You are listening to Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast, back in your feed. This is a special episode, a very special episode. That's all I got. Thanks for listening to this. I feel special after that introduction. Well, first of all, I'm Greg. I do communications at Binny's. I'm Alicia, I'm the wine educator. I'm Gabriel, I'm the wine manager at the Lincoln Park Binny's Beverage Depot. I'm Chris, I'm the company factotum. He's right, you know. That is very true. That's why we ask Chris on every time because we know he's going to come with really interesting stuff that most people just don't remember because they learned about it like 15 years ago. Plus I'm old. Chris is like, well, actually, so- To put a finer point on it. Chris, can you explain to me the wig party? I could. So this is the second year in a row that we've done this. Alicia, did you do this? Who did this? Yes, I did this. You did this. Yes. It's all your fault. Alicia asked all of our wine people to submit their favorite wines under $50? Yeah, I'll describe it. So- Greg, shut up. It's more than that, Greg. It's obviously more than that. Why ask leading questions? Why don't you tell me the movie you want to see? So every year, many of you know, publications come out with their top 100 wines, or some of them break it down by region. These are great lists, but there's a lot of behind the scenes here in terms of how these are created, and there's a lot of incentive to put certain wines on these lists. Well, we at Binny's taste truly thousands of wines every year, and we wanted to give you, our customers, our top 50 wines. And we started this last year, and we further refined it this year. Every single store conducted a blind tasting, so each staff member would come with their favorite wine of the year, under $50. Some of these wines could be kind of their favorites in a very crowded category. Think certain sparkling wines, Cabernet, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, things like that. Or it could be kind of some esoteric, really off-the-beaten-path stuff. And we have plenty of that on the list. So everyone submitted their wine, and then each store conducted a blind tasting, and the store voted and submitted their wine. So we have 50 wines under $50 that we think are some of the best from this year, 2024. And for you to kind of help you shop these, we grabbed 10 of them, and we're going to taste them and talk about them today. Some of these I haven't had in a while, these producers, and then there's even one on here I've never had. So I'm looking forward to this. Binny's Top 50 Under 50 for 2024. I really love that you put this layer of blind taste in here. It makes it so honest and also democratic. I think it's really, I don't know, makes the list feel a little more pure, you know? Indeed, and it allows certain wines that maybe get lost on the shelf to really have their place. And I'll bring up Lincoln Park as an example, Gabe being at that store, I was talking with Ben there and he's like, this is crazy, and Arnais won. And they would have never maybe selected that if it were kind of, you know, a known tasting, but I don't know, your staff likes Arnais, so. Yeah, we have 7100 wine skews, 15 of them were chosen at random, they were, you know, bag tagged and we tasted them blind and it's a good day for Arnais. Yeah. When you say at random, did you close your eyes and just like walk along the shelf? We just throw a cork and see where it drops. It's called sales, Chris. So with that, let's get started. We're going to taste this Arnais, that one from Linkin Park, so shout out to that store and this selection. Is the list ordered? Are you saying this is number one? No, the list is not ranked. Okay. Yeah. So when you find the list on our website, you'll see displays around the chain. We do not give a number of one through 10. These are just 10 that I've selected from the list for us to try today. Right. And this is, I don't know if you mentioned, but this is Bruno Giacosa, kind of a legendary bottling of this varietal. Piedmont in general. That is... Well, yeah. I mean, the Cornerstone producer, one of the Cornerstone producers of Barbaresco moving into Barolo, but also the winery that basically brought this wine back from obscurity, along with Fiatty, one of the few producers left in the late 60s, early 70s. And now there are quite a few people making it. Yeah, I mean, I agree. Can I dumb this down for idiots like me? White wine from northern Italy. White wine from the Piedmont, specifically an area called Roarro, just northwest of Alba, I think. It's been grown there for a long time, but it was on the verge of going the way of the dodo. But a few wineries, Giacosa in particular, still believed in it, and it's a beautiful wine. 2022. And these days, you could find anywhere between three to half a dozen at any given Binny's. I think it's a well-represented category, and it's fun to sell. I also think, especially for those Pinot Grigio drinkers that want to take the next step in their wine journey, have a little more complexity in their wine, but still have a very kind of approachable, high acid white wine. There's even this kind of touch of bitterness with RNAs that we find with Pinot Grigio as well, typically on Oaked as well. So this is a really great step for those consumers. This sits at $32.99, though it's on sale right now. You'll see all of these wines on sale through the end of the year. But yeah, lovely expression. I mean, it's just one of those categories where, like, you're buying the iconic example of this grape from a historic producer and it's $32. I mean, it's just kind of nuts the way wines are valued. And it's really beautiful, really complex. I always love the floral lift of Arnais. It's springtime. It's fresh and vibrant. From an Italian white wine perspective, at least selling it, this is a great example of something that goes beyond neutrality. It has weight, it has alcohol, but it also has zippy fruit and bright acidity. And it could be a transition if someone's drinking a lot of Sancerre or drinking a lot of even Riesling, but you want to bring them into Italian white wine, Arnaise is a perfect wine for that. Even if somebody's drinking a lot of Chez Ble, this is a great opportunity to bring white wine drinkers into Italy and not give them something that's a little flat sometimes. Yeah, it's kind of like a more expressive Chenin kind of quality. It carries an aromatic that kind of borders Chenin or Sauvignon Blanc sometimes, but not necessarily either like a happy medium. So, Chenin Blanc known for like this crescendo of acid on your palate, and I get that here with this wine, but it has amazing tension. So, yeah, if you want to just kind of ponder over a white wine, this is one to do so. Or throw it back with lobster salad. Bruno Giacosa, Ronero. Somebody else do it. Bruno Giacosa, no, I don't. Bruno Giacosa, Ronero Arnaz, 2022. OK, now do it without the accent, Chris. One clean read on this line, please. Bruno Giacosa, Ronero Arnaz. Everybody shut up. 2022. Bruno, Bruno Giacosa. Chris, you've offended, like, every fifth generation Italian. You wouldn't even believe the gestures he just made with his hand. Yeah, they were obscene. Bruno