BearLeek

Welcome to Bear League. This is Three Blind Wines. >> My name is Carlos Messa. I am the co-owner and beverage director at Bearleak here at 2611 Walnut Street in the heart of Rhino. >> Going to be the world famous Bear Lake restaurant. >> Today we have Sam Maher and Justin Freeman from Somebody People and Chef Reema Maliki cooking up our tomato and melon in Wam Sham.

So, I expect everyone who's watching this, my mom, Chris's mom included, to come down here and join. >> And we're going to see which one of these wines pairs best. [Music] >> Okay, wine number one. Hint green. Pretty brilliant in the glass.

Kind of looks like a really great Granny Smith. Little apple in the glass. Brilliant.

Clear on the nose. Picking up some citrus. Little honeysuckle. a little kind of like dandelion kind of floral characteristic.

It smells to me like it's going to have ripping acidity. It's It's kind of a It's a little bit restrained. So, it doesn't like pop out of the glass like evil conval out of a cannon.

You know, mediumbodied. I would say light to medium bodied. Uh it's got good acidity.

There's a good hint of texture which kind of makes me think that maybe it's from um kind of like a slightly warmer climate. Uh maybe a warmer part of um like France or warmer part of uh I was going to say Germany, but I don't think it's I don't think it's reasoning. I don't think it's dramatic.

I think there might be a slight spice to the nose as well. It's kind of maybe I'm leaning towards Austria. We'll just call it European.

Don't know what it is. I was thinking maybe Shannon uh course of that kind of honeysuckle note, but I'm not really getting this kind of peach yogurty characteristic that I sometimes get with Shannon. There's not the but there's a little bit of weight there.

So, there's a hint of residual. Uh it's not rezling cuz I don't get ripping. I don't think it's rezling.

Sorry, I should say that. I don't think so. I'm going to blank rezling out.

Uh cuz I don't get that kind of searing kerosene or any of that ripping lime acid on the pallet. Uh, could it be Californian cuz it's slightly sweet? Could be.

It's not too nutty. It's pretty direct even. I'm going to say it's Grunellina.

Weirdly enough from like a warmer part of Austria. I think I'm getting a little bit of white pepper on there. Wine number one.

I see a little bit of bubbles. Or that could be the glass. We don't know.

I smell a lot of green apple. There's a nice like minerality to it. I would definitely say that that's not bubbles.

It's um sediment from the wine. So, I was wrong with my first guess off the bat was going to be champagne. This is actually really tasty on the palette.

It's lingers for a little bit. You can definitely taste the sweetness. There's no tannins going on at all.

It's actually pretty heavy on the palette. Sits like right in the middle and then dissipates uh like after a couple sips. So, >> so final summation, >> my guess for this wine would be Chardonnay. >> This is Grunalina from Austria. >> California. >> I don't know where in California, but somewhere in California.

New World Chardonnay. >> 45 in a bottle shop. >> $70. [Music] >> My number two. It's got a beautiful little golden color. Reminds me of my hair.

Let's get into it. There's a hint of kind of tropical nature on the nose. I really like it how it's got this kind of cool honeyed.

Again, a little honey note to it. Vanilla. It's obviously gone through a little bit of o treatment.

Kind of smells like warm citrus panakotta with cinnamon if you know what I meant. On the palette, this wine is dry. Definitely got a vanilla characteristic.

So, uh definitely a little mow in there. There's wood texture to it. I'd say it's from something where you're getting more texture out of the white wine.

So whether it be a white uh a white Spanish like a white Rioa or something from the Ron Valley, a little bit of Marusen action, it's kind of what I'm getting. Like it's like a little bit like So I'm I'm leaning towards France or Spain for this wine. I really like textured wires.

I think textured whites are the I've I've often said it in this uh heavily rated show that we're producing right now. Textured whites are the wines of summer. I really [ __ ] love them.

It could also be uh something from down south of Italy. So, I'm saying a warm climb of wine, but they don't necessarily ever get this kind of much oak in the wine down around that region. Well, they probably do, but in my opinion, whatever that matters anyway. >> Wine number two has a nice maybe orange really gold um color to it. >> Justin's going to nail this wine cuz he's really good with white wines at the moment.

He's been practicing I don't really get a smell as much as I just smell booze. It's just really clean. Uh I would guess stainless steel of some sorts.

The wine itself is really is really light. Definitely complex. Uh there's a lot going on for like the for what I would looks like would be slightly heavy and maybe have a little more um booze or a little more sugar into it is definitely really light on the palette.

