Welcome to Big Blend Radio's Wine Time with Peggy Show featuring Peggy Fiendaca, who along with her wine maker husband Kurt Lawrence Dunham owns and operates LDV Winery in Arizona. Hey everybody, you know every first Wednesday we get to chat with Peggy Fiendaca. It is Wine Time with Peggy and we're going to talk about Spice, one of my favorite topics, pairing wine with Mexican food. She's got a great recipe to share and she's going to talk about what's going on in the vineyard at LDV Winery Vineyard outside Chiracao National Monument in the southeast region of Arizona. So just outside Tucson, it sounds like it's getting to that time when a whole bunch of work happens in the vineyard. Absolutely, it's harvest time and we really act. Yes, it's happening right now, right now, yep. So yeah, last week we kicked it off, 2024 vintage, was harvested with our vineyard, we started with our vineyard and we harvested 11 tons of grapes which in our little world, that is the second most tonnage of vineyard that we've ever brought in. So we're thrilled about that. Everything looks beautiful and so we're off and running. We're going to, beginning of September, we'll start with the reds and on that which one we'll pull in first. We're still, you know, every day we check the sugars out in the vineyard, the seed where they're at and check the pH and everything. So I don't know if it'll be the garnish or the syrup that we'll start next, but yeah, it's exciting time. And this month, we get to celebrate Grinache like extra. Grinache has its own day, doesn't it? It does on September 20th, the International Grinache Day and at L.D.V. International, excuse me, international. International. Yeah, I mean, it's an international grape and it's loved worldwide and I think it's like one of the second most widely planted grape in the world. And we love it at L.D.V. and it loves growing at L.D.V. winery. So we're thrilled about it. And it tastes fabulous because it does. Yeah, I'm coming good home. It does and it fits really well with talking about the foods that we're going to talk about Mexican foods and the spices with it. Grinache is the go to, one of the go to grapes or the wines that are paired with Mexican foods. Well, Grinache, can we just touch on this a little bit and we'll get into the food and the harvest and everything, but Grinache, it's interesting to me because you talk about your rosé and sometimes we forget that rosé is not a, it's not a grape. Right. So the Grinache is a grape and you can make rosé from Grinache, can't you? Correct. It's a, rosé is a winemaking style. And yes, it can be made, rosé can be made out of anything or any combination of various wines. But we make rosé out of Grinache and it just is yummy. Fabulous is the word of the day. I love this. Well, because we're talking about spice and I kind of feel like Grinache and spice go well. Is it just me? No, no, no. I think, you know, why should you choose Grinache? I think it's because of that hints of spice, that underlaying flavor of spiciness that Grinache brings out. And Grinache is such a wonderful food-friendly wine. So, I mean, anything from tacos, all the way to pizza or anything grilled coming off the grill, it's just as beautiful. And it's a grape that's grown worldwide, but it's an important grape of southern French, the Chateau area. I want to make the Chateau pop. Chateau de pop. There we go. At the last of our moment. I know, no, I don't know. It's like, we're just topping country here now. Exactly. And so, Grinache is an important grape that's grown there. And also, of course, in Spain, Grinache, that's the Grinache grape, and it's grown really beautifully there. And, of course, in Arizona, because it loves the altitude and the dry, hot area. So, yeah, we're thrilled about Grinache. Exactly. So, when you sounded your vineyards, originally, you and Kurt said, hey, we're going to do this. These are the grapes we want to grow. Was it like you had to look at what you personally want to grow and like, and then look at what, you know, the terrain is saying, yes or no, like you can't just always, like Pinot Noir, would you grow, try and do that in Arizona? Or does that really just need to stay up in Oregon? And look at, you know, when you look at the terrain and the topography of the land, the weather, all those things that make a terro, I can't speak. I'm sorry, but I have tea. I've been doing podcasts all day, but, you know, how rude. But when you think of like, when you guys decided to plant and what you're going to plant, I mean, there had to be like, I really want to grow this and then you can't or you can. So, Grinache, where was that in the list of children? Well, you know, every every vintner has a different philosophy, I'm sure, but we love wines that are really a reflection of the place that they're grown. And so we went into it with that in mind. So we wanted to really understand our place that we were going to plant