What Wine Should I Give As A Gift? - Pinkies Up Ep. 13

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome everybody to Pinkies Up. Here on this very important series, we aim to answer questions that regular people like me have about wine. Nick's the expert. I'm the regular person. So with the holidays coming up on this episode, we're answering the question: what wine makes the best gift?

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Bridget, I think this is an excellent question because it lets me show off my prowess. My skills. You know, I'm not in the Olympics. I'm not Usain Bolt. I'm not Allison Felix. I'm not running fast. I'm not LeBron James. I'm not dunking on people. This is my opportunity to show off my skills. And if there's one thing I feel like I am good at, I've gotten good after, years of practice, many, many, many interactions with people, it's helping helping customers find a gift. Because I cannot tell you how many times in the days of having a wine area that someone comes and said, I gotta hostess gift, I gotta bring. Yep, my babysitter needs some wine, my dog sitter, uh all these people, you know, I need to give a gift. I'm like, okay, cool. Do you know what they like? Uh red, white. So uh when we were talking about the premise for this episode, I said, let's make it a challenge. Send me some, send me some scenarios of people coming in, giving me like very vague parameters for the type of uh wine drinker they're gifting for, and I'll come up with some answers. So, but first, I would like to tell you my three rules for gifting wine.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Oh man. Okay, I do just want to say we're specifically recording this like around the holidays because let's be honest, we're adults and we don't want any more crap, but we all want wine. Everybody wants wine. Um, but this is great for birthdays, this is great year-round, so keep that in mind. Okay, Nick, your rules. Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Nick's three rules for gifting wine. Number one, the recipient must know you got them a nice gift. Number two, it's a fairly widely appealing tasting wine. And number three, it must actually taste good.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

I hope so. Here is a crappy bottle of wine that tastes terrible.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

No, no, you don't want that. So let me extrapolate these on a little bit. So the first one, they have to know you got them a nice gift. The point of giving a gift is someone knows you did something nice for them.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

But nice is like um pretty arbitrary, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Yeah, I mean, like, so if you just give them like maybe you give them a really expensive bottle of wine, but it has a terrible label and nobody's ever heard of it, they'd be like, um what's this? What's yes? If you give them something that has a bunch of Italian words on it that no one understands, uh Unless there's a story with it, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Like you went to Italy together.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, there has to be a thing. You know, there has to be a hook. So whether it's a widely known bottle that people know, oh, they spent $20 on me, or like, oh, this is a good bottle, or or something like that. You know, maybe it's a recognizable name. Um, maybe the label's pretty, maybe the bottle looks cool. Like Bridget said, maybe there's like a, oh, you know how we were frat sisters and frat sisters? Alpha, beta, Charlie. Uh, well, this is ABC wine.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

So uh Okay, you say this, but I you know that superhero wine we have? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I laugh about it, but I get that for like my girlfriends for a whatever day because it's like this girl power wine, and it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

So that's rule number one. People need to know it's nice wine. Okay. For for this, I'm trying to stick around $20 for a gift usually. I think again, when someone wants a $20 Starbucks gift certificate that they're gonna lose, or we're like, oh, you know, this is $20 worth of wine that I'm actually gonna drink. So, second of all, it has to be fairly widely appealing taste-wise. So you can go and get a very super specific, I don't know, you know, zero low single grape kava, natural fermented from a specific village in Spain. And for most people, that's not what they want, right? It's a very specific taste that a very specific number of people are gonna want. And there is one scenario here. Here we go, yo. Here we go, yo. So what? So what so what's the scenario? Here we are. Anyway, so it, you know, sometimes there's people that are gonna like that, but generally pick something that most people are gonna enjoy.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

So, like, don't go the way of like ice wine or pork or anything because you don't really know yet.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

You know, like Chardonnay. So Chardonnay is a great pick for someone that likes white wine. Most people like it, even if they don't love it, they it's tolerable. But don't pick something so oaky that you must love, like Rombauer, great wine. We love the Rombauers here, they make great wine, but it's so oaky. So there's people that are gonna be like, oh, it's nice, but I'm just never gonna drink it. So you want to be something they can actually drink. So not super specific, you know, like a cabernet. Don't go with like the driest possible cabernet you can find. Uh Aussie calf, we love it. But you know, there's some that's like really minty, and maybe people like that, but if you don't know, don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Don't do it, don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

