Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out

-Snte!

-It's said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

- Steppin' out -Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out."

In celebration of my 20th anniversary on PBS and Create TV, we're stepping out into the wonderful world of wine and more.

-Here you have.

-Ganbei.

-Yeah.

- Steppin' out -Prost.

-"Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out" is made possible by... -Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel in the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

-Well, it's a little late in the season, so there's not too many grapes left on the vine.

But this is a nice bunch and -- mmm -- still tastes wonderful.

This is one of the things I love to do most when I'm traveling, is to walk through the vineyards, because I love wine.

And I know this is where wine is born -- in the field.

The French have a word for it -- terroir.

Yes, that means the ground, the soil.

But it also means the climate.

It means the elevation, surrounding area.

And it also means, which I really love, the traditions and the specific practices of a region.

I really learned that when I took two river trips in France -- one in Bordeaux, where they blend wines, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.

And, then, I also did a trip down the Rhone River.

And the Rhone wines gather that kind of spicy Quality that is part of the terroir of the area.

It's exciting experience and one I truly love.

The combination of the river, the wine, and the landscape -- hard to beat that.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] A region, a city, a wine country, a wine.

Bordeaux is all these things and more.

Its name conjures up a royal history, majestic architecture, quaint villages, and millions of bottles of wine, from Van Ordinaire to Grand Cru Class, created by more than 8,000 producers in more than 50 appellations.

And not one, but many rivers run through it.

Outside the Bordeaux city limits, there is much to capture the traveler's attention in the small winemaking and exporting communities on or near the rivers.

The waters of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, as well as Gironde estuary, define the wine country.

[ Soft music plays ] And historic and scenic villages such as Cadillac, Bourg, Blaye, Libourne, Sauternes, Saint Emilion, and Pauillac are islands in a sea of vineyards.

Mdoc region of Bordeaux has eight appellations, some of the most famous in Bordeaux, such as Margaux and Saint-Estphe and Pauillac.

The Pauillac appellation has more than 300 wineries.

And of those, in 1855, 16 were classified as grand cru.

Pontet-Canet is one of those.

And I'm being introduced to the chateau, and I'm starting at the bottom, in their 200-year-old cave.

-So, this is our barrels room, where we age our new vintage into 50% new oak and 15% into last year's barrels.

And we have here Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Francs, and Petit Verdot.

So, here we are in our oak vat room.

So, we have 16 oak vats for the fermentation.

This building was made in 1895 by the family Cruse from Denmark.

The first wine merchants of Bordeaux.

It's very innovative.

The grapes arrive upstairs, and everything is falling by gravity.

So we are very delicate on the fruit.

-What are these?

-You saw that we ferment into wooden vats, but, as well, into 32 concrete vats since 2005.

We age 35% of our production since 2012 into 100 concrete urns, the only grand cru class 100% certified organic and biodynamic.

-Biodynamic?

What does that mean?

-Biodynamic -- we're looking for the real expression of the terroir in the wine.

We don't use chemicals at all.

The vines are building their own immunity system.

We use our own animals' manure.

And we follow the lunar calendar for all the work.

-And you can taste the difference in the wine?

-Yes.

So, this wine is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% of Petit Verdot.

-Well, I'm excited.

Sant!

-You have a real expression of the fruits.

The tannins are very soft and very delicate, and we have the real depth of our terroir.

-And what is the terroir?

-Here, it's mainly sand and gravels where we are planting the Cabernet Sauvignon.

A little bit, as well, here of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

-Mm-hmm.

-And close to the river, we find clay, limestone for the Merlot.

For us, it's very important to have a traditional work.

This used to be in the past.

-So you're kind of going back into your future?

-Exactly.

-[ Laughs ] Well, you know, I think a true expression of the vineyard and the chateau is what a real wine lover is looking for.

So merci and sant.

-Merci et sant.

-Not all Bordeaux wines are high-end grand crus.

In fact, of the 75 million cases of wine sold each year, 26% of them sold for less than 4 bucks a bottle.

Pauillac has more grand cru wineries than any other appellation in Mdoc.

But it also has the first wine cooperative in France.

Started in 1933, La Rose Pauillac is a model for the hundreds of wine cooperatives that are now throughout France.

Today, 25 small vineyards, averaging less than 4 acres each, bring their harvest to the cooperative every fall.

What this offers the visitor is the opportunity here in Pauillac to taste grand cru and, also, to taste wine that is good, inexpensive, and continue the winemaking tradition to all who are passionate about wine, like me.

Sant.

[ Soft music plays ] Just across the Garonne River from Cadillac is Sauternes, famous for its highly prized sweet wines.

The Smillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes of Sauterne are some of the most highly prized in the world because of the wines that they create.

Now they get a little help.

The cooler Ciron River meets with the Garonne River and creates a morning mist that lays on the grapes.