our vineyards. So we studied the soils, we studied the terrain around us, we studied the weather patterns and before we laid out our vineyard and before we chose the vines. And what that study told us was that grown varieties would be the best in our location because we have volcanic soils and the 5,000 foot elevation. And of course, the dry area and low water. So we needed to find vines and grape varieties that would fit within that terra. So that's what we gravitated to Grinache and Vignier, Petite, Sarat, thinking that those would be the best for our location. Would I have loved to have some penal noir? Yeah, we love penal noir. We love Zinfandel. We love a good Cabernet Sauvignon, but it it just our place didn't call for that. So they're grown in Arizona. Other people have planted them and are doing well with some of those varieties, but on our location, we want it to be location based and that's what we lean towards. And well, that's specific and it's also microclimates, right? So you can do something around the corner, not necessarily, you know, that's what when I always talk about that when we were in Colorado's grape area in Grand Junction in that region, we just, it was mind-blowing to me because we really had this, we did so many tastings and met so many people and it was completely different each place we went because it had to do where the Colorado River was in location to their winery and mountains and like we're talking about, but I really have got to this point now. If anyone's anywhere near any kind of volcanic soil, I'm there, man, with the wineries because I think the wineries that are near volcanic soil just have this amazing extra, I don't know what to say about it other than it's like really good. I'm watching my language. I want to say like it's so good, it's amazing. Right, it is, there is something different about it and all of our vineyards in volcanic soils and actually Kurt's going to be doing a wine talk and doing a tasting of wines from various areas that are grown on volcanic soils coming up in October. So I'll probably do a wine tip or a blog on that in the near future because it is distinctive and it adds that layer of flavor to our wines, I think, because of that soil composition that the grapes are grown on. So yeah, it's an exciting place. And you know, talking about like you did about how the difference a place makes, even if it's a vineyard is in close proximity to the other, but because of the terroir of that place, it could be very different. I mean, we have vineyards three miles away from us, same altitude on the mountain, but because our ash creek might be that flows through part of our vineyard. It's about 15 feet to 20 feet lower than where our vineyard sits and that creek brings coming out of the mountain brings a different wind flow that comes down that in the air and the cooling of that air down that creek is very different than our vineyard friends three miles away that also have a creek, but it is not lower like ours is. So it is up at vineyard, almost at vineyard level. And so the airflow is not, doesn't sink as much and it hits their vineyard a little bit more. So they get a little bit more frost than we do because of that. And where the frost kind of misses us, I think because it flows down that creek. Well, and that's that cooling of creeks. I mean, it's a hiker, you know, when you go, you can tell as soon as you get into a wash area just by the drop in temperature. And it's like, if you're getting hot on a hike, find the water where it was, even if it's not there, it's still cooler, even if it's just completely no water, it doesn't matter. That temperature drops immediately as soon as you step down, which is fascinating to me. It is, you know, it's like, how does it keep it that way? Just because it's a tunnel? No, I don't know what's going on in there, but it's doing it. It is fascinating. And that's, you know, that nuances of a place, you know, the winds flow differently, the water flows differently, the air flows differently because of how our vineyard is laid out. And so, yeah, all those came into play when we positioned our vineyard, the way it sits on the land. Oh, yeah. So did you position which way the grapes grow? Like how did the vines, like the binders, right? Absolutely, yeah. You said we're going this way and so that because of the wind, the bridge, the building, because I know you don't want your grape clusters to get too sweaty. No, not the sweaty grapes. No, I know, I know you don't want that, but just going also in the region, I encourage people to go to Chiracawa National Monument and go up to the grotto up in that area and start seeing the actual the hoodies, these amazing geological formations. And then think about, you know, pegging Kurt's wine that they make that comes from the base of this amazing formation and formations, excuse me, because a volcano did happen. The whole cold, cold cheese stronghold comes