This is the equation: Pressed Juicery juice + WINE = best idea ever.

Claire and I decided we should take something really healthy and add booze to it. That’s just what one should do.

Head on over to The Chalkboard Mag to see our juice & wine combos that’ll make your next party a little more virtuous…or your next cleanse a little more buzzed.

All photos by Claire Thomas

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.

While we’re talking stylish wine ladies, here’s another! Talia Baiocchi is one of my favorite wine writers out there right now. She’s young, she’s funny, she’s way smarter than me, has great taste and a super fresh perspective on all this wine stuff. She is currently the wine columnist at Eater.com and contributes to a whole bunch of other online and print publications like The San Francisco Chronicle, Bon Appetit and Serious Eats.

So, let’s do this here thing!

Name: Talia Baiocchi  Hometown: Laguna Beach, CA  Current location: Brooklyn, NY

Favorite Winter beverage: Sherry. Still have some La Bota #15 Fino that I dig into every now and again. Also loving Lustau’s Manuel Cuevas Jurado Manzanilla Pasada and Colosia’s Sangre y Trabajadero Dry Oloroso for everyday.

Favorite cocktail or spirit:  Rye Manhattan

Favorite place to grab a drink:  For wine: Terroir, Anfora, Balthazar. Cocktails: Maison Premiere, Keens (for the classics), Death & Co.

Favorite toast: I prefer to defer to someone else, because I am pretty sure I’ve never given a toast that wasn’t incredibly awkward for all involved. In other words, I suck at toasts.

Favorite post-dinner quaff: Amaro. Always. Nonino and Varnelli Sibilla are favorites.

Favorite food & beverage pairing:  Champagne + cured pork items.

If you could travel to one region of the world right now for its food and/or drink where would you go? I’d probably go back to Sicily. I was just there in September for the first time and the trip wasn’t long enough. The cuisine is uniquely its own thing and the wines have never been better. Also: pretty beaches.

What’s for sipper? I am writing a story about Sicilian white wine at the moment so I am deep into Carricante and Grillo as of late. So, tonight I’ve got the Grillo Integer from Marco de Bartoli on deck.

And here’s Talia with Kyle MacLachlan drinking his wine. You know, cause that’s the kind of stuff you get to do when you’re Talia.

Anyone else see too many productions of Fiddler on the Roof as a child? No? OK- maybe it’s just me, but whenever I start thinking about how fast time flies, the chorus of “Sunrise, Sunset” creeps into my brain…Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the days.

News alert! There’s been a whole buncha sunrises and sets and it’s about to be 2012! Can you even believe it?

I thought I would summon my inner Tevye and reminisce. Here are just a few of my favorite moments/posts from this year:

Ladies Who Brunch // Americano // Wine Wear Daily IV // Octopus BBQ

Birthday Lanterns // 4th of July in Brooklyn // Ojai Campfire & Whiskey Cocktails // Laureano

Pretty great times were had in ’11. Dang. Next year has a lot to live up to! Let’s make it truly SPECTACULAR, shall we?

Happy New Year errrrbody!

Or, I should say, Manhattans by DTG.

On the 23rd, I received a text from my stepfather proclaiming that we would be drinking Manhattans on Christmas Eve. Unbeknownst to me, he had been given a gift from his buddy Dan. It was a bottle of ready-to-go Manhattans, complete with Old Forester Signature bourbon, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters and a little cherry juice.

So- on the 24th, we gathered around the tree and grabbed some glasses and ice.

It was strong and it was damn good. No work necessary. Pop and pour. Dan- you’re my hero!!

PS- My stepsister Katherine gave me my favorite gift of…ever. A sweater cozy for a bottle of Maker’s Mark. What every proper Kentuckian needs!

Cheers!

Hey. Psssssst. Hey you! Can I be nosy for a second and all up in your business? Pretty please? Yes, you say? Thanks!!

And such is the way I get all these nice people to let us read about what they like to drink and eat. And where they like to do those things in case we want to secretly stalk them. The newest super nice and talented person that let me dig into his brain? The General Manager of the always incredible Osteria Mozza. If you don’t know what Mozza is, I beg you to get out from under the miserable, not delicious rock you’ve been hiding for the past 4 years.

