Introduction
Which weird food and wine pairings should you add to your must-try list? What makes wines from Oregon and California’s Sierra Foothills special? How can you make sure to do well at a wine auction?
In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with Scott Greenberg, host of both “The Vine Guy” podcast and the “Wine of the Week” show on WTOP radio in Washington, DC.
You can find the wines we discussed here.
Watch Party
Join me for the debut Watch Party of the video of this conversation that I’ll be live-streaming for the very first time on Zoom on Wednesday, June 23rd at 7 pm eastern.
You can save your spot for free right here. I’ll be jumping into the comments as we watch it together so that I can answer your questions in real-time.
I want to hear from you! What’s your opinion of what we’re discussing? What takeaways or tips do you love most from this chat? What questions do you have that we didn’t answer?
Highlights
- What’s Scott’s go-to wine for pairing with lamb?
- Why are foie gras and Sauterne such a classic pairing?
- Which surprising and delicious Madeira pairing does Scott recommend?
- How did Scott end up almost trespassing on Domaine Romanée Conti?
- What did Scott find out on a hilarious cruise ship encounter?
- What distinguishing characteristics do you find in wines from the Sierra Foothills region?
- What do you need to know before entering a wine auction?
- Which aspects of Oregon Pinot Noir make it stand out among the best?
- Who has the pandemic inspired Scott to share a bottle of wine with?
Key Takeaways
- I enjoyed the unusual food and wine pairings Scott suggested, and I can’t wait to try several of them.
- I liked the way Scott differentiated the Pinot Noir from Oregon as well as reds from California’s Sierra Foothills. He also reminds me of the versatility of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines.
- His tips on how to prepare for a wine auction are terrific.
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About Scott Greenberg
Scott Greenberg, also known as “The Vine Guy”, is the host of the “Wine of the Week” show on WTOP radio in Washington, DC and the Vine Guy Podcast. Scott started his career in wine journalism as the syndicated wine columnist for the Washington Journal Newspaper and continues to contribute to Tasting Panel Magazine.
He’s also hosted numerous wine tastings, judged wine competitions and has taught a course on North American Wineries for the Smithsonian Associates program in Washington. Scott is To Kalon Vineyard Specialist and Italian Wine Scholar. He recently relocated from Maryland to Park City, Utah, where he lives with his wife, Cindy, and a rescue dog named Frankie.
Resources
- Connect with Scott Greenberg
- Heart’s Delight Wine Tasting & Auction
- Unreserved Wine Talk | Episode 106: Pairing California Wine and Gourmet Burgers with Winemaker Joel Gott
- My new class The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner And How To Fix Them Forever
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Thirsty for more?
- Sign up for my free online wine video class where I’ll walk you through The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner (and how to fix them forever!)
- You’ll find my books here, including Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines and Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
- The new audio edition of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass is now available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and other country-specific Amazon sites; iTunes.ca, iTunes.com and other country-specific iTunes sites; Audible.ca and Audible.com.
Transcript
Scott Greenberg 0:00
The salinity of the oyster and the leftover salinity in the shell were just this perfect counterbalance to the maderized, sherry-esque, nutty flavours in the Madeira. And I wanted to hate it, Natalie. I really did. It was mind blowing.
Natalie MacLean 0:16
That is fascinating because we also typically associate oysters with Chablis or unoaked Chardonnay and it’s a fortified sweet wine. Madeira seems to be the last choice but going to have to try it
Scott Greenberg 0:29
Out of the oyster shell
Natalie MacLean 0:30
Out of the oyster shell. That’d be nice because it would be infused, as you said, with the salinity and the brininess of the oysters. So cool.
Natalie MacLean 0:44
Do you have a thirst to learn about wine? Do you love stories about wonderfully obsessive people, hauntingly beautiful places and amusingly awkward social situations? Well that’s the blend here on the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast. I’m your host, Natalie MacLean. And each week, I share with you unfiltered conversations with celebrities in the wine world, as well as confessions from my own tipsy journey as I write my third book on this subject. I’m so glad you’re here. Now pass me that bottle please and let’s get started!