from that. And even just plain slabs of rock that you walk on are all part of it. It's like, it is incredible when you go to the top and you see what came out of that. And then you go, I can taste this, go to pegging Kurt's, get some wine brownies in the brownies, right? But like, it is incredible to know that you're wine. And it's you're actually drinking prehistoric history in a weird way. Does that sound wonky? No, no, it's exactly right. And though we're such a young vineyard, I think, you know, the next 50 years, the wine produced from our grapes will be just incredible, continue to be incredible. But that mountain behind me is the share of how a mountains and that was volcanic at one time. And just throughout this incredible plume of of granite and volcanic ash that creates our our wines. And so it's pretty exciting. That's the spice. See, I'm going to, I'm going to get a speck on track, I got into the volcano. But that's the spice. That's the seasoning, right? Because those dust particles are in there. And that's why it's so important to keep your soil pristine, because that also adds to the flavor of the wine. And to have that integrity, I know you are both very into sustainability of what happens to the wine and even vegan. So yes, and you can have vegan Mexican food. In fact, I was vegan for a few years. And I'll tell you this, you want good food and your vegan Mexican food can be your best friend. And so let's talk about that too. But two things real quick. Kurt is doing this talk in October. I want people to remember to go to ldv winery.com because you guys have events signing for the news that are I love Peggy's news every time she comes I'm like, what's going on? And I'm like, dang, we need to get back across the country again. She's got all these events going on at the winery. Sometimes you have them at the vineyard. In harvest time, how many people are allowed to come visit and unless they're getting out there and picking, it's like, it's a pretty busy time. But we did have two or one club members, two gals that came and worked with Kurt for the vignette harvest and had a ball. They had a ball, they worked hard, you know, it harvises you can prepare for weeks and weeks ahead of time. But you can't prepare for everything. So we had all the equipment ready. We had the barrels, the tanks, the crush pad. We had extra parts and pieces in case something broke. Set aside ready for it. And then we got up. Now I wasn't there. Kurt got up before dawn, like four in the morning to get out there because the work, our crew was coming and they got out in the field and started picking the the vignette. And Kurt had to get the tractor to go get the first bins of vignette to bring to the crush pad. And we had a flat tire on the on the tractor. So how do you plan for that? You know, you don't have wires out like me and bang it three times. It'll matter when you come back. So I mean, thank goodness Kurt keeps, you know, he's such a nice guy and he keeps a good relationships with all kinds of people and he was able to get someone out there immediately with a new tire to change that our tractor tire because you can't leave the grapes once they're you won't even let grapes go off the property. You're like, you're like, I'm not sourcing grapes and trusting it to get from A to B to the winery and time. So now when it happens on site, that's not fun. Because you don't want to be bragging. That's fun. No. So and luckily it was a last week, you know, end of August, it was beautiful weather down there. Cool. So as in the 70s and 60s, that's all. And so even though the grapes had to sit in the vineyard for a little while, you know, an hour or so before we can get them out to the crush pad, they stayed cool because if it's too hot, that's why we start harvesting before dawn because you don't want the harvested grapes to get too hot because the fermentation process will start and you don't want that to happen. At least we don't want to be sweaty even when they're harvested. Right. No, we want them cooled off. So we were able to bring them in and get them on the crush pad and start that process of de-stemming and then get them into fermentation process in the winery, you know, by adding the yeast and yeast nutrients. And it's basically inoculation of the juice, what we do. Okay. So everyone's getting started. They're getting it like in your first bath, right? So that's happening. And then what's going on in the actual winery itself in Scottsdale, while all of this drama is happening, what's going on in the winery? Because I know it's getting cooler. People are hanging out. This is like big season starts right now in Scottsdale, right? Yeah, it starts in September and October. We start getting a little bit busier, which is great. We have a lot of activities planned in September and we're starting to get the conferences coming to Scottsdale. And then we get some off-site kind of private events associated