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Coming up on the Wine Bro Show.
Aaron Inman:
And I'm Aaron Exotic.
Jesse Inman:
I think they're making men wear condoms.
Aaron Inman:
But I have a little bit of a problem, some would say, huh?
Jesse Inman:
Hey, welcome to Cellar Rats. That's what we decided to call this. I'm Jesse.
Aaron Inman:
And I'm Aaron Exotic.
Jesse Inman:
Aaron and I are a couple of brothers who've been making wine together for coming up on 14 years, and we started Lucky Rock in 2013. Been doing it ever since.
Aaron Inman:
We started doing our own thing because there was nobody doing it quite like us. Couple of tattooed guys listening to Sublime and NWA and we said, "Hey, let's be our authentic selves here and see what the world thinks."
Jesse Inman:
Because we're all in lockdown here quarantine wise, we decided our first episode, we would cover some wines that are great to drink during quarantine and how to get them.
Aaron Inman:
Yeah, with everyone sheltering in place, it can be a little bit confusing buying wine online or on your app, on your phone. I do it all the time, but I have a little bit of a problem, some would say, huh?
Jesse Inman:
So, there's multiple ways you get your wines when you're on lockdown. First one that we thought of was buying through apps, home delivery. It's kind of like the Uber Eats of wine. You have somebody hopefully not coughing on your wine and they'll drop it off to you. You just order it and they'll pick it up at your local store.
Aaron Inman:
Can be a little more expensive because of tips and the delivery fee.
Jesse Inman:
Everybody's taking a cut.
Aaron Inman:
You're supporting a lot of the bigger brands that are accessible on there.
Jesse Inman:
And then next we could think of was winery direct. Obviously we're winery direct. We're a little more safe with your wine potentially. You know, in theory, people should be wearing masks and gloves, packing your wine for you, and then ship it to your house. A lot of people are doing discounts and shipping discounts, and, and, and. So it's a good option. You get to support your favorite smaller wineries.
Aaron Inman:
And then you've also got a way to support your local favorite restaurant. Now California is allowing you to buy wine and take it away with your takeout foods. Boom. Yeah, bureaucracy, man.
Jesse Inman:
Yeah.
Aaron Inman:
Change is slow and then fast all of a sudden. And then you've also got online retailers. So you've got the gamut. You've got from your discounters for like Wines 'Til Sold Out, places like that, that are blowing some wines out. There might be minimums to get free shipping, things like that. And then you've got your wine dot coms and your [inaudible 00:02:25] and some of those places that maybe they're a little bit of a premium, but their selection is amazing.
Jesse Inman:
And then lastly, it's the one we decided to go with just for ease. You do have to wear a mask, gloves, and I think they're making men wear condoms at this point. I'm not sure, but I thought I heard that Governor Gavin Newsom was saying maybe condoms. I'm not sure.
Aaron Inman:
There's a loophole, you can wear lambskin, technically a condom. But [inaudible 00:02:48].
Jesse Inman:
We went and got some wines that are kind of in our price point to see if they are worth a damn. They're widely accessible from most stores, so we tried to pick brands that were a little bit bigger and just see how they taste, how they line up, and which ones we'd recommend over or not.
Aaron Inman:
Give you some thumbs up, some thumbs down or some basically no advice at all.
Jesse Inman:
[inaudible 00:03:09]
Simone:
All right, you guys. My name is Simone and I am the first and only employee of the Lucky Rock Wine company. Today, the guy have sent me out on a little mission to get some wine, so wish me luck. Hopefully the boys will like this. Not that it matters.
Aaron Inman:
First wine we're going to try is La Marca?
Jesse Inman:
La Marca. La Marca. So, it's 10, 15 bucks, give or take.
Aaron Inman:
[crosstalk 00:04:01]
Jesse Inman:
From Italia.
Aaron Inman:
Not champagne.
Jesse Inman:
I thought it was America. But this is ... I mean, it's a world's most popular prosecco, from what I gather.
Aaron Inman:
Little sweet. Tight bubbles. Fruity. Tasty. Slammable.
Jesse Inman:
Slammable.
