Whitney and Christina are celebrating their moms and their wine quirks! They’ll tell you how they guided their mothers into more adventurous wine territory. Hollywood is getting hip to the wine game. Find out which celebs are steaming up the silver screen’s latest wine adventure. Also on the show- you too could taste wine like an expert! The ladies will tell you how.

Whitney’s mom loved this wine. A “gateway wine” has been found! And Christina’s mom made an appearance way back on episode 3 of The Crush. Click on the link to listen and hear what wines she likes to drink and why!

The book Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace to be turned into a movie! Will Smith has purchased the rights and the rumormills have Brad Pitt as star, which is yet to be confirmed.

New wine film:  The Boom Varietal: The Rise of Malbec. Here’s the trailer!

Crush Quickfire with Joe Wadsack, the man, the myth, the legend. PS- he’s really funny. Here’s a pic of Joe drinking wine out of a teacup. Just because he can. And he’s British.

NPR article about being able to taste nuances in wine passed on to us by listener Jill Ostrow (thanks Jill!)

The self-serve beer bar makes its way to the States- frat boys everywhere rejoice. California bans foie gras, but if you can still get your hands on it the ladies will tell you what to drink with it. They’ll explore what’s on a winemaker’s playlist and finally, why peanut butter and jelly vodka is probably a bad idea.

The self-serve beer bar concept finally arrived in the US!

The foie gras ban in California is fast approaching. Chefs are not happy! Neither is Michael Ruhlman.

Christina and Whitney’s favorite foie gras wines/grapes? Tokaji, Sauternes, Romorantin and aromatic Alsatian whites.

The ladies were almost intrigued with the thought of peanut butter and jelly flavored vodka. But mainly grossed out.

Crush Quickfire with Robert Macintosh, co-founder of the European Wine Bloggers Conference! His blog: Thirst for Wine. Also find him at Vrazon and Wine Conversation. He is a man about the web (and wine)!

Music that winemakers listen to while working.

Whitney’s favorite wine from the past week- 2010 Donnhoff Estate Riesling. Christina’s- 2010 Donabaum Gruner Veltliner Federspiel.

Find out why Christina died and went to gin heaven. And The Wine Battle of Haro- a new Russell Crowe movie or a crazy Spanish wine festival? Finally, and most importantly, top tips for drinking alone.

Christina went to the launch of  Gillray’s steakhouse in London where they have a list of 33 gins! Her favorites: Bloom gin, Sipsmith and Hendrick’s of course.

Christina’s article in Harpers (p. 18)

Fresh Press: The Wine Battle of Haro

Crush Quickfire with Stetson Robbins, Sales Manager for Blue Danube.

Where in the World reveal: Hungary!

Some great wineries:

Bott 

Patricius

Szoke Matyas

Eszterbauer

Which country boasts the biggest boozers? The answer may surprise you. Want to be part owner of a French winery? We’ll tell you how. But, if you don’t want to leave the comfort of your own home, we’ve got a few adventurous folks giving tips on growing vines in your backyard!

Fresh Press: Europe’s Alcohol Consumption Largest In The World

Jacques Ribourel, owner of the Domaine de la Ramade in the heart of the beautiful Languedoc region, suggests to those of us who are wine lovers a simple way of buying a 500 euro share in his property and becoming wine growers alongside him.

Working a harvest- Whitney spent a fabulous month at Viticoltori DeConciliis in Prignano Cilento. Some resources for finding harvest/winery jobs: UC Davis and WWOOF
Quickfire: Alexandre Bain

Making wine at home!
- Starting your own backyard/rooftop vineyards and the 9 steps for planting vines at home.

The series Whitney did about peeps in LA making Grenache.

The ladies have just returned from abroad. Hear what they have to say about the good, the bad and the ugly of wine press trips. WTF? OMG? Not just text speak, now the names of wines (ugh.) And there’s a guest host joining them on the show this week! Find out which hot London sommelier it is.

