebread. To me this is far better effort, I like this quite a bit. Let’s move on. Good start Mott, good wine, that, that cantaloupe and melon just completely ruled the day. This is a totally different color, did you noticed Mott? It is much, much darker, let’s see what we got here. This is the Chasseur, 2005 Russian river chardonnay, 34 US dollars, 90 points spectator, 17 months in 60 gallon French oak barrels. So, let’s see what happens to that. This comes from Bill Hunter, who is a very passionate wine maker. God, do you see the, Mott, could you give me another glass, I’m sorry. Very passionate wine maker, Bill Hunter, really great guy, he wanted to call his winery Hunter, but that was taken, so he uses, calls it Chasseur, which is the French term for hunter. So I thought that was pretty cool. I think it’s very important, coz I wanted you guys to see side by side, I got a fairly white shirt, a totally different color component Mott. Do you see what’s going on here, just a much more golden dark component to the second wine which I find very fascinating, oh, right away makes me think big. Chasseur is a 91 points spectator, 34 bones, very hot winery. I’ve love some of the efforts from Chasseur through the years, this their ’05, yeah, ’05 Russian river, so, you know, gonna be neat to see what’s going on here. Let’s give it a sniffy sniff. Comes across a little medicinal, though it’s not shot in any way or like that. I also get a rubber band component coming through on the nose, so it’s a very interesting nose, caught me completely off guard, I do get a little bit of white flowers as well. But aromatically, completely off guard. I didn’t expect this wine at all. I do get a little bit of pear on here as well. Fascinating. The rubber ball thing is coming through in spades. Let’s give it a whirl. Good acid on the mid palette. Little bit of oak coming through on the finish. Give it one more shot. Good weight. Interesting wine. Comes across very burnundian to me, believe it or not. Has subtle oak buttered flavors. I get a butterscotch component on the three quarters part of this wine, right before the finish, which ends really with buttery, and oaky flavors. There’s a nice butterscotch component on the mid palette, I do get apple. I also do get, a hint of like ripe banana on the beginning attack for a quick second. It’s a solid chardonnay. It’s missing something, I can’t really put my finger on it. It’s a little bit, little hot for me on the tail end, just a hair, but it’s room temperature so that’s exaggerated the hair. It’s refined. It’s elegant. You know, it’s, it’s solid, it’s like a good 300 hitter that hits 19 homers and plays a solid outfield, but you never talk about them. There’s just a role player, a good role player. To me this kinda fit Ben Francisco, from the a, from the Cleveland Indians, though he bats lower than 300. This is just a solid role playing chardonnay. You know to me, I think spectators a little high, I’m gonna go 88 points on this, 88 plus. I like it, I would not be paying 34 dollars, I think Truchard definitely outshines it. it’s very good. I think a lot of people will like it. I’m not worried about it, as a matter of fact, again, trust your own palette, I have the feeling I’m going to be in the minority here. The little extra smoky wood, that is probably turning me off, just unflavor, just the flavor of it is not killing me, it’s probably the flavor that’s gonna hook a lot of people. Back to that farniandinggordanchill, this probably what get those people crazy and throw panty on stage to those wines, that’s what kinda this does. It’s solid, I don’t know, something about that’s not killing me, but, only so much wiggling I can do, I’m gonna go 88 plus. Let’s move on. Sbragia, from the Sbragia family at Sbragia, the wine maker forever at Berringer for the premium wines, specially known for those, Sbragia gamble ranch, which is a tremendous vineyard, 2006 chardonnay in Napa, 32 US dollars, 92 to 94 points Robert Parker. Let’s see what’s going on here, Mott. Mott, I got you on that panties on stage comment. Nice bottle. Nice and heavy. Huge punt. Feel like I can fit my whole head in there, Mott, very popular, you know the big punt, very popular. I hope the Patriots will be doing a lot of that this Thursday, big punting. There’s rinse right here, that’s what I think. I’m already like halfway through to this bottle, totally wasted on my punt jokes. Let’s give this a sniffy sniff, coz that’s what I like to do wines. I like the aromatics, this is a good time for me to segway for all the viewers. I do believe that most people are missing out on the sniffy sniff, the nose, the bouquet of the wine, and I think that’s really a major part of the overall experience, I kinda equate it to going to the movie theater and watching the previews, if I missed the previews, I am one sorry, angry sap. It’s part of the overall experience, actually one of my highlights, I tend to like the previews even more than the movie. To me, not smelling the wine, and I’m not so good about those that all of you guys are doing out there and you go. I mean, I’m talking about really getting in here, as a matter of fact, on that quick smell, yup, I’m picking a