And then finally it actually tastes good. I think that's self-explanatory, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

I think so. I have like some things to say. Maybe I'll say when we start drinking the wine. I don't know. So, all right, so let's go I have so many comments already, Nick.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

So, what's scenario one? Scenario one, the person comes in and they're like, gotta buy this gift. And Nick says, Well, what do they like? And I say, I don't know. Do they like red or white? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Do they drink wine? I I think. Do you want to know like if it's good or not? Should be fine. This is like the TikTok thing. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. This is like my daughter, I don't know. This is what happens all the time. Someone comes in, they want to do something nice, and I don't know. They know nothing. It's it's like a teller, like, I don't know. I don't know. It's like the shaggy thing. Wasn't me. Wasn't me. I don't know. If you think they drink wine is as far as we've gotten, right? You know on this podcast we're proponents of bubbles, and if you need to give a gift that you just don't know, bubbles is the answer.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Because for people like me who like I'm a red wine drinker, uh, red wine and bubbles are equivalent. So you're safe, I would say, with bubbles.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

So the bottle I'm gonna recommend, these are all bottles we have at Lake Geneva Country Meats. So, you know, if you're local and listening, but these are also all bottles that are very widely available. Sure. Um so you stuck around 20 bucks for all these? Yep, or under. That's affordable. Like so, this is called Gruet, and it's from New Mexico, and it's recommended by Oprah.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

So maybe people haven't heard of this before, but Gruet sounds French, which we all know, good sparkling wine comes from France.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

And guys, it looks like Grouette for those of you wondering.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

It looks super pretty. You can make fun of the fact it doesn't, you know, it should be gruette. You can make fun of that fact, but you can give this person the bottle of wine and say, like, hey, I know you like wine. Bubbles are always fun, and Oprah recommended this one.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

You could just like make it related to Oprah's favorite things show. It was on that. Yeah, so I hey guys, I can't buy you a new car, but I can buy you these bubbles.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

I used to obsessively watch that show. So, Bridget, if you came in, oops, trail of bubbles, got it, happy trail right there. Oh my gosh. Um so if you came in and said to me, whatever, I would say, hey, Grue, cheers. Cheers. It's 15 bucks. Oh my gosh. Give her less, you know, more or less. Uh it's American from New Mexico, which is a little unusual and kind of cool. Oprah recommends it, and it's pretty yummy. What would you say?

SPEAKER_01 7:07

I would say it tastes great. I I certainly think someone that doesn't know anything about wine will think it's awesome. Heck yeah. Um, am I wrong here? But I feel like last year I learned doesn't um bubbles, wouldn't this pair nicely with turkey? It would pair nicely with turkey. So this is a great Thanksgiving one, guys, if you're listening to Sparkly wine great with all of the things. I mean, I specifically struggle with Thanksgiving because I don't bring a lot to the table in regards to cooking. So I usually get in put in charge of wine. Like I was about ready to defend.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

She'd say, No, Bridget, you bring a lot to the table. You have a fantastic personality. Great at thrifting. You would tell folks. Oh, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

You're not great at the No, I'm just gonna sit silent over here. So I do every year get put in charge of wine. So this would be a great one if you're wondering. Thanks, I'll add it to my list for Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

We we really like the bubbles. Grovet does nice wines. Uh, you can buy more expensive wines, you can buy less expensive wines, but for this, this is kind of something I'd recommend as a gift. Has a nice little story behind it.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

It's great every day drinking wine.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

It's like an elevator pitch. You got five seconds to say, oh hey, you know, air kiss, air kiss. I got choose bottle of wine. Oprah recommends it.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

It does look beautiful. Um, yeah, I this is a great choice, Nick. You guys listening to the case.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

I never miss throwing this out in the trash.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

I miss twice in a row. Not his day. And yeah, it's just delicious. Okay, good, good one to start with. So, what's your next one is my favorite scenario. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 8:30

I think you're gonna like this one that I have because I have things to say.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Okay. Uh hey, Nick, I'm looking for a gift. My friend, I'll finish those bubbles.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

You're gonna need to try this next one.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

She really likes sweet wine. Oh, sweet wine. Oh, yeah, my fave.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

I got something for you.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

I got just the thing. I thought you were gonna like surprise me. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

So this is called Voga Moscato.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

