The Good Bottle Podcast
Chris Sinclair owns a bottle shop, a bar and has been a world famous Bartender. Drew Garrison is a liquor broker and is known internationally as one of the afore most knowledgable people in the world of Agave and Rum
Sit and listen to the guys talk to amazing people who help breakdown the information of the moment and offer insight based in real world knowledge.
The Good Bottle Podcast
S.6 Ep.9 - Kristie Tacey: Grapes, Grit, and Grooves with Tessier's Vision
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We open a bottle of intrigue when Kristie Tacey, the biotech professional turned winemaking wizard behind Tessier Wines, pulls up a chair at our podcast table. Her story, a blend of science, art, and sheer tenacity, pours out as we explore the vine-laden path that led her to carve out a niche in the world of boutique wines. Kristie's candid revelations about the hurdles she's overcome, from the initial spark at a winery visit to juggling her own label while working for others, are not just her personal tasting notes on life but a robust guide for anyone fermenting their own dream.
Venturing into the vineyards, we unravel the intricate dance of sourcing grapes and the deep connections with the earth and people that bring a bottle to life. Kristie leads us through this ritual, sharing her transition from the familiar terroir of the Russian River Valley to the bold frontiers of the El Dorado and Santa Cruz Mountains. We then uncork the process behind Tessier's standout wine labels, where each design is a toast to the essence captured within the glass, marrying the precision of Kristie's scientific background with the flourish of her artistic touch.
Our conversation takes a rhythmic turn as we explore the symphony of senses that is pairing wine with the perfect playlist. Kristie tunes us into the harmonious practice of matching her wines with melodies, a process that goes beyond the palate to an immersive sensory experience including her curated Spotify playlists. As we anticipate the upcoming wine release event, which promises to be a confluence of delectable bites, soulful tracks, and, of course, exceptional wines, we raise our glasses to the melody of winemaking – where every sip is a note and every bottle tells a story.
www.goodbottleshop.com
@thegoodbottlepodcast
Alcohol Business Podcast
Speaker 1Welcome to the Good Bottle Podcast . Join Chris and Drew , two self-proclaimed booze pundits with a lifetime of industry experience , as they walk you through the alcohol business and how today's headlines affect the industry . Each week , you guys will be joined by a special guest that will help them break down these stories and offer their own expertise to the podcast . So pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink and sit back .
Speaker 2This is the good bottle podcast zippity-doo-dah , zippity-ay , what a marvelous podcasting day . Welcome to the good bottle podcast . Is that one acceptable ? Drew drew's shaking his head , that one that one didn't land right for him , honestly no , that was great .
Speaker 3This is just over these years this is the best one .
Speaker 2yeah , makes me really happy just seeing how crazy I can get .
Speaker 3I'm wearing a Disney shirt right now , so you know I'm on board . Man , I'm proud of you , good job .
Speaker 2Aw , thanks , buddy , it's all fair game . Now , right , all public resort , what's ?
Speaker 1I don't remember .
Speaker 2Public domain . Hey , that's it . See , that's why we're around each other welcome everybody to the good bottle podcast . My name is chris sinclair . I'm with my uh , uh , oh , so smarty pants . Uh , co-host drew garrison . We're , uh , we're excited . This is uh , this is good , this is great . How's everybody doing ?
Speaker 3I don't know that's it , I lost , it , I lost it after zippity-doo-dah I do , I do want to . Um , you know , we're we've had back-to-back two-part episodes and this is a format that we're going to continue to move forward with and it seems like people are really excited about it , like some of the feedback that we've had . So it's like man , I can't wait for part two . I'm like sweet , that's , that's what we want .
Speaker 2So , um , yeah , I mean ideally . You just don't get tired of listening to us talk , if you haven't already .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , yeah , if you're still here , you know God bless you . But uh , yeah , go back and listen to you know , our last episode with Lucas , we talked about a really uh , a bunch of fun stuff and it was , I think . I think we had a great conversation and and tonight will be another great conversation . I do want to address something that so , chris , you've been doing a really good job of creating content outside of the podcast , so like you've been doing like videos and things like that .
Speaker 2Oh my God , I got a compliment and it's like you did . Holy shit , that's amazing .
Speaker 3So , but one of the things that I do want to kind of comment on is that , like so we've been doing this podcast for roughly five years now , and you know , one of the things that you learn early on is that you have to talk so much closer to the mic than you think right Now . What that leads to is me leaning in closer to my mic and then when you do the videos and they pop up on my Instagram feed , all I see is my big ginormous head . And do the videos and they pop up on my Instagram feed , all I see is my big ginormous head and I'm just kind of like good Lord , like I know , I have a big coconut , but this is upsetting how how these closeups work . So I'm going to try to sit back as much as possible and just project a little bit more so that way my dome doesn't look like mega mind when you , when you share videos and let the world appreciate it , it's fine .
