Episode 158: New Season, New Stuff!

Posted onAuthorWine Two Five Podcast

Episode 158: New Season, New Stuff!3rd Podcastiversary Wine Two Five Podcast

 

We’re ushering in Season 4 of the Wine Two Five Podcast with a podcastiversary celebration, bourbon and bubbles! Have no fear, there are factoids galore throughout the show, but we’ve got some surprises as well. Thank YOU for being part of the Wine Two Five community of hard core wine lovers and learners, and let’s raise our glasses to a 4th year! Cheers ~

Happy 3rd Podcastiversary! (00:47)

Here it comes, Season 4! Factoids galore, surprises in store, and – if you can stand it – a whole lot more!

In our Glasses (1:16)

Bourbon, Baybee

Val: Henry McKenna Single Barrel Bourbon. This is a a 10-year old Kentucky straight bourbon that was bottled in bond. This is about a $50 bottle. Shhh … don’t tell anyone.

What does bottled in bond mean? Henry McKenna Single Bourbon Bottled-in-Bond

The Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was enacted by the 54th Congress.

There was this problem of fake bourbons and other distilled goodies. To counter this, the government set up an incentivisation system (read: tax breaks) in exchange for aging the spirits in a government-controlled facility (or bonded warehouse).

The minimal requirements for bottled-in-bond bourbon include: aging the spirit for at least four years in a bonded facility; the bourbon, in this case,  must come from a single season (Jan – Jun or Jul – Dec), and from a single distillery, and meet the 50% minimum abv.

Some producers still participate in the program, but there is controversy over whether this does confer a quality status on the product. The Henry McKenna is believed to be the longest aged bourbon on the market (according to the Heaven Hill website) that is bottled in bond.

If you know of one that beats this, please let us know. Val wants to try it.

Bring on the Bubbles! (05:36)

Steph: 2012 Domaine Carneros Ultra Brut ($45) from Napa. A gorgeous yet bracingly dry (0.5% dosage) sparkler that pairs well with your geekiest of wine friends on anniversaries of any sort – like the podcasting type. Its composition is 58% estate grown Pinot Noir and 42% estate grown Chardonnay.

About Carneros

And for anyone not familiar, Domaine Carneros is the small, grower-producer, Napa estate of the famed French Champagne icon Taittinger. It is an extraordinary place to visit, literally a chateau in the heart of Carneros (the Napa side – as you may know – the Carneros AVA lies in both Napa and Sonoma).

Help, I Live With a Podcaster Who Won’t Shut the Hell Up About It (08:46)

We’re finally getting into it. And we mean, “getting into it.” Because what we did here was ask our spouses to give their inputs as to what it’s like living with, well, us.

The Podcast Hostage

The perspectives are … interesting. You see, Steph’s husband is not a podcast consumer. But he listens – usually when Steph has him trapped in a vehicle. We call him the “Podcast Hostage.”

The Enabler

Val’s husband, on the other hand, is the hard core podcast consumer. He was listening to podcasts before the word “pod” was attached to the word “cast.” He’s also the one who set Val and Steph on our podcasting journey in terms of setting us up with our syndication and audio editing tools. We call him the “The Enabler.”

(For the record, John was being funny. He did not truly believe Val was working for a 1-900 service. And neither do you, dammit.)

Factoid (15:00)

What’s happening in the vineyard in April in the Northern Hemisphere?

It’s important to specify which hemisphere, right.

Just like you might be seeing outside your windows, noticing the trees budding, in the vineyard, the season’s buds burst. These will develop into precious shoots, so they need to be protected against spring frost.

This is also the time to be hoeing and loosening up the earth around the vines. Planting of young vines happens now too.

Depending on exactly where in the Northern Hemisphere, which specific grower, and the variety, these activities might happen a little earlier or later.

In the Southern Hemisphere, however, the picking could be wrapping-up and harvesting might be done!

Don’t Forget the Olive Oil! (17:00)

Olive oil from the Southern Hemisphere is quite good too, because remember, it’s about harvest season south of the equator.

Wino Radar (17:30)

WE ARE STARTING AN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT! @winetwofivepodcast

Shoutouts (18:28)

New swag! Patrons, you’re all getting a little surprise in the mail in the month of April, as will all new patrons who sign up this month.

Big love to all of our subscribers and community members!

Steph has a Surprise for Val (20:20)

And … here it is! She was saving it for the end of the show, but we realize you can’t see what we’re freaking out about.

So here it is – our new promo video created by John at Odd Pumpkin Studio . Thank you, Steph! xx

Patreon Love (21:00)

Thank you to our Patrons who support us on our Patreon crowdfunding platform!

“Riserva Superiore Supporter”

“Riserva Supporter”

  •  Antti in Georgia!  Antti sent us great note to share:

“I came across Val & Steph podcast back on Episode 148: Tannat Talk: A Grape Gab on twitter & have not stopped listening.  In the mornings, I pass tidbits of your podcasts to the rest of the box slinging crew, I am on.

“As a modern hermit / widower, I venture out for work so that I have food & something nice to drink. I work on the merchant end of the wine & spirits industry, for a large box chain, for which 1,000 cases received & placed onto the sales floor is considered a light day. 

“While working on the sales floor with almost 15,000 different beers, spirits or wine to pick from; most customer’s are overwhelmed & squeamish, interaction is non-stop & most do not wish to wait for a sales person to become available. I quickly realized, I needed to be able to remember or at least track bottles & cocktails I had tasted to be able to answer some of the questions. 

“@loneredwolf3 on Twitter, was created for me to be able to do just that, write a few notes & attach a picture, for latter review.  Unexpectedly, the Twitterverse started watching as I tracked my bottles & attempted to make sense of all the important terms & facts, no longer, simply drinking. 

“Under my Moments tab @loneredwolf3, one can find a #W25Challenge on steroids, somewhat organized by styles & regions for those that like to be teased before you buy! As for hobbies, I am an amateur Mailler, passing time by knitting rings of metal into functional clothing. This old hermit, is glad to have crossed the path of your tribe.”

Thank you, Antti, for sharing your wine journey with us!

“TENacious Tasters”

“It’s not five o’clock and we don’t care” Listeners

  • Meg in South Dakota
  • Clay in Arizona
  • In California – Jon, Andrew, Aswani
  • Chantel in Ontario, Canada
  • Mary Lou in Pennsylvania
  • Cathie in Georgia
  • In Colorado – Chris and Janet, Diane
  • In Illinois – Steve, Renee
  • Cathey in Tennessee
  • Ashley in North Carolina
  • Sean in Ohio

“Tastemaker Listeners”

  • David in Scotland
  • Carole in Kentucky
  • Karen in California
  • Chip & Karen in Pennsylvania
  • Danielle

Connect: (23:15)

Between each weekly chat you can find us on the social spaces @WineTwoFive, and we encourage you to join our private FaceBook group called Wine Two Five Community!

Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and as Vino With Val on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest.

Connect with Steph on online as @TheWineHeroine.

Extra Audio: “OMG … We’re … Hot!” (23:45)

At the end of the episode you can hear what happened when Val found Steph’s animated promo.