Conan, Sona, & Matt Have A Wine Tasting | Conan O'Brien Needs A Fan

tell me a little bit about yourself what. do you do for a. living I do lots of things but my core. business is I'm supposed to say is I'm a. wine writer so I'm a yeah I taste wine. for a living you taste wine for a living. this sounds like a fantastic job how. does that how does that work you know do. you taste wines at night how does it. work when do you when does your day. start um start my day usually starts. quite early so um the best time for me.

to start is as early as I can so. sometimes it's you know 7 8 in the. morning and I'll get up and quietly sort. of pad out to my desk which is actually. my kitchen table where I'm sitting now. and um and I'll start tasting wines. because wait at 7 in the morning whoa. yeah well because my brain's fresh you. know and my taste buds are fresh there. hasn't been stuff happening to them. during the day I haven't had a zillion. cups of coffee.

you know it's like well the only thing. that's not fresh is is yeah my teeth. because you don't clean your teeth. before you start tasting wi right you. can't brush your teeth before you taste. wine because you're just going to be. tasting the Crest toothpaste I'm getting. money for them to men Crest. specifically we don't have Crist over. here what what's great about Crist why. should I be using oh I don't know I just. said that uh but now with extra. whitening powders have you ever. considered brushing your teeth with wine. yeah would you ever brush your teeth. with wine well yes you can brush your.

teeth with wine but the outcome won't be. that great so particularly if it's red. wine um after a day of tasting red wine. your teeth can go this really attractive. Bluey purple gray and it it sticks and. everyone wants you to smile and yon you. say that you get up at 7 in the morning. and you start drinking and you drink. throughout the day tasting tasting. conting not drinking it no no no tasting. and tasting and tasting um and then uh.

do you actually write about it later on. or are you just an. alcoholic I write about it later on so. the thing is I've got special equipment. my most treasured possession is my spit. bucket. oh which which I carry with me. everywhere it's um it's got its own it's. got its own handle see nice I can take. it around town carrying a bucket that's. nice regurgitated wine yeah how you know.

you yeah you don't want to look inside. it it's um it's not not pretty but you. know the thing is you you um you look at. the wine you sniff the wine you swish it. around in your mouth you um think okay. what am I smelling what am I tasting and. you're writing notes the whole time and. then you spit it out so you actually you. must get some alcohol though some. alcohol must get passed through uh. various capillaries in your mouth right. yes yeah a little bit for sure you a I. mean after a long day of just even wine.

tasting do you ever get a little tipsy. or yes yeah I mean you can't help but. well not Tipsy but it's like you get. it's exhausting after a big day like if. you're judging in a competition and it's. you know over 100 Wines a day by the end. of it you're you I mean for start you do. not want to drive you don't want to um. operate any heavy machinery or anything. involving a lot of technology and you. probably just want a cup of tea in a in. a beer you know at the end of it and.

then some more wine yeah this is. fascinating to me because uh I I just. you know I've always thought that even. the guy who tastes ice cream at the Ice. Cream Factory uh at the end of the day. he must have some days who like oh my. God if I have to have another taste of. ice cream I'll go crazy do you can you. enjoy a glass of wine when you go out to. a restaurant or is that the last thing. you want when it's your. job well if like I said before if it's.

been a really big day of tasting if I've. tasted a lot of wine then yeah I'm going. to I want a Negroni or a um you know or. something or a nice cleansing ale or. whatever you know or something pills or. something you know pills something that. gives you a high but it's like a clean. High yeah a clean High yeah a clean high. that can't be smelled on your breath you. know um that's uh that's. fascinating well I guess sometimes you.

know if you go out to a restaurant. everyone goes they hand you the wine. list they go oh you choose you choose. what we all drink come on and it's like. sometimes I don't want to do that and. other times you'll have friends that go. oh let's go out for a girl night let's. go have wines and I'm. like yeah it's your profession and. there's no way that you can just chill. and enjoy a glass of wine because all. your friends are going to like the wine. but you're going to be. thinking little bit um too many Citrus. not notes for a.

cab right uh I'm tasting I'm tasting. cinnamon when I feel I should be tasting. balt you know uh. right yeah possibly not salt maybe a I. said balt I meant the rock BT oh like a. mineral oh we say yeah yeah balt or. granite or graphite. characters yeah you're good you're good. at this oh I just say things I don't. think that I actually have a good pet. how would we know if I have a good we're. actually prepared to test.

we could he could describe you could. tell if he act for this yeah do I have a. pet or not do you think you could tell. yeah yeah because everyone does everyone. has a palette but you know some people. can actually verbalize what they're. smelling and tasting better than others. everyone can taste you know it just. takes practice so um I don't know what. have we got to throw in front of. you or a cracker or some Team Coco snack. cabinet and uh from the the fruity side. of things we've got got Welch's fruit.