with them, which is great for us. You know, we do some team building. If you could do any team building corporate stuff, you better put it in a winery for me. Yes, exactly. So I'm getting a lot of those booked, which is fun. And I do a lot of that. And yeah, so it's starting to pick up the festival season. How many season would you say people need to really get on with it? Now if they're going to book something at the winery, because, oh, you know, I would start start thinking about it. I mean, I have, I actually have some bookings after the first of the year, even. So people start thinking about things like that very early. And they book up very quickly. So yeah, we'd love to host some events though, our faces fall, but we'd love to host some holiday parties. Absolutely. And do you have still have events going on, tasting events, painting events, corporate events? Of course, all kinds of cool stuff going. We do. We have a lot of them. We have the wine talks with Kurt and library tasting coming up. And yeah, that painting we've been doing. I love that. I've teamed with another artist who does these incredible collages. And so close, close to Thanksgiving, we're doing one about being thankful. And she's going to be helping people produce these incredible collages. They're gorgeous. And so that's a fun event that we're doing. So yeah. Oh, nice. All right, a little bit of everything. I love that. So again, everyone LDV winery.com is a website to go for all the events, sign up for the newsletter, follow on social media and the podcast too. Every first Wednesday, because you know, we're gonna have start the month off of wine. Why not? Wine not. That's always it, right? Before we get into the spice and, you know, talk about spicy foods, Mexican foods, it's spent heritage month in September. So this is perfect timing. You have your word of the month, and this one's got me. Lee's. Yes, Lee's. Lee's are, that's this refers to the sediment that consists of like the dead yeast and the cells, the yeast cells, the grape pulp, great seeds. Yeah, the other great matter that accumulates during fermentation and kind of rises to the top. And I think I've talked about punching down. I think that was a term in the past. So when you begin fermentation, all of that matter that didn't come off during, you know, the stemming process. But the dead yeast, as the fermentation goes on, will float to the top of the seeds and everything else. And it'll harden somewhat on the top of the grape juice. And sometimes, wine makers will rack off the wine. I know that's a term that we've used in the past, racking, to get rid of that Lee's and some crust. Yeah, it's like a crust of all that great matter that accumulates during fermentation. We typically at LDV wrap off about three to four days after fermentation ends. So once fermentation ends, we want to get the juice, the wine juice off the leaves, it's cold. So we want to get rid of that all of that matter that might have continued before we put it into tanks or barrels to then rest and start the process of aging. Does that go back in as compost or? Yeah, we compost it. Yeah. Yeah. Just like we compost all of the when we the stem and they take all the leaves and the stems and everything we compost all of that too. So yeah, sustainability, y'all. It's all happening. I get to say y'all. I'm in New Orleans today. There you go. I can say that. So I'm going to call you Miss Peggy now, too. Miss Peggy. But you know, this, I find this fascinating. I get all into the science of running this, you know, and it's amazing when you think about how you plant and then harvest as we talked about. Now you're playing with the leaves, taking the juice out and composting. I mean, this is quite a cycle and a lot of work and then running the actual winery itself, a tasting room. You guys, you need some wine. I'm just telling you, you don't want a little bit crazy to be on this business. I think that's why we like you all. It makes a really good wine. So really good wine. Spicy food, Mexican food, you've got a great recipe. Everyone, if you look in the episode notes, we have one of Peggy's awesome recipes. This one is for southwestern pesto shrimp. So, well, this guy's, you know, because Mexico has some amazing seafood, right? They're known for it. Right. Right. So yeah, so Jalisco, isn't this Jalisco then, wouldn't it be? Right, right. But tell everyone about this recipe. Well, you know, it is very easy. When you think about Mexican food, it's so Americanized, you know, it's very American Mexican food is very cheese laden and sour cream gets on there, which I don't know. Yeah, loads of sour cream and they don't do that in Mexico that I saw. No, but I, you know, there's beautiful Mexican food that is seafood based and just the layers of chilies and spice and so on that the moles and are just incredible and paired beautifully with wine. And usually, at least in this country, the go-to