February 14, 2025 • 28 mins
In this engaging episode, Tyrene dives deep into the world of value wines with Freddie, featuring selections that are both affordable and delectable. The spotlight is on three accessible wines, including a Vinho Verde and an Amarone from Trader Joe's and a special find, a Merlot, from Costco. The host guides listeners through a tasting, discussing each wine's unique characteristics and potential food pairings, proving that quality doesn't have to be expensive. This informative session is perfect for those looking to expand their wine knowledge without stretching their budget.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello listeners, we're back here breaking bread in Napa.
(00:25):
I'm so excited.
We've got a great show for you today.
I know we've had a couple of episodes that we've focused on value quality wines, but we're
really going to dig deep into the value lines.
A few of our listeners have gave us some great feedback on some of these wines that we're
tasting are in the 50, 60, 70, 80 dollar bottle range.
(00:48):
That's not always accessible to the masses that we would like to introduce to wine.
Our goal here at Breaking Bread is definitely bring fun into wine tasting and exploring
different wine regions and really getting a lot of people involved, either young, old,
you don't have to break the bank in order to enjoy an amazing bottle of wine.
(01:11):
With that, we wanted to cover a couple of, actually three wines we have to taste today,
totally accessible.
Two of them are going to be from Trader Joe's, that friend of the pod, Freddie, who I'll
introduce in a minute.
He's going to cover those.
So exciting.
Napa just got their first Costco.
So naturally we took a drive over to the new Costco to check out the wine department.
(01:37):
There's a great selection there, but we really wanted to hone into on some special value wines.
I think we really closed in on one.
I'm going to cover that one.
It's by Whitehall Lane, and it is a Napa Valley Merlot.
We are going to get started with the two that Freddie wants to introduce us to.
(01:57):
So again, Freddie, who certainly helps with the production of the podcast, but Freddie,
I want to let you give a little background on yourself.
Yeah, Freddie here.
I live in Oakland, California, product manager.
And yeah, currently been helping Tyreen out with the production of this podcast and ready
(02:21):
to dig into these value wines.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
So listen, there's just a tee this up, what we're doing, we're actually, we took some
photographs too.
So we're really excited.
We're going to be launching, we launched a podcast site.
We're launching a web website as well.
So we're starting to take some pictures and video and that'll be down the road.
(02:42):
But we are tasting live here the two bottles that Freddie's going to give us a little background
on that he picked up from your local trader Joe's.
And then I'll also give that overview of that Costco bottle of wine that I found in the department
that I think really is a strong Merlot.
But Freddie, why don't you go ahead and take us out.
(03:04):
We're going to start with a white wine, I think.
Go ahead, Freddie, tell us a little background about this white.
Great.
So the first wine we're drinking today is trader Joe's Vino Verde Espiral is the brand.
This is a white wine from Portugal.
It is slightly sparkling.
(03:27):
There is some artificial carbonation happening after the production of the wine.
And something unique about Vino Verde is that it's actually sold within three to six months
of the grape being harvested, which is very much shorter than what is traditional for
(03:47):
most wine.
It's a very light wine, great for kind of by the poolside on a sunny summer day.
It has some notes of green apple and melon.
Typically you'd find Vino Verde and most grocery stores for about $10.
But this one at trader Joe's, it's $4.99.
(04:08):
Wow.
That's amazing.
Let's sip on that and see.
Very fresh tasting.
Very light.
Definitely green apple.
I had that green apple note.
I can taste it all day.
It's amazing.
(04:28):
It's very subtle.
The effervescence is very subtle.
It's not too overwhelming like a champagne or sparkling wine would be.
So very subtle.
I can see this being paired with a cerveche or a shrimp cocktail.
If you're doing appetizers, this is a great wine to bring to a dinner party to kick off
the dinner party or pool time, summertime, spring, just really refreshing light and
(04:55):
certainly doesn't break the bank at all.
But I think that it's a really good wine that you should definitely pick up if you're looking
for that type of wine and you're at your local trader Joe's at $4.99, that can't be beat.
If you're having a party of 30, 40 people, you're definitely going to be able to really
spread it out and everybody will have a nice class or two.
(05:18):
Totally.
One more thing to add about Vino Verde is not that it's actually made from a particular
type of white grape or green grape, but in fact, it's made from any grape and it's more
about the process in which it's made and not necessarily again from a specific variety.
(05:39):
And this is Portugal, right?
A Portuguese wine.
Correct.
This is from Portugal and I think they make it throughout all regions in Portugal.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Excellent.
Listeners, you know that we really focus on Napa.
We're very Napa bias here, of course, because we're recording from here, but we are going
to open up, you know, down the road and future episodes, we're going to definitely cover
(06:02):
the globe and some of the other wine regions of the world.
Even here in the United States, we're looking at maybe next month taking a trip, taking
the podcast on the road to Oregon and taste some pinos up there that they're doing some
really good things with.
But this is only the beginning.
(06:23):
We really just wanted to get that out there with some quality value wines at your local
wine purveyor, if it's Trader Joe's or if you have a favorite wine seller.
So yeah, I think this is a hit.
This is really tasteful and at $4.99, you can't miss this.
So we're going to cleanse our palates.
Freddie's got an Italian wine that I'm excited to taste.