Welcome to Episode 133. Which weird food and wine pairings should you add to your must try list? What makes wines from Oregon and California’s Sierra Foothills so special? And how can you make sure that you’re prepared to do well at a wine auction? You’ll get those answers and more wine tips in my second chat with Scott Greenberg, host of the Vine Guy Podcast, as well as the Wine of the Week show on WTOP radio in Washington DC. You don’t need to have listened to Part One from last week first, but I hope you’ll go back if you missed it after you finish this one. In the show notes, you’ll find a full transcript of our conversation, how you can join me in a free online wine and food pairing class and where you can find me on Zoom, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Live video every Wednesday at 7pm, including this evening and next week, and that’s all in the show notes at Nataliemaclean.com/133.
Now on a personal note, before we dive into the show, a nifty trick I’ve been using lately is pouring wine from a full bottle into two clean half bottles. Why? I’m glad you asked. It helps me track how much I’ve consumed and stay within the bounds of moderation as I’ve defined them for myself. Each half bottle has approximately two and a half glasses of wine. Now that can vary depending on alcohol level, but it gives me a far better gauge than looking at the fill level in relation to a full bottles’ label. It also keeps the second half of the wine fresh because it’s reducing the oxygen exposure to the wine. Plus when I drink it, I don’t feel I’ve ripped myself off as I often do, when I’ve had just a little more than half of a full bottle the first time and I’m more tempted then to open a second bottle. I’ve mentioned previously that alcoholism runs in my family so I’m very conscious about my consumption. Sometimes I still drink more than I plan to, but you know, I’m a work in progress on a lot of things. How about you? Okay, on with the show.
Scott Greenberg 3:55
And now I’ve three adult children who I’ve now converted into that philosophy. For example, being St. Patrick’s Day. We’re having shepherd’s pie tonight. And we are obsessing over what wine do you have with shepherd’s pie. So it’s going to be very interesting to see. I’m leaving it up to my kids to see where they come down on this
Natalie MacLean 4:16
Are there some candidates or what would you suggest if you were in charge? Which wines would you be thinking of with shepherd’s pie? Because it’s got the either beef or lamb and then some vegetables and then that potato crust. So where would you go with that?
Scott Greenberg 4:30
Well, particularly if it’s lamb, I’m going to go to my old friend, Southern Rhône, back to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, just because I think that’s, for me the most versatile wine I’ve got in my cellar. That’s where I would go. I’m very curious to see what they choose.
Natalie MacLean 4:47
Yes, indeed. That’s fun. What are your most memorable wine and food pairings that you’ve had, if any sort of standout?
Scott Greenberg 4:56
Oh, yeah, absolutely. There was one again that’s a little self deprecating because I kind of pooh poohed it and thought, What is this guy doing? Right? Again, it was another one of those people who I was being introduced into their wine group. And we were at dinner. The first course was seared foie gras. And this guy brings out a Sauternes, a Sauternes Natalie. I mean, come on who drinks a sweet French Bordeaux wine with seared foie gras? I mean yuck! How does that work? Yeah, I mean, what is this guy thinking? Turns out, he’s got a 6000 bottle cellar and has probably one of the greatest palates I’ve ever known, he is just a remarkable person. And he just leans over and looks at me and he says, trust me, you’re new at this. And that had to be probably the most memorable wine pairing simply because of the lesson I learned. And by the way, an amazing wine pairing.
Natalie MacLean 5:58
And why do you think that pairing works? It is one of the classics of all time. But why do you think foie gras and Sauternes works so well together?
Scott Greenberg 6:06
Well, now you tell me Natalie. Where were you when I needed you? I think it’s just because foie gras is so rich and fatty and that the acidity that you find in a really well made Sauternes that has to hold up to the sweetness in the wine, those residual sugars in the wine, that same acidity does a great job of cutting through that fat in the foie gras, like a laser. And then you have that sweetness, which really, you know, sort of also buoys up the richness as a counterbalance to the richness of the foie gras. And it’s ethereal, it’s ethereal. But more importantly, it was the lesson I learned that day that I don’t know much.
Natalie MacLean 6:52
You are very humble in admitting all of these stories. So I love it, that’s how people can identify with you.
Scott Greenberg 7:01
I used to be very humble.
Natalie MacLean 7:08
That was the before times. Now you know what you’re doing. But you know, I think there’s so much richness in a dish like foie gras and Sauternes can also be very intense. But when you’re going back and forth between them or combining them in your mouth, you don’t satiate out so quickly of either intense experience as you would if you’re just eating foie gras or just drinking Sauternes. So I think that’s one of the magical things about food pairings. So do you have any others or a weird food wine pairing or a bad one that didn’t work? Any other sort of memorable matches?
