Feb 26 – Really Good Boxed Wine

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Guy

My guest this week is Jake Whitman, founder of “Really Good Boxed Wine.”

Many years ago, while working at Larry Evers Wine & Spirits, a couple of Australian dudes came to the store.  They were impressed by all the Aussie wines on the shelf but surprised it was all in bottles.  They said that in Australia, most folks buy wines in 3L bag-in-box format.  Europe and Australia offered high end wines in boxes; they even shipped their product to America in plastic bladders. But upon arrival in the States, the wine went into bottles. There are many reasons and advantages for doing just that.

In our country back then, boxed wines were cheap and generally lacked the quality of similar wines in bottle. While that has changed to a degree, the perception is often still the same.  Box wine is cheap wine!

Really Good Box Wine is one of a few out to change that perception.  The brand is the brainchild of Jake Whitman, a former consumer products brand manager with Proctor & Gamble and a few tech companies in San Francisco.  Whitman is his own only full-time employee, with a small cadre helping him with website development as well as sourcing wines and grapes. The wines, all certified sustainable, are being made at Healdsburg Custom Crush winery in Sonoma County. They will be sold online, with delivery to 39 states and the District of Columbia. Whitman said he hopes to expand his portfolio to include wines from the Pacific Northwest and Europe.  Follow RGBW on Facebook

At the end of the day, the quality of the wine is what really matters. It doesn’t need to be pretentious. It doesn’t need to be in a 2-pound bottle. We believe we’ve found a better way to help wine-lovers enjoy more of what they love. It’s better wine in a better format, that’s better for the environment and for a better price. That’s Really Good Boxed Wine. 

Really Good Boxed Wine  is a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine brand that aims to change the stereotypes associated with boxed wine.  While DTC means you won’t find this wine on the shelf at your local wine merchant, fear not.  You can order direct and even subscribe to have wine delivered on a monthly basis with no commitment and no catches.  10$ Flat rate shipping or Free shipping with $100+ orders!

Want to learn more?  Join Master Sommelier Andy Meyer on the FREE Virtual Tasting Thursday, March 3, 2022 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM CST
You’ll hear Andy and Really Good Boxed Wine founder Jake Whitman talk about changing trends in the wine industry, and taste alongside Andy as he tries the brand’s newest release, a 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles.

For a little direct comparison, I’ll be tasting the wine of the week below which is available at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road here in the Flat Lands.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile
Black Box Wines Cabernet Sauvignon is full-bodied, displaying enticing aromas of black currant, toasty oak, and a hint of vanilla. Ripe blackberries and chocolate fill the palate with balanced tannins that lead to a soft, lingering finish.

Available at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road

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Feb 19 – Atelier Meats

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Guy

My guest this week is Rahim Rajwani, part of the team at Atelier Meats.

Rajwani is the co-founder and strategic advisor for Atelier Meats, a company utilizing biotechnology and tissue engineering to create real meat in a lab environment. As far-fetched as this concept may seem, the results are real. Since Atelier Meats are “structured,” they take on a familiar form – pork chops, steak, and chicken breasts. This ability to engineer structured meat sets Atelier Meats apart from other biotech meat, which typically results in unstructured shapes like chicken nuggets, meatballs, or ground beef.

Atelier provides an ethical alternative to factory farming, which leads to a better quality of life for animals and apparent health benefits for human beings. It’s well documented that factory farming is terrible for the environment, leading to deforestation and an overabundance of carbon emissions. Atelier Meats’ scientific and technological advances promise new solutions.

Atelier Meats is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing quality, lab-grown meats that are tasteful, healthy, and competitively priced for human consumption. Cultivated meat is no longer news. Our leading edge technology is. We have confidence in our winning team, science, engineering, and world-class lab.

