Ask A Wino: Holiday Editions

I was going to wait until the New Year to roll out my new video series, but hey, HAPPY HOLIDAYS GUYS. ASK A WINO IS HERE. 

Have a question? Submit any question you'd like to ask at leisureenthusiast@gmail.com or @MarissaARoss on Twitter/Instagram #askawino

Leftovers: Holiday Dinner Edition

When your boss is a very successful woman with a big fashion tooth, it is not easy to buy her presents. So after three years, I gave up and invited Mindy Kaling over for a three course Italian holiday dinner, everything chef'd from scratch by my boyfriend Ben and somm'd by yours truly.

The great thing about coursing out your meals (and your wines) is that you have a lot of leftovers, and tonight I am revisiting the wines I served last night.

All the wines served are from Silverlake Wine and are under $40 (I know, the price point is high on this post, BUT FUCK, IT'S NOT EVERY DAY YOU'RE HAVING MINDY KALING OVER TO YOUR HOUSE AS A FUCKING PRESENT).

Course One: 
Pan-fried Truffle Oil Gnocchi 
Paired with ARPEPE Rosso di Valtellina Nebbiolo 2012

Truffle oil is not to be trifled with, and when you're serving dishes that prominently feature it, you need a wine whose flavor profile is not going to try to compete. Nebbiolos are similar to Pinot Noir in that they are an extremely delicious and versatile red wine and go well with nearly everything.

Nebbiolos in particular are great for pairing with truffle because they have a lovely earthiness to them that really compliments the truffles and enhances their flavor. This Nebbiolo smells like a big red fruit that is grown in the middle of the Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter, but like, more green and not so scary. And it tastes really delicious. Light, fruitful, vibrant, and slightly floral. A really great wine. I would drink this with anything.

As for the leftovers...
This bottle got left open all night cause, oops. It's now super acidic, but still better than most anything you'll buy in a grocery store. I'll take tang over sugar any day of the week. But please cork this. I feel like such a fucking fool. Like, I spent MONEY on this shit! I shouldn't be allowed nice things (JK GIVE ME ALL THE NICE THINGS, I BRUSH MY SUEDE SHOES AND NEVER LOSE SUNGLASSES).

Leftover Ross Test: 
Prickly, but doable. 

Course Two:
Winter Salad featuring Radicchio, Savoy Cabbage, Belgian Endive,  Parmesan and Walnut Oil dressing
Paired with Rojac Royaz Sparkling Rosé 2010

So this wine is dope because normally bubbles are added after the wine is basically already made, whereas with this Rosé gains its bubbles from its natural fermentation. It's also from Slovenia, which I've found recently has amazing wine (RE: the Cotar Terran from my Halloween tasting). The color of it is absolutely astounding. It's the most perfect coral pink, with a pretty cloud to it. I want a drawer of jewelry the color of this wine, and I'm not even that big on jewelry. 

This wine paired excellently with the salad because the leaves were so bitter. Bright, spring fields of strawberries, faint floral and thyme notes really complimented the bite of the dish. I really, really enjoyed it (although I almost took off my face opening the damn thing, and I mean, I was opening it like a normal human, unsealing it, and it just tore the fuck off the bottle on its own, so BE CAREFUL). This is something I wish I could just have in my fridge at all times. It's familiar in a sense that is a dry Rosé, but it is so unique in, for lack of better words, how it sits in your mouth. Its feel mimics its cloudy appearance. It just like, hangs out. But in a good way. Like a marine layer in your mouth. Wait this sounds kinda gross I PROMISE ITS NOT, IT'S SO GOOD.

As for the leftovers...
Still really good. I'm probably going to drink the whole bottle. It's definitely less bubbly and more acidic than it was yesterday (and, I corked it sooo,) but it's still so drinkable. Tastes like "sour" candy melted down. I say "sour", because it's not that sour. But it's not bad. You know those candies? You're like, "Alright this is kinda false advertising but whatever, still delicious."