snacks if that's you know for your fruer. wines MH uh for your more autumnal we've. got bare baked crunchy Fuji and reds. apple chips and then finally if we want. to go something just a little bit more. Baseline we've got Barnum's Animal. Crackers con what what do you guys think. is best well I'm going to defer to the. expert yavon yavon what do you think I. should be tasting oh my goodness so hold. the options up again for me to have a. look it animal crackers apple chips. fruit. snacks I think apple chips let's go the.

apple chips okay all right which one do. you want I don't understand why if I. know what it is ahead of time doesn't. that cheating I'm just going to say it. tastes like apple it's got a kind of a. CH no no no I want I want you to tell me. what kind of apple and yeah because you. have different Apple varieties right. yeah but I don't know I don't know about. Apple varieties I don't get out much. okay is it you think it smells like a. red apple or a green apple all right. right now I'm. smelling I'm getting Red Apple I think. it's it's a red apple it's also on the.

package yeah it says Fuji Fuji and red. well I didn't see that actually there a. red apple and you're really good. at I didn't see that I honestly didn't. see that but I feel like you could make. it up all right well deconstruct way I'm. trying to do something you know oh. you're you're taking this all right so. I'm looking just at you I'm not looking. at the package but I did I did sense it. was a red apple should I taste it yes. taste it and think about does it taste. really sweet or is it dry or is it. creamy or is it does it have a crunchy.

texture or does it have a. rubbery a Tang has a kind of a Tang a. sharpness to it okay um would you say. it's refreshing. or I would I would say it's no it's not. refreshing um it's because I know my. brain is saying oh it's an apple but. then it's all dry and crunchy so my. brain is saying Red Alert Red Alert this. is a dried dried up old Apple that you. found it's from the Civil War war or.

something and then that's what you write. that's what you write down I would say. this is this is an upsetting. wine um makes me think of a desiccated. old fruit um yeah I um I I think this is. a terrible way to test my ability to to. check out wine I think that Matt gave no. thought to this he just went to the. snack cabinet grab some I did pick. out the three things that I wanted to. eat at that moment I know now we're now. we're snacking it's um so here's the.

thing. think citrusy yeah okay that's cool but. Apple's not a citrus it's a tree fruit. I I'm telling you that it has a citrusy. Tang to it so I do think that it has I. give my own thank you for handing me the. one You' been well here's a trick though. Conan here's something you can do and. this is what I do when I'm tasting wine. like I've got one right here this is sh. oh good I have a wine right here oh oh. good turning to be a good day yeah uh. yeah cool because we've got a big.

chardonay Symposium happening in my town. at the moment so there's just chardonay. everywhere but what I do when I'm. tasting wine is I sometimes think if. this wine was a person what kind of. person would it be so I kind of think. about the wine with personality traits. as well as Aromas and flavors this is. turning more into a test of can I open a. bottle of wine let alone oh wait it's. got a cork yeah it's got a see corks. very often why all screw tops now well a. lot of the win is under screw top.

because screw tops are amazing for wine. they are the greatest things. ever in my opinion okay I've poured. myself just a little bit great okay now. your glass actually your glass is quite. good I like the shape because the shape. is really important when assessing wine. because you don't want one of those. small Stumpy short little glasses this. is ating the wine one this is ating the. wine right now I'm swirling the wine. around as I've seen people do in movies.

yes but also you could go cir toay on it. and um hold it from the foot and swirl. see very good hold it from the foot. you're holding it you're holding it from. the stem can I say one thing this class. is really dirty yeah dis spots all over. these I mean you know what the problem. is we have a podcast studio and uh Aaron. Blart who works for us uh is a is a. bachelor and I think he's uh I think he. lives he's a hoarder and he's not that. good with the um no I think he wouldn't.

know a clean glass if it was. shoved where the sun don't shine so no. anyway it doesn't matter I'm sure some. detrus is getting in there what do you. think you know how you're doing very. well but but host I mean the way you're. holding it is giving me anxiety so see. how I'm holding the foot of the can you. really do this in public without getting. beaten up yeah yeah and then you can do. it like like lots of lots of sing it put. a wrist put a bit of wrist in crushing. it oh you guys got it too I don't's a.

professional Drinker son's. drinking you're doing exceptionally well. my darling right okay so now going to be. my new job was drinking in the womb oh. come on no you were I had a nice wine. glass in the womb okay so I've swirled. this about as much as I can swirl it. yeah you swirled it loads so enough of. the swirling now we're going to sniff it. and we're not going to do any of this. um stuff you know like it you. just get your nose right in there you.

