Episode 39! It’s getting hot in herrrrrre.

On this week’s episode- Christina and I talk about our moms and their wine quirks, gateway wines for our moms to expand their palates, the Hollywood movie biz getting hip to the wine game, how Christina thinks Katie Couric is still on the Today Show, a Crush Quickfire with a guy named Wadsack and what happens when you bring a wine back from a foreign country. Is it ever as good when you drink it in your plain old little living room?

My answer is YES. Although, we’ve both had disappointing experiences over the years with wines we covet and tell all our friends about and then open and it’s either flawed or not as good as we remembered it to be. A few days ago I opened up the Toblar Schioppetino I brought back in my suitcase from Friuli.

Just as great as when I was sitting around the Specogna family’s dinner table! This time, I enjoyed it with a simple pasta dinner and a cute boy. <wink>

Last week, I grabbed a drink at Library Bar at The Roosevelt Hotel. The bartender served me up, what he called, a “Rockette.” Its star ingredient, other than gin, was freshly torn bits of wild arugula. It was delicious! If you’ve never been to Library Bar, all the beautiful produce used in each cocktail is stocked in abundance on the bar for all to see. Just to the right of where I was sitting was a bowl of juicy strawberries. As I sipped my Rockette, I thought ” what if these strawberries were in my drink?”

Boom. Making dreams into reality, people.

I also decided to add a little rhubarb bitters into the mix! Excellent addition, I must say.

I’m not that keen on measuring. A little of this, a little of that, taste as I go along and I end up with what I want and what I find to be balanced. A good rule of thumb for cocktails like this is 3 parts booze, 2 parts sweetness, 2 parts sour. Then you can make as little or as much as you want, for yourself or a crowd. Ingredients: gin, lime juice, agave syrup, bitters (a few generous dashes), torn arugula and diced strawberry. Dice up the strawberry a bit and tear the arugula with the tippy tops of your fingers. Put that in a shaker with ice and then add all liquid ingredients. Shake the crap out of it.

The strawberries sigh out some juice and give the whole thing a lovely blush. I am a crushed ice kind of gal but use a large square cube if you prefer for less dilution. Honestly- I drank it so fast, it didn’t have time to melt.

Much better than being in the red, right? I think so. Lame joke alert!

So. The rosé section of Domaine LA is expanding on the daily and all these beauties are just staring me in the face calling out my name. “Whitneeeeeey! Drink meeeeeeeee.” OK FINE I WILL.

I’m in one of a few moods when it comes to the pink stuff. I either want it cloudy, chewy, tangy and textured or clean, pristine and as delicate as the silk ribbon on a ballet pointe shoe. Well, wait. There’s also salty, spicy and a little oxidized. OK- so, luckily, there are as many styles of rosé as there are my moods. (Yes, I spelled pointe shoe with an E, ’cause I’m CLASSY LIKE THAT)

Here are a few of my favorites right now in this summer is a about to hit us any moment now moment. In the gloriously unfiltered variety- the brand spanking new 2011 La Clarine Farm Syrah/Mourvedre and Onward Pinot Noir.

Get down with the floaty bits. You’re drinking life will be better for it.

And an old favorite- Domaine Sainte Lucie MiP. It made it’s first appearance on the blog and in my mouth back in 2010 for the inaugural Wine Wear Daily post. This year it is such a magnificently beautiful pale pink. And as delicious as ever.

To fully enjoy the MiP in all of its pale glory- here is a shot of it in a glass, which I enjoyed while dining at L & E Oyster Bar in Silverlake.

You know what? I really don’t get enough German wine up into my repertoire and I plan to remedy that in 2012. Von Buhl to the rescue! In love with their Riesling, their Sekt and now…their rosé.

And there are plenty more great ones out there. So, as usual, I’ll be blogging your eyes off about rosé all summer/all year. Get used to it.

As you may already know, the parents are in town this week. So, there’s not much time for blogging. But be back real soon!

Have you heard of Cinemagram? That's how I made the moving gif above. So fun! PS- the Queen's purse has a mini solar panel in it. Genius.

My mother started drinking alcohol only about ten years ago. No joke. So you can imagine that she doesn’t have a wide range in terms of her “booze palate.”  She hates red wine- too tannic, acidic and red wine-y (in general.) In the white department, off-dry Riesling is queen. But really, her go-to drink is a vodka soda with a splash of cranberry.