Leftover Ross Test:
Not my favesies. Has a vodka aftertaste, which is too sad for me. :(

Course Three:
Braised Short Ribs with tomato Cabernet sauce
Paired with Praesidium Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva doc 2009

Normally with a dish like this, I'd spring for a Cab. I know, terribly boring, but the truth is, I just really love Cabernet. But since this was an Italian holiday meal, I needed something Italian.  Italian wines are a vast sea of knowledge I've barely snorkeled in. I'd never had a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo before (which is odd considering its popularity in Italy but ok), but I love them now  because this shit, was the fucking shit.

This inky dream smells like an herb garden in late summer, still fresh but a little dusty, and tastes like the bulkiest plum you've ever bitten into with rugged, clayish tannins. It went so fucking well with the ribs. They were falling off the bone, and the wine just grabbed them and held them. It's like they were hugging in my mouth. And it was straight up true love. I would highly recommend this for any stewed meats you're making this season, especially ones with slightly spiced sauces. Just remember to decant for at least an hour beforehand.  

As for the leftovers...
Have you seen American Hustle? Remember how Jennifer Lawrence talks about the sweet trash smell of her nail polish? Yeah it smells like that. Like, kinda gross, but you're also 100% addicted to smelling it. Definitely lost a bit of its original complexity to acidity, but still tastes so good. 

Leftover Ross Test:
Don't. 

Overall Best Leftovers:
The Praesidium and the Short Ribs. 

I legit just crushed a cold rib while downing the rest of this bottle and I couldn't be happier. The other reason this is the best Leftover, is that the braising sauce from the short ribs is going to go on some rigatoni later this week and I'M ALREADY SO EXCITED.

Wine Time: Tinajas de la Mata with Mark Cope

Tinajas de la Mata
Price: $24.99
Year: 2011
Region: Alicante, Spain
Retailer: DomaineLA

This is a really weird wine, but it's one of my absolute favorites. It is so weird though, that I wanted a guest who would be 100% honest about it. So I invited childhood best friend/college roommate/protective older brother forever and "The Most Popular Girls In School" creator Mark Cope to come sit on tiny poufs and drink this funky shit and make fun of me and the first time I ever got drunk because that's what life long friends do. 

This is a super cool wine also because it's a natural orange wine. Bernabe, the bro who makes this, puts all the grapes in these clay pots called Tinajas and just lets them do their thing. And the thing they do is AMAZING. IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD. It tastes like the year I spent drinking Petrus Aged Pales alone at Sunset Beer.

Check out more episodes of Wine Time here!

Cinematography by Antoin Huynh 
Music by Monster Rally 
Edited by Claire Gavin

Just a boring ass update

Dear Friends,

It has been an insane two months, with tons of stuff going on with me and wine outside of the normal me and wine stuff. Some of it I can't talk about yet, and some of it I can, like my Wine Time Live show. The first one went really well (thank you to those of you who came out) and it looks like it may becoming a regular thing in 2015.

But now that I have a lot of my show(s) stuff taken care of, I'm going to try my best to get back to our regularly scheduled drinking. 

Yours in drunkness,
Marissa xooxoxxox

WINE TIME LIVE!

WINE TIME LIVE! at iO West 
THIS THURSDAY 12/4, 7PM
$10, +21 
NEXT TWO PEOPLE TO EMAIL ME WITH THEIR CONFIRMATION
GET A BOTTLE OF PINOT GRIGIO! leisureenthusiast@gmail.com
BUY TICKETS HERE! NOW! DO IT! PLZ!

Dear Friends,

I was recently asked to perform in iO West’s first ever Funny Women Festival. And this is what I came up with.

If you live in LA and are free this coming Thursday, it’d mean a lot if you came to this. I’m going to be honest and say, I really don’t know how it’s going to go. It’s definitely an experiment, and I have a whole thirty minutes. I’m 100% totally nervous, and 100% like “whatever it’s chill, this is what I was born to do” so, I’m 200% invested obviously.

The setup is that it’s a mix of storytelling comedy with two wine tastings, one with a special guest. We’ll end the show with a quick Q&A in which you can ask me about wine tasting or whatever.

I really hope you can make it. Or if you can’t make it, it’d mean a lot to me if you could share this information with your friends either on or off social media platforms like Twitter.