This is a okay. This bottle's beautiful if you're not watching.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

So if you're not watching, it is a tall, it's um looks like a water bottle. Yeah, it looks like a water bottle. It looks like uh, what's the fancy water bottle? It's like a fancy water bottle. Yeah, I don't know what it is. With a screw top, and then still also uh they tweak yeah. So it looks like a fancy water bottle. It'll be a great flower voss afterwards. I'm you know, saying scenario voss. I'm just gonna be pretentious throughout this whole thing. That's a good thing. Um so this is this is 10 bucks. It's whoa, it's sweet. Okay, do you think it is tacky that it's only 10 bucks? So the thing is with sweet wine drinker, it it taps out at about $15.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Like so this so this is my challenge with this one.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

You can buy you can buy very, very, very great Riesling. I think people that have listened long enough know I love Riesling, I love sweet Riesling, but we buy on the higher end of the market, which is still only like $35, and we let it sit for 10 years before we touch it.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Um, smells exactly what I think it should smell like.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

So this so it kind of taps out. You can do Astie if you want to do bubbles and sweet. Oh, no, this is a beautiful bottle. I think the sweet, you need to go with something that's a fun bottle shape or a fun label or something like that. I mean Yep.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

So I will say before we even started, I was writing some notes down, and next to the person that likes sweet wine scenario, I will I wrote, I feel like all bottles are a cheap Moscato. Because not only do I feel that way in general, but they look that way usually, in my opinion. But this one looks like gloriously.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

It's from Italy, Italia. So maybe if you were, you know, studying abroad with your fraternity sister in Italia, this would be another good one. Sorority sister.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Nick's doing great. Um it tastes like bubblegum. This I was trying to think of nice things to say, like the one sip I had was not terrible. Yeah, I mean it's great for someone who likes sweet wine, not me.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

So if you're buying something for someone's sweet wine, buy a beautiful bottle. Don't spend eight dollars because that's gonna give them a headache. Um spend ten to fifteen dollars, get something with a beautiful bottle, a funny label, um bubbles. You can get a bottle of Asti that's gonna be a sweet bubble. There's things like just peachy, our tropical mango Moscato, that are sparkling sweet wines that are fun with fruit flavors.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

So that's good if you uh know that someone likes the fruit flavor, but if you don't, maybe just stick with a regular wine.

unknown 11:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

You know, what you did put on this list is somebody that really loves Wisconsin wine, because you knew you would have had to try Wisconsin wine if you did that.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Oh, you know what? That's a great question, though. People that come in are like, I'd like a local wine. Nick and I would say, don't.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

You know what I say to people that there's some people doing better work in Wisconsin now, so I shouldn't paint with as broad of a bush than I could two years ago. People are starting to figure things out, and climate change is really helping. But what I used to say was Wisconsin, God gave us some great soil for uh growing barley, good at beer. Uh growing grains for for animals. We're good at milk, which is good at cheese. Also good at beer. Grain. And uh that's about it. So uh cheese beer.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Find your wine elsewhere.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Um, okay, what's the next scenario?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

This one is also great. Hey, Nick. Uh, I gotta buy this bottle of wine for my friend that's like a total wine nerd. Basically, he's like you. Oh, he's basically you, Nick. So what do I buy? Bruh, I got just the thing for you.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

All right.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

This one is gonna be great.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Is it so this is the Portuguese rat. It looks like a Pinot Noir bottle. It does. This is called uh Tonsodorum. Um it's their uh it's their Portuguese dry rad. You usually think of port from Portugal, uh, which you made fun of a little bit. I did.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

I didn't. I just didn't think it'd be a good gift.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Yeah, you're right. If you don't know if you don't know the person. Yeah. So wine nerds love Portugal. We've been trying to make Portugal a thing for, you know, it's like fat. We've been trying to make it a thing. We're Regina George and sticking. And it's just not sticking. Uh, but it's starting to get a little bit more mainstream. They use weird grapes that you've never heard of before in your life that you can't pronounce and say, does it say on here what they are? Oh, these ones are actually easy ones. Tariga Nacional, Tariga Franca, and Tinta Roriz.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

So what kind of wine is this?