My mother is in town visiting. What do I serve this woman that I too can enjoy??

Lovely pink methode ancestrale bubbly by Patrick Bottex is what. I’ve featured this wine in one of my and Claire’s videos before, which is from where these screen shots are taken!

It’s fruity and a wee bit sweet, but has the acidity and freshness that keeps me interested. It’s one heck of a great little wine for around $20 (available at domaine LA.) My mother loved it. And at only 8% alcohol, her 4’10″ frame could handle it.

Here’s us on Derby Day on Saturday. She’s about two glasses in at this point and got creative with a prop jockey hat. These things happen.

PS- I’ve been absolutely awful lately about taking my camera with me. Apologies dear readers, I realize the Instagram thing is probably getting old.

Episode 38 is ready to go and flying at your ears at the speed of sound. Literally!!

On the chit chat agenda: self-serve beer bars (a thing of the future/present!), the foie gras ban in Cali, things to drink with foie gras, some of the grossest flavored vodka out there, what winemakers like to groove to while working in the cellar, a Crush Quickfire with the co-founder of the European Wine Bloggers Conference and my and Christina’s favorite wines we sipped on this week!

And this is a picture of LIOCO rosé. Just because! I am seriously jonesing for picnics, outdoor concerts, beach waves and rosé every day. It’s about to happen.

Wine tattoos. Hollerrrr! It’s a thing wine people get. Our love of all things vinous must somehow find its way to our skin. Permanently. Serious Eats posted a slideshow last month of various wine and beverage related tattoos and mine even made an appearance! One tattoo that was sadly missing is one of my personal favorites. The one on Matthew Kaner‘s arm.

Matthew is the Beverage Director of Bar Covell and L & E Oyster Bar here in Los Angeles and he’s one swell dude. I wanted to give his ink a little love! Here are the deets on the when, where and what of his tat.

When & Where: November 2010, Dark Horse Tattoo next door to Covell (performed by Adam)

What: My tattoo is the outline of a wine bottle.  And not just any wine bottle.  Specifically it’s the “Reynard” bottling of Cornas by Thierry Allemand.  Northern Rhone valley Syrah was my first love in the wine world when I started working at the Wine Cask Wine Store in Santa Barbara back in early 2005.  The first vintage of my wine label AM/FM was Syrah, trying to pay as much homage to Syrah as possible.  When I hear wine buyers say they have a hard time selling Syrah it makes me sad and a wee bit angry.  Their loss.

Photo by Maxwell Orgell

So, I’m sitting by the pool on a Saturday. Reclining, actually. It’s warm and the scent of LA backyard tacos streams through the air, like little invisible rivers. My mouth begins to water for the taste of an ice cold margarita. There is nothing in the house to make a margarita with. Absolutely nothing. What do I do? I force myself to a standing position. Then I go to the store in a hurried but not frantic manner and purchase supplies. Limes and oranges- check. Tequila- check. Ice! I want some fruit up in my margarita. Pineapple- yes! And this mango looks good. Done. Back to the pool I go.

I’m a taste as you go kind of “bartender” and make adjustments as I see fit. I suggest you do the same based on how sweet, how tart and how strong you want your margarita. This is for one drink:

• 2 oz tequila of your choice (I used a Blanco variety)
• Juice of 1 lime
• Juice of 1/2 an orange
• About an ounce of agave syrup*
• Some fresh pineapple and mango, diced finely
• Roughly crushed ice
• Himalayan pink sea salt to rim the glass, if you so desire (because it’s pretty, but any course salt will do. I don’t like salt on my ‘ritas so that’s why you don’t see it in the pics!)

Put diced fruit in bottom of shaker with a splash of the tequila and muddle. Add ice. Add remaining tequila, lime and orange juice and simple syrup. Shake the hell out of it. Pour into glass and add a little more ice.

*I prefer agave to sweeten my margaritas. But to make simple syrup on the fly, you can take some sugar and add hot tap water in equal parts. Ideally, you need a stove and a pot of gently boiling water and time for cooling but you do what you gotta do.

So, I’m sitting by the pool drinking margaritas. It’s hot and the scent of LA backyard tacos streams through the air. My mouth begins to water for the taste of…a freaking taco! What do you do? You go to nearby La Estrella taco truck in a hurried but not frantic manner and purchase tacos. Eat tacos.

