Somebody People

We finally made it. Episode six here at Three by Wines, the wine game show where I say a lot of ums and R's and I fumble my way through some of these wine descriptions. >> Hey guys, how you doing? My name is Chef Z.

I am the owner of Luchador Taco and More here in Denver, Colorado. >> Just a an absolute superstar of the industry. He's uh been on a number of TV so shows, Chopped for One. Uh he owns a restaurant here.

He's a father. He does it all. Like he's incredible.

We also have >> My name is Jane Leadford. Uh I have my W set level three. Uh rep a couple of small portfolios in town and then also retail.

Work at Mondovino wine shop in the Highlets. >> She's an absolute natural wine freak and does a great job for the local Denver, Colorado wine industry. So it's really we're really excited to have these two on the show. We'll see what happens.

Let's go. Stop putting words in my head, Chris. We're going to start with wine number one.

It's a >> little intimidating that all of these are the sameish color. Light yellow, a little bit of what sometimes you hear is like green glint to it. On the nose, it's pretty light and subtle.

As it opens up though, there's a little bit of kind of like sweet lime, peach, >> lemon, pears, >> touch of kerosene going on. Some herbal influence kind of leads me to believe it's going to be like very fresh and mineral. The palette is light, but definitely has a little bit of um residual sugar to it.

Great acidity makes me lean into Reeseling right off the bat. And if it is a reason, it's not super um aromatic, but it does have all the kind of things I look for as far as like the fruit character. >> It's like crisp, light, >> a little bit of that petrol. Um and then the sweetness too.

You don't usually find RS or residual sugar on a lot of other varietals carried here. >> A lot of floral notes as well. I will say this is like a charon. >> Oh, just a gorgeous like bouquet of of really fresh fruit salad like green pineapple, lime, lemon, hint of like lime, sherbet, little bit of lychi. I could really just drink that in the bath like every single night.

It's just like a fantastic little wine. Super zingy, really fresh. really lends itself to the dish because it's just so bright and explosive. >> So, I'm just gonna go for it and say Reeseling um from Australia. $29. >> Char 14. >> It is. So, we got little uh ghost curtains today.

Pink ones. And it is >> LA number four, >> which is kind of like his little entry level, but it is German Rezling. So, great call on the Rezling.

That was fabulous. I wish it was an Aussie reasoning obviously. I think he got fooled by me being in the room.

Um, but yeah, so great little producer from the SAR, but super dry, mineraly style, lots of lemon lime flavors. 2023 vintage. Uh, I met him earlier on this year. Very inspiring wine maker.

So, yeah, super cool. Thought I'd throw that in there um as a little kind of like a little squeeze of lime juice over some uh something something fun and juicy. Yum. >> This retail, the little uh rezling here is $30 at your local bottle shop if you can find it cuz it's rare.

It's Colty and you know how much we love Colts. >> Why number two? >> By seeing it, it's like has more body to it. It's like it's been aged a little bit more, a little longer than the first one. But by doing this, you see all the specks staying in the glass. >> This definitely has more of a golden color to it.

Uh but still in the like yellow golden range and even maybe some some green glint influence. The nose immediately is a bit more savory kind of like honey kumquat lime blossom little bit of nuttiness like but like a subtle nuttiness. Lately I've been like marona almond where it's kind of like salty oily nutty.

Plenty of apple pear. It's got some richness to the nose but also lots of bright flavors. Yum.

That's really good. >> Wow. This is This is different. >> It's exactly like what I'm into lately as far as balance between all those ripe notes that you also find on the palette. Kind of like a honey tree fruit thing.

Um but then also a bitter edge on the finish, great acidity, still super dry. The herbal influence and vegetital influence makes me think Gruner Vetliner, but definitely a Gruner coming from a slightly warmer climate within Austria or something that maybe has a little age on it. >> Yeah, it's more mineral instead of like it doesn't have like a it's salty almost for like I would say it's from the Mediterranean. >> It could be Savanyon Blanc, but the honeyed notes are kind of throwing me off from that and there's not a ton of grapefruit. or passion fruit. >> Just like this awesome savory textural wine, white pepper, more kind of pear, soft pear flavors, maybe yellow pear, nashy pear, let's go for that. It just has this kind of great balance and consistency of the wine.