*Reminder: We would be ever so grateful if you could fill out this INCREDIBLY short survey for us!*

Special guest: lady sommelier extraordinaire Emily O’hare!  Emily is now the head sommelier/wine buyer for the River Cafe.  Congrats Emily!

Fresh Press:  TXT Wines to Seduce Youth With OMG!!! Chardonnay and WTF!!! Pinot Noir.  We are (nearly) at a loss for words. Here’s their website in case you have a burning desire to buy any wine.

And for further reading, here’s an article from The Washington Post by Jason Wilson about whether Millenials really are the up and coming wine group to target.  And here’s a wee blog post Christina wrote about the phenomenon as well.

Steve Colbert makes fun of a Hello Kitty wine.  And we love him for it.

The Crush Quickfire:

 Donald Edwards….

…and Douglas Blyde

Stupid People Doing Stupid Things:  Beer Theives Run Out Of Juice

And here is what Emily looks like when she’s sommelier al-fresco at her pop-up restaurant, Whizz Bang Pop:

It’s a show full of Fresh Press news! The Real Housewives are at it again, back in the wine biz. And we’re left to wonder, again, WHY? Also, we get the latest scoop on the most famous coffee shop’s latest venture into the world of wine and beer. And finally, what really goes into all those smooth, super fruity reds lining supermarket shelves? We reveal the depressing truth.

For crying out loud. The saga continues: Wines by Wives (Ugh)

Beer infographic created by Peter Kim and his team. Informative! And pretty. He calls it a “data visualization”

Starbucks to add beer and wine to their menu.

What really goes into your smooth and super fruit reds.

Crush Quickfire with Mikel Martinez of Bodegas Hermanos Pecina

With Mikel (second from left) and winemaker Pedro Pecina in Rioja October 2011

]]> http://thecrushpodcast.com/2012/03/28/episode-34-the-freshest/feed/ 2 http://thecrushpodcast.com/2012/03/22/episode-34-the-cradle-of-wine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=episode-34-the-cradle-of-wine http://thecrushpodcast.com/2012/03/22/episode-34-the-cradle-of-wine/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:17:51 +0000 whitney & christina http://thecrushpodcast.com/?p=394

This week on The Crush: Wine labels, the great debate. Should they list ingredients or keep it a mystery? We virtually travel to the “cradle of wine civilization” and butcher every wine word from the region as we go. And finally, we’ll tell you what pheasant’s tears taste like!

• This is what Isabelle Legeron, founder of RAW wine fair says on her site:

“RAW is leading the charge for transparency. We believe that in an ideal wine world, any processing and additives will be clearly communicated to the drinker so that you know exactly what is in your glass. RAW is a first step in this direction – we will clearly list all additives and processing on both the website and fair catalogue. We are proud to be leading the way.”

She has drawn up a ‘Charter of Quality’ making participating growers meet scrict requirements to participate in the fair.

• This is what Doug Wregg, organiser of the Real Wine Fair says:

“Part of me wants to serve the interventionist winemaker with the lengthiest of self-inflicted writs –that they must stick a gigantic label detailing their umpteen-plus additives on every bottle of wine and then discover whether people still want to pour it down their gullet. The other part of me believes that labels are essentially meaningless, providing lists rather than qualitative information. And how much information is too much? Does one list the yeasts and enzymes in a wine on the back label? Is acidification an additive or a wine making technique?  Will all winemakers have to declare everything? Will not the ones who put nothing on their labels become guerrilla winemakers, the champions of natural wine? Real winemakers are, after all, vignerons not lab technicians.

The net result is that wine will spend more time in a lab than a cellar. It will create jobs for bureaucrats and that surely has to be a bad thing.  I wouldn’t trust any governing body to administer this sympathetically. Labelling creates extreme burdens of proof for the grower, but also presupposes that those issuing certification have a clue what they are doing.

Far from increasing transparency there will be more muddle, more pettifogging officiousness, more propaganda.