I don't really know what this would be, but my guess would maybe be I want to say Rezling just for the acidity that's on like the front front part of my palette if you want to kind of like wash it around. Um, but it's definitely not going to be that. Maybe a what's the name of the What's that Portuguese wine?

The starts with a V. >> Vode Verde. >> My guess is this is Vino Verde Portuguese. And I'm going to say the bottle is 21. >> FL France Mand blend 55. These are Australian on the screen. [Music] Last glass clar kind of almost burgundy color slightly translucent.

Okay. Which means maybe it's not so heavy. Maybe there was a a a thinner skin variety or maybe a little bit of thin skin varieties thrown into the blend if it's a blend.

Feels kind of weighty in the glass. So like feels heavy. Seems weird.

It does seem like you're wearing a fur coat to the opera on the nose. Like that's what it smells like. It's like smells pretty boozy.

Bougie bougie. Not and boozy. I shouldn't say fur coats cuz this is a vegan program.

Sorry. Fake fur coats. There's a hint of um tannon on there, but only a hint.

It's fairly ripe. Uh I would say it's slightly grippy, powdery tannins. Uh it's good acidity.

Cleans up the palette nicely. The length is probably about medium medium medium plus on the length of the palette. Again, cherries, chocolate, uh baking spice is pretty predominant on the nose.

Like real cherry like [ __ ] me. It's like um yeah, just cherry pie. That's two dessert descriptors I've had with this wine.

Really nice wine. I don't have a clue what it is to be honest. Definitely like jammy fruit notes.

Not like super raisiny, but like it's been sitting in a pot for about like 3 hours or so and it's like still stewing. Really light. Little bit tannin.

No, actually a lot more tannin. You know what? Honestly, let's go with Zinfidel.

I'm going to say Zinfidel and it'll be California Zinfidel New World Minimal Old Oak. And I would say that this is going to be $36 a bottle. Definitely.

I think it could be I'm going to say ganache. I'm going say this is a little Do I want to say ganache? Yeah, I'm going to say it's ganache.

Uh ganache zin. I don't think it's a blend. Carlos wouldn't do that to me.

I'm gonna say ganacha from Spain. Uh because of the fruit weight. Uh and I'm gonna say this would be $50 in your local >> Mr.

Be's bottle shelf. Stand by for a reveal. >> So why number one? >> Paw Thomas Sansair coming out of the lower valley. >> Send me a plunk. >> Definitely wrong on that one. >> No, I should have got that actually. >> Oh yeah. So pretty.

Just really clean, crisp wine coming out of the lower valley. Really rich with green apple. Some nice minerality.

Super high acid which went well with our tomato and melon dish. >> Thank you. That was really good. It was really, really good.

Yeah. Yeah. All right.

This little uh h yellow monster. What was this? >> Coming out of the same region. >> Oh, >> out of the lower valley. >> Shannon. >> Shannon Blanc. >> It's all France so far. >> Hawaiian number three. >> Okay. >> Coming out of Tuscany. Uh, >> Zimido, >> PJ Scalleti, Kianti Classico.

Really, really? >> Uh, cool. Thank you. These are all really tasty. >> I was going to ask, what was your favorite from the three? >> Um, I think just for like pure clarity of fruit.

I think the Kianti was like the best. >> Yeah. >> Um, just cuz like that cherry like instantly cherries. Yes. Now I get it.

But I was thinking I was getting like a little bit of chocolatey edge and the sweetness there. Um, but yeah, I was like definitely the clarity of the fruit on that is is amazing. This was super enjoyable as well.

Like crisp uh lunchtime style of wine, you know, beautiful. Probably the sair just for like what I It's super hot outside, so I would say I would want to drink bunch of that. But the Shannablanc was really nice, too. >> Yeah. >> My favorite's definitely going to be this Paul Thomas sansair.

Um, it's got really rich green apple, high acid, really clean minerality. I think it's really versatile food wine. Goes with a lot of our menu.

So, for me, this is probably my favorite. All three I think would pair lovely with our tomato and melon dish that Remma's going to present in just a moment for us. All three of which kind of the theme between all three that ties them kind of together is going to be high acid, which I think is going to go great with this course that I'll have chef explain in a minute.

Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Oh, wow. >> Um, >> oh, yum. >> All right, we have our tomato and melon dish here. The uh melons are a Santa Claus melon compressed with a vegan nocch. The tomatoes are heirloom tomatoes from Colorado.