(06:48):
It's one of my favorite grapes of all the Italian region, I should say, is it a region
or is it a grape, Almeroni?
I think it's the type of wine that's made from, I mean, up into it right now, it's made
from a Corvina grape.
But it goes through a very special process that is specific to this type of wine.
(07:13):
The process is called a passamiento, and I'm definitely butchered that in Italian.
But it's actually very unique in that the grapes are shriveled to almost become raisin,
which really concentrates the flavor.
It does also mean that it takes about twice the amount of grapes to create a single bottle
(07:36):
of wine.
Wow.
And an average bottle of wine.
Wow.
Is that for this particular bottle or is this for all Almeronis?
That is the production of, if you're going to produce an Almeroni wine, that is the production.
I didn't know that.
That's correct.
(07:56):
Yeah.
All the Almeronis are made through this process.
And listeners, I like Italian wines, the Chiantis.
There's some really good Chiantis out there.
But Almeroni is one of my favorites.
So really nice to get a little background.
I had no idea that it's the production again of how they make that wine that makes it an
(08:22):
Almeroni.
And again, this is one that you got from Trader Joe's.
Correct.
This one is from Trader Joe's.
And again, on average, these outside of Trader Joe's, these bottles typically start at $50
to $60.
That's the lowest value.
It'll typically fine if you go to a proper wine store.
(08:43):
At Trader Joe's, this one is $15.99.
Wow.
That's amazing.
I know even at restaurants, and if I'm on an Italian restaurant, I always go to the
Almeronis, but they're like $80, $90.
So certainly, it's definitely a pricier one.
So I'm excited.
I haven't tasted it yet.
So why don't we go ahead and give it a taste, right?
Yeah, let's taste it.
(09:04):
All right.
Let's do it.
Listeners, just to kind of give you a background, again, we're going to read the professional
or the wine makers tasting notes so that we know that we can look for some of those notes
and try to identify them.
Because we're just as new tasting some of these wines as everybody else is.
(09:25):
So we want to bring a little fun and experiment.
And there's no right answers.
If you like it, you don't like it.
It's really, it's your palate.
So no pressure there.
But just like four little easy steps to remember.
I know I've mentioned it in another podcast.
But again, you want to look at the wine.
You want to look at the color.
(09:47):
You want to give it a swirl.
You want to help open up the wine.
You want to look for some long legs on the wine, some of that viscosity on the inside
of the interior of the wine glass.
How does the legs run?
You want to look at that.
You want to smell it.
They call it a baguette, but it's a smell.
Just smell the wine.
(10:08):
Smell it.
And then you want to give it a taste.
Swish it around inside your mouth.
Cover your palate and just like try to identify some of the flavor profiles that Freddie,
maybe you can let us know what are some of the profiles that we should be looking for.
Yes, I did a little research.
And some of the notes that you can expect in an amaroni are kind of oak, black and red
(10:34):
fruits and some vanilla and tobacco.
Definitely as I'm tasting it.
Yeah, it's dry, but it's also has some deep flavors and a little bit of even sweetness.
The fruit is really, it's fruit forward, but it ends dry.
It's a dry finish.
Totally.
(10:54):
I feel like I think of an amaroni, but this is a nice balance between fruit forward up
front and then it kind of takes you on this little journey in your palate and you get
to that dry finish, but it's not an overwhelmingly dry finish.
It's a short dry finish, which is nice.
I don't typically care for a long dry finish, but this is really nice, the balance between
(11:20):
the fruit forward and then the drier finish.
Yeah, I was expecting at the beginning of the taste for it to actually be a little more
tannic, more tannins, and it wasn't.
And you really, as you were saying, was fruit forward really tasting some of those dark
fruits like blackberry and cherry, I would say.
(11:44):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Yeah, it's definitely fruity up front.
I look for fruit, I like fruit forward wines typically.
And what year is this?
Is this a specific vintage, this want bottle?
Yeah, this is a 2021.
It's a 2021.
Okay, good, excellent.
(12:04):
Yeah, for $15.99 for an amaroni.
Again, if you're going to that dinner party, you want to bring a nice bottle of red wine.
I mean, stop at your local Trader Joe's and there you go.
I think it's definitely, it's the mark of quality value, certainly.
And another thing I was reading as I was doing research is amaronis, they are ones that can
(12:30):
really use some time aging as well.
You know, they say it's something you can just forget there on average for most bottles,
10 to 15 years even.
And they said if the, you know, the producers really knows what they're doing, even some
high quality bottles, 50 to 60 years.
Wow, holy cow.
So it's like the Cabernet and Napa Cabernet, same thing.
(12:53):
You know, if the producer, you know, has that quality in its production, it could definitely
be put to rest for decades.
It sounds like properly stored, 55 degrees, particular for red wines.
But yeah, no, overall, I think these were really spot on.
(13:15):
Thank you for introducing these wines to me and to the listeners, Freddie, really helpful.
Totally.
Yeah, I think Trader Joe's at large has some really great things to offer.
You know, sometimes you have to know what you're looking for and be willing to try some
different things, but they have a wide range of wines from all around the world.
(13:41):
You know, they might have one option of variety, but if you're willing to try something new,
I would give these to a taste.
Definitely, definitely.
And you know, it helps to get a recommendation.
