Season 2, Episode 10: "New Jersey Wine Tasting with Friends"

Apologies for the long absence. Again, life has gotten very much in the way of things.  In this case, it was a move back to a mountaintop lair in Jerome after some rather gruesome personal trauma... and, well, the original episode I was going to share for number ten was about Tasting Room etiquette... Which seemed uh, kinda pointless right about now in the midst of Covid-19 when we're drinking our wines at home.  After some debate and much procrastination, I decided to switch the order of some upcoming episodes, since listening to podcasts is a great way to occupy oneself during these days.  So.. We're starting up again. Hopefully, there will be some kind of regular schedule again... but life has a rather annoying way of ruining regular schedules.  In this episode, I hang out with some friends, drinking the wines made by Sal Mannino (@carbonicmass on Instagram), who has been a long-time follower of mine on the 'grams.  All of these wines were made from grapes grown in New Jersey. Furthermore, these are grapes I never expected to see growing in the verdant lands of New Jersey; all of these are varietals I am much more familiar with here in Arizona. (Well, with the exception of Pinot Noir, that is; I've had plenty of fun Pinot Noir vintages from Maryland on northwards to Massachusetts, but I digress.) Nick and Ed, over at New Jersey Wine Reviews also tried some of these same wines at a dinner event, as well as a few different vintages that we didn't get to imbibe; pop on over to their blog and take a look.  Sal Mannino himself joins us just after halfway through the podcast, via phonecall; prior to this, my friends Dina Ribado, Isla Bonifield, and Tracy and Chuck Demsey drink through his wines and give our thoughts and comment on tasting notes and wine techniques. Tracy and Chuck were kind (and awesome) enough to host at their awesome bakery and bottle shop, ODV Wines.  If you are ever in the Phoenix area and need super-cool wines or super awesome pastries, be sure to stop by their spot--tell them Cody the Wine Monk sent you.  I love their shop to pieces, and I specifically recommend her lemon bars.