SPEAKER_00 13:10

This is a dry red. A dry red. So I would say it's somewhere between Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Oh, okay. So for a wine nerd, this is probably something they're never gonna have had before. Okay. Uh, it's from a trendy hipster region. Excellent. And uh it's, I think, very good.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

And is it about 20 bucks this one? This one's 18 on our shelves.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

You'll find it for that 15 to 20 price point. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

And um I forgot my question already, guys. Oh, so do you think um if if they can't find this wine, for example, any Portugal wine? Tiny dry reds from Portugal are gonna be great. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Uh other emerging wine regions would include Uruguay. Um if you can find some uh if you can find some dry reds from Uruguay, Tanat is generally what they grow. That's pretty cool. If you can find anything made from pais, uh, which is also known as the mission grape, that is a cool hipster wine. Or petnat, which is nasty sparkling wine. But hipsters love it. So petulant natural, uh, that'd be another wine you could look for. But I think Portuguese dry reds are the answer because they taste yummy.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Any of those words that you just said. It's got a little bit of funk to it. It's good, but exactly what you'd say. Like, I wouldn't drink this every day, but I do, I'm confident a wine nerd would be like, oh, this is so intriguing.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

There's a lot of really interesting things going on, but it's still like close enough to Cabernet. It's actually closer to Tempranillo. I know you love Tampernillo. Is it really? Yeah, uh Tariga Nacional is basically Tempranillo.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

It's a little light for me, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

The Portuguese dry reds are a little bit but but again, that's not what we're looking for in this one. I think the uniqueness is.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Yeah, so for this one, that's kind of the uniqueness. Um, the label's very pretty. It's got the picture of the duro valley.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

It's relaxing. It's like, oh that's something I know much about in my life.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Sailing down the river and I'm just relaxing. It even says on here Durum from the Golden Duro Valley.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Nick, so far you're nailing this.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Vinho Tinto. Also, Portuguese, they have the H's where like Spanish would have no H, and I'm always confused if I'm supposed to pronounce the H or not. I don't think anyone on here is like Vinho Tinto? I don't know. Probably not. Probably not. Vinho? Vinho? Well, it's V-I-N-H-O. Where like Spanish should be V I N and you're like, oh, Vinho. But Portuguese. I don't know. So anyway, wine nerd, yeah. I the Portuguese Reds are doing great work. Um yeah, I would say Portuguese Reds. Otherwise, just go in and say, hey, I'm a hipster. Where would you steer me?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Hey, I have this. Orange wine. Is it something oh my god. Is it something like I would come in and be like, I don't know, I have this friend who doesn't know a lot about wine but thinks he knows a lot about wine. Would that be the same gift?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

No, that would be a different gift. That would definitely be orange wine.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

I'm going off the rails here. I did not prefer for this one.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

That would be kind of a like you're trying to do a passive-aggressive gift. The best kind of gifting. So you do uh something that's a little passe now in the winery community, which would be pet nat or orange wine or like rose.

unknown 16:15

Rose.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Because rose is over. I hate to break it to everybody. Rose's over.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

But it's like never gonna be over for the girl, hot girl summer girls.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Hot girls, summer girls is not gonna be over. I still like rose, it's great, it's delicious. I think it's fine. I think the a lot of those people, I second buzz with someone, it's moved from like sweet Riesleed and Pinot Grigio to rose to RTDs, which is what we call in the industry ready to drinks, which are white claw pre-made uh seltzers, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

I just am not there yet. Maybe I'll get there like next year because I'm behind the card.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

I do think if you're just looking for easy alcohol, a seltzer is the way to go. Yeah, I guess, low in calories. It's like, you know, free sugars available in your fruit. If if you're, you know, if you're just needing to be a few. If you're a diabetic and you just need go for the hard candy.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

If you're me and Sarah and you just need a swig of sugar real fast. Damn, three for three. Okay. I'm killing it. The next two are, you know, ones I I feel like you're gonna get a lot as we enter the holiday season and/or any time someone's looking for a gift. So I'm just coming in, Nick. I know that my friend really likes white wine.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

So there's two ways you can go with this. One is Sauignon Blanc, which is becoming more popular. The problem with gifting Sauvignon Blanc is you have to decide are you gonna do New Zealand, which is a really distinct style, like super acidic grapefruity. Are you gonna do California, which is more tropical melon fruit, or France? Sorry, France, which is more like steely mineral driven.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

But isn't is California kind of the one?