I can't tell you how many times I've walked into the wine section either at Whole Foods
or even Trader Joe's and people are just like, which rose do I want?
(14:05):
Or which red one?
You know what I mean?
It's like, you just don't know.
But you know, hopefully we can, you know, we're getting our website together and we're
going to start like listing some of these wines.
And if you're out, hey, I really am on my way to the, you know, the dinner party.
Let me just jump on there.
I'm going to stop at Trader Joe's.
Let me see what the Breaking Bread guys, what do they have, you know, on their list.
(14:25):
So we're here to help.
We're here to support that.
We really, we really want to introduce, you know, wine tasting and all the fun and, you
know, the history.
There's just so much, you know, to wine making and the whole experience.
And we're hoping, you know, to get some converts, you know, out there and new, new be wine tasting
(14:51):
folks out there.
You know, just because it is such a beautiful and lovely experience and, you know, just
to share a nice bottle of wine, you don't have to break the bank and you could have
that memory because it's really about memory.
You know, it's like, sit down, open up a nice bottle of wine and, you know, have that conversation,
have that holiday, have that dinner party.
(15:13):
And you know, it's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
And that's what we like to try to, you know, extract and try to, you know, promote here
from, from breaking bread.
So Freddie, do you have anything else to add to your bottles or anything before I don't
want to cut you off short?
No, I think, I think that's, that's, that's all I had for those two.
Okay.
Listeners, we're going to take a break here and we're just going to get into this Merlot.
(15:38):
It's our biggest wine here and we're going to be right back to you.
All right.
Listeners, we're back for our third bottle of quality value wine.
Again, this was the bottle that we just got our Napa Costco and went over there to check
(16:02):
out what the wine department was all about, which is great.
We were looking for cab, but we stumbled across this Merlot, which is just absolutely outstanding.
As a lot of you listeners know, I really am into the family owned vineyards here in Napa
Valley and this one certainly falls into that bucket as well.
(16:23):
It's Whitehall Lane.
They do, you know, a great job.
They do Chardonnays, they do Merlows, they do cabs, Malbacks as well, but this is a Merlot.
It is a 2019 and as I've mentioned on other episodes, 2019 in Napa Valley, that vintage
was an amazing vintage.
(16:44):
We got plenty of wine, excuse me, rain, and we did get plenty of wine as well because
we did get some really nice wine.
It was a late growing, later growing season, March, April, so the rains really went late
in 2019 and by the time, you know, the vineyards started to bloom and everything, it was a
(17:07):
later one, but certainly well with it.
We had a few heat spikes during July and August, but nothing to disrupt the grape growing process.
So it was an abundant vintage.
We've got a lot of production out of it overall in the valley.
So 2019, you know, even if you're out, you know, for dinner or you're, you know, shopping,
(17:31):
look for 2019 because you can't go wrong.
The 2019s are drinking amazingly well right now.
They've aged quite a bit.
I mean, that's like five, six years now.
So and again, it was a great growing season.
So taking it back to Whitehall Lane, it's a 2019 Merlot.
And just to give you a little bit of the breakdown of the percentages, 87% Merlot, 8% Cabernet,
(17:55):
7% Mal, 3% Malback, and 2% Petite Bordeaux.
So that is the breakdown.
And just to give you a little background, 91 points Wine Spectator rated this 91.
That's nothing to sneeze at.
And then James Suckling, he's another wine rater, very well known, 91 points as well.
(18:19):
And then Wine Advocate gave it 90 points.
So, you know, it's definitely well rated and at $27.99 per bottle.
I mean, I think this is a steal.
Freddie and I were just, you know, sipping on it and tasting it and just saying, hey,
I've tasted $60 bottle of Merlot that wasn't as smooth as this particular bottle of wine.
(18:42):
So I'm going to just read some of the winemakers tasting notes and then we're going to take
a sip and try to like identify those tasting notes.
So the winemaker at Whitehall Lane, who is Jason Malton, he said that look for notes
of raspberry croissant, red currants, cocoa powder, and layers of graphite.
(19:04):
And the graphite comes from the soil.
As you know, we've got a lot of volcanic activity here in the valley.
So that graphite is definitely part of that soil as well.
And the pellet showcases fine, firm tannins alongside chocolate cherry, red plums, dried
(19:25):
goji berries, and toasted brioche.
I mean, that's a lot to take in, but that just gives you the idea of the complexity
in the depth of this wine.
And it should be enjoyed now through, it'll sit for until 2035.
So just to give you an idea on proper cell, cellaring.
So yeah, let's, let's take another sip, Freddie, and then try to identify some of those different
(19:48):
flavor profiles from the winemaker.
Yeah, I definitely, I'm definitely seeing the raspberry as compared to like a blackberry
or other dark fruits, because it just has that like artness to it.
And then I think you said croissant and brioche and cocoa powder, and those all are giving
(20:13):
like an element of fat to me.
And I definitely am feeling just just a slight bit of paddiness to it, which, you know, I
think sometimes you might think a bit more on the white chardonnay front, but definitely
getting a little bit of that here as well.
Absolutely, absolutely.
And the finish, if you notice, definitely not dry.
(20:36):
I don't have a dry finish at all.