Put that in combination with the wind and the heat in the afternoon, and Botrytis forms on the grapes, and the process of creating the noble rot begins.

What that does is ultimately remove the water from the grape and concentrate that nectar that creates the golden, rich wines of Sauternes.

While Bordeaux is definitely 21st-Century, more and more vintners are turning to their past for organic and biodynamic viticultural practices.

Ah!

Taroba!

What a good horse.

I don't think many people do this.

They don't plow their fields with a horse.

-Yeah.

Special.

-So why did you decide you wanted to do that in your fields?

-First, I love horses.

-[ Laughs ] -And with a horse, you don't compact as much as the machines.

-What do you think being organic gives to the wine?

-Especially in Sauternes, because we need Botrytis, so we have to be very careful of what we put in nature.

And being organic respects all life.

-Well, thank you for giving me an opportunity to fulfill my lifelong dream of plowing a row in Bordeaux.

-My pleasure.

-Merci beaucoup.

-Merci.

-[ Clicks tongue ] Taroba!

-March.

[ Horse whinnies ] [ Mid-tempo music plays ] [ Grunts ] -Well, I've gone tree-trekking in the treetops, and I've gone wine-tasting, but I had to come to Bordeaux, France, to go wine-tasting in the treetops.

[ To tune of "La Marseillaise" ] Dun-dun dun-dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun!

Dun dun dun... [ Grunts ] Vincent, this better be some good wine.

-I hope so.

-Whoa!

-I'm up in the middle of this pine tree overlooking Sauternes with the squirrels, the pine cones, and two crazy guys.

[ Both laugh ] Voil!

Alright.

Send up the wine, please.

What do we have here?

-A dry white and a sweet wine.

Premier grand cru class, Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau.

-Even if this wasn't the greatest wine in the world, it is now.

-Yeah.

Really.

-Because it's the only wine that's up in a tree.

We should taste this dry white.

-100% of Sauvignon.

-Let me take the honors of pouring you.

And me.

You notice I hang onto the bottle.

And one for you, Vincent... -Thank you.

-...who got us up in this tree.

Ah.

A lot of fruit.

-Yes.

-This is very refreshing.

-[ Laughs ] Yes.

Wait for the sweet wine.

Fresh apricot.

-Yes.

It's very clean on your palate.

-Yeah.

-It's not cloying.

It's not like syrup.

Wow!

What can I say?

[ Glasses clinking ] -Snte!

[ Francophone music plays ] -The second-longest river in France, the Rhone begins its 500-mile journey to the sea in the Swiss Alps, crossing into France after it flows through Lake Geneva on its southward journey to the Mediterranean.

My Rhone Valley adventure begins near where the Rhone meets the Seine and the wine region of Beaujolais brushes up against the vineyards of Rhone wines, just 25 miles from Lyon, in the town of Oingt.

The rocky limestone foundation gives Beaujolais a terroir that imparts a spicy, floral flavor to its famous wines.

The red Beaujolais can only be Gamay grapes, and they have to be picked by hand.

There are more than 200 wineries in the Beaujolais area.

60 of them allow visitors to sample the wines and learn about the wines.

But of course you can enjoy Beaujolais wine in one of the area's many famous restaurants.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] De Gaulle famously said, "How can you govern a country that has 246 different cheeses?"

But there's many more cheeses now in France, right?

-Yeah.

Some people say 1,000.

-And of course a little wine to go with it.

Sant.

-Sant.

-Ah.

Now, this is local.

What is it?

What is this?

-Local wine.

Organic wine.

-Mm.

-It is a grape variety, Viognier.

-And you have a wonderful selection of local cheeses, oui?

-Yes.

Of course.

-Okay.

-You can take the spoon and take this one.

-[ Laughs ] I'll get too much of it.

-Saint-Flicien.

-This is the cow?

-Yes.

That's cow.

And a really creamy cheese.

-Mmm!

Oh, my God, just so rich.

So wonderful.

And this, too?

-That's Saint-Marcellin.

That is same making, but without cream.

-Without cream.

Now, how did you get into cheeses yourself?

-[ Chuckles ] It was 40 years ago.

-Mm-hmm.

-I was coming back from India, and I was looking for a job.

-So you made cheeses?

-Yes, during 30 years.

Yeah.

-And this one?

-At the end.

It got... at the same place as the wine.

-Oh, so these should match very nicely.

-Yeah.

Of course.

-Well, I've learned so much today.

And every time when I come back, I always learn again how wonderful, warm, and welcoming the French people are.

-Thank you very much.

-Merci beaucoup.

-Snte.

-The only thing better than walking through the vineyards is sitting on a big chunk of terroir right in the middle of the vineyard, surrounded by grapes and bees.

There's so much life in the vineyards and so much heritage and legacy and love.