What is a consumer to do? Education doesn’t start at the edge of a label. Children (and grown-ups) should be taught about provenance to understand the farming practices and manufacturing processes which grow and transform the food and wine that eventually comes to our table. Changing food and wine culture takes generations.”

AND

• Pretty shocking stuff about California Sustainable Winegrowing certifications (and here’s another one) written by Blake Gray, writer of The Gray Report blog.

Quickfire:  Larry Cherubino

Wine of the Week: 2008 Rkatsiteli from Pheasant’s Tears and an article on John Wurdeman and the winery on Vinography.  Availibility

]]> http://thecrushpodcast.com/2012/03/22/episode-34-the-cradle-of-wine/feed/ 1 http://thecrushpodcast.com/2012/03/14/episode-32-label-lifter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=episode-32-label-lifter http://thecrushpodcast.com/2012/03/14/episode-32-label-lifter/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:26:51 +0000 whitney & christina http://thecrushpodcast.com/?p=375

This week on the Crush, the ladies get the lowdown on the recent FBI bust of a multi-million dollar counterfeit operation, they’ve got a bearded winemaker with a horse named Ophelie in the Crush Quickfire hot seat and top tips for how to navigate a restaurant wine list (in a restaurant that has a crappy wine list.)

Where in the World clue 1:  Carmen might want to visit this region in the summer.  Located along the 48^th parallel, it is at the northern extremes of viable viticulture.  It’s also the most northerly district within one of the world’s most famous wine regions.  Thanks to its cool climate, the wines here are anything but lacking in acidity and freshness.

(new segment!) Stupid People doing Stupid Things:  Follow up to Jacob’s Creek fake, now there’s a Blossom Hill fake with ‘Great Britain’ spelled wrong!!

Rudy Kurniawan was just arrested in California by the feds in one of the most talked about wine counterfeiting operation in decades! More info here, here and here.

Where in the World clue 2: Learn the alphabet in the language of this region!

Quickfire:  Sebastien Riffault

Where in the World clue 3:  This is the home of chardonnay–in fact it originated around the region as a whole.  However, unlike the more southerly districts within the region, this place is famous for producing leaner, crisper chardonnays which are generally unoaked, except at their upper levels, and even then receive a shorter time in neutral barrels than their southern compatriots.  Have the oysters ready when drinking this often flinty, steely style of chard!

Wines of the Week:

The Chablis of Alice and Olivier DeMoor, specifically 2010 “L’Humeur du Temps.” Availibility

Also- 2010 Domaine Savary Chablis Vieilles Vignes- availability

On today’s show, Christina tells us what wine Woody Allen would drink. The Crush Quickfire interview is with one of Decanter’s veteran writers and find out where in the world Chasselas comes from.

Fresh Press:  “The Cellar”, a video by Stelvin® screw caps

Where in the World clue 1:  Commercial for fruits and veggies

Where in the World clue 2:  ‘Learn the language’ video! 

Quickfire:  Adam Lechmere and Decanter 

Where in the World clue 3:  The country’s anthem performed in the form of yodeling

Wine of the Week:  2009 Cornalin “Les Bernunes” from Cave Caloz and importer  Neal Rosenthal

This week Whitney and Christina celebrate the 30th birthday of The Crush.  And because they are also 30, they figured they’d freestyle this one, in honor of being not quite young, but not quite old.  So the ladies are chatting about Christina’s trip to Lebanon, the atrocious wine people bring to Whitney’s pop up restaurant, and seeing color when tasting wine.  They also turn the quickfire questions onto themselves.  It’s a fun one!

Christina with Oz Clarke in Lebanon

The pop-up restaurant where Whintey has been spending her nights the past month:  LudoBites

Drew Barrymore makes pinot grigio.  And Antonio Banderas launches his wine from Ribera del Duero.

What the what?  Synesthesia.  Article about seeing/tasting/hearing colors.

Whitney pairs a wine she’s loved in the past week with a color!  Adega Regional de Colares 2005 “Arenae” Malvasia

Christina pairs a wine she’s loved in the past week with a color!  Chateau Musar 1972 red