Beer Theater VI: Renaissance Man Garrett Oliver

Found this little treasure in the vaults from the holidays! We’re still working on improving the audio of our recordings, but for now please enjoy the one and only Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery.

A few laughs with Jerome Rebetez of Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM)

We were fortunate to spend an hour or so with Jerome Rebetez of Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (Switzerland) when he was visiting the Richmond market yesterday. Normally I would edit the fluff from the beginning and end, but Jerome was ready to laugh of my pronunciation missteps and beery cheer. How could I deny you the same enjoyment? Cheers!

The 30!

Here is the initial list of 30 terms we’re going to begin with. We’ve had a few tastings already, and I’m glad to see lively discussion is already improving our understanding of the terms and our communication about the wine.

The 30! (as sourced from Wikipedia – of all places!)

• Accessible A wine that is easy to drink without an overwhelming sense of tannin, acidity or extract.
• Acidic A wine with a noticeable sense of acidity.
• Balanced A wine that incorporates all its main components—tannins, acid, sweetness, and alcohol—in a manner where no one single component stands out.
• Big A wine with intense flavor, or high in alcohol.
• Buttery A wine that has gone through malolactic fermentation and has a rich, creamy mouthfeel with flavors reminiscent of butter.
• Classic A subjective term used to denote a wine of exceptional quality that display the typicity of its varietal(s), displays layers of complexity and is very well balanced.
• Corked A tasting term for a wine that has cork taint
• Earthy This can mean a wine with aromas and flavor reminiscent of earth–such as forest floor or mushrooms. It can also refer to the drying impression felt on the palate caused by high levels of geosmin that occur naturally in grapes.
• Elegant A term to describe a wine that possess finesse with subtle flavors that are in balance.
• Expressive A wine with clearly projected aromas and flavors.
• Farmyard A generally more positive term than “Barnyard” used to describe the earthy and vegetal undertones that some Chardonnay and Pinot noir develop after maturing in the bottle. While for some wine drinkers this may not be very appealing, for others this maybe a sign that the wine has entered its peak drinking period.
• Feminine Describes a wine that emphasize more it delicate flavors, silky textures and subtle aromas rather strength, weight and intensity of fruit.
• Fleshy A wine with a noticeable perception of fruit and extract.
• Fruit(y) The perception of the grape characteristics and sense of body that is unique to the varietal.
• Jammy A wine that is rich in fruit but maybe lacking in tannins.
• Lean The sense of acidity in the wine that lacks a perception of fruit.
• Leathery A red wine high in tannins, with a thick and soft taste.
• Meaty A wine with a rich, full body (and often pronounce tannins and extract) that gives the drinker the impression of being able to “chew” it.
• Minerality A sense of mineral-ness in the wine, flavors of slate, shist, silex, etc
• Oaky A wine with a noticeable perception of the effects of oak. This can include the sense of vanilla, sweet spices like nutmeg, a creamy body and a smoky or toasted flavor.
• Opulent A rich tasting wine with a pleasing texture mouthfeel that is well balanced.
• Oxidative Unlike “oxidized”, this is generally a more positive term describing a wine that has experienced constrained exposure to oxidation over the course of its aging process. The aromas and flavors that develop as a wine oxidatively matures can range from nuttiness, biscuity and butteriness to more spicy notes.
• Peppery A wine with the aromas and flavors reminiscent of the fruit from the Piper family of plants such as black peppercorn associated with Syrah and Grenache based wine or the aroma of crushed white pepper associated with Gruner Veltliner.
• Powerful A wine with a high level of alcohol that is not excessively alcoholic.
• Smokey A wine exhibiting the aromas and flavors of the various types of smoke, such as tobacco smoke, roasting fire smoke and a toasty smoke derived from oak influences.
• Spicy A wine with aromas and flavors reminiscent of various spices such as black pepper and cinnamon. While this can be a characteristic of the grape varietal, many spicy notes are imparted from oak influences.
• Sweet A wine with a noticeable sense of sugar levels.
• Tannic A wine with aggressive tannins.
• Unoaked Also known as unwooded, refers to wines that have been matured without contact with wood/oak such as in aging barrels.
• Upfront A wine with very perceivable characteristics and quality that do not require much thought or effort to discover.
• Vegetal A wine with aromas and flavor reminiscent of vegetation as oppose to fruit or floral notes.

Beer Theater V: Founders Flavor

A special thanks top Jeremy Kosmicki and Founders Brewing Co. for joining us on the Beer Theater. Here’s the recording of our 10/21 tasting.

We did run into one snag (first time) with this recording in an intermittent hiss/static… it’s a touch distracting from time to time, but I know you’ll forgive us since this is still a work in progress (think of it as a reason to attend in person so you can drink the beer too!).

If you would like to skip through or listen to a portion of the event. I suggest you start the video and pause it to let the entire video load. Then you can skip to these markers:

Centennial IPA 2:48, Harvest Ale 4:08, Red’s Rye P.A. 12:23, Porter 16:06, Breakfast Stout 23:02 and Old Curmudgeon Ale 26:50

Please let me know what you think in the comments.

Cheers!