It's a nice, juicy, long, you know, it's definitely a wet, more wetter finish than as compared
to the Amarone that we tried.
Again, just a difference, different flavor profile.
You know, it's all good.
(20:56):
But yeah, I, this wine at $27.99, I mean, this is amazing.
If you can get to your local Costco or go online, I've seen it online.
It's a little bit, you know, pricier than that $35.
I've seen it online.
But yeah, it's the 2019 Merlot from Whitehall Lane, Napa Valley, outstanding, absolutely
(21:18):
outstanding.
Any other comments, Freddie?
Yeah, just like you were saying, I think it definitely punches above its weight for its
price point.
It's everything I think you want from a Merlot when you're thinking about Merlot.
Just, yeah, very solid there.
(21:38):
Yeah.
I think that's all there is to say.
It's a great wine at a great value.
Absolutely.
All three wines were outstanding.
So as we move forward with the website, we're going to have these listed.
So if you're out there shopping and you're looking for some wines, you'll be able to just
go right to our website and you'll be like, oh yeah, they were drinking that wine.
That was mentioned as a really good quality value and you can feel confident picking that
(22:03):
up.
Everything we taste here, we're listeners, we're not going to give you anything that's
not good here.
Nobody gets on this podcast unless this wine is good.
That's from our hearts, our soul.
Any wine that we taste here is going to be solid.
Otherwise, it ain't making it on the podcast at all.
So you can be confident with it.
As we took a break, Freddie and I kind of broke out into saying, when was the first time that
(22:28):
you tasted wine and how did you get involved in wine?
And we've got a couple of little stories here.
We'd love to share with you because we are trying to really get that younger, newbie wine
drinkers to the party here.
So sharing some of these little stories here, I think hopefully it resonates to you guys.
(22:52):
Freddie, tell us about how you got into wine.
Yeah.
So I believe I was around the age of 15 when I started drinking wine.
With dinner, with my parents, they started giving me one glass with dinner.
Kind of a great experience just to, you know, I think a lot of kids when they're teenagers
(23:18):
in high school will want to go a little crazy with it.
Wine was a great place to just start getting introduced and getting introduced that may
be a more responsible way, but also a way that you're interested in the culture behind
drinking instead of just drinking to drink.
For the sake of drinking, you're getting drunk.
(23:40):
Exactly.
Exactly.
And so, you know, I know I brought a Italian wine today.
The wines that my parents were drinking at the time, they were really obsessed or really
interested in the aunties also from Italy.
And so that's where I started my wine journey, I guess.
(24:06):
That actually struck up a memory.
I have another memory that I was going to, but my grandparents are a full Italian.
My grandfather was Sicilian.
My grandmother was Roman.
And so now that I do think it, we always had Sunday dinner, so they had wine there.
So my grandfather's buddy grew grapes.
This is in the Midwest and made his own wine.
(24:27):
So it was a big jug.
He always gave it to my grandfather, obviously his best friend.
So that's what we had at the dinner table was, you know, I couldn't even tell you if
it was Chianti versus whatever.
It was what he was growing, but that was my first introduction into wine.
Did I like it?
Absolutely not.
And then later on as my adolescence, experimental into different types of alcohol, wine, beer,
(24:56):
what have you, Boone's Farm, Strawberry Hill, that comes to mind loud and clear.
And then after that, it was, that was not, you know, that was not wine to me at all.
And it wasn't something that I carried through.
But right out of university, my first job was in the Bay Area here, which is how I came
to know the Bay Area and obviously move here and just fall in love with the Napa Valley.
(25:23):
So you know, a bunch of work colleagues were like, you're saying for the weekend?
I'm like, yeah, of course, you know, they're like, well, we're all going to Napa.
I'm like Napa, what's that all about?
So again, this was, you know, bright eyed, you know, right out of university, headed
up to Napa, an amazing experience that was actually in the 80s.
I know I'm aging myself, people.
(25:44):
But you know, fell in love with it.
I was telling, Freddie was asking me like, what was that experience like being in Napa
Valley compared to what the wineries are like today, which is completely night and day.
I can remember this, this is a very fond memory actually.
They're trailers.
We were tasting wine and trailers on the winery properties and they would just, you know, there
(26:07):
was standing, you just stood there and the winemaker would come out and pour, you know,
a few of his new releases and some of his special wines.
And you know, I didn't look back.
After that experience, I thought it was just amazing and compared to what my previous experience
to Boone's farm and then tasting a real like California wine, I was, that just set me off
(26:30):
and it was a beautiful experience and haven't looked back.
And certainly as you all know, at least I hope you know that that's where the passion
began for me, which just, this is such a special place and I just want to share it with everyone
and hopefully, you know, maybe just, you know, give some pointers and new people to taste
(26:52):
this wine and it's a beautiful experience.
And if you can come here, we've got loads of different wineries that obviously we cover
on the podcast for you to visit and we're just so excited and thank you so much.
Um, Freddie, did you have any final words for the listeners today before we sign off
here?
Just, uh, just to continue what you were saying, um, if you would like to reach out to us about
(27:18):
joining us on the pod or have any feedback for us, um, you can contact us directly at
breakingbreadinnappa at gmail.com.
That's where you can do it.
Please do listeners.
Please do.