Scott Greenberg 7:38
I’ve probably had a few bad ones that I’d probably rather not remember. I also don’t want to denigrate any particular wine.
Natalie MacLean 7:46
Oh sure, sure,
Scott Greenberg 7:47
You know, so I’ve had my share of other memorable and of course, not so memorable, or memorable for the wrong reasons.
Natalie MacLean 7:55
Any unusual ones? Weird ones that you thought why does this work?
Scott Greenberg 8:00
Well, other than the Sauternes and the foie gras, which I thought was weird at the time, there’s a very interesting sommelier, pretty well known I think among other sommeliers, named Erik Segelbaum. And Erik was running the wine programme for several restaurants, when I ran across him, and we had ordered oysters on the half shell and he brought out a Madeira, an aged Madeira. And, you know, normally I would not associate that with raw oysters. I love Sancerre with raw oysters, probably one of my favourite things to have. I love the French Sauvignon Blancs, and even the Chenin Blancs, go, you know, an older Chenin Blanc, will go great with oysters, but the Madeira and
Natalie MacLean 8:51
Fortified wine. Yeah,
Scott Greenberg 8:53
He said, here’s what we’re going to do. He said, you’re going to shoot the oyster. And I’m going to pour some Madeira into the oyster shell, then you’re going to drink the Madeira out of the oyster shell. Oh my god, it was amazing.
Natalie MacLean 9:07
Really. Why did it work? What did it taste like first of all, like what was going on?
Scott Greenberg 9:12
Salinity, the salinity of the oyster and the leftover salinity in the shell were just this perfect counterbalance to the sort of these again, maderized, sherry-esque, nutty flavours in the Madeira. And I wanted to hate it, Natalie. I really did. I just wanted to turn to Eric and say, You don’t know everything. Again, it’s just that it was mind blowing. So probably the most unusual. I can contact Erik and ask him what the heck that Madeira was. I don’t even know what it was. But it was spectacular.
Natalie MacLean 9:48
That is fascinating because we also typically associate oysters with Chablis or unoaked Chardonnay and it’s just a fortified sweet wine. Madeira seems to be the last choice but going to have to try it out of the oyster shell. That’d be nice because it be infused, as you said, with the salinity and the brininess of the oysters. So cool. Well, let’s look at some photos. Let’s see if, oh, boy, I can share my screen here. Ah,
Scott Greenberg 10:19
Ah, yes. Aline Baly of Château Coutet. That was at one of our Heart’s Delight, that’s our black tie dinner of Hearts Delight; I probably should mention that what started out as a one night affair in my living room is now a three night affair: a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night affair. And this is the Friday night affair that where the Bordelaise have a black tie dinner. This was meeting Aline Baly
Natalie MacLean 10:41
Is she the owner winemaker, or..
Scott Greenberg 10:44
She is the heiress apparent. Her uncle is the current owner, and Aline works there and will probably, hopefully, one day be running the joint.
Natalie MacLean 10:55
Wow, fantastic. And who is this guest? And what did you learn from this?
Scott Greenberg 11:01
So really, I just want to ask you, I only put that in there, Natalie, because I wanted to know if this ass made me look big.
Natalie MacLean 11:15
I saw this and I thought what a fun picture. I have to try to do that sometime. I love that
Scott Greenberg 11:20
This was on a bicycle trip through the Loire Valley. And we pulled into a tiny little village where we were going to have a wine tasting and the first fellow I meet is this young man. And we decided to take a selfie together
Natalie MacLean 11:38
Wow, did it turn out he was into wine?
Scott Greenberg 11:40
No, he actually was more into hay,
Natalie MacLean 11:43
Okay, that’s great. And just for podcast listeners, we’re looking at a donkey and Scott.
Scott Greenberg 11:50
A big ass
Natalie MacLean 11:59
I love this here. It’s a funny pose. It’s cute. You look relaxed.
Scott Greenberg 12:05
This is my Burt Reynolds pose. This is from a couple of years ago on a barge trip that we actually took through Burgundy and I am posing on the wall that separates me and other mortals from the vineyards of Domaine Romanée-Conti.
Natalie MacLean 12:25
Oh, yeah. That’s stellar. Burgundian wine. Wow. That’s fantastic.