SPEAKER_00 17:41

California's kind of in the middle. Yeah. No, New Zealand's the one people think. Like that's what's killing it, like Kim Crawford, nobilio, things like that. So you could really mess that one up. The possibility of screwing up there is too high.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Wow, that's my favorite wine.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

I wouldn't think that's why, like, if somebody comes in and says, like, ah, white wine, I'm like, okay, do you know do they drink Sauvignon Blanc? And do you know what brand they drink? Because if they can tell you they drink Simi or they drink Kim Crawford or whatever, you'd be like, oh, okay, I can get you something like that. We can do that bottle, or we can do something that's a riff off of it. If you don't know that, Chardonnay is the best bet. It's the best-selling white wine in the world. It's basic, I know.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

But but I struggle with this one. And I've got to think we have listeners around our age. You know, I know we have a lot of listeners that are around our age. So here's where I struggle with Chardonnay. I like it now, but I don't know, maybe even as soon as five years ago, I was like, uh, Chardonnay is an old people wine.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

It, you know, I'm old people. It's safe, you know. So when you're gifted, but you think it's safe even for younger people? Oh, yeah, because you'll drink it. You know, you think if you a wedding banquet, right? You drink what's given to you. Yeah, there's gonna be a Chardonnay there. So, you know, rule number one, um, or rule number two, I'm sorry, fairly widely appealing. Nobody's gonna people might have preferences, things they'd prefer more than Chardonnay, but they'll be like, oh, I can drink a bottle of Chardonnay.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Nick is going back to his rules. Great job. This is fairly widely appealing.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

So I like structure. The bottle I have today is from Bueller Vineyards. Yes. And it's got a lovely picture on it.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

It is, I remember Bueller, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Um, John Bueller, the owner, is one of the like OGs left in Napa, where he's still like him doing his own thing. Maverick. Maverick. Um, oh, I should have got us a rinse.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Oh, here.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

We'll put it in my teacup. This is his wine's super cheap for the quality. Um, so this is in that $15 to $20 range, kind of depending where you buy it. Okay. Well, it looks nice. All that type of stuff. As used to and it says Russian River Valley on it, which people know is an expensive area of California.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Do you think people know that?

SPEAKER_00 19:52

I think if you know, like you know Napa Valley, you know Sonoma, and then Russian River is like really a big deal to people. Like most people that have drank some wine have had heard that. A lot of people have done really good branding on Russian River. So, um, like I said, about $15 to $20, a little bit of oakiness, not a ton of oakiness. With Chardonnay, that's kind of where you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Nailed it again, man. It's yeah, it doesn't taste like the pretentious kind of Chardonnay that you might be used to. I'm really trying to sell it as a younger gift as well, because like Chardonnay is safe, in my opinion, on the other hand. Don't give Pinot Grigio. I'm on board with that. Um, this is great. Yeah, this this would be wonderful even if you're not sure. I I'm selling you on the younger people here, okay, right? This to me could easily be confused as a not Chardonnay if you don't know. Oh, chisel my business. That's my technical term, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

So John Bueller, Bueller Vineyards, it's just a nice, lovely drinking. That's 13.9% alcohol.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Another great one with turkey.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

You know, if they're looking to be healthy, this would be a good turkey one.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Look at me. I'm just all about my turkey wines, guys.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Chardonnay, pick something from California. Um, I think in America, gifting from America is generally important unless you know someone, you know, we did the Italian Moscow. There's not a ton of sweet American wine. Um, we did the Portuguese ride because hipsters. Um but otherwise. But you know, generally, just for these broader categories, I want you know, something white. I have no clue. American wine's a good bet because we understand America.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

You can always you know tell a story about it. You can always, hey, my sister's from Washington, this wine's from Washington, whatever. You can always connect it somehow.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Bueller makes good wine. They do a cabernet that's really good. They have a white Zinfandel that's shockingly good.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Watch my face when you when you rewatch the video.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

It's um actually made from real Zinfandel, not like industrial byproducts. So it's like free and good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

We've had theirs before, and I don't remember which one. Probably the cab, huh?