If you want your feedback and you know, if you want to be part of the podcast and come
on with us as a guest, we would love to have you with that.
(27:40):
We're, we're going to sign off and finish some of this delicious, uh, Merlot that we
just opened up.
Thank you all and, uh, look forward to talking soon.
Bye.
Hey.
Hello listeners, we're back here breaking bread in Napa.
(00:25):
I'm so excited.
We've got a great show for you today.
I know we've had a couple of episodes that we've focused on value quality wines, but we're
really going to dig deep into the value lines.
A few of our listeners have gave us some great feedback on some of these wines that we're
tasting are in the 50, 60, 70, 80 dollar bottle range.
(00:48):
That's not always accessible to the masses that we would like to introduce to wine.
Our goal here at Breaking Bread is definitely bring fun into wine tasting and exploring
different wine regions and really getting a lot of people involved, either young, old,
you don't have to break the bank in order to enjoy an amazing bottle of wine.
(01:11):
With that, we wanted to cover a couple of, actually three wines we have to taste today,
totally accessible.
Two of them are going to be from Trader Joe's, that friend of the pod, Freddie, who I'll
introduce in a minute.
He's going to cover those.
So exciting.
Napa just got their first Costco.
So naturally we took a drive over to the new Costco to check out the wine department.
(01:37):
There's a great selection there, but we really wanted to hone into on some special value wines.
I think we really closed in on one.
I'm going to cover that one.
It's by Whitehall Lane, and it is a Napa Valley Merlot.
We are going to get started with the two that Freddie wants to introduce us to.
(01:57):
So again, Freddie, who certainly helps with the production of the podcast, but Freddie,
I want to let you give a little background on yourself.
Yeah, Freddie here.
I live in Oakland, California, product manager.
And yeah, currently been helping Tyreen out with the production of this podcast and ready
(02:21):
to dig into these value wines.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
So listen, there's just a tee this up, what we're doing, we're actually, we took some
photographs too.
So we're really excited.
We're going to be launching, we launched a podcast site.
We're launching a web website as well.
So we're starting to take some pictures and video and that'll be down the road.
(02:42):
But we are tasting live here the two bottles that Freddie's going to give us a little background
on that he picked up from your local trader Joe's.
And then I'll also give that overview of that Costco bottle of wine that I found in the department
that I think really is a strong Merlot.
But Freddie, why don't you go ahead and take us out.
(03:04):
We're going to start with a white wine, I think.
Go ahead, Freddie, tell us a little background about this white.
Great.
So the first wine we're drinking today is trader Joe's Vino Verde Espiral is the brand.
This is a white wine from Portugal.
It is slightly sparkling.
(03:27):
There is some artificial carbonation happening after the production of the wine.
And something unique about Vino Verde is that it's actually sold within three to six months
of the grape being harvested, which is very much shorter than what is traditional for
(03:47):
most wine.
It's a very light wine, great for kind of by the poolside on a sunny summer day.
It has some notes of green apple and melon.
Typically you'd find Vino Verde and most grocery stores for about $10.
But this one at trader Joe's, it's $4.99.
(04:08):
Wow.
That's amazing.
Let's sip on that and see.
Very fresh tasting.
Very light.
Definitely green apple.
I had that green apple note.
I can taste it all day.
It's amazing.
(04:28):
It's very subtle.
The effervescence is very subtle.
It's not too overwhelming like a champagne or sparkling wine would be.
So very subtle.
I can see this being paired with a cerveche or a shrimp cocktail.
If you're doing appetizers, this is a great wine to bring to a dinner party to kick off
the dinner party or pool time, summertime, spring, just really refreshing light and
(04:55):
certainly doesn't break the bank at all.
But I think that it's a really good wine that you should definitely pick up if you're looking
for that type of wine and you're at your local trader Joe's at $4.99, that can't be beat.
If you're having a party of 30, 40 people, you're definitely going to be able to really
spread it out and everybody will have a nice class or two.
(05:18):
Totally.
One more thing to add about Vino Verde is not that it's actually made from a particular
type of white grape or green grape, but in fact, it's made from any grape and it's more
about the process in which it's made and not necessarily again from a specific variety.
(05:39):
And this is Portugal, right?
A Portuguese wine.
Correct.
This is from Portugal and I think they make it throughout all regions in Portugal.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Excellent.
Listeners, you know that we really focus on Napa.
We're very Napa bias here, of course, because we're recording from here, but we are going
to open up, you know, down the road and future episodes, we're going to definitely cover
(06:02):
the globe and some of the other wine regions of the world.
Even here in the United States, we're looking at maybe next month taking a trip, taking
the podcast on the road to Oregon and taste some pinos up there that they're doing some
really good things with.
But this is only the beginning.
(06:23):
We really just wanted to get that out there with some quality value wines at your local
wine purveyor, if it's Trader Joe's or if you have a favorite wine seller.
So yeah, I think this is a hit.
This is really tasteful and at $4.99, you can't miss this.
So we're going to cleanse our palates.
Freddie's got an Italian wine that I'm excited to taste.
(06:48):
It's one of my favorite grapes of all the Italian region, I should say, is it a region
or is it a grape, Almeroni?
I think it's the type of wine that's made from, I mean, up into it right now, it's made
from a Corvina grape.
But it goes through a very special process that is specific to this type of wine.