Giacosa, Ronero Arnaz, 2022. Here you go. Thank you, Linkin Park. Yeah, good pick. Nice pick. Yep. Okay, so now actually going into a great variety Gabriel just mentioned, we're going to taste Riesling, and not Riesling from Germany, not Riesling from Alsace, but Riesling from Napa Valley. Yes, that is right. Riesling from Napa. Right. Who is insane enough to grow Riesling in Napa? Somebody who has extra money, right? The Trefethen family. This is a family-owned winery. We actually had Janet Trefethen join us on a virtual tasting back in the COVID days. One, really great to see family-owned properties still in Napa Valley, which is heavily now influenced by outside money. But this is down in Oak Knoll district. People think just they equate Napa and think about it as one place and it's very warm. But in the south, in Carneros and in Oak Knoll in particular, it's very cool. As a result, you see cool expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but you also see a possibility of growing Riesling there, which is awesome. And Napa is what, a million dollars an acre now or so. The fact that a winery is giving vineyard space to Riesling is so cool. That is amazing. It's that just shows dedication to their heritage. I mean, this winery has been around since the late 60s, and they certainly planted this recently a long time ago. They got a big block right on the valley floor. I think the only other place you find a lot of Riesling or any Riesling in Napa is up in the mountains, where it's also cool. And I can think of maybe some spring mountain examples. Really cool climate down here. Everything they do is all estate fruit. Pretty dedicated. Even their Chardonnays and Cabernets are not totally typical Napa. They have that cooler climate expression. Indeed, they make really classy wines across the board. And great walnuts. Oh. Yeah. Let's not get into those walnuts. I've gotten snubbed on those walnuts for 10 years. Come on. I'm not kidding. I mean, I love the wines. I just. Trephathan, send Gabe some walnuts for God's sake. Stop sending them to Ben. I love reasoning when it comes from places that it shouldn't be. And I love to believe that this was for reasons, made for reasons more than somebody in the family wants to drink white wine or that they needed some white wine for their tasting room. I wholeheartedly know that this is for other reasons because they can and they can do it well. Much like Washington can, like Oregon can, like New Zealand can, and they should. It's really crisp and bright and fresh and acidic. It's all of those things, but there's some weight on the palate too. There is some weight, but it's not sugar. Well, right. It is not sweet, but it is not necessarily a light ethereal example. It's more weighty maybe in the Austrian relaxation regime. Absolutely. In fact, you get more of that Meyer lemon. Yeah, absolutely. That's what it is. I was thinking orange cream, but you're right. It's brighter than that. Yeah. It's like a sweet lemon zest, or Meyer lemon is an excellent way to say it too. Yeah. A tangerine lemon cross. Yeah. I absolutely think about this, and parallels in Austria, for sure, because of the weight. It is a dry example. There's very much a purity and varietal here, and I think with that comes almost a greater versatility than when you get locked into Mosel in terms of like food pairing or even situational drinking. I think this is... It kind of spreads itself a little bit further out. I really like it for that. So this is Triphethin Dry Riesling from Oak Knoll. $24.99 is the regular price on this, and this was submitted by our Plainfield store. Nice job, Plainfield. I would say that if you were ever at a loss for what to pair with something, the two go-to's, champagne, dry Riesling. It's like a freaking Swiss Army knife for food pairing. Indeed. What if they made the Riesling sparkling? Yes, they do do that in places. I don't think Trifepin does, but. Game over. The rest of the list can just be that. German sect. It's out there. Go buy that. We just brought in a really good one. Yeah? Yeah. It would be helpful if I remembered the. Von Buhl. Von Buhl. It was Von Buhl. We're tragically late to the game, but those wines are some of the best $50 you can spend in bubbly wine. I think we brought in, I think they do a Rosé too. We brought the Blanc and Rosé. Excellent choices. Okay, we're going to transition now to a wine that I have never had, and Gabriel was just singing its praises, so we're excited to have Turley. Okay, we've had Turley, but they're white Zinfandel. Oh, neat. You heard that right. Yeah, how about that? You heard that white. Yeah, just like everything else that you remember from your childhood. It's back, but it costs 10 times the price. But- 100%. This is not your father's white Zinfandel, is it? This is not the first name in American Zinfandel, but it's very high up there. And the fact that they're going a little tongue in cheek and you know, continue on with the varietal that they do best, but making it into a rosé. This wine is polarizing, I think, at best. I am over the moon about this wine because I like rosé to have weight. I like it to have fruit. I like it to have dimensions. I don't always want it to be Tavel, nor do I want something as serious as Bandol sometimes. And I like domestic wine. And this is what this does for me. And you just get to tell people I'm drinking white Zinfandel. And from one of the premier producers of Zinfandel in California, that has really helped create the reputation for the great variety in the state. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, these are Larry Turialy founded this winery in 93 after being at Frog's Leap for a long time as a co-founder of Frog's Leap. Yeah, he totally focused on old vines. And, you know, white Zinfandel, originally from Sutter Home and later Beringer and things like that, was largely credited by a lot of people for saving a lot of old vines, Zinfandel in the state. And then Larry takes it to the next level. He, like, scours the state looking for old vine vineyards, 100 plus year old vines, low yielding, super intense fruit. But we're trying the white Zinfandel. Right. And this is weird. It is a little different. It has a round kind of waxy texture to it. Let's start with the nose. I would absolutely guess a white wine. It doesn't have red fruit. It smells like a pina grigio almost, like pears and melons. Yeah, definitely Melanie. Right. And that's neat. That's a neat trick. And then it's like a fruit salad and then it goes away. And then there's this like loamy quality on the back end. What is that? America. That's American dirt. That's great American dirt. America. That was a great description, Greg. Yeah, it really was. It's surprisingly well done. You're welcome. We could use you on the team. I accept your apology. And, you know, they're picking these grapes at much lower bricks than they would for, you know, red wine. One could imagine it's probably younger vine or maybe a portion of land they're waiting to mature a bit more. Yeah, likely younger vines. I mean, they do do the juveniles bottling. I mean, their jam is old vines. They've got the old vine blend and then tons of single vineyards. But I don't want