for pairing with Mexican food is beer or margaritas. But I want you to think about wine when you're pairing with Mexican food. But the southwestern pesto shrimp, it's just making a pesto. I'm putting a southwestern spin on it. Instead of, you know, making it with basil, which is an Italian pesto, this is made with cilantro and cilantro garlic. I do use Parmesan cheese or you can use a cojito, which is a bit of Mexican cheese would be great in it too. And jalapeno, of course, you know, you want to have that spice. And instead of typically using and drawing a blank on what you put in pesto, I use almonds, I was thinking of the nut. The pine nuts. There we go, the pinion nuts. I use almonds in this pesto, so it gives it a little bit richer flavor. And then with olive oil, and you just mix it all up, a little salt in there, and you get this beautiful pesto that then you marinate the shrimp. And you want to get, I think the recipe I call for our 15, which is a little bit bigger shrimp. And then you marinate the shrimp for at least an hour in that pesto to let the flavors really get into the shrimp. And I suggest putting it on a rack and cook, or not a rack, but in a cookie sheet or 350 and cooking it for about 10 to 15 minutes in the oven. So it's just a wonderful shrimp dish. You can serve it cold or warm as an appetizer or as your part of your main course, maybe with some rice or something with it and parrot with a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc or an alberini. What would you do with one of your ones? I would go with our vignette, the one that's more the Sky Island vignette, or you could do with our Sky Island Grenache would be beautiful, I think, with this dish. Well, you know, we're still needing to come back and taste the vignette. You know, we've got a, you know, we feel we're part of the birthing process, a teeny speck in it. It's exciting, but when you're talking about R15, when I saw the recipe, I was like, is that rans? I mean, I come from South Africa, so an R is rans, so I'm looking. Oh, it's only 15 bucks. What's $15 anymore? But the, what is the R? I'm sorry, everyone, I was looking to see you as I have no clue. So maybe someone else is like me who just doesn't know. So what does the R stand for? It gives you, it usually tells you about how many shrimp per pound. So R15 means there's 15 to 20 shrimp per pound. So it gives you an idea based on the size of the shrimp, how many are in a pound of it? I just didn't know if it was a grade or not like I don't know what it's, you know, yeah, no, I don't, I don't know exactly what it stands for. That's how I interpret when I see an R15 to 20 that means there's 15. Sounds like a car now. Now I'm all right. Rev that mover. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, I like it. But going back to Mexican food and wine. Yes. Oh, you know, our friends over in Asheville at the Lyman Rose bed and breakfast, where you did a sausage day with them. Now, sausage and dorizo, right? That's the thing. Right. Now he, we went there recently and he's like, hey, you guys want some burritos? And I'm like, dude, bring the Mexican food. And I'm sorry, but like the more east you go, it's just not the same. It's just different. I can tell you he made the best burritos I've had since, you know, being the south, like, I mean, I couldn't, he, he did steak. He chopped it up and he put like cajito, uh, cajito, uh, that cheese, which is nice and crumbly and different. It's just different. Right. Really good. Yeah. And rice and avocado and I'm like, yeah, bring it all. And I'm going, yeah, yeah, it's going to be, you know, a breeder from the east. So I forgot he's from Southern California. And oh my gosh, I just, I almost, I went, I, you know, we hang out with our dogs. I almost did the dog zoom me around the bed and breakfast popular. It would have been funny, but it was so good. And he was talking about how the seasoning is about the seasoning and the spice. And he does something to the meat with citrus to break down the meat. I don't know quite what he was doing, but he did some kind of goya sauce or something to bring the meat to this place. I'm like, oh my God, I'm in Mexico. I'm, I can't even, I'm so excited. I'm so excited about this topic because, you know, I love spice, but with the wine, I wasn't drinking wine at that moment. And I really wish I was because I would, I wanted to know what to pair with like a steak burrito that had that. I just can't even tell you what the flavor is just it was so Mexico. And so perfect. I want to, I would have probably parented with a saa or, you know, the granache would have been nice with that. It sounds like even maybe, you know, one of our lighter petite, petite saa, this might have gone well with it. But the beauty of, I think, true Mexican food, and this sounds like he did a nice burrito, is that layer of flavors that keep you guessing. And I, and I think Amole is the perfect example