(07:13):
The process is called a passamiento, and I'm definitely butchered that in Italian.
But it's actually very unique in that the grapes are shriveled to almost become raisin,
which really concentrates the flavor.
It does also mean that it takes about twice the amount of grapes to create a single bottle
(07:36):
of wine.
Wow.
And an average bottle of wine.
Wow.
Is that for this particular bottle or is this for all Almeronis?
That is the production of, if you're going to produce an Almeroni wine, that is the production.
I didn't know that.
That's correct.
(07:56):
Yeah.
All the Almeronis are made through this process.
And listeners, I like Italian wines, the Chiantis.
There's some really good Chiantis out there.
But Almeroni is one of my favorites.
So really nice to get a little background.
I had no idea that it's the production again of how they make that wine that makes it an
(08:22):
Almeroni.
And again, this is one that you got from Trader Joe's.
Correct.
This one is from Trader Joe's.
And again, on average, these outside of Trader Joe's, these bottles typically start at $50
to $60.
That's the lowest value.
It'll typically fine if you go to a proper wine store.
(08:43):
At Trader Joe's, this one is $15.99.
Wow.
That's amazing.
I know even at restaurants, and if I'm on an Italian restaurant, I always go to the
Almeronis, but they're like $80, $90.
So certainly, it's definitely a pricier one.
So I'm excited.
I haven't tasted it yet.
So why don't we go ahead and give it a taste, right?
Yeah, let's taste it.
(09:04):
All right.
Let's do it.
Listeners, just to kind of give you a background, again, we're going to read the professional
or the wine makers tasting notes so that we know that we can look for some of those notes
and try to identify them.
Because we're just as new tasting some of these wines as everybody else is.
(09:25):
So we want to bring a little fun and experiment.
And there's no right answers.
If you like it, you don't like it.
It's really, it's your palate.
So no pressure there.
But just like four little easy steps to remember.
I know I've mentioned it in another podcast.
But again, you want to look at the wine.
You want to look at the color.
(09:47):
You want to give it a swirl.
You want to help open up the wine.
You want to look for some long legs on the wine, some of that viscosity on the inside
of the interior of the wine glass.
How does the legs run?
You want to look at that.
You want to smell it.
They call it a baguette, but it's a smell.
Just smell the wine.
(10:08):
Smell it.
And then you want to give it a taste.
Swish it around inside your mouth.
Cover your palate and just like try to identify some of the flavor profiles that Freddie,
maybe you can let us know what are some of the profiles that we should be looking for.
Yes, I did a little research.
And some of the notes that you can expect in an amaroni are kind of oak, black and red
(10:34):
fruits and some vanilla and tobacco.
Definitely as I'm tasting it.
Yeah, it's dry, but it's also has some deep flavors and a little bit of even sweetness.
The fruit is really, it's fruit forward, but it ends dry.
It's a dry finish.
Totally.
(10:54):
I feel like I think of an amaroni, but this is a nice balance between fruit forward up
front and then it kind of takes you on this little journey in your palate and you get
to that dry finish, but it's not an overwhelmingly dry finish.
It's a short dry finish, which is nice.
I don't typically care for a long dry finish, but this is really nice, the balance between
(11:20):
the fruit forward and then the drier finish.
Yeah, I was expecting at the beginning of the taste for it to actually be a little more
tannic, more tannins, and it wasn't.
And you really, as you were saying, was fruit forward really tasting some of those dark
fruits like blackberry and cherry, I would say.
(11:44):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Yeah, it's definitely fruity up front.
I look for fruit, I like fruit forward wines typically.
And what year is this?
Is this a specific vintage, this want bottle?
Yeah, this is a 2021.
It's a 2021.
Okay, good, excellent.
(12:04):
Yeah, for $15.99 for an amaroni.
Again, if you're going to that dinner party, you want to bring a nice bottle of red wine.
I mean, stop at your local Trader Joe's and there you go.
I think it's definitely, it's the mark of quality value, certainly.
And another thing I was reading as I was doing research is amaronis, they are ones that can
(12:30):
really use some time aging as well.
You know, they say it's something you can just forget there on average for most bottles,
10 to 15 years even.
And they said if the, you know, the producers really knows what they're doing, even some
high quality bottles, 50 to 60 years.
Wow, holy cow.
So it's like the Cabernet and Napa Cabernet, same thing.
(12:53):
You know, if the producer, you know, has that quality in its production, it could definitely
be put to rest for decades.
It sounds like properly stored, 55 degrees, particular for red wines.
But yeah, no, overall, I think these were really spot on.
(13:15):
Thank you for introducing these wines to me and to the listeners, Freddie, really helpful.
Totally.
Yeah, I think Trader Joe's at large has some really great things to offer.
You know, sometimes you have to know what you're looking for and be willing to try some
different things, but they have a wide range of wines from all around the world.
(13:41):
You know, they might have one option of variety, but if you're willing to try something new,
I would give these to a taste.
Definitely, definitely.
And you know, it helps to get a recommendation.
I can't tell you how many times I've walked into the wine section either at Whole Foods
or even Trader Joe's and people are just like, which rose do I want?
(14:05):
Or which red one?
You know what I mean?
It's like, you just don't know.