to geek out too much because this is a white Zinfandel. How do they do this? They're bleeding it off. I think it's through maceration. Yeah, I doubt it's Sanye. So then what do they do with all the must, all the goop because I bet that's like flavor concentrate because this is so fresh and light. Unless they're doing underripe Zinberries to get this. They are. Yes. Yeah. So that's what Chris was saying about you're picking earlier for rosé and that's the beauty of when someone's saying that they're intentionally making a rosé. They're growing these grapes with the goal of rosé. So they're picking earlier to maintain that fresh acidity. They want a little bit of more like underripe qualities of fruit and going through fermentation. Whereas a lot of times, especially out in California, you do see some Sange Method rosés that can be, I don't want to say like a byproduct, but kind of, of if they're making red wine and they're draining off a little bit of that juice. That's where my brain was going. But you get higher alcohol, lower acidity, you know, riper, rounder. You don't get that classic crisp rosé feel when you do that. Exactly. Okay. How much is this oddball? $24.99. All right. Yeah. And it's on sale? It'll be on sale. Yep. Sorry. It is on sale. I just don't have all the sale prices right now. $22.99. I think we're running into the 20th of May. But this is a serious rosé and hardy enough for a great deal of foods, but it's just fun, honestly. You bring turley and then you pour it and people are like, what? What are you doing to me? Bottle looks awesome. There's almost like this natural tannin that kind of creeps up in the finish, which I think helps kind of add to the fact that it just dried. Regardless of how you feel about that fruit in the middle, it does finish dry. Yeah. And this is not some new project. They've been doing this for almost 15 years, like 13 years. If you guys ever met a white Zinfandel drinker, it's almost like they have like a Dunkin Donuts order. Like it needs six ice cubes and three Splenda, and it has to be in the right cup or whatever. White Zinfandel drinkers are the funnest. They are. The funnest. I was feeling that was disparaging at first. You recovered that well. No, they got some finesse to these things. What I love about it is one of the huge questions I always got during the holidays is like, I want a nice white Zinfandel for a white Zinfandel drinker. And they're like, $5.99. Don't you have anything that's like $30? I'm like, you could buy a whole lot of mums. I'm like, no, now you can. And now you do. Yeah? Yeah. It may not exactly be the right choice, though. I don't think that wine is built to offend anybody. Again, a white Zinfandel drinker will look at that bottle and think, it needs six ice cubes and three Splenda. And three Splenda, yeah. I don't care what the price is. I have a way of drinking my white Zinfandel. Yeah, that's the only issue here is the lack of supporting residual sugar. Make it four Splenda. So, shout out to Crystal Lake. Well done. They know what they're doing. Well done, guys. So a wine that's coming around, I love this wine. I've loved this wine for a long time. It's a great producer in Sonoma. I'm stoked on this one. This is Ramey Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley, 2022. And Gabe, I think we tasted this on a Chardonnay podcast ages ago, five years probably, something like that. And just time and time again, classic, beautiful expressions that have not, I feel like this winery is not wavered, despite trends for what Chardonnay could be or should be in the 90s and early 2000s, and have just committed to a really classic Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is David Ramey. He's kind of a legendary Chardonnay maker in California, one of the guys who set the style for Cimie when that was a huge Chardonnay in the country. And yeah, he steadfastly adheres to rich and round, but bright acidic Chardonnays. It's a wonderful juxtaposition of brightness and richness. And only just slightly reductive as well, like just as Chardonnay should be. Baked pineapple with the little red cherry on top. I think this wine, if you were to show the Russian River Valley in a wine for Chardonnay, I think this is it because originally when the boundaries of Russian River were drawn, it was this cooler place. It was redrawn to include, excuse me, some kind of warmer climate areas. And I feel like this wine has all of that represented. To Chris's point, it has, there's this like backbone of acidity to the wine that goes front to back on your palate. But then there's this stone and tropical fruit that fill it out. The oak fills it out, but everything is in perfect balance. Yeah. Chris, I like what you had to say because one of the things that I wrestle with is when people try to liken American wine that's done in leaner or more varietal expressive styles, as Burgundian, for example. Right. They're not trying to be Burgundy. This is, like you said, a classic expression of Chardonnay. Even though they do find a way to make it, show their identity, this wine is susceptible to vintage. Yeah. There's been expressions of this wine, probably the last time we tasted it was much leaner than it is now. 2022, I think showing a little bit more fat on this wine, it's excellent, but this is still tried and true Chardonnay. They're not trying to make it anything more or less. I agree that, you know, Burgundy is the, you know, the guiding light for Chardonnay makers around the world, but this is a California wine. There's no two ways about it. There is freshness, but it has all that ripe California fruit. Love it. It's gorgeous. This is what California Chardonnay tastes like. Yeah. Yeah, we got it. With acid. With acid. This guy makes an array of Chardonnays from different Appalachians, different vineyard sites. They're all pretty stellar. It's like right in the middle of the Venn diagram. There's a little bit of creams, a little bit of baked fruit, a little bit of spice, fresh, vibrant acidity. It's not like overwrought. It's fruity, but it's not too heavy. Yeah. This is why he's a Chardonnay legend, because he just nails that style perfectly. He pioneered a lot of interesting techniques too. He's one of the guys who let his juice oxidize before fermentation, which allows a lot of anthocyanins and things to drop out of the must beforehand. Then it turns golden afterwards. The story of Montelena back there, award-winning 73 Chardonnay, they freaked out because it oxidized. Then of course, all of that oxidized solid matter dropped out, and it turned into a legendary wine. Now, that's a technique people use, not an accident. I also think just in terms of service of this wine and for whom you're going to pour this, I adore Chardonnay and I love this wine. But I think the person that shows up at Gibson's and just goes and says, I want Chardonnay and they literally don't even ask for a producer or a region, they're ordering that way. I think they would like this wine too. Yeah. I think you get everyone. Yeah. It's one of those Akana Sewers wine and also an Everyman wine because it does nail Chardonnay. I know that it's not more than 50 bucks. Correct. That makes me feel good. 46.99. All right. Yeah. Which