We have jalapenos, peanuts, and then a tomato melon water on the bottom with some herb oil and micro cilantro to finish. >> Beautiful nach. >> Well, it's not real nooch, but um it's normally made with a fish sauce and like jalapenos and lime juice and it's a yummy dipping sauce. um from the Vietnamese people. Um but we made it our own um with Chef Justin's help actually with a with a pineapple uh fish sauce to make the dish vegan. >> That was Subsuya told me about that one. >> Look at this. All these Denver restaurants just collaborating. >> Come around. >> Yeah.

Get in there chefs. >> Thank you. This is beautiful. >> This looks bloody lovely. Oh, yum.

Mhm. >> That's really tasty. >> That's so tasty. >> That's all it is. >> It's white guy hot as well. >> It's on Sarah. No, >> that's your first thought. >> Yeah, maybe the sweetness kind of takes it out. Oh.

Oh yeah, I could have. Yeah, my first thought was on Sarah for sure, >> but I don't know. Maybe the Shannon Blanc is >> Yeah, maybe Shannon. >> You can still taste the Shannon through it.

I think this uh Sam Blanc, you lose a bit of the the characteristic. >> Yeah. But also the Shen Blanc has a nice like uh mouth fat feel. >> Yeah. which I think like helps with the melon and the and like all of the fish sauce and like the lime juice that's going on with the melon. >> Yeah. >> Peanuts and Shen and Blanc. I don't think people will talk enough about >> Oh, that is a lime pairing.

Peanut and Shannon. >> Yeah. Like the toasty peanut with like the Shenon Blanc actually like you get some nuttiness that like adds value and flavor to the >> to the wine itself. It's really I honestly think it don't want to say it, but it actually makes the Shen taste better >> the dish.

But I think it it lends itself with this cuz you got like Vietnamese Thai flavor. Yum. Spicy jalapeno.

Uh a little coconut husk. But it just kind of all blends together. It's really lovely. >> Like if you really like spice, the Keianti is way to go because it brings back the spice levels to it which is really nice >> and you get some more peppery notes out of the wine. >> We got another jalapeno just for fun.

What's your wine? >> I Shannon, >> I like the Shannon. I think it pairs well really well with everything. Weirdly enough, I think the Keianti works really weird with all this and like brings out a little the like sweetness from the tomato and brings out a little bit of spiciness from the actual wine itself, which is really nice. >> I'm not in disagreement, but you don't like the idea.

It's okay. 80%. >> I do think um I think the Keianti takes over a little bit too much. >> That would be my thing. >> I honestly like this one. >> Yeah. It's a weird It's a weird pairing, but >> I wouldn't say no to it. >> I wouldn't say no to it either. I think it was really good. >> The peanuts are really nice.

The acidity from the tomatoes is like all the stuff that's happening in the melon. >> This one's definitely like edges it out a little bit, but If you want something weird, I would go with that. >> Yeah. Yeah. Or if you're just a red wine drinker. >> Or if you're a red wine drinker, for sure. >> My favorite wine that goes with the dish, I'd probably have to go with the Shenmblanc.

Um, just a really versatile food wine. Goes with most of the menu really well. But specifically, if I was enjoying that tomato and melon and beer, I definitely would try this Shenim Blanc.

Personally, for those that enjoy a red wine, it's the Poio Scalati Keianti Classico. Most people wouldn't pair a red wine uh with maybe the dish that we enjoyed, but because the high acidity of the tomatoes pairs so well with this, I just think it's a great pairing for a red wine drinker. Um it's going to have a lot of nice bright red cherry, some plum and blackberry, almost a little bit of like graphite lead uh profile going on that just goes really really well with the dish.

Uh something a little more on the richer side, but that's why I enjoy it. So please come on down to Bear Lake so you can try all three and tell us which is your favorite. >> First and foremost, thank you Bear Lake. Yeah, that was >> incredible.

Uh the wines were incredible. It was really fun experience to be uh tasting in this cave of a restaurant. Everyone should come down to Bear League.

Uh not only for the amazing hospitality, gorgeous food, great wines and cocktails just to [ __ ] just have a great time. >> This melon tomato dish is definitely worth just the trip alone. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Order a shenan or kianti >> or kianti. Ky >> Shannon >> Ky from Italy. What's it like cutting meat, Harrison? >> What's it like cutting meat? >> Yeah, I haven't done it in a long time. >> Yeah.

Sorry. Oven. >> Oh, that's good. >> Yeah. Sorry.

I can do that one again if that's all right. Sorry. Sorry.

That threw me off.