Scott Greenberg 12:30
What you didn’t see behind me Natalie, because I’m blocking the sign is “No Trespassing”. So I didn’t trespass, I just only got up on the wall.
Natalie MacLean 12:44
That’s great. Is that the same place? Nice vines. Oh, here we go. And this I love this. Wine expert; any questions and you circled your name tag with what ? where was this?
Scott Greenberg 13:00
This was on a cruise ship, from Australia to New Zealand and literally just before the pandemic hit. This was the very end of 2019; it was December of 2019. And I had been invited on a cruise to lecture about wine. I’ve done this several times. As a matter of fact, Natalie, I’m going to take a quick break to tell you another fun story. I was on one, probably was one of my very first years where I was a wine expert, so to speak on a cruise ship. And I just finished, I can’t even remember what the topic was; I think I had done a fun game called the Price is Right where I had several members who were on the several cruisers or members, what have you passengers come up and taste the wines. And we had wines at everybody’s table and everybody had to sort of put the wines in the order of the price. And then there was a prize if you could, you know get them in the right order. And it was a lot of fun. And at the very end, as people were leaving, I said Did you enjoy it? You know, you’re shaking hands like kind of a reception line. Thank you so much for coming. I hope you enjoyed it. And to one fellow I said did you enjoy this? I swear to you he says, Oh, it’s really quite enjoyable but you’re no Natalie MacLean. So I decided to find out who Natalie MacLean was, and that Natalie is when I did some research, found out who you were and started following you. And I became a huge fan of yours.
Natalie MacLean 14:31
So that was probably my uncle or somebody; he was a plant.
Scott Greenberg 14:36
Well he was Canadian.
Natalie MacLean 14:38
There you go, see, we’re all related up here. That can be a problem too when the DNA doesn’t get enough variation. But anyway, that’s funny
Scott Greenberg 14:45
You’re no Natalie Maclean; I’ll never forget that.
Natalie MacLean 14:49
That’s a great little tasting technique of getting people to put them in the order, the price and the order. Did you give them any tips like were they surprised or did you say well here’s how you can recognise a wine that’s more expensive than another one like when you’re tasting them without knowing.
Scott Greenberg 15:11
Sure, you know, we kind of did like a little like a brief 10-15 minute here’s how you taste wine; here’s how you smell wine; this is what you look for in a wine; this kind of is a delineation between what we would consider an expensive wine, inexpensive wine. But at the end of the day, it’s just what do you like? And I will say that easily half the people in the audience liked some of the less expensive wines over the more expensive. And I thought that was a really cool thing that came out of it. But out of, I believe we had 50 or 55 participants in this’ one person got the order, right and they just guessed.
Natalie MacLean 15:40
Oh, wow. I always love discovering I like the cheap wine because life can be both happy and inexpensive. Right? You know, it’s not a sign of evolution just because you like the expensive stuff.
Scott Greenberg 15:52
There’s some good inexpensive stuff out there.
Natalie MacLean 15:54
Exactly. Especially these days with improved technology and more competition and newer regions. So is this; where is this?
Scott Greenberg 16:03
This is again another wine cruise? And I think this, actually Natalie, may be the The Price Is Right where I was told I was no Natalie MacLean. That is why I put the picture in there, to remind me of the story.
Natalie MacLean 16:15
That’s great. So cruises, you enjoy doing them.
Scott Greenberg 16:21
Love it, absolutely love it. We try to do one every couple of years. And I’ve been very fortunate, very fortunate, to be invited on as a guest
Natalie MacLean 16:31
The wine expert; that’s fantastic. Cool, let’s see, I recognise I think one person in addition to you, but tell us who these people are.
Scott Greenberg 16:40
Well I got a blank on the fellow on my left, but the young woman on my right is Elaine, as you probably know, Elaine Chukan Brown, who’s very, very well known in the wine industry here in America as kind of being an expert, particularly in California wines. And they were on the podcast, I believe we were talking about the wines of the Sierra Foothills, which was really pretty cool because I did not know a lot about that region at the time.
Natalie MacLean 17:15
No, and you know what, I’m not that familiar with the Sierra Foothills either. What differentiates them say from Napa Sonoma, or even Paso Robles; like what are we looking for in Sierra?