Name: David Rosoff. Hometown: Los Angeles. Current location: Los Angeles

OK- I wasn’t going to even do a Holiday gift guide this year, but then I got sucked into the colorful, kitschy world of my beloved Jonathan Adler and I just had to. I was inspired! Here are my top Adler drink related item picks plus the liquid you should gift it with.

What should you put in that Acid Palm Petitpoint flask? Bourbon, of course. It’s my spirit of choice and so very seasonally appropriate. I love me some Bulleit bourbon, but let’s take it up a notch for the Holidays and go with the more subdued, gentlemanly vibe of Basil Hayden’s, shall we?

I have a thing for needlepoint. It probably has something to do with being a total prep and a Kentuckian. Here’s a (more than slightly suggestive) Needlepoint Cocktail Coaster set to the rescue! Give to a friend with a sense of humor and send them straight to Barkeeper in Silverlake with a gift certificate in hand. Booze novices and even the most sophisticated spirit palates will revel in the amazing selection of small batch spirits, abundance of bitters and vintage barware and glassware. If you don’t live in LA, just call Joe at the store and he’ll sort you out.

Let’s call this the “Rip it, Sip it & Maybe Save it For Later” gift set. Brass Muse Opener + a Bottle Stock membership + the Peace Bottle Stopper. Aaaaand, you’re good to go drink. Shameless self promotion alert!

If you missed them the first time around, here’s a walk down Holiday wishlist memory lane: 2010 & 2009.

(photo credit: vintage glasses. all others from respective company’s websites or Brunellos Have More Fun.)

I thought I’d feature another kick ass NYC-er while I’m at it. So, Ladies and gentlemen…Mr. André Hueston Mack! André is a sommelier, formerly of The French Laundry and Per Se, and owner of Mouton Noir Wines where he sells his “unique and distinctive garage wines” and some pretty dope wine schwag. (which you can find listed in My Favorite Things)

Let’s do this!

Name: André Mack. Hometown: Brooklyn, NY. Current location: Brooklyn, NY

If you could travel to one region of the world right now for its food and/or drink where would you go? Kansai region of Japan (Osaka, Kyoto & Kobe). It is home to 12 Michelin  3 star restaurants.

What’s for sipper? Been drinking Lapierre Morgon all week.

This photo REALLY cracks me up.

Top photo of André pouring wine at Frasca in Boulder, CO by DLH Creative.

Favorite fall beverage: Jacques Torres Hot Chocolate (it’s literally melted chocolate). If he could work some rum in there, I’d be wake up and go to sleep with that.

Favorite cocktail or spirit: Scotchy scotch scotch.

Favorite toast: We feel sorry for people who don’t drink because when you get up in the morning that’s as good as you’re gonna feel for the rest of the day.

Favorite post-dinner quaff: Sauternes or Eau-de-Vie

Everyone, meet Helen Johannesen! She is the Director of Operations and Beverage Director of Animal and Son of a Gun-  two of LA’s finest so hip it hurts/so delicious it hurts eating and drinking establishments. I seriously envy the food and wine she gets to be around on a daily basis.

So, let’s see how she gets down in the gastronomical sense, shall we?

Name: Helen Johannesen. Hometown: New York City. Location: Los Angeles.

Favorite Fall beverage: Manhattans!

Favorite cocktail or spirit: Scotch

Favorite place to grab a drink: The bar at the Hotel Bel Air because the atmosphere is amazing and transporting. For quality and finesse: my house, my friend’s houses, or Son of a Gun.

Favorite toast: To family.

Favorite post-dinner quaff: Chartreuse Green VEP or crazy Amaros at Mozza.

Favorite food & beverage pairing: Yesterday I drank some 2007 Deforville Barbaresco from the Loreto vineyard with some DAMN good pasta and that is my favorite pairing of the moment. Otherwise…there are too many to count!

If you could travel to one region of the world right now for its food and/or drink where would you go? Italy. Boom done!

What’s for sipper? If this was last night, it was Lagavulin while sitting by a fire. Tonight I am working, so perhaps a glass of Montagny from Jean-Marc Pillot to tuck me in at the end of the night.

A little lady and a big ass bottle of wine. The way it should be.

Original photos by Ben Andersen/Sarah Gim, who seem to always take the best photos of wine people doing wine things.