of that because there, when you taste some moles that are done properly, it, it has, oh, you know, a bit of, it just blows my mind. It does. I'm going to do zoomies right now. I'm going to be a person. Because they're made with almonds and some kind of nuts. And then you have the variety of chili peppers, cajito and ancho and, and jalapeno. And then there's usually some cocoa bean in it, some black, of course, black pepper, and then they throw in cinnamon and cumin and, and just that blending of all of these. Are you doing this to me? I mean, I haven't had only a long time. I'm like, I'm ready to smoke a cigarette right now. But there's a smoke. We used to live in Baja, right? In the south of Ensenada. And in Ensenada, it's the Poio Place is what we call it. And there's this chicken spot, right? And they just, they would fire the chicken. And then they make moles. And they, this one day we went with our friend, the El Comador, and he's passed. But since, but he knew it every time we went to Ensenada, he's like, we go and every time I want this mole again. And it's never happened. Again, the same mole. This mole was so outstanding. But you've got to think, when you're talking about Mexican, even in wine, we're right outside the Guadalupe Valley. And what a Lupe Valley at that time was just kind of starting up and doing good. But now it's like really, you know, booming. But we had white wine that, and I wish I knew I was too young and dumb, but that we had a white wine that went with this chicken and mole dish. And I don't, I don't think I'll ever experience it again. And it's like when you love a bottle of wine and then the harvest is over and the wine is gone. You cried, but you had that moment. So that mole and that wine and everything that was probably one of those moments you have in your life when you start to actually taste what you're eating. I can't explain it. It wasn't just like a favorite food as a kid or something like that. This was when I went. Oh, I feel like an adult now. Yeah. That was an adult moment when my first real adult. I love it. I love it. You know, that's the beauty I think about wine and the beauty about food is that it can create those memories that will linger for years and years and years. And you probably know, well, you do, you know, exactly who you were with, you know, that you can recall the conversation you were having. I know exactly where I was sitting in the restaurant. Exactly. Right. Yep. Yeah. And you know that you can taste the flavors when you start remembering that. And a wine can do that for you. A great wine and so can a great meal and they paired this and I didn't think a white wine would go with a moly because it was really dark, but it was light. And that's what I didn't understand is how they got it to be, you know, light as a moly because normally you think of thick and it wasn't right. And I would say probably it was a fruit forward white wine. So to be able to stand up to all the variety of spices in it. So yeah, I could possibly see it. I think I would lean more towards Zinfandel or Barbera or Petitsa Rob with a really thick spice-laden moly. But yeah, if it has that fruit forward to pair with the spices, I think it would be beautiful. I just thought it was the best day ever. That's awesome. That was an awesome thing, but this is the thing about pairing. Try it, right? So as we talk about this, about these different dishes and you talked about moly's quesadillas. Now that's got to be really interesting about because it's about what we put in the quesadilla, but you've got cheese. So is it the protein or I count cheese as a protein and a main ingredient on anything ever? Cheese must be with it. Do you go by the cheese or do you go by the protein or the main spice? Well, you know, it's all about the balance. So it really does depend on what you're putting in it. So are you doing a green salsa or are you doing a red salsa? Are you adding guacamole or you're not? What are all the condiments that are going to go with that quesadilla? I think come into play. Are you doing white cheese or yellow cheese in it? So that will help you determine. But because of the cheese and because of some of those standard kind of toppings, you want to balance the assets. So you need a high asset to cut through cheeses, typically. And so a 7-year-old Blanc or a super dry reasling or Shannon Blanc might really go well. But then if you add meat to that quesadilla in some like chorizo or beef like you had in your burrito, you might want to go to a red. So starting at the medium-bodied reds like a grana ash or peanut noir all the way up to a petite surah, depending on so it doesn't necessarily go with the spice. Not as much. I think it's a combination of things. The cheese plays a major role. The protein that the other protein you might put in there plays another role. And then the condiments because that's where you don't want the condiments because they have more asset they're bringing to the table. You don't want that conflicting with the wine that you're pairing it with. So like chicken would be kind of almost on the balance of the cheese in a way. And fish, what happens when you do fish tacos and things? That makes it lighter. And again, it depends on how you, is it just plain chicken? I mean, we never have just plain chicken. It's all right. We're always tossed with, you know, our spice mix chili in. Hey, listen, I just did breakfast with it. I went, oh, look at this grill seasoning. Oopsie. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, my time is still not normal. But it's okay. Yeah, you add that spice. Yeah. So when you add those spices, that'll also dictate how, you know, what you pair things with. And but yeah, so, you know, lighter with the like the seafood ceviche that that I have on my list, you want to, you want you don't want anything to compete with the beautiful fish that you might be using or seafood you might be using in that ceviche. So you want something that pairs with those really clean flavors of seafood and the lime and the cilantro. So that comes with its own asset, like literature. Ceviche is like cooked in acid, not that sounds terrible. Well, yeah, that's how it is. The citrus does is it feels like the marinade. It is like the correct cooking oil, but it's no cook. It's fresh and raw. Right. Right. So you want something crisp, like a 7-year-old blonde kind of or an elkino, a kind of wine to go with that. It'd be beautiful. Wow, this is fascinating to me because there's so much you can do with Mexican food. And it depends on the regionality of Mexican food. Or then are we trying to do Mexican food and then Americanizing it? Right. You know, that's when, you know, I always, I didn't see much yellow cheese in Mexico that I don't know. Just on the line. Unless they made a hamburger that was American and even then go for their silpeas. It's so much better. But chili kilies, what would you do like for? Because chili kilies, honestly, it's like one of my favorite dishes in the world for breakfast, like just, and I know, because I'll eat it, I don't care when I drink wine, what time, honestly, but what would you do with that? Because it's the salsa being, is it the red, is it the green? Also pretty, yeah. Eggs with it. Right. I would definitely look at a white wine, even if it's eggs. Right. And yeah, I would say something, again, crisp, bright kind of wine, like a 7-0 blog, but, or our vignette would be beautiful with that. But you might also try a sparkling with it. It might be nice. Not a sweet, you know, a dry sparkling might be fun with that also. So that tried that, you know, and tacos. And I hope people are having fun making different kinds of tacos. Taco bars for parties. And we're getting to the holiday season. That is one of the best things to do is have a taco bar because people put on it what they want and then people are happier, right? Right. And so have fun with the variety of tacos, the variety of the shell that you put them in from soft tacos, street tacos to the hard shell. Make your own, don't, not not so much the tortilla, but make your own shells. Don't buy those already packaged, um, taco shells. They're broken by the time you get home anyway. Right. Yes. If you drive like me, you know, buy a corn tortilla and make your own shell. It just is so much better in and try with some spicy chicken. I know, you know, anything leftover becomes taco night for us. So if we had, we bought, you know, a Costco roasted chicken and had it one night. And then the next night it becomes tacos. With guacamole. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, you know, why are you doing this to me? This is so cool. I'm dying. I am literally dying. This is, you're talking about one of my favorite, you know, blends of food, but Hispanic food is interesting because of the beans and sometimes the fruit that comes into play and we talked about fruit the other month can come in like you've got Hispanic flavors like Cuban. If it's Cuban, it could be like a friend of mine makes this amazing Cuban, like it's beans, black beans, red onions. And then she puts in sweet potato and she'll put it on yellow rice. And I'm like, and oh, dude, seriously. And it's so healthy. It's healthy. It's vegetarian. And if you got it without lard, you know, right, right, right, right. And you can put bacon on it too. Just say, yeah, just say you can, you can do it. You know, in honor of Mexican Heritage Month also, what is so exciting is is Arizona and Mexico are wine regions kind of mirror each other alone. There are 14 different wine regions in Mexico. And over the last decade in Mexico, they grew from 50 vineyards to well over 150 today. And that's almost exactly like Arizona. Really? Arizona wine region, very similar. And where the grapes are grown in Mexico are also similar to Arizona. They're grown in the mountainous regions. And