Speaker 2Oh well , thank you . Well , you know , when you , when you share videos and let the world appreciate it , it's fine oh well ,
Excitement for Guest Winemaker Tessier
Speaker 2thank you .
Speaker 3Well , you know enough about , you know that we're really , we're really excited about , about tonight's guest , and I think the one of the things that I want to highlight before we get into it is you know , we do get , we do get suggested guests and things like that , and it's always great , we really do appreciate it when it happens . And I think when we get them some suggestions from friends and people who listen to the podcast , they get it . They know the type of person who's going to want to be on the show . And so then , if we don't know them which is often , more often the case than not , where we actually have never met people in person before , or at least I haven't or Chris hasn't Sometimes there is one or the other , but in this situation you start going down the rabbit hole and you're just kind of like is this the most fascinating person we're ever going to talk to ?
Speaker 3Like this is uh , ridiculous . So , uh , no pressure , christy , that you have to live up to that , to that moniker . But but our guest today , uh , she is the owner , winemaker , head of the table , christy Tacey from Tessier Wines .
Speaker 2Christy , welcome to the podcast . I told you he was going to do it . I called it . I knew he was going to say it that way .
Speaker 3It was pretty good , did they say , tessier Is it .
Speaker 2Tessier . Will you correct him please ?
Speaker 4Tessier , tessier .
Speaker 2Tessier baby Tessier .
Speaker 3Tessier , baby Tessier . So first off , chrissy , thank you so much for joining us tonight , and we did tell you that was going to happen . Why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself , a little bit about the wine that you're making , and then we're going to start peppering you with questions and we're just going to go from there .
Speaker 4Okay , yeah . So I , in a nutshell , let's see , I grew up in Michigan and I graduated from University of Michigan with a degree in biology and I promptly moved to California and I got into the biotech world . I had student loans that were like coming due and I didn't even really understand what that meant . But what it meant was I needed to get the highest paying job that I could get and I ended up in working for 10 years as a research scientist in the Bay area .
Speaker 4I in my thirties , I just didn't feel it , you know , I just felt science was very critical and they just weren't my people . Like I went out all the time to see bands and um out to hang out with friends , and most scientists don't have a social life and um don't even like get your jokes or anything . So I felt like you know , life is short and I want to switch careers . So , yeah , I had went to a winery when I was 22 , when I first moved to California , and I was just like so struck by the grapes that were growing there , you know , the estate and then the cellar , and then um people hanging out , drinking wine and eating snacks and feeling happy , and I was kind of like this is so cool Cause I was always really into natural science you know , soil , plants , weather , um , just figuring out how things work and why they work that way . Out how things work and why they work that way . So I felt like , you know , this was a good path and a job opened up in Oakland . So I was living in Alameda at the time and so I didn't have to move up north or anything . I could still keep my you know East Bay lifestyle and I started working in an urban winery and that's kind of how I got connected with different vineyards and learned how to make wine and learned how to run a winery . I was their operations manager , I ran their wine club , ran their tasting room , and then I worked alongside of the guys that own the winery and how to make wine . They sold after three years and so I was like I'm going to launch Tessier and I'm going to do some Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley 200 cases and I honestly didn't know where I was going to go with it , but I just wanted to do it . And then I don't know , I mean it sold and then I made more and everywhere I worked in wineries , the wine jumped around with me .
Speaker 4So , like I started in Oakland and I was in two different wineries in Oakland and then I was consulting in San Carlos . I brought the wine down there for a couple of years and then I've moved up to Healdsburg at a custom crush facility so I could expand my business because it was really hard doing everything . So having making wine for someone else and then I would make my wine after we were done making their wine , because people were always like I'm paying you to make my wine , you know . So it was like always after the fact , and then I would have to like have my friends come to help and it just got really hard and complicated and I just didn't have enough energy . So , being at a custom crush facility , they provide the labor and you get to use their tanks and their barrel space and that's kind of how I was able to grow my business and source from more vineyards , because you know a lot of how I was able to grow my business and source from more vineyards Because you know , a lot of times I have to drive the truck to get the fruit and then if you're cleaning and setting up , you know you're not having time to like look at the fruit and think about you know what protocols do I want to use .
Speaker 4So it helps so much . But anyways , last year I was able to move my production down to Berkeley at Donkey and Goat Winery , which was great because I live in Berkeley . And then this year I was able to know about another winery space right behind Donkey and Goat that was open and I pounced on it and now I have my own space . After 15 years of making wine kind of under other people's , you know rules and you know you're always like in their way . They're they're always annoyed with you whenever you're at a custom crush facility and it feels so good to like have my space and , um , be able to make wine there this year for tessie that's amazing .