I love LA.

Everyone! Take 2 of Lady Somm Style. Are you ready? Let’s give a hola gigante to Ashley Santoro, Wine Director of Casa Mono & Bar Jamon.

How did you became a sommelier?

Throughout my teens, I had plans to attend law school. It wasn’t until I took a banquet position at a hotel that I knew I wanted to stay in the hospitality industry. Long story short, I ended up with a Bachelor’s degree in Food & Beverage Management from Johnson & Wales University instead of a law degree from BC. After graduating, I moved to Italy for about 7 months and fully immersed myself in the Italian wine world. When I returned to the US, I started taking wine classes and concentrated on my wine education. Initially, I really wanted to stay in Italian wine and was trying to get in at Babbo. David Lynch, the wine director at the time didn’t have anything available, but he put me in a taxi to interview at Casa Mono. That was 5 years ago. The journey continues…

What’s your daily uniform for work?

I have a pretty small, round head, which happens to pair well with round glasses, so you can usually catch me sporting some secretary frames. In terms of clothing, I would say part of my signature style is above the knee length skirts with pockets (always) and a solid-colored blouse or blouse-esque shirt.  I’m a bit of a shorty at 5’3 and feel most confident with a few added inches, so I generally wear a short heel. The two pieces of jewelry I can’t live without are my watch and red string bracelet with a tiny gold pendant. For some reason my right ear rejects foreign objects, so my face is rarely accessorized.

Your favorite shops and sources for clothes and accessories?

My go to shop is Madewell. The jeans and semi-formal pants are awesome as are all things in blouse form. I also love Anthropologie in a pinch. Otherwise, I do the thrift shop and small boutique thing in Brooklyn.

Do you transition your outfit from daytime duties to nighttime floor action?

I usually go into work in jeans, white high-top converse, and a plain t-shirt because I am always doing all sorts of manual labor before I actually get on the floor. I usually transition into a skirt/shirt combo. While I generally stick to solid colors, every once and awhile I’ll branch out in to the big bad world of patterns.

The three things you can’t leave home without when heading to the restaurant?

The number 1 thing that I cannot leave my house without is my watch. I’m crazy about punctuality and feel disconnected without it. Also: my phone and my wine key. I’m not into fancy wine keys, but I am really particular about the stiffness of the lever and the length of the corkscrew. On average I go through one every 10 days or so.

Three things a somm should never do or wear?

1.Perfume. duh.

2. Bright or chipped nail polish. I’m old school with it comes to stuff like that. I just don’t think florescent pink nail polish with puppy decals is cool to be flashing while you’re pouring wine.

3. My biggest pet peeve is when somms talk *at* the guest about wine, rather than taking the time to have a conversation to determine what they’re looking for.  I think the wine list can often be an intimidating part of the guest’s experience and if the person who has it mastered supports that feeling, they’re doing nothing to break down the stereotype.

Favorite wines on your list right now?

We just shifted into the Spring menu, so there have been a ton of new changes. In house we butcher a lamb, goat, and pig weekly so all the meat dishes are super fresh with their preparations changing regularly. In terms of menu items I am digging the pork stuffed calamari with tomatillo salsa, pork belly with plantains and jamón, and of course the razor clams. All of these dishes are perfect for sherry. I go back and forth between the Equipo Navazos La Bota Fino #27 and the Lustau Manuel Cuevas Jurado Manzanilla Amontillada. If I had to choose one region for both whites and reds that I’m really excited about it would be Galicia. All of the wines are from indigenous varieties and, in my opinion, they represent some of the most terroir-driven wines from Spain.

Ashley rocking the dry ice at Archery Summit in Oregon last year.

If you missed last week’s Lady Somm Style, check it out here!

Episode 37 all up in your face/ears holes!

Christina and I talk gin and a steakhouse in London with 33 of them. The wine-soaked Spanish people of the Wine Battle of Haro- not great for laundry day (see below), but this could possibly be a wine festival we can get down with.  Us ladies talk top tips for drinking alone. You know you do it. And my pal Stetson Robbins from Blue Danube is in the Crush Quickfire hot seat and gives us a lesson in pronouncing things like szőlő, Villány and Szekszárd.

Photo source