The Super bowl is tomorrow and I personally don’t give a hoot. I mean, I had to Google who was playing…

But, the other day NBC cameras were all up in Domaine LA filming a little segment about what to eat and drink on Super Bowl Sunday (it’s become the Thanksgiving of February). Jill and I came up with some fun wine options for your hot wings, Doritos and chips & guac. Because, you know what? Why the hell not. Check it out! I come in right around the 1 minute mark.

Wines featured: NV German Gilabert Cava (buttered popcorn) // 2010 Etz Gruner Veltliner (chips and gaucamole) // 2007 Pecina Blanco (cool ranch Doritos) // 2010 Punta Crena “Pettirosso” (buffalo wings)  2010 Field Recordings “Fiction” Red (Chex Mix)

I was thinking of doing the 2001 Lopez de Heredia Vina Gravonia Blanco with the Cool Ranch Doritos because of its oxidative, viscous, herbacious vibe. Trying to keep the cost of the bottle down, Jill suggested the incredibly affordable Pecina. Pretty dope with the Doritos. Just sayin’.

Mega-girly side note: I’ve found my one true lipstick love (for now). It’s the NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in “Mexican Rose.” I was wearing it in the video above. It’s the perfect balance of opaque/sheer and matte/gloss and it stays on FOREVER. After the initial application, it settles in and becomes more of a stain. I’ve been rocking the Mexican Rose while working at the restaurant and it lasts for most of the shift. Good for ladies that are always putting their lips to a wine glass. Recommended!

Full disclosure: I totally ripped off one of @ShitMySommSays‘ tweets for the title of this episode.

What in the hell are we talking about on this here episode #27? Lots of cool stuff is what. Cool stuff like the new wine world documentary called SOMM that gives me heart palpitations just watching the trailer I’m so nervous for those guys. Also- shout outs to all of our favorite Twitter wine peeps, Madeira and why you should treat yoself! and drink it with us on V-Day, how to pronounce lieu-dit and London sommelier Emily O’Hare is in the hot seat for our Quickfire questions.

In other news…I posted this pic from the most recent issue of my beloved Garden & Gun on Instagram the other day.

I love everything about it. I hope my future sort of looks like this in some way or another. In related news…you follow me on Twitter or Instagram yet? I aim to please/entertain/over share!

Favorite cocktail or spirit: Pastis

And our rhymes is tight.

I just went there. It happened.

The Terroni lady sommeliers (and a few other lovely friends) met up last week for a little “ripping and sipping”. And eating. And laughing. Christine hosted and made a fantastic meal for us. The rest of us contributed booze.

Remember way back in the Fall of 2010 when the Proof guys gave me these bottles of ’79, ’80 and ’81 Sanford & Benedict Pinot? Well, I FINALLY got around to opening them. I wasn’t expecting much as the boys already told me they were pretty dead.

I thought it would still be fun to open them and see what was inside. It was like some kind of archaeological dig/science experiment; uncovering mold, debris, sediment, effed up corks…I even had to improvise and use a coffee filter to decant what basically looked like Coca Cola.

The ’79 was completely mold-infested and smelled disgusting. The ’80 wasn’t much better, but I at least put that one in my mouth. It was almost like a Marsala meets Chinato by way of root beer- pretty far gone. The ’81 (my birth year- hollerrr!) was surprisingly not horrible.

It still had some acidity and nothing incredibly offensive about it. Special bottles I’m sure, but not anymore. I wish I could’ve tried them back in the day.

So. Food! Sally brought some awesome cheeses from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, one of which was a walnut studded beauty rolled in semolina. Loved. It. Francesca made some chicken liver pâté with lavender (!) and it was really delicious and so subtly floral. She explained how easy it was to make, but I’m still skeptical. She’s Italian and I’m not. She’s just always gonna be better than me at effortless cooking.

The main event was the lamb pie Christine made- a recipe from her mother and a traditional South African dish. She served it over rice seasoned with caraway seeds. I had seconds, possibly thirds. No one knows for sure.

This is when the wine situation greatly improved. One of my favorite food and wine pairings anywhere ever is lamb and Sagrantino. It’s never a bad idea. I dare you to tell me that it’s not amazing.

Francesca brought this lovely bottle of Antonelli for us to enjoy!

I also schlepped another wine that was given to me as a gift- 1995 Felsina Berardenga Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva.

It was good, nothing life changing. The wine that I poured myself more of was the Sagrantino. Fun to try some older bottles though! Every time I do, I always think about what I was doing that year. In 1995, I was a freshman in high school and I had a crazy crush on a guy named Ali (or was it Muhammad?) that I never spoke a single word to. I lived for the J. Crew catalog, really wanted to be in West Side Story and ate french toast sticks for breakfast.

The end.

You: Hey Whitney, what was the wine you were most excited to try last week?