Speaker 4So you're officially producing out of berkeley now I will be yeah , so I'm just kind of getting ready for harvest and um , yeah , so I live in berkeley and I have my winery in berkeley and it's also a part of a really cool community too . There's Brock Cellars there , there's Donkey and Goat and there's Hammerling , which is like so cool . So you know we're urban winery , which is always kind of tricky , but when you have like a bunch of people with you it makes it easier because you can borrow stuff If your things break down . You know your forklift doesn't start . You can be like , hey , could you unload my truck ? You know there's a lot of camaraderie , which is which is awesome , and I'm I've always been super pro , you know community and support , so I'm so excited .
Speaker 3So I think one of the things that you know is also really unique about , about the wine that you know today seems a little bit more like well , of course , of course it's a natural wine , but in 2009 , that trend definitely wasn't as prevalent . And listen , of course there's the case we made that . Most winemakers just call it winemaking . We , just as Americans , always have to put stupid titles on things right . But back in 2009 , when you do do that first 200 cases why was that important to you and why does that remain to be kind of like a driving force ? Because I think one of the things that I love about Tessier so much is that it just tastes like really good wine .
Speaker 3It's not like sometimes you go to these natural wine bars and they're just kind of like , yeah , and then they didn't do anything and you're just like you should have done something . Yeah , it's like you're just really bad at this , like who told you to do this ? Like you know you need all the things , but like you were doing it at a time when it wasn't trendy and you've continued to , or I mean at least , at least where it starts to translate to more where it was like . I mean even in . I just you know , for you know , I know that you had mentioned like you love to see how things work and stuff like that , and that's what led you down your science path . But you know what , why was that important for you when it came to producing wine ?
Speaker 4well , I mean , I wasn't a natural winery , that wasn't a term back , and I guess , like I started cluing into that maybe in like 2012 , 2013 . And after going to France , I talked with other winemakers there and you know they kind of clued me into natural wine , that they don't add any commercial yeast , that they , you know , try to do less , and that's where I got the term like minimal intervention . So I I like to say you know there's a big umbrella for natural wine , but I'm not in the dogma of nothing added , nothing taken away , like zero , zero . I just that's pretty like impossible to attain , I mean , with all the climate change and everything , and I use science to help guide me make minimal intervention wine . And you know I have my certificate in winemaking from Davis , which is good to have . But then when I went to France , you know that's when I thought about terroir and you know , using the native yeast kind of helps have more of an expression in the wines .
Speaker 4But so , coming from my science background , I was really feeling like that career was pushing me into a very like uptight person , like a very type A . I mean to be in a lab all day and you have to like repeat the same protocol and not mess up . I mean , that just kind of becomes your personality and I was like not feeling it . You know , I'm like I want to be creative and I want to like , not be put in a box . So that was one reason that I wanted to switch careers .
Speaker 4But there was a recovery period , you know . So I was nervous about making my first wine . You know , you pay all this money for the grapes and you don't want to mess it up . So like I had a catalog and I was like kind of making wine , like I would , you know , do my science projects with all these products , I would do my science projects with all these products . So it wasn't until 2015 that I went all native ferments and I was really nervous about it , you know , because I was a recovering scientist . And then the wines tasted so great and there's so much more complexity not using a commercial yeast . But there were changes that I had to make , you know .
Speaker 3Can you explain for our listeners , just kind of like what that process is versus a commercial yeast versus a native yeast and you know what that looks like ?
Speaker 4just for that fermentation there's like a giant catalog from like Scott Labs and there are isolated yeast that are very robust and it's just one . One species of yeast that you know can convert sugar to alcohol and like even higher levels of alcohol , cause that was the style back then too was like you know , you pick riper , so you probably pick like around 24 bricks was kind of the normal . That's kind of how I was trained and that's 14.5 alcohol .
Speaker 1Which is the ?
Speaker 3sugar level . We get insider baseball , but we also want to make sure that we have little footnotes for people . I'm sorry , continue .
Speaker 4But so with native yeasts we pick earlier because the yeasts aren't as robust , because they are just naturally occurring on the grape skins , so you don't have to add anything . It's just like nature doing its work . But it's a whole diverse amount of species on the grape skins , or like in the air too in the winery . I mean you don't know . But basically you don't , you're not adding any commercial strains .
Speaker 3I mean , I think that you know , especially with you changing locations as well , I mean , is there still ? Is there still that nervous energy every single time ? Because you know , like you said , like you have a new facility that you know the wine's gonna be coming out of . Now it's no longer that crushed facility , so it is going to be . You know , you'll still have the vineyards that you're pulling from and the native yeast that come on those grape skins , but now you're going to be exposing them to new like is there ?
Speaker 3I mean , does that anxiety ever go away ? Or are you just kind of like I fucking think I know what I'm doing ?