The length of the palette is awesome. It's really well made. You know that they've been doing it for since the 14th century.

So, how many years is that? It's two I can't even count. If you've been that long in the game, you better be doing something right, you know. >> Yeah, this one's tricky, but I'm going to go uh Gruner Vetuner Austria. $42. >> This is a Von Blanc.

Probably got a French wine. Probably $25. >> Second wine. What do you think? >> My favorite. >> Yeah. >> Second one. >> Yeah.

Did you like that kind of savory characteristic that was? >> Yeah. I like how it's both savory and herbal. >> Yes. >> Yeah. It has really good like green notes to balance off the like honey savory. >> Yeah.

I think you kind of nailed it when you said it might have a bit of age. >> Um it's got a tiny little bit of age. You call it Savon Blanc. >> Mhm. >> From France, >> which is pretty close cuz it does have a herbaceious element. It's pretty pretty sick. >> It is Mahov Grina. >> Oh wow. >> 2001.

This family has been making wine in cremestyles since the 1400s. So, they've been around for a really long time. They got some really interesting stuff that's going on.

They're now trying to kind of bring back old vines or old grape varieties. So, they've got one called Rotoellina. I think there's 250 hectares planted in Austria and they've got 15 hectares of it.

Beautiful family. They came in and did a dinner uh last week. Last week.

Yeah. and they just do smashing stuff, but it's very textural. So sometimes Gruner can be like super racy white pepper on that kind of spectrum or it can have more complexity and texture and I think this wine kind of really dabbles in the complexity of the wines and >> amaze just so >> amaze. >> Yeah, totally. Yeah, it's just so yummy and it's so layered with different flavors.

I think you rattled off about 10 different flavors on the nose. You were just like peach, flowers, spice, savory notes. was really good. Again, rare, but family's been around since the 14th century.

Very dope wine. Uh, this would be around $45 in your bottle shop. 2001 just >> 2001. >> 200 21, sorry. Not 2001. 2021.

H, I didn't make past the fourth grade. >> So, this one uh, color-wise is still in the golden realm. Kind of. Yeah.

More like dark yellow. really really pretty. The nose is even more savory than the last two. Maybe savory is the wrong word.

A little bit more kind of like sweet fruit. Candied pineapple apple skin. Kind of like a floral caramel thing, but not in an oxidative way.

Just kind of keeping in the candied realm. It's got like apple pie vibes. Now, this is super sweet.

Like peaches there, like a lot of peaches in it. A lot of acidity, too, but not as much as the first one. >> Haven't had wines with a little sweetness in a while. Um, this definitely has some sweetness to it, but balanced by great acidity that keeps the palette fresh after you taste it.

Immediately, my mind goes semion. um based on the tropical, but it's not as tropical as Savon Blanc, but a little bit of that like passion fruit, pineapple, but like lots of honey, but almost like a herbal honey, like honey infused with hops, but not not intense hoppy flavor. The palette's definitely kind of like mediumbodied. Um definitely some residual sugar in there, which makes me think warmer climate. um but also could be really nice and ripe before they pick it.

This is where you get that mineralness and sense of earth coming out of the wine mixed with some fruit kind of like peach, canned peaches, uh canned pineapple, some really kind of like it's just different. More people should be drinking demise wines. Like I get it.

People think they're sweet, but I also get it. It's more flavor and more balanced. Like the acidity really cleans it up.

And to have this paired with a little I guess it is food war. But it would just be awesome. Like I'm not asking you to go to the park and smash three bottles of this in the hot sun.

No, I'm not. I'm asking you to sit in a a great little restaurant, order it with some great little dishes that you it's going to really compliment like, excuse me, swearing. It's [ __ ] great wine.

