Food Friday

Food Friday

>> it is true that good wine needs no bush.

But in this case, the desire for education on what's good has led us to california's wine country, and on this week's food friday, we find a rarity in and of herself, mike de veer, a master of wine.

Thank you for joining us.

>> my pleasure.

Thanks for having me.

>> look at that beautiful setting and can you tell us where you are?

>> i'm standing behind the winery so, it's in the heart of napa valley.

>> it's stunning there, and it lacks like the weather is cooperating as well.

Would you say this is perfect weather for wine growing?

>> it's pretty much a perfect day for ripening grapes.

It's high humidity.

And the suddenly came out of the marine clouds an hour ago and we have a beautiful gentle breeze.

>> that's what makes california's wine country so perfect.

The climate, the topography.

And thank you tell us a little bit more about the history of robert mon davy and the history of how california's wine country came to be.

>> he was the pioneer of great fine wine?

Napa valley.

And it put napa valley on the wine map.

He was born in minnesota to an italian family and moved to california.

And we have the perfect climate here, and the perfect soils.

>> and the grapes, he's are not necessarily native grapes.

Have they been brought in and cultivated?

Where did they originate.

>> all of the great wines of the world in california, are made from the same grape varieties, and they originated in the eastern mediterranean, but they made the famous wines of europe and then they were brought to california mostly in the late 19th century.

>> let's talk but, mark, because like i said earlier, you're a rarity, a master of bin -- of w.

And can you tell us what that is?

>> it's a qualification, and it's considered one of the hardest exams to pass in the wine trade.

And it covers everything from understanding the global issues of everything in wipe, planting a vineyard, growing grapes, better quality grapes, harvesting and aging wine, maturation, packaging, commercialization, and legal issues, and historical issues.

And if you pass that exam, you're invited to join the institute of masters of wine, and there are about 380 in the world now.

>> it's as rigorous as becoming a surgeon.

And for a lot of people, it seems intimidating.

Wines, there are so many of them for one thing, and to know a good wine from a not-so-good wine doesn't necessarily depend on the price.

But what would you say to somebody interested in the foray?

>> don't be intimidated.

This was one of mr. mondavi's messages.

>> you provided me with three bottles of robert mondavi wine.

>> this is another name for sauvignon blanc, and the reason we call it fumee' blank it was always a cheap wine, and he knew that he could make high quality wine.

And in 1976, he made dry, high quality wine, and he had to find a way to sell it.

>> shall we take a sip?

Cheers.

You hear a lot of people talking about different notes in wipe, fruity and oak and so fort, and what am i supposed to be tasting here?

>> if you hear people talking about that.

You're not supposed to be tasting anything, just a beautiful enjoyable sensory experience.

In you wanted to narrow it down, it's a blend of two of our vineyards.

One on the other side of napa, and the other that gives lovely citrus flavors.

I always think of lemon and lime.

And some of the fruit comes from behind me.

It gives more stone fruit, peach nectar and flavors.

Though this is t fermented in ok barrels, you should not be getting the oak flavor, just the citrus and the flavor from the vineyard.

>> when we come back, we're going to be trying the other two, the reds, my personal favorites.

Don't go anywhere.

We'll be right back.

>> welcome back, we have been chatting with mark dev here, a master of wine at the robert mondave wanery, and we just had our first tate of the wine, and does it matter the type of glass?

>> my first answer is no, and the second answer is maybe.

We can pour wine into a jam jar and drink it if that's all you've got and the most important thing is the wine.

But however, when it comes to getting the most out of your wine, you could choose to invest in beautiful wine glasses.

If you go to restaurants, they have beautiful wine glasses, and it's not just because they look nice, but a nicely designed wine glass with a thin rim, i believe it helps the wine taste even better.

>> in order to help realize the beautiful flavors and bring out those notes, for a winemaker, how do you decide how the grapes are going to be treated some.

>> the most important place to start is in the vineyard and this is where the flavors are generated.

So choosing the variety and the way you plant that variety is going to give the first sort of shaping of what flavors will be available in the game.

And then how do you decide what to do with it when it comes into the winery is a combination of experience, sometimes tradition, and a lot of european regions, it's traditional.

Many more california regions are much more experimental.

>> let's move onto the cabernet, right?

>> yes.

>> this is a 2017, and another question fur, was 2017 a good year?

And what makes a good year?

>> well, we're fortunate in california that most vintages will be considered good.

The idea of good or not stems a lot from cooler regions, and especially european regions where they're a bit more marginal.

And in not good years, it was tough to get the grapes right and it ma may or rain on the harvest.

In california, we have rainy days and suddenly most days in the summer.

And we have a fair degree of consistency.

2017 i think is a beautiful year for my style, very intense and very fresh.

>> when you do swirl it around in your glass, you can tell it's opening up and you can smell all of the different nuances of the wine.

It's not as aggressive as some of the other red wines i've tried.

But this has a nice balance to it.

Reds are some of my favorites.

I love the cherry notes in reds and things like that, but this is quite lovely.

>> thank you very much.

And again, it's present in the palet, and it's an intensity, but mr. mondavi used to say that great wine should be gent and will friendly.

It's intense, and great concentration, and flavors that evolve across your palet, from the moment you take the first step, 10 or 20 seconds afterwards.

>> indeed, and they say the temperature, that makes a difference and americans tend to drink their whites too cold and the reds too warm and what would be the temperature in this?

>> with outputting a number on it, i would usually say drink your red wines noticeably cooler than what your room temperature is, and drink your white wines a few degrees warmer than fridge temperature.

>> let's move on with further ado to the resistance, and talking about cost, why don't we?

This is a beautiful bottle of wine and tell us about this one.

>> this is mr. mondavi's making company in the great wines of the world.

And yes, the retail price for this is $178 a bottle.

But it's on the same table as any of the great wines of france or europe or in the world.

>> but it has a richness to it that maybe the cabernet sauvignon was on the white side.

And this is much different.

>> it has a richness and complexity which means that the flavors evolve more.

It's going to give you more interesting flavors, and richer, and in some ways more powerful, but i think it has gotten more of that gentleness and friendliness that you were talking about.

>> well, mark, this has been a fantastic education, and thank you so much.