Speaker 4No , yeah , it's always there for sure . But I mean it's nice that now I've been doing this for 17 years , because I did two years before Tassier that I work with a lot of the same vineyards . So I kind of know what to expect . But in the beginning , I mean , I was just like so nervous all the time and , you know , just felt like it was going to get really messed up and I was going to ruin it , all you know .
Speaker 4But now I just feel like you just have to . You know , you know the vineyards , you know when to pick and things kind of get awkward . Sometimes , Like after fermentation , the wines might taste kind of weird . But I try not to react , I try to like give it time , walk away , you know , come back and taste again to decide if you need to intervene .
Sourcing Grapes and Label Design
Speaker 2How do you go about finding your grapes in your vineyards ? I'm certain it's different for for a little bit of everybody , but yeah , you know you just like drive down the road in vineyards and go oh that one , I'm going to talk to those guys no , it's , it's all you know , a research game .
Speaker 4I think this is how I do it . So in the beginning I had like three tasting groups going because I just wanted to taste as many wines as possible . You know , to see like in my mind , like where did my mind or where did my wine stack up ? Or like you know , how does it compare to others , and I would call you know , just , we would do like all Syrah from from everywhere , but do it blind and kind of see like can we tell if it's old world or new world ? And and then , um , or like Syrah all from you know one area in California , like all Northern California , and I mean that then I was able to clue in like what regions did I love for those grapes ? And then try to think about do I know anybody making wine around there ? And then hit them up with an email or go to the winery at the tasting room and be like , hey , you know , is the winemaker in ? You know just all of that stuff like chatting people up trying to investigate and then meet growers , and that's kind of how I did it in the beginning .
Speaker 4But I got really lucky , lucky . Like I said , I started with Russian River Valley Pinot , which I don't even make any Russian River Valley Pinot anymore . And then I got into Grenache from El Dorado and I met Ron Mansfield , who just recently passed away , in 2011 . And he was like , call him on the phone , we talked and he's like why don't you just come up here ? So I came up there and we both just like really liked each other , like just lots of respect on both ends , and he was really encouraging and it was like a handshake deal . So then I started getting his Grenache . But then he grows all these other grapes .
Speaker 4So I'm always like what else you got ? You know , that's kind of you want to work with what you know and you develop a relationship of trust and expand that way . And then other new ones you know Santa Cruz Mountains . Like I did this big Pinot Noir tasting and I loved the Santa Cruz Pinots the best . I always thought I was so into Russian River Valley but like doing this big tasting made me , you know , clue into Santa Cruz . So then I went to a technical seminar down there and I met Prudy Fox through another friend of mine and she's a vineyard manager for all these great private vineyards . Then we really hit it off . She's like from the Midwest , super cool lady , and so she's been able to hook me up with a whole bunch of cool vineyards too . So you know , it's just kind of organic , like being cool people , being open . I guess you know them liking you and being able to work together , just like finding your fit , I suppose .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's right . You know , I think one of the things that gets overlooked , even though it's really important , is always packaging right , and I think for myself , definitely early on , I mean , one of the things I will default to Chris on that I do think that he's better at than me is wine tasting , and he has definitely gotten me into some really good stuff . But then I also , at the end of the day , I'm a sucker for a good label and and I and I love the different labels that you come up with because , like they're pretty weird , and that speaks to me , so hopefully you take that as a compliment but , then you also have , you know , like the logo , where it says like science as as art , right and you
Speaker 3have a little microscope in there too . So I mean , like when you're designing these labels or working with a designer when it comes up with these , like what's the motivation for yourself ? And like how you're going to design these bottles , what you want to look , and then what are you trying to invoke when people look at them ? Cause you know , like we've all been in that situation where you're looking at a wall of wine and you're just kind of like what do I get you know ? So , from that perspective , what are some of the things that go into these labels for you ?
Speaker 4Yeah , I mean , I think it's part of my growth and trajectory too , of becoming science-y , less rigid , to being more creative and kind of out there . I guess , I don't know , I guess that was my goal . You know , to be the crazy Berkeley lady , but I'm like a woman from Michigan . In the beginning , the first 10 years , the first label was round , like you're looking through a microscope , and it depicted yeast cells , and then I had a quote from Louis Pasteur on the back and , yeah , it was just kind of basic , but I didn't . I was kind of basic coming out of it , you know . And then then I wanted to freshen it up at 10 years and so I still wanted a sciences art label . Like I still loved , like I saw so many cool things when I was a scientist under the microscope or or whatever that was . Like this , this would be art and and I I think that was such a cool thing . So , like this , the second round of labels is the underside of a sage leaf under scanning electron microscope , but it just looks cool and globular and arty . But I met my boyfriend in 2017 when I was kind of like trying to redo these labels , and he introduced me to his friend that is our graphic designer now , and so she helped me put together that label and it looked way cooler . And then , um , then he was talking to me like what about ? You know , you do a blend and do like a really like fun label ? And I was like , yeah , you know , I I did some music , like I did , uh , a rosé before , or no , I did a Pinot Noir .