really interesting component on this wine which I see at times in chardonnays. I’m getting a gorgeous ginger component. Really obvious, Mott, tell me if this smells. When it is this obvious, I feel like maybe I’m curious if you would pick that up, do you get, like a really heavy ginger component, getting it? You are? Nice, so, I’m getting a very solid foundation of ginger coming through on the nose. I’m also getting a really pretty pear flavor coming through on the nose, you got that too Mott. Almost like pear puree. Almost like pear sauce, like apple sauce, but pears. So, like pear sauce. Ginger for sure, I mean I’m getting a heavy dose ginger and almost like vinegar component, like a little bit of a vinegar thing going on which is fine… almost oil and vinegar. Almost like my salad dressing is coming through here. definitely some oakiness and definitely a little bit of butter, butter stick. Let’s give it a whirl. The start of this wine is extremely elegant on the palette, very. However, aaaah! The oak monster makes a little bit of an appearance on this wine to me, on the mid palette to the finish, I got a good gab of oak. I feel like a bunch of little kids got around pick up sticks and then shove them directly in my mouth. I’m getting the oakiness which is bothering me, I’m also getting a heavy dose of butter. And I’m getting almost of apple juice coming through as well. However it should be noted that the elegance and creaminess of this wine is unparalleled, and if you can deal with this gab of oak butter that I’m getting on the tail end, you know they have truffle butter, they should come out with oak butter, where it’s like butter, a little chips of, of, of chips, like wood chips, just like in the truffle, I, I really think that would be an amazing, amazing adjective for wines. Oh this is the chip, you know, the oak butter, you know, so, I’m getting that, it’s gabby too, which is a turn off for me, but such a homerun for so many people. Definitely need this with food. Going back, I’m sorry, this is 1 to 3 year wine. Maybe this is a 3 to 4. This is more like a 5 to 7, got the big back bone, that the others don’t, in my opinion. But boy, I’m almost getting like, you know brain freeze. I’m almost like butter freeze, this is giving me a little bit of a slight headache when I get this much oak and butter. To me that’s a little bit of a turn off, I just can’t see myself drinking more than three fourths of a glass of a wine like this. And that’s the ultimate problem, it is not undelicious, whatever that means, it is not a badly made wine. I just can’t see myself consuming this much of a wine like this. It’s over bearing and ultimately that’s my problem. I’m gonna score this wine 86 points, I think it’s fine and good and I can see a lot of people going crazy but you can see I’m scoring it dramatically lower than, you know, really the premier wine critic in America, Parker go 92 to 94 points, to me this is too over done, too over the top, very difficult to wrap my head around completely. That being said, don’t listen to me, I’m one palette, one person, and one that’s, you know, tasted a lot of chardonnays in his life, so the style has become a little over bearing. Take me back 6 or 7 years, this is what I would gravitate towards, grab it, yeee hah! You know, just go wild. This was the style I loved, but, just my palette gone a little bit of a different direction. To me this is the quintessential over the top, over buttered, over oaked chardonnay that has been appalling to my palette lately, but as a wine buyer for a store, recognize, this is the kind of wines I wanna bring in, because a lot of people like this style, 86 points to me, 94 to Parker, you know, probably 88 to Tanser, you know, that’s what makes wine so imperatively interesting, when you got critics scoring wines all over the place, and, and that should tell you, if nothing else, to never go just by scores, go by tasting those. If you like butter and oak, then you should wring this up quickly, and if you’re, you know, an if you love melon and cantaloupe, like I clearly do, then you should wring this up quickly. Know your palette, keep exploring and most importantly, drink with people you love. Keep the process. The experience is part of it. The best wines are the ones that are drank with people you love and great situations. The cheap old zinfandel I had on Sunday at the tail gate with the Brotwers before the big Jets game, that was the best wine, coz I was with friends from highschool I haven’t seen for a long time. And with my favorite little brother, and my brother in law, who I love, those are the wines, those are the wines you need to experience and remember, and most of all, trust your own palette and continue exploring and if you jump off the chardonnay band wagon, like I have at some level, or people think I have, always jump back in, because you know, with this Truchard was an absolute delight. Question of the day, what kind of chardonnay are you drinking, this year, favorite and least favorite chardonnay. Bang them up, let me know, I’m curious. You, throw it to me Mott, with a little bit of me, we’re bringing the thunder.
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