You can wrap all sorts of trips around just going to different wine countries.

Because these days, almost every country in the world produces wine.

For instance, yes, I had a fabulous experience in France, but I also got to taste and experience the special wines of Austria.

Austria has four major wine regions, with more than 5,000 wineries and 141,000 acres of vineyards.

70% produce white wines, such as Gruener Veltliner.

Bordering Lake Neusiedl, 30 miles south of Vienna, Burgenland is Austria's second- largest grape-growing region.

Besides its world-famous sweet wines, it produces Austria's tastiest reds.

In charming villages like Purbach, the wine lover can find a zimmer frei -- a room for let -- and a cozy bed-and-breakfast, and enjoy a European appreciation of good food and a calmer, more graceful view of life.

This is certainly a different pace of life than I'm used to back home -- church bells sounding, birds singing.

It's so much a part of the culture here in Austria to begin your day in a slower, gentler way.

Purbach is surrounded by acres and acres of vineyards, and I've just discovered where they keep the good stuff.

There are more than 50 wine cellars along the historic cellar street in Purbach.

Some of them are still wine cellars, some of them are restaurants, and some of them are wineries.

We're at the Sandhofer winery with Michael and Michaela.

And Michael's gonna put me to work.

-Ah.

Danke.

[ Polka music plays ] -[ Speaking indistinctly ] -Okay.

Okay.

How many are we doing?

How many?

-How many?

4,000.

-4,000?

I'm gonna be here for a long time.

In Austria, wine is celebrated with family, friends, and strangers.

When a bush hangs over the wine tavern door, it announces the new wine is in.

I'm here in the Burgenland and at a very traditional place, having a very traditional experience with Heli.

And this is his place.

And, Heli, what is a Buschenschank?

-A Buschenschank is a traditional Austrian restaurant where we sell only our own wine.

-And, then, people come here, and do you serve food, too?

-The food, too.

But only cold food.

-Ah.

-Not warm.

Mm-hmm.

No warm drinks -- no coffee, no tea, no beer.

Just wine.

-Just wine.

-And the people taste them... -Uh-huh.

-...and find if it's good or not good.

Mostly it's good.

[ Laughs ] -Mostly it's good.

-Now, it looks like this is a very local tradition.

-It's the second home for the local people.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

[ Chuckles ] But very much tourists come, too, yes.

-Okay.

So we can come, too.

[ Conversations in German ] As you see, it's quite a festive occasion.

Everybody comes out and enjoys the wine and some special foods.

-Prost.

-Prost.

-Prost.

-Prost.

Prost.

[ Soft music plays ] As in Vienna, in Burgenland, the historic and the modern thrive side by side.

Alongside traditional winemaking methods flourishes a new biodynamic philosophy that among other techniques allows vines to grow unpruned, uses nonpoisonous stinging nettle tea as pesticide, and ages wine in concrete, egg-shaped barrels.

Explain biodynamic to me.

And what's the basis of it?

-It's a life philosophy not only to use no chemistry, but, also, to use more plant extracts to give some special inputs to the soil to produce good things.

I think when you are feeling good, you produce good things.

-Absolutely.

You're very creative.

And so you're trying to make the plants as creative as they can be, right?

-What we are doing is we take the dung of a mother cow... -Yes.

-...and put it into horns and keep it in the ground.

-What's the purpose of doing that?

-The dung is getting energy from the horns.

because it's the most energetic part of the cow.

-Coming from their head.

-Yeah.

-So you think that the horn -- and here are a number of them -- is going to give the energy to the dung.

And in the process of being buried in the ground, it creates a new thing which is basically some energized soil.

-Yeah.

-And so this would be an example of the whole.

How many horns would you put in something like that?

-It's about 200 horns.

-Now, you will then take this and put it in water?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

What does that do?

-I'm making a biodynamic preparation.

-A biodynamic preparation.

And you play the "Blue Danube" for the rhythm?

-Yeah.

-Kind of waltz with them.

-Make the minutes go faster.

-[ Laughs ] -How does this help the wine?

-This is helping the soil.

-It helps the soil?

-Yeah.

This is for the soil.

There's one for the wines, too.

[ Strauss' "The Blue Danube Waltz" plays ] Bring the mind of the winemaker into the soil.

-Let's go look at the vineyards where all this is being used.

As strange as these new practices may seem, Austrian wines keep getting better.

It may be the changes are simply the winemaker's passion.

Your father's been making wine for 50 years, and you're following in his footsteps generation after generation.

-Right.

-Great winemaking is in the field.

It's where it starts.

You can't do it there if it's not here.

So what do you do?

How do you -- What's this soil like that you work with, and what do you do to it to make it better?

-Well, the soil here is a granite, nice soil, modest rock soil, with clay on top.

So this is a good soil for the grapes, gives a lot of minerality and acidity to the wine.