Speaker 4I did a Pinot Noir and I called it After Hours and it was a blend of Pinot and it was a nod to the Velvet Underground . Because , like I said , I was always into music . When I was going to school in college I would go to Detroit as much as possible and saw bands everywhere , in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti . I wanted to quit school and join a rock and roll band and I started taking bass lessons , but it's way harder than I thought . So I was like , all right , I just gotta get my degree and keep going .
Speaker 4So like I don't play music , but I love it and and now I feel like I don't even want to learn because it might take away like the magic of it . You know , like like a science . I feel like that . Like you know , drinking my own wines , I I just it's hard for me to enjoy them because I'm like so critical . I don't want to ever be like that about music , but anyways , so we , I , I wanted to do a blend like a fun picnic series blend and Riesling .
Speaker 4I make a Riesling and it never really sells that well because , I mean , industry people love it all day . They're like Riesling is my favorite grape . I'm drinking a Riesling right now from Alsace . Like I love Riesling but the common consumer is thinks it's sweet and they don't want to try it . So I'm like I gotta put the Riesling in the blend because it's so , it's so like sound and such a good structure . So , yeah , soul Love was the first blend that I did and it's like 65% Riesling and then two or three red grapes , depending on the vintage that you have , but with the Riesling we're looking at 22 here .
Speaker 2This is 22 . Okay . Yeah this is 22 .
Speaker 4Okay , yeah , this is 22 22 solo so so it has three red grapes in that one , and the riesling and the mortau make this like cool guava , like hawaiian flower aromatics .
Speaker 2It's kind of like adult kool-aid and it's kind of wine punch , but dry yeah , it's one of the reasons I absolutely love this wine is because it like right it reminds me of like sitting at a picnic table with like a pitcher full of punch , except now I'm a grown-ass man and I want booze , so it's like right allegedly , allegedly like you know , physically , not emotionally right .
Speaker 4Yes , stay true to your inner child , for sure . But so you know , and Bowie had passed in like 17 , I think , and I just still was feeling a loss about that . So I wanted to do a tribute to David Bowie and I love that song , soul Love , and I thought like that would be a cool name for a wine .
Speaker 4So we have the lyrics on the side of David Bowie and I love that song soul love and I thought like that would be a cool name for a wine . So we have the lyrics on the side of David Bowie and so then I had my graphic designer listen to the song and I sent her like some 60s images of like what the vibe the vibe I was looking for and she just nailed it . It's such a good label . It's like just attracts you to it and , um , I came out with it in 2020 , like right before we went down , and so I had a lot at one at the wine fair event , which is like women in natural wine and , um , people were digging it but like I didn't , I didn't really see any sales from it . You know , because , like we went down and then , and then wine sales like started picking up like crazy and soul love was like a huge seller and so many people later were like that wine really got me through COVID and it made me feel really good and happy and that was awesome .
Speaker 2I mean I'll say from like a retail perspective , um , your wines do remarkably well . I mean the . The design on it is lovely , it's catchy , it's friendly . It doesn't you know if you were to have a wine that said first of all , it's a . For our listeners at home , this is clearly a red wine , um , and then the number one grape is Riesling , which for the average consumer is uh , you know , it's a paradox , like it doesn't . It doesn't make sense to a lot of people .
Speaker 2And then and then the . The final grape out of the four is Merlot , and that's only 2% . So then you also have Martel and Negrette , which the average consumer is going to have no clue .
Speaker 2Right , they're weird French grapes , but the the label itself draws people to it , you know , and I'm I'm really curious . Well , forgive me for drawing you back to this conversation , but natural wine producers often get blamed for having big , flashy labels and that's the only reason they sell well , and there's nothing substantial in the juice , which I couldn't disagree with more . But I imagine that I hear that more than you do , because I imagine people are curious on your take , whether it's an internal conversation from reading internet comments , or or if there's actually people who have the like , an intelligent and compassionate conversation with you . And , and you know , the , we'll say , the W set and Psalm certified crowd that , you know , kind of likes to push back on the natural wine drinkers . Do you find some sort of uh friction there ? Um , I mean you're , you're in this really special bubble now , being right next to brock and right next to donkey and goat . I mean that your little area of the world is kind of fucking cool .
Speaker 1I mean like it's like a powerhouse right there .
Speaker 2It's really really amazing and it's , it's just exciting just to even know that it exists right there . I drove past it the other day and I was like , oh , I can't wait to go yeah , and there's a training from sacramento .
