Gary: Hello everybody and welcome to Wine Library TV, I am your host Gary Vaynerchuk, and this my friends is the thunder show, aka, the internet’s most passionate wine program and it is a phenomenal Monday morning. Chris, I didn’t even call you Mott, think about what mood I’m in right now. There’s a lot of people who don’t, that was the first time I ever called you Chris, on the show.
Mott: People don’t know that’s my first name.
Gary: There you go. We’re off to a banging start. Listen. Listen. I’m in a tremendous mood, for many different reasons. First and foremost, the health of my family, but, right behind that, a huge, just ginormous Jets victory on Sunday, I’m on a tremendous mood about that, very exciting mood about Wine Library TV, obviously, we had an iconic show on Thursday with Janses Robinson. We’ve got to add that to the favorites on the, on the right side, we’re gonna do that. I wanna apologize to all the people about the spit bucket situation, you know and the bottles in front of guests. I always trying, I promise I’ll be better, next time I’m gonna give the guest the spit bucket, two spit buckets, there’s just not a lot of room here. Except when the Jets win, we make room. But I hope you enjoy the show, I know a lot of you did and, I want to continue with the fun stuff. Before that we did Baden, German pinots, we’re continuing the exploration, getting a little bit more in depth, obviously by having Janses here, we enjoyed that quite a bit, and now we’ll gonna move on to a subject matter that I like quite a bit, and that is talking about chablis. Chablis is very interesting to me for many different reasons, by the way, Leon, Leon was unreal. Did you guys see the play where Leon step out of bounds and pick up, I’ve never seen that 17 years, Mott.
Mott: Trying to foot?
Gary: Trying to foot, it was unbelievable, 20, 1982 to… 25 years I’ve watch football, and I’ve never ever seen quite like that. Anyway, Chablis have an interesting wrap. This is what a lot of people think about, when they think about Chablis, and that’s the problem, that really hurt Chablis in the US over the last 30 years. This big ass jug completely created opportunity for you and I. And what I mean by that is that because of that big jug, and because that’s what people thought about when they thought about Chablis. The real Chablis in Chablis in France have been really marred by that for a marketing business stand point. Really rough for them to break into the market, and demand the price points that these wines deserves. To me, Chablis which is a, a hundred miles north of Bone, so because of their high northern elevation you get more acidic mineral driven white wines, a lot less oak being used for that reason, because they really wanna accentuate the characteristics of their terrua. So you got more stainless steel action going out in Chablis. Classified in 1938, Mott, these wines tend to be much more acid driven, and less fruit driven, less oak and apple driven, and because of these factors, these wines for me tend to be, probably the most interesting and exciting wines to pair with food, right in there with Riesling. The acid, which if you become a wine head, a wine nerd, become and hang out with me in the wine nerd cave, when we’re going to Alfex, talk about that later, you really started getting addicted to acid, and that my friends is what you look for in white wines, and that my friends is why I think Chablis is really one of the great unknown, underappreciated, overlooked aerisnowhirl. Now, the dollar, weakness of the dollar, have made these wines go up in price, but still we’re getting world class wines at 20 dollars a bottle, we’ll get into that. 17,000 acres planted in Chablis, Mott, which is a big ass number, and there are four breakdown classifications of Chablis. You start with petite Chablis, then you get into Chablis, then you get into premier cru Chablis, and then the end the grand cru Chablis, Mott. So, we got two premier cru, and that’s what you see when you see the 1er the I-e-r right here, let me show you right here again, or just spells it out, premier cru Chablis. 1,900 acres in premier cru Chablis, 79 different premier crus. So for example this premier cru, you’ll see Chablis premier cru, and you’ll see La Foret, you see that Mott? And this is one of the other 79 premier cru vineyards, one of the most famous, right here, Vaillons. So that’s what you see, sometimes you’ll just see it says just Chablis, that’s entry level. Then you’ll see premier cru, that’s one of the 79 premier cru vineyards and then the name of that premier cru vineyard is right here. And finally, we get into the grand cru, where there is only 250 acres planted, you see that right there, grand cru, Mott, you see that, and there’s only 7 different vineyards, this being one of them, Vaudesir, right here, and so this get’s more expensive, for example this is a 64 bones, while these are in the 20. So, petite Chablis, which is real entry level, Chablis is where you really wanna shop, but the prices of the premier cru Chablis are very fair, again 79 vineyards, ‘bout 1,900 acres planted to that, and then finally, grand cru, 250 acres, 7 different vineyards. Getting a little knowledge today Mott, little lessons. It’s starting a little nerdy up in here I think, you know, we got a lot more episodes to do, but I’m still going to bring the thunder my friends. Let’s get into the first wine, Domaine Bernard Defaix 2006 chablis premier cru, Vaillons, this wine rolls in at 20 American dollars, and it’s 88 points, 88 to 90 points Allan Meadows, the bird count, who is a very strong critic, connoisseur, reviewer, however you want to call it off burgundy and wines has done a nice job, I give him a lot of credit, he’s done a good job branding, Mott. And I like him, don’t know him, but I like him, from a far, my adores it. Okay, anyway, sniffy sniff time. I know some of the people hate that when I do that, but, that’s what I do, you can’t run away from your DNA. Let’s give it a little