-Mm-hmm.

-And to make it better, we use natural compost and biodynamic preparations.

-With a biodynamic preparation, we saw the mixture of the cow dung that had been buried in the soil.

Okay.

Well, the only thing we have left is to taste this wine.

-Yeah, right.

Let's go.

-Let's go do that.

Mm.

I could just smell the concentration of the fruit.

-Yeah.

That's liquid gold.

-Liquid gold.

Good description.

Prost.

[ Soft music plays ] Now, you don't need to follow the wine trail in order to inspire your travels.

You can go to Taiwan, where they make wine out of kumquats.

[ Asian folk music plays ] Well, Jack, that doesn't look like any winery I've ever been in.

What made you decide to start a winery?

-Because we got a lot of fruit around this farm.

-Farm.

Yeah.

-And so we can make very special wine because the winter is cold, so it's suitable for here to grow the kumquat.

-Oh.

-So I use the kumquat to make wine.

-Now, is it just kumquat?

Is there anything else in there?

-Because the kumquat is so sour, so we need to put some honey in there.

Honey and kumquat.

-Ah.

-We got a silver medal in France.

-I can see why.

Not very sweet, but very tasty.

-Yeah.

-Tastes like the fruit.

Well, the only thing left is for us to pair it with food, because as you know, wine goes very well with food.

You have a restaurant here on the property?

-Yeah.

Okay.

Well, good Well, s nte or -- -Ganbei.

-Ganbei.

-Yeah.

[ Dramatic music plays ] -And if you happen to be in Spain, you may come across the European champion cocktail creator.

iBienvenidos a Cadaqus, Espaa!

[ Flamenco music plays ] Gracias.

That's a work of art.

That is a work of art.

[ Latin music plays ] -Salud.

-Salud.

-Now, this is a really interesting drink, because it has so many different things going for it.

What's the secret?

How do you know what goes best together?

-So, my inspiration comes from all the places that I've been.

I've been in more than 36 countries.

-Perfect.

-So every country I go, I choose something that represents that country.

So for example, this cocktail that I'm gonna make you now -- it's called Coco Thai -- -Coco Thai.

-And it's inspired in Thailand, okay?

So, we're gonna put 50 mls of vodka Belvedere.

This is coconut cream infused with lemongrass, kaffir lime, and hand of Buddha.

A little bit of sugar and lime, juice to shake it.

[ Shaker rattling ] And then we're gonna freeze the glass.

And I have a really cool machine.

[ Dry ice hissing ] -[ Laughs ] What a nice touch.

-Yeah, right?

And the glass -- now it's under 60 Celsius degrees.

-So it not only keeps the drink cool.

-Yeah, supercool.

Absolutely.

And then -- -Supercool.

It also looks like a work of art.

-Yeah, right?

And, then, we're gonna finish it with a coconut foam, a little bit of fresh lime... and the garnish -- kaffir lime.

We're gonna put it here and this behind.

Here you have.

Hope you like it.

-Coco Thai.

-Coco Thai.

-You know, what we're doing is we go to a destination and try to share with people the culture.

So you're doing that, in a sense, with your drink.

So you're telling me that you went to Thailand, and you saw -- -I was eating.

I was eating the tom yum soup.

-Yeah.

Of course.

One of my favorites.

-The tom yum soup, the classic one.

-Yeah.

-So it's a tom yum -- It's a kind of tom yum soup, but in a cocktail?

-In a cocktail.

-With no fish.

-Tom yum soup in a cocktail.

-With coconut.

I love that.

-Coconut, citrus, and a lot of love.

-How about your clientele?

How are they reacting to this?

What do they think?

-Not in many places they can find these kind of cocktails.

-Oh, my gosh.

-[ Chuckles ] It reminds you to Thailand?

-Yes, it does.

-[ Chuckles ] -Gracias for having us here, and gracias for sharing with us your talent.

It was absolutely wonderful.

-Was a pleasure.

-Thank you for helping me celebrate my 20 years on PBS and Create TV and stepping out with me in the wine countries of the world.

Until we meet again, remember the words of Mark Twain.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

May your next adventure always be your best.

-"Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out" is made possible by... -Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel in the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

-For a DVD of the "Travelscope" and "Steppin' Out" episodes featured in my anniversary show and to get my memoir and travel book, "Musings," call... Or to order online, go to... Or email me at... - Ooh hoo -Now that we've stepped out and celebrated the world's wines together, learn more at JosephRosendo.com, where you can follow my worldwide adventure through my magazine, blog, podcast, and social media.

Stay in touch.

Or e-mail me at... [ Mid-tempo music plays ] Merci.

[ Glasses clink ] Snte.

-Snte.

-Ganbei.

-Ganbei.

[ All singing in German ] [ Glasses clink ] -Snte.

- Steppin' out