Speaker 4I think , like russell takes it all the time . Well , yeah , and he doesn't drive .
Speaker 3I'm literally taking it tomorrow .
Speaker 1So yes , there's oh nice , yes , yeah back to my question do you get ?
Speaker 2do you get friction about that ?
Speaker 4people think it's weird , for sure . But then I'm just like just try it and and and .
Speaker 4Like I was saying , the great thing about riesling is the chemistry is so good , so there's lots of acidity , and acidity is really protective in natural wine , so you know it's not going to taste nasty you know , it's like it's it's preserved and and like it's it's a picnic wine it's meant to take , take it cold with you and it warms up and it evolves and you don't have to think that much about it where you .
Speaker 4You know , like I do love to fully nerd out on , like Merlot , from Santa Cruz mountains , from the green earth Zion , to vineyard , like , think about that year , think about the soil , think about the weather . You know , think about like how it was made . You know think about like how it was made and and like I love that . But I also love just drinking like fresh blends that you can just chill . You know you don't have to like think about it . I mean you could think about like , cause I do a single vineyard Merlot , as you , a single vineyard more towel the Negrette isn't a a blend but just to think about how those things play together and it's .
Speaker 3It's just really fun and creative how , how do you come up with those , those blends ? I mean , I I know I look at , like the label and you have all the different percentages of each one and obviously a lot of wine labels do that . But I mean , is it something that , like I know what this tastes like . I know what this tastes like , I think they'll taste good together . Was there ever a time where , like maybe you had single varietals and you just did some home mixing ? You're kind of like , oh , a little bit of this , a little bit that . I mean , how do you come up with these blends ? I mean , especially considering , like you have this extensive analytical background , like what's that process look like for you ?
Speaker 4Yeah , it's kind of analytical . I mean I have like a theory when I go into it and some rough percentages . So I start there
Wine Pairing With Music Playlist
Speaker 4. But then I'll do like I have a hundred ML beaker and then I have like a 10 ML syringe and I do like five blends and taste them and make notes and then think about the my two favorite , and then I'll come back the next day and do it again because you get palate fatigue and then , then usually I'll have like three favorites out of that .
Speaker 4you know , after like honing it in , maybe sometimes it's three days of that , and then I'll have my boyfriend who , who works at Punchdown in in Oakland , downtown Oakland , a natural wine bar , and he's also my tasting room manager . Then I'll get his opinion . I'd be like you know , what do you think about these three ? And then we'll kind of we'll talk about them and , yeah , one one gets selected and then we put it forward into the winery and make the blend . And you know it's not exact science ever in in the winery it's hard to measure that , you know , down to a liter . But but it's , it's rough and it tastes like the little blend . But yeah , it's , it's a lot of notebooks's focusing and I , you know , do pretty serious percentages .
Speaker 3So no , I love , I love that . One of the other things that that I love , that I personally came across like on your guys's website , is you actually have your own dedicated Spotify playlist . You actually have your own dedicated Spotify playlist and , without question , it's like one of my favorite things that not enough brands do , because , like someone who's willing to put that kind of time into you know whether it's like hey , this is a good list for whiskey drinking , this is like you know , we have one with lost explore . You know , one of the favorite playlists that both Chris and I I share is one from esotico in miami . Like there's just like different things , like we love that stuff .
Speaker 3So when I saw yours , I was like this is amazing , right . And then you've already touched on the fact that you're , that you love music and things like that , so you're safe . I kind of want to put you on the spot right now and we can . We can edit this out later if you feel miserably at it , but I don't think you're going to . But each year , like all these different wines , like you pair them with music and specific songs . So I want to go back in time , okay , and I want to give you expressions and see if you remember what song goes with which . How do you feel about this situation ?
Speaker 4You mean you're quizzing me on what songs I've paired with wines ?
Speaker 3Yes .
Speaker 4Okay , I feel okay .
Speaker 3You feel okay , all right , so now we'll start with okay , because I want to give unique names too , because I know sometimes this stuff can blend together . 2017 , femme fatale rose . What song did you pick for that wine ?
Speaker 2also I love , I love femme fatale . It's oh , yay , I love like we pour it by the glass at bodega , like like on and off it's fantastic , nice , it's awesome .
Speaker 4I mean , it's so refreshing and minerally and slightly frizzante um 2017 , I'm thinking it was air was it air ? It was air . So now I stopped doing the song pairings for , like I'm like , the song is built in but like all the other vineyard designated wines have a song pairing to create a personality . That's the personality of the wine .
Speaker 3Yeah so yeah , it was Playground Love by Air , was that ?
Speaker 2okay , alright , let's see here it just feels so innocent and sweet , and that's that's so the very first wine I carried from you at good bottle when we first opened and I don't I actually don't know if if you have this as a , but I'd be fascinated to learn is the 2019 cab Frank . But I'd be fascinated to learn is the 2019 cab ?