Rahim Rajwani has mastered the art of taking companies public and knows a good bet when he sees one. His history of success has proven his strength as a venture capitalist, founder, and advisor. With him having a hand in the creation of Atelier Meats, the company can look forward to a bright future.  Rajwani had previously jumped into innovative farming initiatives with GreenStar Biosciences and continues that interest in making farming more thoughtful and sustainable with Atelier Meats.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 J. Lohr Pure Paso Proprietary Red Wine
Savory varietal notes of Cabernet Sauvignon are layered with the dark fruit and spice character of Petite Sirah. The bouquet of cocoa powder, caramel, and anise works in harmony with the black cherry fruit signature of this wine. Bright and focused on the palate with a firm and appetizing finish. ABV14.5%

Wine Enthusiast 93
This blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Petite Sirah, 2% Syrah and 2% Malbec offers aromas of black-cherry pie, toasty brioche and fresh mint on the nose. That minty element carries to the palate, where more black cherry and fudge flavors are wrapped in ample acidity and chalky tannin’s. Editors’ Choice
Tasting Panel 93
Composed primarily of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah, the second vintage of this tremendous blend delivers a rich, bright perfume of boysenberry preserves, cashew, and milk chocolate. Licorice, leather, and slate are indulgent flavors that add to the round body, with a distinctly satiny mouthfeel that’s balanced by the sleekness of black-tea tannins. Power meets poise.
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Feb 12 – Fresh Eggs Daily

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Guy

My guest this week is Lisa Steele with her new book “The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook – Over 100 Fabulous Recipes to Use Eggs in Unexpected Ways.“

“Fresh Eggs Daily blogger Steele lays down as many tips and recipes as her chickens do eggs in this innovative and plucky collection…. This will be hard to beat.” – Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Lisa Steele, fifth-generation chicken keeper and founder of the popular blog Fresh Eggs Daily, knows a thing or two about eggs. And she’s ready to show you just how easy and delicious it can be to make eggs a staple of every meal.

First, Lisa will tell you everything you don’t know about eggs—such as what the different labels on grocery store egg cartons mean—and bust some common egg myths.

From there, she provides you with foundational techniques for cooking with eggs, including steaming, grilling, baking, and frying.

And finally, Lisa shares her go-to recipes for everything from breakfast staples, like eggs Benedict and a classic French trifold “omelette,” to breads, sandwiches, beverages, snacks, soups, salads, pasta, cakes, pies, and condiments. You’ll encounter a wide variety of both sweet and savory dishes with Lisa’s unique twists.  Get your copy NOW!

Read The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook to discover new and exciting ways to incorporate fresh eggs into your cooking and baking repertoire each and every day.

From her beautiful farm in Maine, Lisa has contributed her sage advice to the backyard chicken keeping community for more than a decade, appearing on local and national media including NPR, The View, HGTV, Farmers Almanac, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, the Hallmark Home and Family show and Country Living magazine. She’s an author, 5th-generation chicken keeper, Master Gardener and “coop-to-kitchen” cook. Follow Lisa on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms @fresheggsdaily

In the second half I’ll be talking to Dennis Patton from DNA Vineyards

Dennis Patton Proprietor
Dennis has been harvesting grapes and making wine for over 40 years and is considered an icon of Mendocino County’s wine industry. He is a sought-after winemaking consultant for wineries throughout Northern California. He site selects vineyards throughout Mendocino County and Northern California to make wines with unparalleled price/quality ratios for clients who include Trader Joe’s and The Wine and Spirits Guild of America. He directly sources and manages harvest and vinification for approximately 345,000 gallons of wines each year and expanded into Russian River Pinot Noir when DNA Vineyards expanded into their Sonoma County vineyard in 2012.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 CORO MENDOCINO DNA Vineyards Red Blend
Deeply saturated ruby hue, blackberry with earthy notes of cedar and coffee. Velvety entry leads to a juicy blueberry core with tannic structure building to the finish. Hints of chicory and chocolate unfurl with time in the glass. An age-worthy, textural blend of mature vine Zinfandel and mountain-grown varieties. ABV13.96%  55% Zinfandel, 31% Syrah, 14% Petite Sirah, 22 months matured in French oak barrels
www.dnavineyards.com
Follow CORO Mendocino on Facebook

“This dark-colored, concentrated and moderately tannic wine fills its big structure with very focused, pure black-cherry and blackberry flavors. A sense of polish in the texture and layering in the flavors raise this region-specific Zinfandel-based blend above the ordinary. Best now–2027.” 