Aaron Inman:
There's a reason it's probably number one.
Jesse Inman:
I'd probably use it in a mimosa. If you drink those kind of things.
Aaron Inman:
Yes. So, we'll move on now to some sauvignon blanc. Hanna, not a small winery, but a good one. One of the first sauvignon blancs I ever bought more than one bottle of at a time. With sauvignon blanc, stylistically, people can say a lot of different things. I just say, you know, you kind of left it alone or you intervened. This doesn't have a lot of oak. It's mainly fruit aromas, things like that; grass, grapefruit.
Jesse Inman:
Yeah.
Aaron Inman:
Pretty clean.
Jesse Inman:
Crisp, clean. I think it's everything you want in a sauvignon blanc. Just that it's missing some of the complexities that you might get in another higher end sauvignon blanc, but-
Aaron Inman:
Super solid.
Jesse Inman:
... really good bang for the buck.
Aaron Inman:
La Crema. Crema?
Jesse Inman:
The cream.
Aaron Inman:
La Crema. This is just a small winery down the road. It's a Sonoma Coast chardonnay, 2018.
Jesse Inman:
Sonoma County. It's tough to make a $20 Sonoma County chardonnay, but they own a lot of land, a lot of assets, and so it's easier to bring down the price point.
Aaron Inman:
Quite a bit of oak on the nose. If you like vanilla and toasty almonds, it's going to be right up your alley.
Jesse Inman:
Yeah, kind of a oaky, buttery chardonnay, if you will. Not overly oaky, not overly buttery, but that's good.
Aaron Inman:
Full disclosure, we own this wine company. This is the 2018 county [inaudible 00:05:44] pinot noir. It's blended three counties. Let's see here.
Jesse Inman:
We cut our teeth making higher end wines, so we kind of took that mentality, put it into a lower price point through sourcing. So I think we can pull a lot of high end qualities out of the grapes, which is really nice. Little bit extra [crosstalk 00:06:07].
Aaron Inman:
Lot of cherry, little bit of leather. It's nice. It's smooth. One thing that's always been really big to us is texture on wines, and this has a good texture. Should be hard to find at the price point, sub $25.
Jesse Inman:
Peterson.
Aaron Inman:
2014 Peterson.
Jesse Inman:
It's the son of Peter.
Aaron Inman:
Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley. Small, family-owned winery. Probably not going to find this in all markets. We found it here locally. It's good. It's got a lot of blackberry, raspberry, kind of notes that you would expect from a zinfandel. Little bit of oak for sure. Oak and zinfandel are kind of synonymous.
Jesse Inman:
Zinfandel is usually a big jammy bastard and this one, just off the smell, is pretty light. Approachable. Not a big beat you over the head with jammy jam jammy.
Aaron Inman:
It's good. A little bit of vanilla on the back end. Tasty. Benzinger family winery in Glen Ellen 2016 cabernet sauvignon from Sonoma County. Little green on the nose. Not in a bad way, but a little bit of green bean.
Jesse Inman:
Green [crosstalk 00:07:09]
Aaron Inman:
Cooler climate.
Jesse Inman:
Yeah, it's nice. And this is sustainably farmed, which some people think is green washing because sustainable, whatever, but it can create a lower carbon footprint, maybe slightly more chemicals used. But if you're applying chemicals more often than maybe sustainable is ... It's kind of a mixed bag. I always appreciate when people at least try to do something that's not traditional with their wine making.
Aaron Inman:
For the earth. It's good. The oak's a little disjointed. It's just I think probably-
Jesse Inman:
Probably chips.
Aaron Inman:
Probably wood chips. You know, it's a technique. It can be done well. It can be done bad. This is an okay version of it. It's a little disjointed, but not bad.
Jesse Inman:
Good for ... I mean, a Sonoma County cabernet at the price point, pretty solid.
Aaron Inman:
Enjoyable.
Jesse Inman:
Yeah. So, we just wanted to say thanks for tuning in. This is the first time we've done this and appreciate you taking the time to give it a watch.
Aaron Inman:
It's not lost on us that it's kind of a crazy time out there. So be well, stay safe, and see on the next episode.