Speaker 4Fronk . Yes , the pairing is for that one .
Speaker 3It's a Laura veers drink deep .
Speaker 1She's correct again . Amazing , these are my babies .
Speaker 3Okay , all right , I'm going to do , we'll do at least one more , but I just saw another name , saw another name . I'm like , oh , I kind of want to ask about that one now .
Speaker 42018 , santa cruz mountains , pinot noir was that one hand habits 2008 2018 no , not hand habits oh , um , um the cure , right the cure that is not right .
Speaker 3No shoot , oh , we are just humbling you big time right now this is exactly what this podcast is for is to take our guests and make them wrong . This is what we do , this is .
Speaker 4This is the hard thing , like now so many years well , that's what I mean .
Speaker 3Listen , listen , you got . You got two or so . The 2018 Santa Cruz Mountains Piano Noir was my favorite part by Mac Millie featuring Ariana .
Speaker 1Grande , oh yeah .
Speaker 3Yeah . So when I saw that and then okay , let's see if we can , we're going to stay in that same year , okay , okay , but we're going to go with the Gamay Noir from 2018 . Do you remember what song you paired with that ?
Speaker 4one .
Speaker 3It's action bronson , I'm right now , but yeah cocoa butter action bronson like skeleta , so I can I do ?
Speaker 2can I do a reverse one ? I want to ask you , I want to ask you to to pair a wine that you've had at some point in time with a song is this is that acceptable , so one of my one of my favorite songs .
Speaker 2My daughter was a newborn and like , couldn't talk and couldn't walk . I used to dance with her um in the liver and I'm like about to tear up was like one of my favorite memories of me and my daughter and this song still makes me think of her all the time is uh , wildflowers by tom petty . You have a , do you have a good wine for that of ?
Speaker 4my wines well , anyone anyone gosh , I mean I , I have to think about it . It takes me a while . I mean I , I sit on these and and think about it . It takes me a while . I mean I , I sit on these and think about it for a while . But yeah , you'd need something like floral . I mean I'm I'm thinking more like a Riesling or like this raw could be good with , like the VNA co-ferment , you know it's , it's like fruity and floral . That's what I would say with the wildflowers . Yeah , that's all I got for now I love that .
Speaker 3No , it's . I think it's great and I definitely want to encourage everybody to you know go follow your playlist that you have I did earlier . Um , because the music is is really all over the place yeah which , which I really enjoy , and I had played a couple songs earlier and then I realized like 35 , 40 minutes in I hadn't changed , like I didn't touch .
Speaker 4So I was like , I am still just vibing to this right now .
Speaker 3I wasn't even drinking wine .
Speaker 4I have so many playlists on my Spotify , too , because I'm a DJ at KXSF , so like I'm always making new ones because I our our show is a supper session , so we interview people that are part of like wine and community and build like playlists around that and restaurants , food , food , wine and community . That's our focus .
Speaker 3Oh , I absolutely , I absolutely love that that . Now , where do you think are the parallels between wine and music , and why do you think that for you there's just ones , that they just go together so beautifully ?
Speaker 4I mean , I listen to music all the time and then when I'm tasting wine , I just feel like it has a personality and I want to give people something more when they're just having a glass of wine , I want them to relax and like bring in another element . I kind of think about , like the Velvet Underground , how they used to do like music and film and just bringing in more layers to just feel like a human and , you know , let your guard down and touch somebody in a certain way , like oh yeah , I really liked that song and I'm really feeling happy about this wine . That's what I think about .
Speaker 3I think that's great . Um so , moving forward . You know you've been doing this for 15 plus years . You said the tasting room just opened up in Berkeley . I mean at this point you're at 25 days , I think , or 24 days since you guys opened . Yeah , how has that been going so far ?
Speaker 4It's been great . We started . Our first day was first Friday , which is like a whole block party in Berkeley and we have like 18 food pop ups like all around between Donkey and Goat , hammerling and Brock and Tessie A now and we're doing a late night element . So , like most of the wineries close at eight but we're going to 11 and we had a dance party and like a vinyl dj set last month and then this month we're gonna have another do the same kind of thing , dj christy bubbles , who's a wine club member and good friend . She's gonna be spinning all vinyl and we'll be going late and , like all the people that work in the food , the food booths , they love it because they're like cool , we can come by to like unwind and hang out . So I feel really happy that we're providing that like late night tip . But we're open Friday , saturdays and Sundays , but Fridays we're doing late nights and yeah , it's been going great it's .
Speaker 4It's really fun , like I love .
