The Wine Pair Podcast

If you are stuck in a Sauvignon Blanc rut, then Verdejo is here to come to your rescue. This great white wine from Rueda Spain is very similar to Sauvignon Blanc, in fact it is sometimes called the “love child” between Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio, and it combines many of the wonderful tropical fruit and citrus smells and flavors of Sauv Blanc with just a bit more mouthfeel. This is a lovely wine from Spain’s most important white wine region. Verdejo is a fantastic summer wine, great for sipping outdoors, and awesome with fish and shellfish, fried and salty foods, as well as chicken and charcuterie. It still flies a little under the radar, which is why now is the perfect time to be the one to introduce Verdejo to your family and friends and be considered the cool kid dropping wine knowledge! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2024 Marques de Riscal Rueda Verdejo, 2024 Bodegas Vatan Nisia Old Vines Verdejo
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We all know that Costco wine moment when you see a Kirkland Signature wine and you wonder, should I get it? Well, we are here to tell you that you should snatch up these two beauties if you see them. The Costco Kirkland Signature 2023 Pauillac and 2023 Saint-Julien are great Bordeaux wines that you will not be able to find at this quality at this price anywhere else. But wait, are you confused by French wine and don’t know what kinds of grapes go into Pauillac and Saint-Julien? You are not alone, and we will help decode these Left Bank red Bordeaux wines from Haut-Médoc. Did we lose you already? Don’t worry. Just know that these are going to be Cabernet Sauvignon heavy blends, and the rest we’ll tell you about in this episode. Also know that we do not usually love Cabernet Sauvignon, so we were really pleasantly surprised by how much we liked these wines. Join us for a fun learning adventure! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2023 Costco Kirkland Signature Saint-Julien, 2023 Costco Kirkland Signature Pauillac.
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When asked, most people say they like dry wines rather than sweet wines, but is that really true? Based on the most popular wines in the United States, it doesn’t seem like it. At all. One of the most popular wine varietals in the US is Moscato, and the sweet wine Moscato d’Asti is one of the most well known, and well loved wines in the world. Just ask Costco who sells a ton of the stuff. And there are some obvious reasons why. First, it’s delicious, and second, humans are hard wired to be attracted to sweet. So, why do sweet wines get a bad rap? Some of it is for health reasons, frankly, but some of it is because wine snobs tend to look down their nose at sweet wines, and that’s not really fair. For much of the world’s history, sweet wines were the preferred wines, and based on sales of popular wines today, which we will cover in this episode, it seems quite obvious that they are still preferred by many, many consumers. So, we’ll let you know what we think, and if either of the wines we reviewed today are worth checking out. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2025 Kirkland Signature Moscato d’Asti, 2024 Saracco Moscato d'Asti
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Sangiovese is the classic example of how a wine can taste completely different depending on where it is from and how it is made, and this episode demonstrates that fact in spades. Sangiovese is one of the great Italian wine grapes, but because of its strong association with the wine Chianti, it has a bit of a mixed reputation. In its defense, Chianti is really a food wine which is where its acidity really shines. But Sangiovese itself is an amazing wine grape that can vary from light and fruity like a Gamay to velvety and smooth like a Merlot. On that note, it may surprise you to know that about half of all of the Sangiovese grown in Italy is not grown in Tuscany, and regions like Puglia, Emilia-Romagna and Marche are making fantastic versions of it. In this episode, we taste and review two wines made from 100% Sangiovese from Umbria and tiny Molise, and without spoiling it too much, we can tell you that they are very different wines, almost hard to tell they are from the same grape, and are different than Chianti. In a good way. Join us to find out more! Wines reviewed in this episode: 2022 Cantina Roccafiore Melograno, 2021 Di Majo Norante Terre degli Osci Sangiovese
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You may think you know Pinot Grigio, but do you know Pinot Gris? Pinot Gris is the same grape as Pinot Grigio, but in taste, body, and just about every other way that matters, they can feel worlds apart. And, on a very interesting side note, Pinot Gris is also a color mutation of Pinot Noir, but that’s another story. In this episode, we focus specifically on Pinot Gris from Alsace, France, a region famous for its white wines. And of all the white wines made there, Pinot Gris is one of the biggest and richest, which may surprise anyone whose idea of Pinot Grigio is something light, thin, and mostly harmless. This is not your grandma’s Italian Pinot Grigio. Alsace Pinot Gris can be big, rich, and high in alcohol, and people who love a fuller-bodied Chardonnay may find a lot to like. Surprise! In our tasting, we were struck by just how different these wines were from the Pinot Grigio most people know. Same grape. Very different experience. Wines reviewed in this episode: 2020 Pierre Sparr Grande Réserve Pinot Gris and 2020 Frey-Sohler Vieilles Vignes Pinot Gris
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