But you know, hopefully we can, you know, we're getting our website together and we're
going to start like listing some of these wines.
And if you're out, hey, I really am on my way to the, you know, the dinner party.
Let me just jump on there.
I'm going to stop at Trader Joe's.
Let me see what the Breaking Bread guys, what do they have, you know, on their list.
(14:25):
So we're here to help.
We're here to support that.
We really, we really want to introduce, you know, wine tasting and all the fun and, you
know, the history.
There's just so much, you know, to wine making and the whole experience.
And we're hoping, you know, to get some converts, you know, out there and new, new be wine tasting
(14:51):
folks out there.
You know, just because it is such a beautiful and lovely experience and, you know, just
to share a nice bottle of wine, you don't have to break the bank and you could have
that memory because it's really about memory.
You know, it's like, sit down, open up a nice bottle of wine and, you know, have that conversation,
have that holiday, have that dinner party.
(15:13):
And you know, it's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
And that's what we like to try to, you know, extract and try to, you know, promote here
from, from breaking bread.
So Freddie, do you have anything else to add to your bottles or anything before I don't
want to cut you off short?
No, I think, I think that's, that's, that's all I had for those two.
Okay.
Listeners, we're going to take a break here and we're just going to get into this Merlot.
(15:38):
It's our biggest wine here and we're going to be right back to you.
All right.
Listeners, we're back for our third bottle of quality value wine.
Again, this was the bottle that we just got our Napa Costco and went over there to check
(16:02):
out what the wine department was all about, which is great.
We were looking for cab, but we stumbled across this Merlot, which is just absolutely outstanding.
As a lot of you listeners know, I really am into the family owned vineyards here in Napa
Valley and this one certainly falls into that bucket as well.
(16:23):
It's Whitehall Lane.
They do, you know, a great job.
They do Chardonnays, they do Merlows, they do cabs, Malbacks as well, but this is a Merlot.
It is a 2019 and as I've mentioned on other episodes, 2019 in Napa Valley, that vintage
was an amazing vintage.
(16:44):
We got plenty of wine, excuse me, rain, and we did get plenty of wine as well because
we did get some really nice wine.
It was a late growing, later growing season, March, April, so the rains really went late
in 2019 and by the time, you know, the vineyards started to bloom and everything, it was a
(17:07):
later one, but certainly well with it.
We had a few heat spikes during July and August, but nothing to disrupt the grape growing process.
So it was an abundant vintage.
We've got a lot of production out of it overall in the valley.
So 2019, you know, even if you're out, you know, for dinner or you're, you know, shopping,
(17:31):
look for 2019 because you can't go wrong.
The 2019s are drinking amazingly well right now.
They've aged quite a bit.
I mean, that's like five, six years now.
So and again, it was a great growing season.
So taking it back to Whitehall Lane, it's a 2019 Merlot.
And just to give you a little bit of the breakdown of the percentages, 87% Merlot, 8% Cabernet,
(17:55):
7% Mal, 3% Malback, and 2% Petite Bordeaux.
So that is the breakdown.
And just to give you a little background, 91 points Wine Spectator rated this 91.
That's nothing to sneeze at.
And then James Suckling, he's another wine rater, very well known, 91 points as well.
(18:19):
And then Wine Advocate gave it 90 points.
So, you know, it's definitely well rated and at $27.99 per bottle.
I mean, I think this is a steal.
Freddie and I were just, you know, sipping on it and tasting it and just saying, hey,
I've tasted $60 bottle of Merlot that wasn't as smooth as this particular bottle of wine.
(18:42):
So I'm going to just read some of the winemakers tasting notes and then we're going to take
a sip and try to like identify those tasting notes.
So the winemaker at Whitehall Lane, who is Jason Malton, he said that look for notes
of raspberry croissant, red currants, cocoa powder, and layers of graphite.
(19:04):
And the graphite comes from the soil.
As you know, we've got a lot of volcanic activity here in the valley.
So that graphite is definitely part of that soil as well.
And the pellet showcases fine, firm tannins alongside chocolate cherry, red plums, dried
(19:25):
goji berries, and toasted brioche.
I mean, that's a lot to take in, but that just gives you the idea of the complexity
in the depth of this wine.
And it should be enjoyed now through, it'll sit for until 2035.
So just to give you an idea on proper cell, cellaring.
So yeah, let's, let's take another sip, Freddie, and then try to identify some of those different
(19:48):
flavor profiles from the winemaker.
Yeah, I definitely, I'm definitely seeing the raspberry as compared to like a blackberry
or other dark fruits, because it just has that like artness to it.
And then I think you said croissant and brioche and cocoa powder, and those all are giving
(20:13):
like an element of fat to me.
And I definitely am feeling just just a slight bit of paddiness to it, which, you know, I
think sometimes you might think a bit more on the white chardonnay front, but definitely
getting a little bit of that here as well.
Absolutely, absolutely.
And the finish, if you notice, definitely not dry.
(20:36):
I don't have a dry finish at all.
It's a nice, juicy, long, you know, it's definitely a wet, more wetter finish than as compared
to the Amarone that we tried.
Again, just a difference, different flavor profile.
You know, it's all good.
(20:56):
But yeah, I, this wine at $27.99, I mean, this is amazing.