sniffy sniff. Now, it’s coming through with a little bit of like a, almost like a, actually smells like a wooden box. You know the, wooden wine boxes, like smoked wood coming through a little bit on the nose for me here which is quite interesting and nice. I do get a little sense of gravel, like unpaved driveway coming through, the rocks are bouncing up and nicking your car. Also get a little hint of pear, very pretty nose, I’ve been a big fan, traditionally of Bernard Defaux, I think he’s a very good producer. Premier cru, 20 bucks, I mean, very fair pricing. Let’ give it a whirl. Good, the first thing you gonna notice right off the beat bat, whatever that means, is that there is really not that gooby, oaky, buttery, caramel, butterscotch, buttered popcorn thing you get so much from new world, and just, and maybe even some from burgundy, I don’t want to make this new world old world thing anymore, which I’m bad at doing, so I’m gonna try to close that gap a little bit. But you got a crisp, concise, focus chardonnay, and now, a lot of people know that I pounded and a lot of people think that I’m pretty down on cal, I don’t know why I’m down on California chardonnay, but I’m gonna tell you right now, we’ll gonna try to do California chardonnay on Wednesday, and we have to do the election pack tomorrow, so big ups, tomorrow, the election pack, we’ll open it up, we’ll drink together, big day, this is where America separates itself, I hate it, I hate that I have to be blue or red, Mott, why can’t we just be purple, ooh. And a, and a, I just think that California chardonnays are a lot, I’m more into them than I think I’ve put out there, coz some people said in the forums that I’m anti California chardonnay, which is not true, I’m just anti over oaked, and so we’ll see if we could find some crisp, clean, focus, or balanced, even a lot of oaked is fine with me if you can balance it with the acidity, knock yourself out. Anyway, Bernard Defaux, very clean, very crisp. There’s a really nice, light focus apple flavor going on. Good acidity, not great, it gets a bit flabby on the mid palette for me, but well made chardonnay, more fruit friendly than a lot of chardonnays. Good length. Good balance. Just a solid bottle of chardonnay. Nothing to get too crazy about, I’m gonna go 89 points. I think it’s fine, I think it’s solid, 20 bones, a very fair price given the euro, US conversion, but I think there’s other wines I rather have out there at the same price point, so I’m kinda meh, on it. I just expected a little bit more, so I’m a little disappointed. But it is classic, typical, a typical art Chablis, and definitely, you know, if you’re looking to expand your palette, never had a Chablis before, you see this, you definitely don’t have to run away from it like it’s poltergeist. You know what I mean Mott, so, let’s move on. Domaine Pinson, 2006 chablis La Foret, grand, excuse me, premier cru, 25 dollars and 10 cents, 88 to 90 points Allan Meadows again, seems like he like that, that… range. Again, Pinson, a producer that I spent time following and enjoying, been drinking his Chablis since the ’96 vintage. That’s a decade, that makes me sad. Let’s give it a sniffy sniff. Much tighter nose at, first thing that comes into my mind is ocean, just a crisp, you know, freshness coming across. Definitely a tighter nose, I do get a little bit more though of muddy, like poopy rock, kinda like digging up rock from a cow field, so it’s like, you’re like poops been landing on it a lot, so it’s get a little earthy here. Really interesting example of like fresh lemon coming through, little zesty fresh lemon coming through on the nose, but all in all a little tight, a little tight, let’s give it a whirl. Solid acid, more than the last wine which I like get mixing much more food friendly to me on that opinion. Good structured back bone, has a nice tightness, very fresh. Vibrant flavors of stone and gravel again, with may be like dinia, which is a Russian word for cantaloupe. So a little cantaloupey kinda thing going on here. Definitely more creamy and textured than the last wine. Has a little more umpf, little more body, a little bit more muscle mass, you know, like comparing me to somebody normal person, that actually has muscles. So, you know, really nice wine, I like this a little bit more, it’s got a little bit more going on. I get a little bit arbacious on the back end, which is kinda neat. Almost like, not arbacious, let me take that back, I’m sorry, hay. Almost like a hay component, little straw action in my mouth and I’m not bothered. Let me give it one more shot. I like it, I like it, it’s a very good Chablis, it’s a little bit more interesting than the last wine. It’s a little bit better, so I’m gonna go 90 plus points on this wine. I think it’s a very well structured Chablis and I’m pretty into it. Good work. I like it Mott. Pretty good. Alright, and finally, again, now this is really interesting, I’ll gotta give Joseph Drouhin a lot of credit, they actually own 7 acres in grand cru, and this is only 250 acres made, Mott. That’s a really nice number for Joseph Drouhin as a brand, and they, now this is a, so not 7 acres within Vaudesir. Vaudesir is a 32 acres grand cru plot, but they own 7 acres within the grand cru realm, some of which is in the Vaudesir. Again, only 7 grand cru vineyards, Vaudesir being one of them. This wine rolls in at 64 US dollars, so when they get to grand cru, they are not bashful about their pricing. 90 to 93 points Allan Meadows, a big score from him, his a very tough critic. I’m dying to try this. Mott, let’s give it a whirl. But first, a sniffy sniff. Oh men, what a different feeling on a Monday morning with the big Jets victory, I mean just a, I mean baffled, it was a big win. Now, this wine is extremely aromatic and exotic on the nose. Right off the top, I get a very interesting sense of mangoes, covered in light butter spray, like tsst, tsst. So there is a little kinda oaky kinda thing going on here. You like the nose?