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Probably the cab.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Great. Speaking of cab, look at that. Nick Bridget's looking for some wine, and I know someone that likes red wine. This happens frequently. Yeah, this is.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

My friend, his name starts with a T. I think it's a his middle name's like Warren or something. I don't know. It's like TW. I don't know. Anyway, he comes in and says, My wife is looking for a bottle of red wine. Nicholas, I don't know what to get her. Nick knows every wine to get me. Josh. Josh. If you are looking for a red wine. Josh. So buy the cab. Pinot Noir, Merlot, cab, they're all fine options. But really, most red wine drinkers are going to be fine with Cabernet. You can have it with your dinner. It's nice and easy. Josh, it's a really well-known name, so people know it's of the requisite quality. But what I'm going to throw a little spin on this.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah, I'm glad you did.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Don't buy the regular Josh.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Because listen, when he's he's dropping things. When you said Josh, I was like, yeah, but like I buy Josh all the time.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

And everybody knows regular Josh is about 15 bucks.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Yeah, and it's fine. I mean, I love Josh Ross. It's good. You know, it's good, consistent quality. This though looks better.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

So what I have picked is the Josh Reserve Cabernet Saint from Paso Robles. Now I know you think I should say that Paso Robles, but it's actually truly pronounced Paso Robles.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

I just am gonna rewind and talk about how trashy it just sounded. But um I don't remember what I said, but I I re rethought in my head, like, oh, it just sounded terrible. But this label, I don't know what to say. It's got gold. It looks like Thanksgiving. It's brown and gold.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

This would not be a good thing. And orange.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

No, this would not be a great Thanksgiving wine, but it would be a great everyday drinking wine.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

So somebody comes in and says, I want red. Um Cabernet, buy Cabernet. Just don't mess around with a red blend because there's a million ways that could go. It could go bad, it could go good. Sorry. Pinot Noir is fine, Merlot's fine because it's super not offensive.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Um I feel like Merlot is hard actually, because again, it has that reputation.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

It has a reputation, but it's you know, fine for a party or something like that. Like if you're planning on opening it at the party, it's fine. So I would say the Josh Reserve line is a really great bet. You can find it in a lot of places. It's $20 to $25. Decoy is another brand that we really like. That again, people know it's $20 to $25. It's nice, everybody likes it. It's made to be a good quality, but kind of in the middle stylistically, where it's I don't want to say mass market because it is a what we would call a luxury wine. Did you know luxury wine starts at $20?

SPEAKER_01 24:31

So I'm thinking through the next couple steps, and I was like, I'm gonna throw a loop at Nick here about some different price points. So prepare for that.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

I'm always prepared.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

But wait, what is what makes this reserve um different than the regular Josh again?

SPEAKER_00 24:43

So they use a better quality of grapes, first of all. Um, they go to more specific places. So for the regular Josh, they're sourcing um from all over California. They're going in the Central Valley, which the grapes there are are fine as an industrial base. They they have basic flavors. And they make a Cabernet taste like a Cabernet. They don't taste specifically exceptional. Um, more expensive wines, you're looking for something that is specifically exceptional. Maybe you like it, maybe you don't, but you can really say the wine from this place grown this year tastes like this. So the Central Valley of California is so consistent, the soil's so fertile, you can grow the same thing every year, and it can be very good. But while you have a low floor that it's never gonna be terrible, you have a low ceiling as well. Yes. That it's never gonna be particularly great.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

So um, specific sites like Paso Robles, where it's a hotter climate, there's more that can go wrong. So your floor is lower, your costs of production are higher, but the grapes can do a lot more. So this is gonna have more bright red fruit because of the warm climate. Um, it's gonna be a little bit bolder, a little bit more alcohol.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

It tastes it tastes fruitier. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah, it's uh and then also they put some more oak barrels, they are expensive. Um, they put some more new French oak on it, um, things like that to just round out the wine. A little bit more, they hold on to it a little bit longer, uh, which rounds it out a little bit, and money is time.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

And yeah, and says it tells me right on the label to drink it with steak and stew. Heck yeah. I don't make stew a ton, but I will drink it with steak. Um, okay, so sorry. We've got a whole bunch of 20-ish dollar bottles. I think for I think it's great because my five for five, you didn't give me a five for five. Oh, yeah. I mean, sorry, I didn't mean to not rate you. I thought these were great. I don't I didn't doubt you on this one. Um because really the Moscato was the one that I was really gonna struggle with, and I'm like, how is he gonna pull that off? But I love these. Thanks. So here's where I'm gonna get you, Nick.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Maybe not.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