honestly when you're touching like Bourgogne at that level, regional Burgundy at that price. Yeah. From great producers. Sure. One could argue that's really where Chardonnay starts to show something, some defining characteristic and start being very different than 100%. There are a lot of very manipulated Chardonnays on the market and, you know, they're all trying to be Ramey. Yeah. Next. All right. So, Gabe and I were deciding on the tasting order of these wines because honestly, these are all so good. And if you like one, you're going to like them all. They have a lot of similarities. We obviously did. Are these all pinos? No. Oh, holy cow. What a quartet of amazing wines we have here. I'm just looking at what's lined up over here. And under 50, wow. This is all Pinot drinking family style. Exactly. This is Pinot Noir and friends here. And I love that concept because we know Pinot Noir can be difficult to buy at a lower price point. But there are so many great varieties that have similar attributes. Talking about fresh acidity, talking about thin skin, kind of low to medium tannin wines, red fruit profiles, savory qualities. We're going to find that in all of these wines. So this is Domaine Jean Marc Bourgaud Le Charme 2022. So this is Beaujolais, folks, from one of the most age-worthy, kind of weighty crews of Morgon. And this was nominated by Lake Zurich. Good call Lake Zurich. Yeah. Chris, what's a Charme? It's a vineyard site. Yeah, Le Charme is the vineyard. Oh. Well, they usually name it after like, there's a windmill or there's a different windmill. Okay, that's Greg showing off that he knows what Moulin-Avon is made of. I was thinking of Silver Oak, but okay. That's a water towel. That's a water. It's a water towel. Is it a water towel? Yeah. Lame. All right. Lame. I love Morgon. This smells like cola and fruit syrup at the same time. I always love it so much. All right, I was gonna go savory. I agree. There's a lot of savory and earthy notes in the nose to me. Well, I think Greg's picking up the best of Beaujolais We're picking up the best of Morgon, but all of that is the best of Jean Marc Burgaud. That is one of the pioneers of rejuvenating the Beaujolais region, but also taking this more minimal intervention turn. Damn, Gabe, elegantly stated. The product of my environment. Seriously, it's true. We're seeing two sides of this wine, but they're all there and it all adds up to one fantastic wine. It's purity of fruit and then pomegranate juice, that twisted. 100%. There's also, there's like a tightness on the palate and the tannic structure on the finish. I think just showing, actually this wine is built to age. We're drinking it definitely in its youth right now. It's a little closed on the finish. Yeah, no doubt this is a Beaujolais to age. Yeah. Chris, maybe you can help debunk this or walk me through this. A lot of burgundy that might kind of show in a similar vein, as you're aging it may find a point where it kind of shuts down a little bit. I can't say I've noticed that as much with Beaujolais. It doesn't find this closed off period as much as it kind of gracefully ages. I would agree with that. I have never encountered a really shut down Beaujolais, especially what people would call a dumb phase, like where it's been in the bottle for a couple of years and then goes kind of under and then reemerges. For most of my late 20s. Right. Your dumb phase. I'm not going to say you're still in it, but let's be realistic. We're all growing. I like how punchy it is. It doesn't taste metallic, but it's like a steel beam. I love it. A steel beam. I like that. Yeah. There's this plum mulberry kind of current quality too. There's a lot of dense pure fruit as you talked about. It's seamless with the tannin. The fruit feels like it's part of the structure of the thing. It is. It just leaves you salivating, showing that acidity in the wine. There is no surprise why people are drinking this at the holidays and especially at Thanksgiving. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, the first thing that comes to mind when I taste this is a roast duck, honestly. But turkey, fantastic. Yeah. I used to buy these at restaurants because they were kind of affordable compared to the Cabernet section. Is that still true? It's affordable in comparison to where you're at Burgundy. And for the length that we can talk about these wines and kind of contemplate them, one could argue that it has a lot of the nuances, the subtleties and the depth that you'd expect out of Burgundy. But you could get it at half sometimes. I mean, this is not... Beaujolais prices have risen, no doubt, but it's still not where you'd be for Burgundy. Yeah. This is delightful young, but you can tell there's underlying structure, so it can age. And I find that something like a Morgane or a Moulin Au Bon, something like that, that has some potential to age, becomes more Burgundian the older it gets. And I think this is an example where you're going to find that. And not unlike Arnais, you're getting premium, just top-notch examples under $50, right? I mean, there aren't that many categories where the absolute greats are giving you wines at reasonable prices. How much is this one? $22.99. No, that's amazing. I know. So, on sale, tucked under $20. And I- A half bottle? Sure. With- Yeah, right. Yep. I thought it was like $35. All right. It's drinking like that, for sure. And to your, yeah, Beaujolais creeped up in price, but nowhere near the acceleration we've seen in price in some other regions of the world. It's probably cheaper because they don't have to pay for the red wax. You know what happened? I don't give this to restaurants anymore because I have a five-year-old and an eight-year-old, so I don't go to restaurants. And they're bourgogne drinkers. If I do, they don't have morgogne on the menu. They have Miller Lite and chocolate milk. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I was about to say with two kids in daycare, this is my line now. I'm home. I can't afford burgundy anymore, but I'm buying this. No joke. This is exceptional. These notes I'm writing down are for myself, and I'm going to get this one. Alicia's picking her kids up from daycare with one of those giant Stanley Cups, blowing those away. Hi, everybody. Tough day at the office. Quick story about the Stanley Cups. My husband at work, they give out swag. We have a Stanley Cup branded with his company's name on it, and he tells me that he has this Stanley Cup, and I go, what? What are you talking about? We live in River North, Alicia. You can see everyone walking around with Stanley Cups. I go, the Stanley Cup? Like, there it is. What's funny, Alicia, how long ago was this? God bless. A week ago. See, what's funny about this is everybody else in America had this conversation two and a half years ago. It just hit the Alicia household. I remember when I saw Coach Q walking around with his Stanley Cup. He's like, this cold brew is so good. Coach Q, he's like, keeps the marshmallows warm. So anyway, I, of course, see these people with these very expensive thermosets or mugs. I didn't know the Stanley, but I know they're called Stanley Cups. Well, yeah, it's a little weird. Anyway, yeah, I will totally