Thank you so much for your time over the years. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to try stuff like this if it wasn’t for the fact you guys support me. I really am thankful for you guys, and I probably should have told you on Thanksgiving, but I mean, whatever, I’m always thankful for you guys. Not just any one day.

Love,
Marissa

HOW TO: Get Lipstick Off Your Wine Glasses

I love my wine glasses. I have the Nattie 18oz Red Wine glasses from Crate & Barrel, which are really nice versatile glasses that work well with reds or whites. I used to have specific glasses for specific wines, but then it became a mess of like two Pinot glasses, two Chardonnay glasses and four flutes. Can't serve wine like that dude, or I can't. I'm very professional and need to have like twelve to eighteen matching glasses ready at any given time. And by "professional", I mean "neurotic".

That same neurosis that compels me to have thirty matching glasses, is the same one that infuriates me when I can't get lipstick off my glasses. It's the worst. As if I didn't have enough to worry about with people breaking them 100% of the time, I also have to worry about people destroying and disgustifying the rims for all eternity with Tom Ford's "Spanish Pink" or some garden variety L'Oreal. I was legitimately about to ban people from wearing lipstick or lip gloss at my house, but then I was like, "Eh, how am I really going to enforce that? That is going to get real weird, real quick."

Instead I lamented to my mom, who of course had the answer. 

So now we don't have to ban our friends from wearing lipstick to save our glasses. Instead we can use my mom's secret to cleaning and continue being very chill hostesses.

Music by Monster Rally, as always. 

Municipal Winemakers, Santa Barbara

I had the extreme pleasure of drinking and shooting at Municipal Winemakers in Santa Barbara. I got to hang out with winemaker Dave Potter, who is very chill, and taste some truly awesome wines, like his Riesling and Chenin Blanc. I was totally blown away by those two in particular because you can drink them at room temperature, which is normally a huge fear of mine, white wines at room temperature. But these two absolutely flourish. 

If you're in the SB area, you should definitely check this place out. Not only are the wines great, but the space is also incredible with tons of natural light, eclectic decor and a killer patio situation. And walking distance to the beach! My kind of place.

Can't wait to show you guys the footage! 

Wine Time: Bogle Merlot

Bogle Merlot
Price: $8.99
Year: 2012
Region: California
Retailer: Ur grocery store

I don't drink Merlot, ever. Which you can totally tell by how hard it is for me to say "Bogle Merlot" rather than "Bogle Syrah".

Shot & Edited by Faith Davis
Music by Monster Rally 

Check out more episodes of Wine Time here!

Wine Club: Contrast Tasting

At last night's Wine Club (working title, still trying to see what works, last night we came to "Meow Meow Club" because trying to get people to listen about wine while drinking a lot of wine is basically herding cats but I can't decide if I like it enough but anyway), I put together a tasting of contrasting wines from similar regions. 

The whites are both from Northern Italy. First, the Ronco del Gnemiz Friulano San Zuan (2013, Silverlake Wine). Friulanos are also known as Sauvignon Verts, and taste a lot like Sauvignon Blancs. Super herbaceous with a bright minerality. Contrasting, I served the Angiolino Maule Masieri (DomaineLA), an organic wine that has the color of an energy drink and the palate of a sour beer. 

The reds are both from California. After coming off the super acidic Masieri, I served the light and fruity Broc Cellars Valdiguié (2013, DomaineLA). Valdiguié is an uncommon varietal these days, with only 300 acres left in California from the 6,000 acres that spanned the region in the 70's. And contrasting, I served The Prisoner (Whole Foods), a huge Napa blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Charbono, and Grenache. Rich cherry and tobacco, wreaking of traditional Napa mores.

We then got wasted and shot gunned Pampelonnes in my front yard. ✌️

Q&A: Dencanting Or Insanity?

Even though I don’t think this is the best replacement for decanting, you definitely got some air in that bitch, and your wine tasted better so, job well done. Even if we both are totally insane. 

Send me questions, comments, or wine suggestions of your own here or you can always email me.