We've got one more scenario.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

This one's not on the the outline, but we joked about it ahead of time. And we're doing it for real. Are you ready? I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Um, Nick. So I accidentally slept with my secretary, and I need to give my wife a gift, uh, help.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

So, you know, there's this can happen, right? This can happen. There's ways it can happen. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Or anyways it couldn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

I mean, there's a very easy way it couldn't happen, but there's ways this can happen. Um, I don't really know. This is the I'm really sorry gift. So this is the I'm really sorry, but I'm on a bit of a budget because uh I didn't want to open a thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Because I had to buy a Christmas gift for my wife. No, we don't need to drink it.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

I've got plenty to drink. No, no, no. So, Jordan, I recommend Jordan. Any type of really big screw up. This is great. Jordan, uh, unless the secretary's name is Jordan, then probably don't. Probably don't. Uh and don't go with Josh if Josh Anyway. Oh, yeah. Secretaries could be men too. Yes, sure. Um anyway, Jordan. Jordan. It's from Alexander Valley and Sonoma. Everybody knows it. Uh everybody knows Jordan. Does everybody know it? Everybody knows Jordan.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

I don't know it. How do you not know it? I probably have never bought an expensive bottle of wine like this.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Well, finish that, Josh, and let's try it.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

I don't feel like we have to do it. Oh, I'm so stressed. Okay, how much is this bottle?

SPEAKER_00 28:18

This one's about $50 to $60. Okay. So it's expensive without being over the top.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

That's actually that is the price point I was gonna quiz you on because I thought we were going crazy here.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

So the bottles to buy, if you really want to impress someone, again, Cabernet, white wine kind of tops out, right? You're not buying Rombauer.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Um is that like kind of your high-end white wine? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

But if you want to buy expensive white wine, you're gonna buy Chardonnay. Um, and that kind of tops out. So it's never gonna be the great apology tour, unless you want to go into crazy French wine and then it's for a wine nerd, and that's a different thing.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

You could also give really nice wine gifts for not apologies. So if you're just going to like, what if you're like going to the Biltmore for a holiday party? Probably don't need to bring wine.

unknown 29:03

Yeah, good point.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

It's like people that give me sausage for Christmas. We have vendors that like send us sausage packs from Clements, and the Clements people are really nice, honest to God, they're really nice people. Um, the meat industry is very, very collegial. Yeah. Um, like, hey, you're looking at this piece of equipment, we'd happy to talk to you about how it works for us. Um, Clements are very nice people, so I'm not making fun of Clements at all. But like when we get a funny, like a Clements gift pack, we're like Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Man, you know, I yeah, okay. I'm gonna take my question back.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Um so really, if you're on the Apology Tour or uh whatever, you just like feel like you need to be Jordan, Silver Oak, Duckhorn. These are all really great brands.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Oh, a duck duckhorn's a good call.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

People know they're a good bottle.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Um, I'm gonna go with Duckhorn. I believe everyone knows Duckhorn. I don't know Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

They're really that's kind of the way to go. The other, the other way I put this, we have some bottles in the store that um I have there specifically for the 60-year-old man that walks in with a 25-year-old girl.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

How often are does that happen?

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Twice a week in the summer.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Oh, yeah, believe that.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

We're in a resort area. Sad. Sad. We're in a resort area. So, you know. Um, not that there's anything wrong with that. Blumber that my mouth was full and I couldn't comment. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Um so anyway, so this is Jordan. This is what you know Okay, Jordan. More money buys you. And it's a great gift. People like it. Jordan has so much money they so here's a fun fact. Jordan has so much money they buy a new UPC code for every vintage's bottle.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

That costs some money.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

I gotta be honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

They want to know that you know, you if how much of the 2015 you sold, how much of the 2016, how much of the 2017?

