In Vino Veritas #1: Cava Edition (In Wine There Is Truth!)

Show Notes

In Wine, There is Truth #1 (In Vino Veritas, Cava edition)  00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair!

Today, Carmela, we are going to try something a little different, something that is a departure from our usual episode format. Now, for those of you who are new to the podcast, what we usually do in each episode is we learn about, taste and give our honest review of three wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $20 each -  and should be easy for you to find.

However, this week, since we are traveling in New York City as we record this, I thought it would be interesting to go down a different path and use wine as a prism into our lives, our personalities, and maybe even our hopes and aspirations. I also thought that in these episodes, you could do a little more of the talking and drive some of the direction - like ask me things on the fly that put me on the spot. It sounds a little cuckoo, and maybe we’ll find out that this is a disaster, but, what the heck - you never know until you try.

So, this series, if it works, will be called In Wine, There is Truth, which is the translation of a very famous quote “In Vino Veritas” which is a Latin proverb that is attributed to Pliny the Elder which basically means that when you get someone a little schnockered, they tend to tell you the real real, if you know what I mean. So, we’ll see if the truth comes out!

And, as far as wine is concerned, because we will usually only be drinking one wine in this episode, we will be able to go outside our $20 limit and choose and talk freely about wines that we like and wines that we have. For this episode, since we are recording it in New York City and I grabbed a couple of bottles of wine from the local wine shop that is, literally around the corner, we are going to be drinking a very reasonably priced wine.

So, Carmela, first of all, we are starting off the episode by drinking a wine together rather than waiting until the end. So, today, Carmela, we are drinking a Cava - so for those of you out there in listening land, if you have a bottle of Cava lying around, or some sparkling you have been waiting to pop open, go ahead and do that now while you listen to us.

Here is a breakdown of the wine.

Wine: Viña Palaciega Cava Brut
Region: Catalonia Spain
Year: NV
Price: $11.99
Retailer: Kips Bay Wine & Liquor
Alcohol: 11.5%
Grapes: Macabeo
Professional Rating:

Usually, we would smell and taste the wine and give our rating, but I think for this episode we are going to just kind of do that along the way in a less concentrated or focused way, and just let the wine tasting and the conversation come to us.

What do you think? Do you think this is a dumb idea?

The idea came from some inspiration from listening to other podcasts, and because wine is, at least for me, one of those things that is much more than just a beverage or an alcohol transfer mechanism, it is part culture, history, geography, and, of course, food. Where a wine comes from says so much about the place where it is from, the food, and the people. And wine is a beverage with history, that is influenced by geography and climate and wars. So, there is something really fascinating about wine that, for me, helps me learn more about the world around us. And, by getting into some of that, we can talk about things related to the wine that can act as both conversation starters and maybe a way to look at our lives.

Well, I think we get to it . .  .

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug, right Carmela? First, we want to start by saying THANK YOU for listening to us and for supporting our show, and if you have not had the chance to do so yet, now would be an awesome time to subscribe to our podcast  - it is a free way to support us, and then you never have to miss a show!  - and a huge thank you to all of you who have subscribed already - we really really appreciate it!

And, another great way to support us for FREE is to leave a nice rating and review on our website or on Apple Podcasts or other podcast service so we can continue to grow our listeners.

You can also follow us and see fun pictures of the wines we are tasting and trying today on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast, and you can contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com with any questions or ideas you have.

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should tell about The Wine Pair Podcast - and this week we want you to tell anyone who believes that in wine, there is truth!

ARTICLES and LINKS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vino_veritas

Topic: In Cava, There is Truth 10:57

Ok, Carmela, the conversation today can go in a bunch of different directions depending on where you want to go. What do you want to talk about, and it has to be related to Cava. And so today, our phrase will be adjusted to say - In Cava, There is Truth.

Buying wine in NYC and no wines in grocery stores
New York City and buying wines in NYC is so different from buying wines in Washington State where we are from. First, wines and spirits have to be purchased in wine and liquor stores in the state of New York which is a total pain in the ass. In Washington, we can just go into a grocery store and buy any kind of liquor. New York does allow lower alcohol products like beer to be sold in grocery stores, I believe it has to be under 8% alcohol to count.

I do remember many years ago when Washington state had the same rules, and also in British Columbia, Canada. When I first turned 21 we did still have those liquor stores, and I always found them intimidating. Like, I remember being a kid and distinctly remember that there were strict rules for going into liquor stores, and that it had this air of being sort of dangerous and forbidden. Did you have that same feeling?
That feeling was probably not helped by the fact that my mom did not drink alcohol, and so alcohol was definitely on the list of sinful things that people did. My mom looked down her nose at people who drank.

I am not sure what it was in her background, but that was definitely something I remember growing up, and I know I have mentioned this before, but I never really remembering my aunts and uncles really drinking except for Uncle John and Aunt Agata, who liked a nice glass of white wine.

Cava Wine Pairing Tasting and Reviews 35:01

What we tasted and smelled in this Viña Palaciega Cava Brut:

• On the nose: Apple, toast, almond
• In the mouth: Tart apple, citrus and apple, tart orange, sweet grapefruit, Paloma

Food to pair with this Viña Palaciega Cava Brut: Fish and chips, fried food, cheese board, salty foods, spicy foods
 
As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and a 5 or 6 means we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 6/10
• Carmela: 9/10

Taste profiles expected from Cava 37:53

• General
  • Wine Folly: Quince, lime, yellow apple, chamomile, almond
• Winecasual.com: Medium-intensity lemon in color with tight, small, persistent bubbles, this wine has an aromatic, medium-plus-intensity nose of a mix of fresh-green-and-golden apple, pear, starfruit and blossom with hints of caramel. On the palate the dry, medium-bodied cava has medium-plus-intensity flavors suggested on the nose supported by medium-plus acidity and completing with a medium finish.

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 39:49

Ok, so, Carmela, it is just about time for us to go, but before we do, we want to thank you very much for listening to us - AND if you haven’t done so yet, now would be the perfect time to subscribe to our podcast AND also a fantastic time to leave us a nice rating and review on our website or Apple podcasts or other podcast service - and it is an awesome and free way to support us and help us grow listeners.

We would also love to hear from you about a wine you would like us to taste and review. You can, leave a message for us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com, or you can just email us at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com and tell us about a wine you are curious about, or curious what we think of it. And, follow us on Instagram so you can see pictures of all of these wines we are tasting and reviewing. 

And, next time you listen to an episode, drink along with us and see if you are tasting and experiencing the same things we are - it’s like a date night! And if you do that, we’d love to hear what you think!

Alright, with that, we are going to sign off, so thanks again, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.