Setting the Vibe in Wine Spaces
Speaker 4I mean I feel so happy to be able to set my own vibe in a wine space , you know , rather than I just always had to be like you know you can be here for a couple hours and show your wines , but now it's like we can have our own energy there , like we put all this cool mushroom wallpaper in the bathroom , cause my idea is , like the bathroom you should come in to like calm down and have like a nice sanctuary for a little bit . And my designer also did like a big Barbarella mural . I'm I'm a huge Barbarella fan . I love 60s .
Speaker 2My favorite like bar movie of all time .
Speaker 4Yes , I mean , the dialogue is bad , you don't need to hear it .
Speaker 2But like the set is so good the costumes are so good .
Speaker 4So she's in the skunk costume and she's drinking a glass of Tessier and like it's in my tasting room , like all my favorite things are like happening , so it's very cool . Please come and visit .
Speaker 3I think one of the you know one of the articles that I had read , you know kind of research up to it , but you know you're talking about your 15th wine release and you know , just like I can , I can now really see you saying this just after you know the conversation we got to have over the last 40 minutes , where it's just like this is going to be so much better to have my own space , my own energy , my own wine , and I think that is definitely something that has come through in this conversation and it's and it's really exciting and I know that definitely , chris and I , we need to get down there and with the music going and everybody's drinking like Tessie wine and like it's , it's so cool .
Speaker 3That is . That is amazing . Are there any other projects coming up where you're just kind of like I'm good for right now ?
Speaker 4I mean , we have our 15th release party is coming up , which is a huge deal and it's a ticketed event and there's there's info on my Instagram about it , but we're having Aburaya Japanese fried chicken restaurant cater it . There's also vegan options too , and then DJ Christy Bubbles will be DJing again too , and we'll be pouring some library wines and then we just came out with four new wines , and I'm coming to Sacramento on Wednesday .
Speaker 1Yeah , you are .
Speaker 4So I think I have an appointment with you , yeah .
Speaker 1That's right .
Speaker 4The new Gamay is out from El Dorado . So good , it's so good , and I haven't been able to get this fruit for three years because of the fires . And then , like a bad spring set and it's fire .
Speaker 2I'm like so excited about it , I'm really excited for you to meet my uh my general manager , who's uh my um wine buyer at good bottle . Now I've promoted her and uh given her .
Speaker 4I know there was . There was a woman that we tasted with last time , but it was a couple years ago .
Speaker 2No , no , uh , this is kirsten kirsten's uh , new , but she also graduated from university of michigan , uh , with a phd in paleontology and now is in and now is in the wine business in california .
Speaker 4I feel like you two are gonna get along just right yes , that's awesome . And in the song pairing for gamma a , um , do you guys know lee fields ? Yes , okay , so it's the song . Two jobs , it's it's I love that song so much . I just saw him live and like he did like an extended version of it , and I got right up in front of the stage and I was like , oh , I love lee field so much I love that you geek out on this .
Speaker 3Uh , the way I mean .
Speaker 3It just seems it's like it's not too often that people can take their passions and intertwine them , and not like you know , kind of kind of like what you were talking about , like how you've become like critical of your own wine and stuff . So you don't want to learn an instrument , but , like you know , you know you've still been able to like . No , I still have . You know , I have my passion projects , I have these different things that I care about and I just , I just love that . So , um , all right . Well , that's going to wrap part one of of the good bottle podcast . So in part two , we're going to tackle a couple of the articles that we sent we sent out earlier . We're going to talk about cbd and wine . We're going to talk about healthy labels and packaging on spirits and if they're going to make a difference and , of course , we're going to talk about our dope follows , which I have a feeling christy's is going to be super fucking dope . So so , yeah , chris , hit those end credits .
Speaker 2The music for the good bottle podcast is orchestrated by Leon and chase . More still all these years later and produce pretty darn great by these two guys . If you've enjoyed today's episode , can you please ?
Speaker 1subscribe and give us a five-star review .
Speaker 2Thank you and if you don't do it , hensley will come after you .
Speaker 3Simple things like that will make a huge difference for podcasts like ours uh , you can also follow us on instagram or facebook at the good bottle podcast and our personal accounts . Mine is d garrison six . Chris is chris sin flair . Chrissy , where can they find you on social media ?
Speaker 4Tessie Winery on Instagram and Tessie Pino on Facebook , and then check out the website TessieWinerycom .
Speaker 3And when's the 15th release party ?
Speaker 4It's May 11th Saturday .
Speaker 3May 11th .
Speaker 4We have it on our Instagram too .
Speaker 3Awesome .
Speaker 2As always , we would like to thank you for tuning in and listening to this buffoonery . If there's anyone you think we should reach out to and talk to , please hit us up , and Drew's going to get his liquid courage up .
Speaker 3That or edibles . Either one . They work now for me and I do it because chris doesn't . That's really what . That's really the reason . But uh , again , part one awesome , part two gonna be just as awesome . So we'll see you guys next week . Cheers .