If you can get to your local Costco or go online, I've seen it online.
It's a little bit, you know, pricier than that $35.
I've seen it online.
But yeah, it's the 2019 Merlot from Whitehall Lane, Napa Valley, outstanding, absolutely
(21:18):
outstanding.
Any other comments, Freddie?
Yeah, just like you were saying, I think it definitely punches above its weight for its
price point.
It's everything I think you want from a Merlot when you're thinking about Merlot.
Just, yeah, very solid there.
(21:38):
Yeah.
I think that's all there is to say.
It's a great wine at a great value.
Absolutely.
All three wines were outstanding.
So as we move forward with the website, we're going to have these listed.
So if you're out there shopping and you're looking for some wines, you'll be able to just
go right to our website and you'll be like, oh yeah, they were drinking that wine.
That was mentioned as a really good quality value and you can feel confident picking that
(22:03):
up.
Everything we taste here, we're listeners, we're not going to give you anything that's
not good here.
Nobody gets on this podcast unless this wine is good.
That's from our hearts, our soul.
Any wine that we taste here is going to be solid.
Otherwise, it ain't making it on the podcast at all.
So you can be confident with it.
As we took a break, Freddie and I kind of broke out into saying, when was the first time that
(22:28):
you tasted wine and how did you get involved in wine?
And we've got a couple of little stories here.
We'd love to share with you because we are trying to really get that younger, newbie wine
drinkers to the party here.
So sharing some of these little stories here, I think hopefully it resonates to you guys.
(22:52):
Freddie, tell us about how you got into wine.
Yeah.
So I believe I was around the age of 15 when I started drinking wine.
With dinner, with my parents, they started giving me one glass with dinner.
Kind of a great experience just to, you know, I think a lot of kids when they're teenagers
(23:18):
in high school will want to go a little crazy with it.
Wine was a great place to just start getting introduced and getting introduced that may
be a more responsible way, but also a way that you're interested in the culture behind
drinking instead of just drinking to drink.
For the sake of drinking, you're getting drunk.
(23:40):
Exactly.
Exactly.
And so, you know, I know I brought a Italian wine today.
The wines that my parents were drinking at the time, they were really obsessed or really
interested in the aunties also from Italy.
And so that's where I started my wine journey, I guess.
(24:06):
That actually struck up a memory.
I have another memory that I was going to, but my grandparents are a full Italian.
My grandfather was Sicilian.
My grandmother was Roman.
And so now that I do think it, we always had Sunday dinner, so they had wine there.
So my grandfather's buddy grew grapes.
This is in the Midwest and made his own wine.
(24:27):
So it was a big jug.
He always gave it to my grandfather, obviously his best friend.
So that's what we had at the dinner table was, you know, I couldn't even tell you if
it was Chianti versus whatever.
It was what he was growing, but that was my first introduction into wine.
Did I like it?
Absolutely not.
And then later on as my adolescence, experimental into different types of alcohol, wine, beer,
(24:56):
what have you, Boone's Farm, Strawberry Hill, that comes to mind loud and clear.
And then after that, it was, that was not, you know, that was not wine to me at all.
And it wasn't something that I carried through.
But right out of university, my first job was in the Bay Area here, which is how I came
to know the Bay Area and obviously move here and just fall in love with the Napa Valley.
(25:23):
So you know, a bunch of work colleagues were like, you're saying for the weekend?
I'm like, yeah, of course, you know, they're like, well, we're all going to Napa.
I'm like Napa, what's that all about?
So again, this was, you know, bright eyed, you know, right out of university, headed
up to Napa, an amazing experience that was actually in the 80s.
I know I'm aging myself, people.
(25:44):
But you know, fell in love with it.
I was telling, Freddie was asking me like, what was that experience like being in Napa
Valley compared to what the wineries are like today, which is completely night and day.
I can remember this, this is a very fond memory actually.
They're trailers.
We were tasting wine and trailers on the winery properties and they would just, you know, there
(26:07):
was standing, you just stood there and the winemaker would come out and pour, you know,
a few of his new releases and some of his special wines.
And you know, I didn't look back.
After that experience, I thought it was just amazing and compared to what my previous experience
to Boone's farm and then tasting a real like California wine, I was, that just set me off
(26:30):
and it was a beautiful experience and haven't looked back.
And certainly as you all know, at least I hope you know that that's where the passion
began for me, which just, this is such a special place and I just want to share it with everyone
and hopefully, you know, maybe just, you know, give some pointers and new people to taste
(26:52):
this wine and it's a beautiful experience.
And if you can come here, we've got loads of different wineries that obviously we cover
on the podcast for you to visit and we're just so excited and thank you so much.
Um, Freddie, did you have any final words for the listeners today before we sign off
here?
Just, uh, just to continue what you were saying, um, if you would like to reach out to us about
(27:18):
joining us on the pod or have any feedback for us, um, you can contact us directly at
breakingbreadinnappa at gmail.com.
That's where you can do it.
Please do listeners.
Please do.
If you want your feedback and you know, if you want to be part of the podcast and come
on with us as a guest, we would love to have you with that.
(27:40):
We're, we're going to sign off and finish some of this delicious, uh, Merlot that we
just opened up.
Thank you all and, uh, look forward to talking soon.
Bye.
Hey.
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