Familia Mayol: Virtual Winemaker Matias Mayol

Here’s the recap of our Virtual Winemaker event with Matias Mayol. I’ve decided to keep it as one uncut video – if you think it would be better to cut the video into smaller bits please let me know in the comments. Here are the time breaks if you would like to fast forward to a particular wine:

Sauvignon Blanc 4:33

Bonarda 8:23

Malbec 16:40

Cuatro Primos 24

Finca Montuiri 36

Cheers and Enjoy!

so much to come…

Here’s a teaser of our Virtual Series and the action that our brave patrons have enjoyed so far…

Cheers!

Matt

Virtual Winemaker: Matias Mayol of Familia Mayol

Today we have the pleasure of welcoming Matias Mayol to our Virtual Winemaker Program at Wine and Beer Westpark from 5:30-6:30!

Matias will be joining us via video conference from his family winery in Mendoza, Argentina.

We’ll be sampling and discussing their Sauvignon Blanc, Bonarda, Malbec, Cuatro Primos (Meritage), and Montuiri Malbec.

The Familia Mayol winery began in 1990. The family now holds three properties around Mendoza from which they draw the fruit for their estate bottled, hand made wines. Quality drives the low production Familia Mayol wines, which highlight the high altitude and often single-vineyard grape sources.

Seeing these wines at under $20 is quite a remarkable feat! Join us in person today at 9631 West Broad Street, Glen Allen, Va or return to our blog to enjoy our first Virtual Winemaker video footage by the beginning of next week!

This is a free event…

Beer Theater: I, HopHead

Ladies and Gentlemen it is my esteemed honor to publish our first Beer Theater recording for your enjoyment. This is an MP3 recording of our conversation with Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing from September 18th. Cheers! This is just the first of may to come!

The actions begins about 1:30 in…

Paul Cluver of Cluver Winery at WBW

Last night Paul Cluver visited Wine and Beer Westpark to taste some of his fabulous wines from South Africa. Check out the video below, we think you’ll enjoy Paul as much as we do. And, of course, his fabulous wines (all for under $20) are available at WBW.

The Weekly

Hey Folks,

There’s a laundry list of news at the top here, enjoy the read – Get up offa that thing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq1w0syylZI

Wednesday (9/9) when we return from holiday stop in at 5:30 for Beer Theater Act  III: featuring Left Hand and the arts of Ro Guenzel – perhaps he’ll bring the boot… -> www.facebook.com/wineandbeerwestpark

Don’t fret wine friends, In two weeks we’ll welcome winemaker Paul Cluver to Wine and Beer Westpark to pour and discuss his Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Pinot Noir!

Last but not least, Social Media Club Richmond VA (SMCRVA)

Your truly will be speaking on a panel at Fuego (next to Mekong) from 6-7 this Thursday, Sep 3^rd regarding the impact of Social Media on local businesses.

This event will be quite informative for those learning to engage Social Media as a business development tool. There will be many marketing and PR industry folks there, but, more importantly, the event is geared toward anyone interested in learning more about Social Media.

Tix are $15 with a modest $1.36 fee that you can buy online, which get’s you entry to prepanel networking (cash bar), the panel discussion and the after party at Mekong for a beer or two and some light viddles (included in the ticket price). Seriously, this is a good deal – Mekong beer and learn about Twitter, Facebook, etc. Do it! DO IT! But come to our tasting first J

Please check out http://smcrvasept09.eventbrite.com/ for a proper description and to purchase tix.

Wine

2007 Meinklang Frizzante Pinot Noir, $16

A rose of the legendary Pinot Noir that Werner made as a surprise to his wife on their wedding day. The Pinot grapes are organic, sustainably farmed and quite marvelous.

2007 Jean Francois Merieau Sauvignon Blanc, Touraine & 2008 Gamay, Loire Valley

This guy is a badass. Wines of this quality for $15 make life worth living.

Here are some notes from importer Jon David Headrick (www.jondavidwine.com):

One of the new stars of the Loire, Jean-François Merieau is as ambitious as they come. Before coming back to settle at his family’s property in the Touraine just east of Tours, he wandered the world tasting wine and spent time working at several wineries outside of France including an extended stay in South Africa. It was this exposure that drives his creativity today. Instead of blending his wines, Jean-François produces most of the varietals with which he works in single varietal bottlings, often from a single parcel. This terroir-specific approach allows us to taste singular wines of great expression. He is converting the entire production to organic viticulture.

Without exception, all of the wines produced at this property offer tremendous value. The sparkling Touraine is aged a for 3 years before release and it is still less than a third of the price of most Champagnes. The Sauvignon de Touraine rivals many of the great Sancerre wines being produced today at half the price. Crisp, delicious wines.

Beer

Savage new beers: Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti & 15^th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA, Stone Juxtaposition Black Pilsner, and Harpoon Laviathan dbl IPA.

9/2 tasting 5:30 to 7ish:

Corsendonk Pale

Stone Juxtaposition Collaboration

Dogfish Head Ch Jiahu

De Regenboog t’Smisje Great Reserva

Souther Tier Pumking

Paulaner Octoberfest

Harpoon Leviathan

Great Divide 15^th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA (aka longest name ever)

*I’d like to state for the record that we selected the wines for the tasting before the winning votes were tallied…