Mott: Little oak yeah, definitely smelled the oak.
Gary: Little bit, nothing too crazy. No oak monster, arrgh, maybe oak baby, eii, you know, kinda thing going on. Oh god, I gotta rewatch that, eii, but definitely a gorgeous amount of mango and tropical fruit coming through on the nose, which is quite interesting. I also get a flinty blue stone action thing going on, on the nose which I’m appreciating and enjoying quite a bit. Nice, let’s give it a whirl. The electricity that this wine brings to your palette at the get go is absolutely phenomenal. Absolutely rich and complex, gorgeous fruit, I mean just bouncing around, I actually get a little bit of banana on the initial attack which I’m enjoying quite a bit. You get that? If you look at my tasting notes from the spreadsheets, from Gary’s score up there, that, by the way SS Chris has done an amazing job, and we thank him very much for handling, you’ll see banana does not come out often out of my mouth, but this explodes of ripe green banana flavors. A little hint of mango, great acid, threw out, just polish, Mott, again, remember we’re having it at room temperature, so you gonna feel a little more heat, but as soon as you chill it, that will go away. Great roundness. Very complex. This is a bang up Chablis, I can see why Allan went excited with it. This wine does not fool around. It’s got absolutely layers and layers, days and days of absolute complexity fruit, minerality, and a just rounded out polish balance Chablis. I’m feeling this quite a bit, I’m gonna go on the high side Allan Meadows, actually I score three of these, I’m going 93 points on this bottle. I think this is spectacular, it’s pushing my envelop a little bit too much, you know, just a hair, you know, it’s just pushing my wallet, just a hair, you know, kinda like the football that we play, but sometimes you gotta kick. I mean this is an absolutely phenomenal bottle of chardonnay my friends, a grape that is completely underrated and we’ll gonna be focusing on more and more, because the long we get the conversation going sure it’s fun to talk about the nerd stuff but we gotta talk about brands we know like chardonnay or grapes that we know, when they’re doing and putting out grape products around the world, this is a perfect example, this is a really good show, I was definitely expecting a clunk or two, we’ve got 0 for 3 in shows like this. This went the flip side, this is like 2 and a half, and that’s a really nice show Mott. On a very happy day, and I promise you, did all this wines score higher because the Jets win, yes. But that’s okay, let’s give a couple of shout outs. Big congratulations to Michael Norlidge, happy wedding this last weekend, that’s exciting. And happy birthday to Megan Okimoti, to, excuse me, Okimoto, and Turbin Rolson, who’s been a long time fan of the thunder show. Others than that, question of the day, you know I haven’t talk to you guys in a while, I missed you, what are you guys drinking? What’s going on with you guys? Curious, like what are you up to? What are you drinking? What are you up to in your wine drinking experience? What’s your go to drink, what are you, what are you drinking? What are you drinking? How many different ways can I ask that? other than that, really excited, thunder cruise have a meeting right now adding a lot of wineries that thunder cruise, Mott, link that up, Mott, link up the election day pack too, let them watch that video if you guys don’t know what’s happening tomorrow, you will enjoy and hopefully we will get you on board on the next election days, when I tell Mott to link it up, that means that scroll down and you, you can do that. Also you might notice on the right side of winelibrarytv.com, we’ve added the little itunes icon, I think it makes it look pretty, Christopher. And other than that, doing well, excited about the cruise, Mott, excited about that, hopefully more people will join, doing well with that’s sound very well considering the slowed economy, people need a retreat. I’m also gonna talk about social media and marketing, I decided now on the thunder cruise, couple of talks about that, other than that, I hope you enjoy the show, if you’re still sticking around and watching me blabber, couple of good things I want to tell you, number one, the New York Jets are making me very, very happy. Number two, enjoy the election tomorrow, I came from a place where you weren’t allowed to vote, don’t underestimate how powerful that is. And, I was born in Russia, and I thank you guys for supporting this show and allowing me to do it every day, otherwise Mott will be kick to the curb and I would be bagging pinot gricious at the registers. Thank you, have a wonderful, wonderful day. You, with a little bit of me, we’re changing the wine world.
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