be pouring this Beaujolais into my new Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup of the Barrett Household for indoor soccer in the winter. I. I'm just so excited about this line up. This is a perfect representation of Alicia Barrett's wine fridge at home. Yeah, no doubt. She's pulling the strings, not only behind the 50 under 50, but also the ones that got picked for this episode. Oh, no. Yeah, of course. Yeah, obviously. All right, what do we got here? Okay. So. Italy? Love, love this wine. I have been buying this wine for years and years, and have never been disappointed despite even more elevated preferences in wine, as we're exposed to more. Girolamo Russo here, down in Etna, so the active volcano on the island of Sicily, growing the great variety of Norello Maschilisi. This is for all those, again, those Pinot Noir lovers that want to try something new, this is your wine. I think we've seen Sicily get on the radar more for wine drinkers around the world, but it's like only the best days are ahead because you're really seeing an exploration of even like higher elevation sites, you're seeing more commitment to quality, Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're talking volcanic soils here, we're talking a little elevation, lots of sun, you know, it's Sicily. Norello Maschilisi does present a lot like Pinot Noir. With more cherry. You know, this smells like cherry cider or something like that. And it has that red cherry candy intensity all the way through. Well, you know that the parents, one of the parent grapes to Norello Maschilisi is Sangiovese. So that's a well-known cherry bomb. With a little bit of the herbal, like not bitter, but what's the word, savory, a little bit of the herbal savory qualities of that. But the fruit is fresh and it's so vibrant and it's reinforced by the acidity and it's a beautiful way too. There's a density to that fruit without translating to extraction or concentration. It's absolutely gorgeous. This is a beautiful wine. So this is on the shelf for 29.99. Sits closer on sale to about 25 bucks. I think the one distinguishing point though, that may be pulling from that Sangiovese parentage, but just to say, the tannic structure presents itself differently than Pinot Noir. You have some firmer tannins here that really frame the wine well. There's plenty of fruit. It's all in balance. But sometimes it shows almost like some examples can show like Pinot Noir and like this little hint of like almost a nebbiolo. Right. I was going to say, yeah, it's like a Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo cross, which, you know, seems kind of natural. It's just a lot of similarities between the two, but structure really defines them, I think. And but it's so fun. It is. It's elegant and interesting, but it's also so fun. It's like you ran away from the formal dance or whatever they have, and you ran out to the beach, right? Like it's a blast. Right. Kicked your shoes off. Did you do that? You didn't go to the formal dance. Did I do that? Every f*****g time. I leave the party and go have my own. That's true. But the thing is you, but most of the time you leave the party and go to your basement, this person's still outside. Greg, if you love this, this is a category of wine that, as it grows in price, it almost directly transcends to quality. You mean Sicilian wine? Etna in particular. This is their entry level. That probably is about $25 or so. They have single vineyard offerings that clock in around 50 that get wild. Yes. But I'm going to actually push it that the quality for the price exponentially increases, that it's not online. It is outstanding at that $45, $50. I totally agree. The single vineyard expressions, I'm always like to our buyers, I'm like, bring it more. Why aren't these available in more stores? Please seek these out. They are phenomenal. This producer and others make a lot of single vineyards and there are some even pre-Philoxerovines still on Mount Etna. This got a star. This is going in my basket on the way home tonight. All right. Nice. So these do translate in sales. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Me and Paul Von Rohr. Okay, so next step, another great Friday for Pino Noir and Friends, this mini episode, is Mencia. This is the third non-Pino Noir in your Pino Noir block. That's right. This is great. We're building. It's a crescendo. The next one will be Pino Noir, so we'll get there. But this is Mencia from the Bierzo region. This is in Castilla Leone, but in the very northwest part. You get some Atlantic influence still reaching this region, and I lost my train of thought. Well, you were going to say Bierzo because it's in Catalan. And Mencia. So here's the thing. Mencia, not Mencia. When I tried the Spanish accent, it just sounds so bad that I'm just going to own the English. I don't know. My Italian was pretty good earlier. Yeah, you really used your hands, really. Yeah. It's a visual medium, actually. I also don't know what to do, at what point we crossed the line into being offensive. But I know that we all went back to calling it Chick in Kiev, and this still bothers me. For like eight months, we were like Keev, and then we didn't call it Chick in Keev. Chick in Keev. Chick in Keev. What a delightful dish, though. You ever cut into a Chick in Keev, and that butter just rushes out? Best consumed in your car. Back to the Bierzo. All right. Back to the Minthea. This much like the great wines of Etna, have seen these heydays, they've seen a lot of spikes in popularity. Never have totally taken off on the mainstream, at least in this market, but are just beloved because of the same way that that Norel Mescalese is just it's fun and energetic and has this great vibrancy to it. Bierzo offers all of that in the same layers of complexity, the same depths in terms of texture. These are really fun wines in the same way that where this is probably around 30, you spend $80 on a Raul Perez wine. This is his. This is 1899. 1899. Do we say this is Raul Perez? No. And I want to get into that and that connection to Priorod and Chris, if you want to share. Go for it. Let's take it back to the dinosaurs. I would just say that he's kind of an instrumental or a key figure in the rebirth of this great variety. Kind of a maverick, just follows the vintage, follows what the wine's telling him, makes beautiful expressions that are off the beaten track. Because there were people who preceded him like Palazzo, right? Probably the guiding light for the renaissance in this region. But and he, you know, being in the glow of producer like that helped him out a lot. But he's just totally taken his own path to beautiful, beautiful expressions that are really quite singular. This is shocking that it's sub twenty dollars. It's so potent and complex and rich. And the nose has this like mark of elegance that I rarely get. But when I do, it really pops out. It's like a ladies perfume mixed with like a little bit of lacquer. And it's like, you know what I'm talking about? It's like underneath the fruit and underneath the big herbaceous thing that's happening around it. And then on the palate, it's just a big punch. And it's like severe. And you think maybe this one's going to have to age for a while. And usually we're talking about more than $50 for that kind of conversation. Yeah. I think you're right. It has a lot of intensity, but it also is almost weightless in its approach. It's really graceful. Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. But you're really pretty. Yeah. Yeah. There's also this like violet. There's this floral top note that just stays with you for quite a while. I think that's what I'm trying to describe here. It's like the perfume that's like nestled inside of the fruit and the herb basket. I totally agree. I think the best examples of this grape variety are always have this beautiful floral top note. It's really hard to find a bad expression of this varietal because even at its simplest, there is still that fruit there. There is always that like touch of kind of savoriness, a little bit of earthiness to it. This is tremendous. It seems really youthful because it has like a citric acidity underneath the red fruit on the finish. Well, one thing that I would say differentiates this producer from a lot is kind of the put them on the map was pushing ripeness, not this producer, but the area. Producers pushing ripeness till they were a little bit rounder and fleshier and richer. This guy does not necessarily do that. He makes at good sugar levels and good phenolic ripeness, but he does not push it over to overripe in the slightest. And that was what leads to this incredible elegance of this wine, but also the depth of flavor, just masterfully done. Did we say that? 1899. What is going on here? Yes. I feel like you're reading prices from a few years ago. Did you like the Wayback Machine version of our website? This is... It doesn't make sense. Who knows about our website? But AG99, this is Raul Perez, Altria Saint-Jacques, 2021. One other small little tidbit. Barbara and I, we do our Thanksgiving picks every year. And I actually had to take this one out this year. We picked it again. And we picked it consecutive years. And so I'm like, all right, we got to... I had to trim one for space. And so we did trim this one, but know that this is, this is one of our favorites as well, as we think about holiday meals. It's gorgeous. And here's another example, just like the last one where you can climb the price ladder with this guy. But this entry level, just mind boggling. Yeah. Okay, so now Pinot Noir and Friends are finally getting to Pinot Noir. And what a Pinot Noir it is. I know, I know. I almost feel like it's cheating. Seriously, this should be crossed off of a future list too, because it's just too damn good. Okay, so this is Bloomingdale's submission, Domaine Drouhin, Dundee Hills, Pinot Noir, 2022. This is on the shelf, regular price, $42.99. There is not a wine list this wine hasn't been on. I know, and so the reason this is cheating it, just like the Willamette is so exceptional. The terroir of Dundee Hills specifically is so perfect for Pinot Noir. And then you couple that with the Burgundy family of the Drouhins. It's just a match made in heaven and every year I buy this wine. Every year I love this wine. And Greg and Chris have heard me just rave about some of their higher-end offerings, Cuvée Larenz specifically, that is so ethereal and beautiful. And the fact that this is still $42.99. I remember buying this seven years ago for $40. That's amazing. It really does show you they're committed to kind of being at this price point for all of you to enjoy this wine. I mean, I've tried this wine a million times over the years, and I just took a sniff of this and I did one of those things where your eyes roll and you were like, wow. What could they be doing better here? I mean, just tightly spaced vineyard management, really tightly spaced vines and the Burgundy tradition. And just the expertise of Burgundy as through the lens of the beautiful Oregon terroir, and it's magnificent. And the Drouhin family is very active in this project. It's not that they're just kind of bought it and left it and gave it out past the rain system. They're very active in it, but they're not trying to make this be any of their... They're not trying to make this Burgundy. This is tried and true Oregon. This is what Oregon Pinot Châté's like. Yeah. And I know that got brought up earlier. If there's one takeaway when we're talking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, like, please folks, just like kill the word Burgundian when you're not in Burgundy, because it's just not that. And I think we've passed the point of around the world, people are making more elegant, classier wines, acid driven wines, fresher wines. So like we're there. So now let's just appreciate the place for the place. Yeah. I mean, this is just just gorgeous. All I can think of is just supple. It's like a little pillow. And the nice thing, too, is, you know, the Drouhin family recognized Oregon's potential pretty early on. And we're going back to the 80s here. And the birth of this region is really just barely the late 60s. That was Pinot Noir first planted in the mid 60s. So they saw what was going on here. And, you know, they have no reason to do this other than we want to make a freaking great quality wine. And we recognize what's going on here. And they have really elevated what's happening there. It's just amazing. I love it. Your turn, Greg. It's pretty good. Check plus or just check? You're just trying to make my blood boil. Plus, I mean, this beautiful location, this winery is just big, too. They have a lot of acreage. And they're in a great neighborhood. Lots of really fancy neighbors, too. Indeed. And honestly, this is still expensive. We're not trying to say otherwise. If you want to come kind of down a little bit, the Rose Rock wines are beautiful as well. So that's going to put you down in the low 30s, right? Low 30s? Somewhere in there, yeah. Yeah. Rose Rock is made to, I think, showcase riper fruit and be a little bit more modern by comparison to this, but not by much. And they're obviously vintage to vintage. You'll find that it kind of, you know, dictates that. And that's drew on its own, but it's a distinct vineyard site. It's, you know, something, a different project. And they're focusing on a slightly different result, but the wines are gorgeous. Yeah. They're down at Rose Rocks down in Ayola, right? Yeah. Okay. Well done, Bloomingdale. Yeah. Okay. Good call. Oh, I'm stoked that this is still under 50 bucks. Oh, hell yeah. This is the junior. Yeah, this is the telegram, yeah. Because the label is backwards. I always love that detail so much. Yeah. It's the label backwards. I know. Love it. You crazy Frenchies. With your silly embossed bottle traditions, but you're breaking the mold. Can you imagine the marketing company that got attached to this and was like, God, just flip it, whatever. There's one guy. Putting the telegraph in muted colors, flipped in the back, was about as creative as you're going to see out of the French. I know. What if we re-ran our same label? Yeah. That was it. No, there was definitely just a box of leftover labels, right? Shout out to Grand Avenue in River North. I know who submitted this wine. It had to be Kevin. Had to be Kevin. You would think so. Kevin doesn't come across $50 wine