they have, you know, they're growing, I think it was like 40 different varieties and we're also growing quite a few varieties here in Arizona. And the type that are flourishing are similar, you know, granage, Sauvignon Blanc, they're growing easily, and Merlot, Cabernet, and Pizzicola also. So our regions are, the wine industry is similar to Mexico. Yeah, when we lived there and reasoning was there, I thought, oh, because the Guadalupe Valley is, I mean, we're talking about years ago, right? I mean, a few decades, because we're all younger now. There were wineries owned by Russian families, a lot of German. And so it's also interesting as you go into Texas because of the wines that, you know, we look at Mexico, how it borders California, Arizona, and Texas, right? So the reasoning, we did have, and I'm thinking that's probably what I was drinking that night with the moly. And I always went, oh, because we have German wineries here, they're just going to make reasoning. Again, I was young and, you know, naive at this point about wine, I just enjoyed it. I had no clue what I was doing, but all I knew was like, when something really stands out to you, it stands out and you do have that memory stamp. And that's amazing to me and exciting. And that really did it for me that day. I was like, wow, okay, this is something to take note of for some reason. And, but I didn't understand the reasoning is because of the region, because I'm just, you know, what I mean? I just didn't think that didn't mean we had orange wine in South Africa. Oh, interesting. Yeah, you can firm it any fruit, just about make wine out of it. That was a big deal over there. And, you know, we didn't have that much of it, but it was really good white wine. And then find white wines here were a little scary when we first moved here and a little different. And you guys have good wine. I mean, I have to say, you guys have extremely good white wines, but the industry itself, I think, is producing better white wines than it has in the last 10, 15 years, I think, is elevated. Has that been something to watch as a winemaker about the white wines of? I think so. What is it? What is it being different than the reds? I don't get it. It's finding the balance, you know, and it goes to, I think, kind of full circle in this conversation goes back to where the grapes are grown and the type of soils and getting the pH, the acidity balanced in white wines, which is very, and getting the alcohol level at the right right amount. So yeah, they're a little bit trickier, but I think, yes, they're improving tremendously in this country. And there's great white wines from different regions that taste very different. Our vignet in Arizona tastes very different than upstate New York's or Pennsylvania vignet. So, and it's, again, because of our place. So it's exciting. That's exciting because when you travel, you want to taste, oh, I love vignet, and then you'll go somewhere else and it's like, well, that's not vignet. And yes, it is. And you, that's the tasting journey that we get to do as travelers or even at your home getting wine in. And that was one of the questions before we go. When can people start ordering again? Because I come on Peggy, I'm tired of doing these conversations without wine. Yeah, October. October probably will be at the time. And we'll have some new wines on the market. So definitely get on the website and order. We do. Yeah, we'll have some fun things coming out. I do want to tell our listeners to get out of your wine box and get try. Yeah, don't do that. Yeah. But in September, try a gurnage from the states, the United States, gurnage, and then try a gurnage or try a gurnage from France or something. Try them side by side and think about the difference of the places that influence those, those wines. Yeah, and that means you're not getting it from the box, for sure. Yeah, yeah, it's a fun way to experience gurnage. And it's like I said earlier, it's a great food friendly wine. But no, she's like the perfect before September. Yeah, it's a good point. I think that we're also looking at, you know, Arizona and California wines in Mexico and wine in America came from the Spaniards coming over. You know, the missions came through. The missions. They needed wine because that's part of their life. So they brought that over. And so that's part of the history in the Southwest, too. So check that out. So thank you as always, Peggy, so much fun. Everyone, L.D.V. Winery dot com. Watch for October. It's coming. It's coming. But if you go to Arizona, you must go to Scottsdale and go see Peggy and the staff at L.D.V. a winery tasting room, maybe go to an event or just go have a tasting, have fun and enjoy. Thank you so much, Peggy. Thank you. Take care. Thank you for listening to Big Blend Radio's Wine Time with Peggy Show. Keep up with L.D.V. Winery at L.D.V. Winery dot com. Keep up with Big Blend Radio at Big Blend Radio dot com.