So get into it. >> Um, okay. Here I want to go. Simeon, Australia, $25.

Very unsure about that. >> I will say this is a like a chair as well from California. Probably $20 a bottle. >> That was hard. Like I was red the whole time. >> Jane, why number three?

What' you think? Um, I liked it. Uh, I don't often taste wines with a this much perceivable sweetness to it.

Um, but I really like it because it brings all the flavors out. >> Um, also kind of has a like honeyed note. Could get in the way of like dessert pairing but balanced by acidity, which I really appreciate. >> Do you think it would it'd pair well with some of your tacos? >> Uh, no. >> Maybe with my Maybe with my churas. Maybe with my churas.

Yes, it will be like a nice amount. Yeah, because my churas are super rich, >> but this is like rich at first, but then >> it kind of cleanses out. Cleanses out.

So, I think it will go something nice like peaches and cream, you know. I said some cream with my churas and pineapple. So, I think it will go great with that.

But not with my tacos. With my tacos, this one I have an octopus taco that will go great with this. So, it has a lot of herbal like a I do it like a habanero cilantro puree and then a a chote which is like a red sauce.

Yeah. So, yeah, it will go great without. >> Okay. So, the next three B wines is at Luchor. >> Chef Z is going to cook.

Uh Jane's going to choose the wine. I'm going to be tasting this time because >> I want to taste the food. Okay, let's go.

I grew obviously grew up in Sydney and there's loads of Thai restaurants and I had uh loads of friends that were Thai and they used to take me to these Tai restaurants and they would uh order everything for me in Thai so I didn't really know what was going on and then they'd put the dish down in front of me and it was always Sunday and we'd always have bottles of like rezings and Gruners and stuff like that on the table and then they just watch me sweat as I was eating this super chili food trying to skull wine to to kind of soothe smooth my burning throat, that kind of thing. So, this is kind of my inspiration between behind these wines. So, little bit of sweetness kind of knocks off that that very spicy characteristic.

It kind of balances it out slightly and also a little bit of texture sometimes is is really nice or a squeeze of lime juice on top. So, that's always good for me. My number three is a classic old school classic.

It is >> Oh, yum. >> from Vuvet. A little ShenBlanc. It is demi off dry uh lemo pouet.

Really really lovely wine. If you should get your hands on it, please do. You can age these things for a long long time.

And so I would buy a case, put six in the cellar, drink six, and then uh just see how it ages over 10 years. So it's a really really great little wine. So like you said, Chardonnay for California. [ __ ] really good call actually cuz I I always get stumped on Shannon.

So I'm trying to drink as much Shannon Blanc as possible. Everyone drink lots of Shannon. >> Um because you can get like dry styles and also sweet styles. Jane, you said semi from Australia.

No bad call to the Hun Valley. Good call to the Hunter Valley. Um again, they also can be textural and dry at the same time.

So >> yeah, cool. I got into this wine really early in my wine career. The lemon um good friend of mine, Nick Hildbrand, >> had it on his wine list and I was a budding young wine profess.

Well, I wasn't [ __ ] wine professional. I was probably just a silly kid trying to make it in the wine game and I loved this wine when I first tasted and we used to have it on. Really?

This is uh probably in your local bottle shop if you can find it for around $50. Hi, I'm Justin. I'm the executive chef of Somebody People.

Today I made a roasted milk and carrot dish tossed in a Thai chili garlic sauce. Pretty much just made it like a nimchon. Uh, I could be butchering the name of it, so I rather just call it a Thai chili sauce.

Uh, it's made with garlic, Thai chilis, a vegan fish sauce, lime juice, orange juice, agave, this Filipino vinegar called datupi. Just all kind of like Robocued up and all put together. The idea of the dish was to have something that's going to be like warm but like lightly refreshing.

It's been hot as [ __ ] out here lately. For me, I kind of lend myself towards eating spicy foods when it's really hot. And I also just thought it'd be a fun dish to pair off um some wines.