easily. He's just, it's not in his, no. This is Vio Telegraph's Telegram, Chateau de Pop 2021, tucked right under $50 at $49.99. Oh, it's a squeaker. It's a squeaker. On sale for $44.99. Sweet. Chateau de Pop. Classic. I often look at Chateau de Pop as the region style of wine that maybe 30 or 40 years ago got Americans thinking more broadly about European wine or French wine specifically. Regardless of they could pronounce it or how they want to pronounce it, this is something that like they tasted and said, whoa, this is not dusty Bordeaux. This is not linear, you know, weird burgundy. This is something that I can drink. I think pronouncing it probably helped it along because it's really fun to say. Chateau de Pop. It is fun to say. No, not that. Not that one. But I think you honestly, you can't probably give enough credit to one wine critic, that was Robert Parker, who just loved Chateau de Pop and really introduced it to the American populace. The thing is that Chateau de Pop has this reputation for being too heavy and serious and it has all this granache and it's so bright and fun. It's so bright and fun and thinky at the same time. It's so good. This iteration is mostly granache, 80% maybe. The View Telegraph style is elegant. We've banned the word Burgundian, but people would call it Burgundian in style even though it's Chateau de Pop. I bet they love you in Chateau de Pop for that. That's right. They snuck in a ringer number five for the Pinot and Friends lineup. But it's so bright and fresh and fun and complex at the same time. There's a real divide in Chateau de Pop between people who make a really lifted aromatic style and elegant style and weighty stuff. There are a lot of people aging in New Oak and doing things that aren't real traditional there and making very, very big bold wines that America definitely fall in love with. But you look at icons like Reyes, Vutellegraph. Yeah. I mean, these are elegance. Vutellegraph was the under the bottle, snuck it in for myself, a bottle of wine at my wedding. Oh, all right. You just scored a few points in my book. I didn't get to drink very much of it because I had to go talk to people. I was very busy that day. I'll just add to that, Chateau de Pape is a pretty, I don't want to say large, but relative to some of the other crews of the Rhone, it's kind of a large appellation. There are, I think, some producers that ride the cotels of the name. I'll just say that not all Chateau de Pape is created equal. No. To Chris' point, you get the bifurcation of style as well, even among your premier producers. I'll just say in the Rhone too, shopping producer, I think, is a good guiding principle. But also, the Southern Rhone, it's getting warmer and we are getting higher alcohol wines coming out of the region. But all that to say, they're still achieving balance, so all good there, but even more so, you should buy this stuff. It's going to appeal to so much of the American wine kind of population. Yeah, and this requires no further aging in my opinion. This is meant to just be popped and poured and enjoyed joyously. This is a fun wine. It's a wine of fruit. It's a wine that shows classic Chardonnay underpinnings of gareeg and spice. But the fruit is just upfront and easy and delicious. And on the shelf you'll find most Binny's will have between 10 and 20 examples of Chardonnay pop ranging from about $30 up to around 100. More if you need to. But this has been incredibly consistent for that approachability. And it's not showing these big brooding styles that you start getting depending on producer, but also as you start inching into different directions in price. I like this wine. Even though it's meant for early drinking, you know, they're famous bottling is from the La Croix Plateau, which is this pretty warm, arid vineyard site that's full of what they call Galle Roulets, the famous big stones in Chardonnay to pop. And on the finish of this wine, I think you still get, even though it's a fruitier style, you still get that incredible kind of veil of minerality, that wet river stone kind of thing going on. Lingering on the finish. So this is not just a one trick pony. There are layers here. It may not be as structured or complex as their main modeling, but it is really nice. Last one, ready? Yes. Oh, I hope she brought some bubbles. I did. Do we want the sound? Yeah. The crinkly foil. Oh, we're to the ASMR part. Yes, capture the whisper. She twists the enclosure six and a half times, preparing to release the quote. Do you count? No, but I love that Greg still... I know that count. Nicole will count. She's like, I count. I always do tell people when I'm like teaching, I'm going to get six and a half, but I'm like, you just untwist it till it's open. Yeah, until it's done. I have to know how many times, otherwise I won't understand. Because you'll feel like a stupid when you go to seven. You're like, oh, well, now I got to go back the other way, but that was too much. But use your eyes. Re-sealed. I went 12. Woo. It's like counting down at the end of a sports game. You know, you don't have to do it, but you're like five, four, three. Yeah, there's basketball. There's a clock. Not football. They walk away before that happened to football. Look at this fun label. This is fun. This is very fun. I love Jansz. This is Jansz. You've actually, yeah, you've been a proponent of Jansz Sparkling for quite a while. Yeah, they're great. We were sleeping on them for way too long. The fact that their main stays on our shelves now, that they're getting exposure, that stores are tasting them and enjoying these wines. Does it say Tasmania? Tasmania, yes. This is an island south of Australia, kind of like if you were to find Melbourne and just kind of head south from there, right? Yeah. South of the mainland. Look how I responded like you were looking at me. Obviously, you're asking Chris. I was. Yeah. So specializing certainly in sparkling wine here, very cool climate, a lot of investment as we do see climate change, everyone's trying to find these kind of cooler sites to hedge their bets here. So Sparkling is the name of the game. But it's this island that is still like so remote and rugged and undeveloped, yet they're making sparkling wines that end up on our shelves and other retailers and restaurants around the country. So it's really cool, all traditional method coming from. Kind of amazing. This was once had Rotor behind it. Really? Yeah. Way back in the day. Rotor dollars. Yeah, Rotor dollars. But now it's a family owned concern, I believe. Everyone's got family. Bruce Wayne's not making wine. Hey, you guys, happy holidays. Hey, Chin Chin. Happy holidays. Oh, my God. Why are you saying that to me? You don't like the holidays? So this, Dave, I know why you like this wine, because your earlier comment when you were tasting the Shirley White Zen, you're like, I want rosé with with some depth, with some weight, with some concentration, I might not want to fall at the time. This is this is that this is sparkling rosé with weight, with concentration, with layers of fruit. Yeah. And it's like ready for food. This is this is sultry. This is this is very vivid wine. This is strawberry shortcake with that whipped cream on