SPEAKER_01 30:56

I prefer the Josh. I'm sorry. Maybe it's just like I need to take a have a saltine in between or something. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Maybe I've just conditioned to love Josh.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

Jordan, great brand, Duckhorn, uh, another great brand, Silver Oak, all those. Yeah. In that like $50 to $70 price point where obviously if you want to spend hundreds of dollars on the like ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

You can do that.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

You can do that. Ask Nick, he'll help you. But um I think Jordan, Duckhorn, Silver Oak, those are bottles in that $50 to $70 range. Camus, um, Schaefer, those are all bottles from Napa Valley or uh Alexander Valley, Sonoma County in the case of Jordan. At that price point, people know what they are. People are gonna say, oh wow, you really did something nice for me.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

I like that. Nickel and nickel. I mean, I'm gonna bring $20 to my friend's giving, right? A $20 bottle of wine, but I like the idea of a $50 gift for something that I will go to fancy this year. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

All right, so I'm gonna do a rundown here real fast of bottles I recommend. So if you're giving a gift for someone that has no clue who they're giving it to, just that they like wine, bubbles, specifically Gruet. Somebody that uh just trying to give a bottle something like sweet wine, Voga Moscato, beautiful bottle for the wine nerd in your life that you want to give them something to nerd out to. This Durham dry red from Portugal, delicious. And fun. And fun. If you want to do a white wine, go with Chardonnay, it's your best bet. It could be a scene as a little blasé, but also nobody's gonna hate it. Go with something in the middle from California, like Bueller. I love it. They're a great family-owned company, so you're also supporting families. Someone that just likes red, you gotta pick Cabernet. There's other ways you could go, but just pick Cabernet. Josh is a great one. Pick their reserve level wine from Paso Robles. They also have one from the North Coast that's uh a little drier. I think Paso Robles is a better bet for a gift because people like fruit. So if they like something a little lighter, this works well.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Also called Josh Reserve, the weapon.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Also called Josh Reserve. And then finally, if uh you accidentally uh, you know, had an oopsie doops. Gotta apologize for something. Or really try to impress your girlfriend's father, uh Jordan, Cavernet Sauvignon. People know that. People, you know, maybe they just put it on their shelf and let it sit there. But Jordan's great, Duckhorn's great, Silver Oak's great, Bueller uh has a really nice cab at that price point too, and other people that make it. Um, there's all sorts of expensive ones, but I like Jordan.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

These were great recommendations. Thanks. I don't know why I sound surprised because I was really doubting the sweet wine. I I just I just really doubting it.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

I like to prove people wrong.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

So when you're looking for a nice gift, Nick will help you if you're in the area. Yeah, and honestly, like that's the big thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Yeah, have a relation. It's like car mechanics, right? Where take take your car to get the oil changed, like the routine stuff at the same at a small guy, even though it might be cheaper at Walmart, because then when you have a big thing, they know you, you know they're not gonna screw you, they'll get you in, that type of stuff. Build that relationship with the small wine retailer, whether it's you know, someone like me that owns a butcher shop that does it to go with the food or a wine shop or something like that, so that you know they're not gonna screw you when you have to do it.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Yeah, because that's easy you easily I've been screwed by terrible wine recommendations, and now I just ask Nick whenever I need to know. And I'm learning, guys.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

I mean, Bridget could also do a real good job for you. She'd probably recommend True Shard Tempernillo.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

I would 100% recommend true shard, but I I couldn't do a decent job. I could never do this well, but I can do an okay red wine job, I would say. Um I would agree. But I don't know Jordan, so maybe that I can recommend you the $20 bottles. So I hope this helped find helps you find a gift.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

We hope so too. We'll have the recommendations written out in the episode notes as well as my rules.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

My rules. And uh like it or not, the label makes a difference.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Label makes a difference. Faux chisel.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

So I just gotta throw that out there. There are some labels, I will say, True shard temperanillo, like my fave, not my fave label, but it doesn't look cheap. So be careful with the label. Even if you're buying an expensive wine, make sure it doesn't look cheap because someone might not know.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

If you like this episode, we just released Wine 201, which is an entirely different podcast that you can find in your feeds that is all about wine all the time. Woo! And the first season is all about Bordeaux grapes.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

So we're talking red wine.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merleau, Cabernet Franc, other grapes too.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Other things. So delicious red wine. There'll be more seasons coming, but make sure you check out Wine201 for more wine knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Thanks for listening, everybody. Remember, you can watch on YouTube and see Bridget's hilarious faces as I say stupid.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Yeah, you look great. It's oh thanks. It's freezing and cold and rainy.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Like that's a running shirt almost, because like no one's gonna catch you with that shirt on.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

That's right, guys. So check us out on social media. You can find us under the Dinner Plus Drinks feed. And thanks so much for joining. Bye bye.