It's just really nice. Any allergies? >> Nope. >> Okay, good. >> No. >> So, we need someone's swelling up. >> I'm allergic to hunger. >> I want to go with water. >> Okay, cool. >> All right. And so the key here is to see which wine is the best pairing for the dish. >> Okay. >> And so you you know just see how it goes whether if none of them go.

I was thinking of putting an Aussie Shiraz in this lineup just to fool everyone. But >> smells so good. Gorgeous. >> Yeah.

There's a good bit of spice in there. Little heat. >> Pretty good. >> Yeah. There's so much flavor in layers.

Yeah. I think the reasoning adds this kind of little lemon juice, but it might get a little bit lost in the flavors. something. There's so much flavor going on that the Reisling might be a little >> like >> Yeah, >> rezling would be kind of like a thirst quencher pairing.

I think the Gruner would compliment a little bit more and still kind of like heightens that herbaceious flavor and then the acidity >> pairs beautifully. >> The second one brings the chili out like the chili out more. >> Yeah. Like first you feel all the explosion of flavors then the freshness of the earth and once you drink the wine the chili comes out. >> Yeah. Ohly.

Yeah. Just all you can taste is chili. >> Uhhuh. >> It's not bad with the shenlanc either. >> No, I think the shenlanc kind of cleans up the palette after all those flavors. So so much stuff going on in the dish. >> Like chilies, onions, umami, >> MSG just like packed in there.

It's great. The Shannon just kind of takes that away. Yeah. >> And kind of resets your palette, which is kind of nice, actually. >> The last one, right? >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> The vegan fish sauce is blowing my mind.

That's crazy. >> I know. >> Vegan fish sauce is a sauce that I was uh introduced to by the guys at Sapsua. And it's made of pineapple extract, uh soybean extract, and a couple other fun stuff. And it's just funky, fun.

It brings a little bit of a mouth feel to it. >> I like it with the second one cuz I like chili. >> Yeah. >> You know, I feel like other people going to be overwhelmed like, "Oh, >> but I think it's beautiful." But with the last one, everything comes together like it's like one bite. With this one, you feel every single thing like >> feno do and boom, the chili. >> Jane, what's your favorite? >> The menhoff Gruner Vatliner. It has enough weight to it from the little bit of age on the wine to complement all of the really bold flavors in the dish.

Um, but then also enough like brightness and acidity to kind of heighten the chili influence and all of the herbal components as well. Yes. Why number two? >> Yeah, same thing.

I like this wine number two. I feel like uh every component shines when you eat it and when you drink the wine, you can tell which what is made out of the dish, which is nice, but then the chili pops out. So, which is a surprise and a nice surprise. >> It's It's great.

I tried the three wines. I do honestly think that the first wine, I don't know the name of it, but I think it would be the nicest just because I think it compliments the dish altogether. You get to taste a little bit of everything.

It brings out the spiciness of the carrots. You can really taste the fish sauce and the funkiness. All the herbs are there.

Um, I just think it would be like a super nice pairing. I think wine number one took me back to Sydney. So, I do like that.

But I am going to go for wine number three actually. So, the lemo. I just like the way it reset your palette so you can eat more.

And I kind of like that with kind of Thai based food cuz I want to eat a lot of it every time I taste it cuz it's so good. And so I just kind of try and smash it down really quickly. And that way I can drink it cuz it kind of soothes my burning throat. [Laughter] Yum. >> Thank you so much. >> Yeah, great lineup. >> Thank you for the invite.

You nailed it. >> The Gruner. I'm like, yes. Well, I recently had that um I don't know if you came across this bottle, the S tag, 2015 Gruner from Anvil, and that like blew my mind as far as like aged Gruner.

So, >> that's what we had at the last tasting at Hop Alley. And I called Chardonnay on that. >> Really? >> Yeah. Cuz I was like, I don't know what the [ __ ] this cuz it's really natural. >> That is really good though.

Yeah. Yeah. >> And then this I totally I was like, "Oh, Australia. >> I used to live in those apartments there." >> Oh, really? >> Yes.