see people you just get your nose right. in. there are we are we trying the same kind. of wine right now yeah oh we are as her. no oh well what a great. experiment someone in New Zealand with a. glass of wine and someone uh in uh Los. Angeles with some cookies and see if. they have the same put them on zoom and. see if they have the same notes this is. called Boon's Farm Strawberry Hill what. is it really it's called rurn Russian. River Valley Chardon 2020 okay okay.

great great great so it is a charday. brilliant all right all right and you. have a charday all right let me tell you. what I'm getting a chard I I have the um. the Tony Bish nice label HK Bay. chardonay this. is is that called Bish Bish Bish oh I'm. sorry I went a different way what can. you see that yeah yeah so Tony Bish now. he is the absolute Guru he's like the. gandal of charday making here in New. Zealand he is Mr charday all he does he. just makes chaday the whole time so this.

is his Heartwood and it's beautiful like. anyway enough I love him so we're going. to smell it and we want to we want to. smell interesting things so I'm like in. my New Zealand Chardonnay M I'm getting. Aromas of toasty Oak like um Rising. dough biscuits and uh roast peaches. smell Shard toasty toasted stone fruit. and like um. toasted stone fruit and spice you know.

just a little bit of spice I'm getting. hints I'm I'm getting hints of. microphone oh no oh wait my microphone. is closer to my nose than the wine hold. on a second well that'll do. it I. I I'm. getting. Essence. uhhuh well it's a it's a waiting yeah I. don't know I don't have good words use. your words.

does it smell does it smell fruity does. it smell fruity okay it smells fruity. but it also smells smell like I'm. getting kind of a grapefruit oh okay. good that's great and uh I'm also. getting what if he's wrong though. because I'm reading the label no okay. he's not wrong because grapefruit is in. sh it's a that you definitely get. grapefruity characters in good. Chardonnay so well done thank you yeah. and you know it is have a little bit of. a mineral it doesn't uh I'm going to say. it it it's feels a little uh drier than.

a normal Chardonnay uh just taste it. let's taste it well I think son already. did I swallowed it is it okay to. swallow we can SW you can swallow it's. all right you don't need the bucket oh. oh come on easy what are you guys. getting up to down. there what let he you do it you haven't.

had anyone spit on microphone before or. on I'm not judging you I'm getting this. is very nice say for for podcast wine. this is pretty good this cool marine. influenced region is perfectly suited to. exceptionally flavored Chardonnay fresh. layers of green apple and pear are. accented by a creamy richness due to. sirly. aging okay okay so do you know what. sirly aging means and this is a tip for. anyone that's listening watching see. that on a label someone goes sirly it. doesn't mean you know Moody and angry.

which is what. Surly l y means sirly means on leaves so. the leaves uh when the yeast is finished. doing its ferment and it's um it's. basically dyed they drop to the bottom. of the barrel or the tank and they form. like a really attractive gray green. paste in the bottom of the of the vessel. and some wine makers will leave the wine. on that on the leaves for an extended.

period of time or they'll stir the. leaves through the wine which gives a. kind of a creamy textural character to. the wine so if you see sir Lee on the. back label of a wine bottle or on a. tasty note you can go ah right so it's. been aged on its leaves and everyone. will think you're a guru okay so that's. yeah but that's great that's a really. great descriptor um it's really good and. the mineral thing is interesting Conan. because when you have grapes by by the. seaside you're going to get that saline.

character in the soils you're going to. get seab bre on the you know on the. leaves of the vines and that's all going. to end up in the berries and in the. berries ends up in the wine so you did. really well that's great this isn't my. podcast anymore this is not con Brian. needs a fan this is now here's another. thing this is wine talk she please be. quiet she's trying to host our host is. yvon and uh take it yon we're pairing it. with animal crackers is that perfect. okay yeah pair it with anything but one.

thing I want you to think about guys so. Sona this could be for you one thing. that that I think about when I'm trying. to figure out is this a great wine like. is it a really good value wine is it. deliciously made think about the length. of flavor so have a sip swallow it and. then just kind of. count how long you can still taste that. wine for because you know so many wines. you know you pour it in the glass and it. looks pretty and you sniff it you go M. that smells delicious and you taste it.

you yeah that's really nice and then it. just disappears and you're like well I'm. going to have to keep sipping to keep. the thrill alive yeah and before you. know it you know you're you're wrapped. around the clothes line outside going I. think we all know what it's like to. chase that thrill when you chase that. thrilled on a bottle the bottle always. wins the bottle always wins win. y.