Me: Friend, let me tell you. The brand spanking new 2010 “Piedi Grandi” from La Clarine Farm is what!

photo brought to you by my iPhone

You: Piedi grandi! What the heck is that?

Me: It means “big feet” in Italian.

You: Why did Hank name his wine that?

Me: Some of the grapes were foot-stomped by little kids. He’s funny. And totally not into child labor. The name is in Italian since the main grape in the blend is nebbiolo (with syrah, mourvedre and a splash of roussanne and viognier bringing up the rear.) There’s some whole cluster and it spends 6 months in tank and 6 months in old puncheon.

Verdict? Delicious! It doesn’t necessarily taste like a nebbiolo, but I don’t care. Like most of Hank’s wines, the fruit is pure and there’s an undercurrent of spice and dried herbs. All of his wines remind me of something familiar and cozy but totally new at the same time. Buy his wines. They don’t cost an arm or a leg…or a big foot.

We’re not following the yellow brick road over here in Crush Land. It’s more like red stained concrete, if that makes any sense at all as I try desperately to pull a wine analogy out of my ass. But, we do have Mr. Oz with us in…Episode 26!

Mr. Oz being Oz Clarke, a veritable wine KING over in “Blighty”, as Christina says since she’s practically British by now. He’s in the hot seat for our Crush Quickfire and it’s not to be missed! We chat about an online random wine tasting note generator that will pleasantly waste 5 minutes of your day, decanters and aerators (and reveal what a Vinturi in action sounds like), complain about stupid stickers all over wine bottles and feature a region I’ve been to many times and where I took this photo of a 36 year old stunner.

Tune in! Tune out. Get some nebbiolo in your glass. My job here is done.

As you know, I’m guest somm’ing at LudoBites 8.0 for the next month. So, in addition to wearing my camo apron over at my usual gig, I’ll be wearing this 3 times a week:

It goes without saying, but my work attire tends to be more casual than your average sommelier.

Clothing: Ludo apron (long and with generous front pockets), Ludo 8.0 t-shirt and black Gap skinny jeans. Accessories: JP Brun Terres Dorées “L’Ancien” Beaujolais. Shoes? These TOMS and/or black Sam Edelman flats. BUT- in an ideal world with more shoes in my closet, I would would pair this LudoBites 8.0 ensemble with some Bensimon sneakers and try to look like these really cool French girls.

How about these? I totally chose them because the folks at Bensimon call that color wine. It’s meant to be. And these would work too.

Change of subject! Guess what I just bought on sale from ASOS?

A dress. With GRAPES ON IT. That’s right. It could end up being hideous, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Photo credits: pic of me by the keeper of the LudoBites bar, Michael Nemcik // pile of Bensimon shoes // girls by la plage

Claire and I are back at it again! This time, I’m pairing wine to…wait for it…

NEIGHBORHOODS. Neighborhoods in this fair city of Los Angeles, of course. In each episode of this series, I’ll be visiting a friend that lives in a different nabe and they’ll show me around to all their favorite spots. Then we’ll get down with some sort of vino that I think perfectly fits with them and that neck of the woods. First up? West Hollywood, playa.

Wine: NV Sommariva Prosecco. My dear spritz friend. It’s under $15 bucks and darn good. When I make an Aperol Spritz, it’s always with this wine.

Check out all our previous videos here or on our Vimeo channel. Wanna know what our next video is? Pairing wine to Venice Beach with Joy the Baker! Stay tuned.

The Crush is 25 episodes old and having a quarter life crisis. So, she’s gettin’ down with some daytime drinking.

It’s the only way she knows how to cope. The interesting thing? The alcohol is in her soup. She’s creative like that.

OK- I can’t talk about the show as a woman in the third person anymore. I’m over it. SO- You wanna know what else Christina and I are talking about on this here show that is numbered 25? Root days and iPhone apps, Cork recycling and repurposing, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, freezing wine into ice cubes, a wine region in the NW of the US and Ms. Domaine LA herself Jill Bernheimer is in the hot seat for The Crush Quickfire.

NOW….it’s Random Photo Time!

LudoBites 8.0 begins TODAY and I will be your super friendly and helpful sommelier. So come on by if you can actually get a table or there’s always some walk-in spots at the bar! The menu is AWESOME. And so is the wine list, duh, ’cause Jill did it. This photo also brings up another news alert- I’m now on Instagram! Follow me. I need to feel loved and validated.

I’d like to introduce you to The Chalkboard Mag.

The ladies of Pressed Juicery, along with fabulous to the Nth degree editor Kate Mulling, just launched a new lifestyle site focusing on wellness and living right. The ladies asked me to contribute from time to time and I kicked things off with a Natural Wine 101 situation.

And there’s a lot more where that came from! So, stay tuned for more articles from little old me and tons of REALLY exciting contributors in the weeks and months to come on The Chalkboard.