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Feb 5 – Natalie Maclean

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Guy

My guest this week is Natalie Maclean

Natalie’s first book Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass and her second book Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines were both selected as one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year. She is the wine expert on CTV’s The Social, Canada’s largest daytime television show; CTV News; and Global Television’s Morning Show.  www.nataliemaclean.com

She was named the World’s Best Drinks Writer at the World Food Media Awards, and has won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards. She is the only person to have won both the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation and the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing from Les Dames d’Escoffier International.

To fund her late-night vinous habits, Natalie MacLean holds down day jobs as an author, online wine course instructor and wine reviewer. An accredited sommelier, she is a member of the National Capital Sommelier Guild, the Wine Writers Circle and several French wine societies with complicated and impressive names.

Natalie studied the Romantic Poets at Oxford University with Jonathan Wordsworth. She graduated with honours from the Master’s of Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario.

Funny, brainy and unapologetically tipsy, her goal in life is to invite both the novices and the knowledgeable to the table to share a glass of wine (or three).
Follow Natalie on Facebook & Twitter

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 Bodegas Mas Alta CIRERETS, Priorat D.O.Q.
“…It’s a village wine from La Vilella Alta produced with 60% old Cariñena planted in 1962 (La Veana) and 40% young Garnacha planted in 2002 (Cirerets). It is powerful yet elegant and harmonious with a soft texture, sleek tannins and very pure and penetrating flavors. Really delicious and hedonistic. This is certified organic and biodynamic since 2016. It was bottled in July 2020 and is already very harmonious and has the stuffing and balance for a good development in bottle.” ABV15.5%
95 Points, Wine Advocate

About this Spanish Winery
Based in the traditional village of Vilella Alta, Bodegas Mas Alta is the culmination of five Belgian partners’ common desire to produce a great wine. This dream is now taking shape thanks to the advice of Michel Tardieu and Philippe Cambie, and as the result of the work done by a passionate team every day.

Choice of vineyard is crucial for the production of highly expressive wines that combine character and elegance. We have planted some 35 hectares of vines since 1999 on land classified as being part of the DOQ Priorat, carefully selecting the plots in so doing. In fact most of our vineyard is planted at altitude, on slate. Depending on the plot’s characteristics, we either plant varieties traditional to this region – carignan and grenache – or varieties such as cabernet sauvignon or shiraz. These young vines, whose potential quality is already very promising, represent the future of Bodegas Mas Alta: We also purchase grapes from local winegrowers, often from the village, to make our wines. These winegrowers are the custodians of Priorat’s traditional heritage.  In fact the essence of our vintages – old vines – comes from these winegrowers.

Vines aged 50 years and more naturally produce fewer grapes, the first step towards quality wine…Their deep, well-established roots thus enable them to achieve full maturity, consistency, less dependence on climatic conditions. It is without question the ultimate, pure expression of the terroir.

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Jan 29 – Store, Age, Drink fine wine

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Guy

LIVE from Redding Beach Florida with my brother Brian Bower, & some Wichita Friends

It will be a fun give and take chat about a number of things “Food & Wine”

  • Wine storage – do I need a wine cellar or portable temp controlled storage device
  • Old Wine vs. New, when to age – how long – what’s the benefit – personal taste
  • Food and Wine pairing – personal taste and why
  • …and anything else we decide to chat about, might even open the phone lines!?

Good Life Guy’s Wine (s) of the Week:
1984 Joseph Phelps Napa Cabernet vs. 2019 Joseph Napa Cabernet
A great opportunity to explore the bottle age of a premium California Cabernet and compare to the current release wine!

The tasting table is set! 🙂

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