top. Yeah, exactly. It's so it's so fun. But it has brioche, it has acidity. It doesn't lean to to sweet vitamins or to ripe. I kind of struggle with it's also not too dry, but it's not dried. There is a core of fruit here that is pretty remarkable. It's very venous and very fruity. And it is supported by some some sugar, but it doesn't come off as sweet. It's it's pretty fun to drink. I bet you it's like, what, 10, 11 grams. Yeah, it's got to be. Oh, I think it's like perfectly balanced. Yeah. Yeah. When you're not noticing the acid or the sugar and you're focusing on the fruit, then then something's happening there. Right. Yeah. Everyone needs to calm down about dosage and just appreciate balance in sparkling wine. Well, I mean, if we want to just get weird about dosage, it doesn't matter how many grams of sugar there is unless you take into account what your your overall acidity is. Right. It's all about balance. You can create a brute style sparkler with a fair amount of sugar, you know, that's why there's a range, people. They make ranges for the styles for a reason. If you celebrate New Year's with people who don't have grape leaf tattoos or questions like most of us, this is going to be a way bigger hit than like a Tet to Cave that takes itself too seriously or some $80 champagne. This is delightful. Yeah. Regular price $24.99. Get the f**k out of there. Get the f**k out. Is it on sale right now? Of course. I'll buy this one. I'll buy the case of this one. They come in cute little six packs. It's perfect. And that's exactly that. I think people kind of put all sparkling wine under this umbrella of just consumption. Like it should be just enjoyed and celebrated and drank quickly really. But Tet to Couvées need time. They need maturity. They need time to become expressive in the glass. They need to be thought about. I don't want to think that much. I'm still in my dumb face. I just want to smoke back tasty bubbles. I don't care if there's a glass or not. They already put it in one. Is it the champagne three? Is it Chardonnay and Noir? It is. Yes. It is? Correct. Traditional method. So they grow traditional champagne grapes in Tasmania. They use traditional methods. Traditional methods. Traditionally, rack and riddle and all of that s**t. They put it in six-pack bottles at this delightful, fun little label, put it on boats that go one direction or the other around the globe to get to America. And we sell up for $25 or something. I know. It's crazy, right? Isn't that nuts? The guy on the boat is like, you got to start charging more. You know how long I've been on this journey? Oh my God, and the ports are closed. They should just create a pipeline of this stuff to Hawaii. This is amazing. Yeah, and I love that strawberry shortcake note because I think that would be an amazing pairing with this. It has all of those flavors. And if you don't put too much sugar in your strawberries, it's got that biscuity. Yeah, it's got to be sharp and acidic in part. Yeah. I mean, it echoes everything. Yeah. A classic biscuity shortcake. I actually don't know how much time on Lees they're doing, but the fact that we can detect the autolytic qualities is enough, right? It shows that they're doing it under nine months, you really can't even tell. So we know they're doing it more than that, and it's the perfect amount for this wine. I agree. It doesn't become dominated by autolytic notes. It's just a underpinning, and this is all about fun. So I'm hosting brunch on Saturday, and I'm making some croque monsieur sandwiches. But for people that I don't know what they drink, I don't think they're big into wine, I'm going to serve this. Oh, do it. How could you not love this? I am going to love this, but as we said, it's weighty, there's depth, there's fruit, everything to combat some rich cheeses and some ham. My only criticism is it's brunch, you should make the croque madame. The madame, yeah. Yeah. For the ladies. And the eggs, just like, I'm just going to leave it aside. All right. But you'll know that the bread will be homemade. Whoa. Right on. I know, I've really leaned in this mom phase. Love this. With your Stanley and your bread habit. Okay. Yeah, with her Stanley full of white Zinfandel, you're making her own sourdough. All right, guys, a shout out. We've ended with Jansz Premium Rosé from Tasmania 2499, from our newest store, Bucktown. Hey, Bucktown, good call. Bucktown, nice job. Down by the river. Well done. I will say if you live near Bucktown or want to venture in, you know in the NHL, spring out with Stanley Cup, when you have a new franchise, you get to just like handpick across the league. Greg has no idea. I don't. Yeah, so you kind of get to form your best team. Our wine team in Bucktown. They're ace, right? Nailed it. Yeah. So go visit Bucktown. Elston, Damon. Fullerton. Fullerton, right there. Old Vienna hot dog. Just north of the Chick-fil-A. This wine as well as many others in the selection, the 10 out of 50 that we chose today, I think is a great testament that the good people of Binny's are not only tasting a lot of wine, they're paying attention. This was not a cookie cutter list even a little bit. This is not the same list we had last year. This is a fun list. You are so right. There's nothing that can replace tasting and we taste thousands of wines and we do it all for you people. We do it for them. You. We do it for you. We just tasted 20% of our top 50, under 50. I'm tingling to know what the other 40 bottles of wine are and I can find that on the email that we sent out a week ago. So, yeah, email it now. We'll be tasting some bottles on social all holiday season. But yeah, if you go to binnys.com and go to Expert Advice, you'll see Tasting Panel. That's right. And click there, you'll see all the wines. Everything's on sale. Well, you know what, for you, we'll give you a front page banner. Oh. What? Just for you. You're gonna boo Bucktown? That's hard to come by. Now we're gonna move from Weekend at Binny's. December 7th tasting of some of these wines at all stores, right? Yes, that's right. Yes. Oh, Weekend at Binny's Takeover. Weekend at Binny's Takeover, Saturday, December 7th. Your local Binny's store will pick their favorites from the list and pour them for you from 12 to 3. So pop in, try some things. Anyway, check out Top 50 Under 50 for 2024 from Binny's. We hope you enjoy these wines. There is truly great stuff on this list, and it's an honest list. It's a pure list. It is an honest list. I've gotten a lot of heat. It's an honest list. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. You know, there's some talk about why isn't this a more mainstream list? Well, you know what? We taste a lot of wine and these are beautiful expressions of wine that more people should be exposed to. You can walk into any Binny's and buy, you know, average Cabernet or Chardonnay and we're happy to sell that to you. And there are plenty of good ones out there, but this is the real deal, people. So thanks for listening to another episode of Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast. Nailed it. Nailed it. Yeah, we'll be back in your feed real soon. Come in, taste these wines. Until next time, I'm Greg. I'm Chris. I'm Gabe. I'm Alicia. Keep tasting.