Scott Greenberg 17:25
Absolutely. The altitude, they’re growing wines at a much higher altitude volcanic soils, and a lot of Zinfandel, a lot of Syrah and very intense wines coming out of the Sierras. And also, I’ve had some really remarkable Petite Syrahs coming out of the Sierra Foothills. Again, I believe it’s the Eldorado region in the Sierra foothills and I was not familiar with this wine region. And it was really a treat to have Elaine on the podcast and learn.
Natalie MacLean 17:54
That’s great. See here. Oh, what are you doing here? Oh, this is the Heart’s Delight. This is the fundraiser
Scott Greenberg 18:02
This is the Heart’s Delight. For several years I was the, I guess, amateur auctioneer at Heart’s Delight. We had some amazing auction items, just incredible trips, and, you know, large format bottles and vineyard experiences and restaurant experiences. And it was a lot of fun. But I am truly, truly just an amateur. We had the pleasure and still have the pleasure of having Jamie Ritchie, who is the wine director at Sotheby’s come and join us. And he’s been involved since year one. Very first year, he comes down from New York and spends the weekend with us. And he runs the auction and it’s just a delight to work with Jamie.
Natalie MacLean 18:49
And do you have any favourite tips for doing well at an auction like if you’re bidding, other than just come with a large chequebook?
Scott Greenberg 18:57
Absolutely. Don’t be the last in.
Natalie MacLean 19:03
Yeah, that’s right. I’ve heard set a budget and but of course you don’t want that when it’s for charity. So I guess it’s all for a good cause.
Scott Greenberg 19:10
I did actually end up bidding on a lot where I was the last bidder and ended up with a particular trip and I turned to my wife and I said We won! She said “No dear, we paid”.
Natalie MacLean 19:24
Where’s the trip to?
Scott Greenberg 19:26
It was that trip to Oregon. It was to Oregon. We had a wonderful trip to the Williamette Valley.
Natalie MacLean 19:32
Yeah, any standout wineries that you visited there in terms of memorable,
Scott Greenberg 19:37
Oh gosh, you know, all of them. And it was interesting because I had for many years kind of been not the biggest fan of Oregon Pinots because I felt that Oregon, at one point, at least early on in my career, maybe early on in their career, was trying too hard to be something else but somewhere along the line, Oregon wine growers and winemakers decided, you know what, we’re going to make great wine with the grapes that we have. And I’m going to say that, for me that revelation occurred maybe about 20 years ago. And I think some of the Pinot Noirs coming out of Oregon are definitely some of the best domestic Pinot Noirs in the United States, and can rival many on a worldwide stage and I just really adore Oregon Pinots.
Natalie MacLean 20:25
What do you think’s changed to make that; just experience or is there something more?
Scott Greenberg 20:31
No; I think experience; I think a lot of the Oregon winemakers, and they are very collaborative, they are constantly communicating with each other, they’re constantly sharing information and resources and equipment. And I think what they realised is rather than maybe try to make a Burgundian Pinot Noir, use the best techniques of Burgundy, but make a great Oregon Pinot Noir. And they range I mean, you know, there’s over seven different appellations now in in the Willamette Valley and they range quite dramatically, but I find them to all have great balance. They have wonderful balance; is what they have in common.
Natalie MacLean 21:11
The ultimate compliment for a wine, everything comes together. And who is this?
Scott Greenberg 21:16
Oh, that’s Joel Aiken, he’s a remarkable winemaker, who’s had an incredible career and made Beaulieu Vineyards for many, many, many, many years. Put Beaulieu Vineyards on the map. And it was just such a pleasure to have him on the podcast. Wonderful gentleman, he brought in a 78 Beaulieu Vineyards to try during the podcast. It was delicious. But you know, older California Cabernets, you have to really kind of want to be prepared for them. They’re not going to be those big, ripe fruit forward. California Cabernet you might be used to. This was very gentle, and just delightful and still charming. Really a tribute to both Joel and the vineyard in California.
Natalie MacLean 22:05
Fantastic.Awesome. All right.
Scott Greenberg 22:08
So that was a fun trip down memory lane.
Natalie MacLean 22:10
Yeah, it was; you’ve got some great photos. I always love seeing those from folks. And so just afew more questions, because I really appreciate you taking this time. Scott. What’s the best kind of wine advice you hear people give like, aside from you know, try everything. Pull corks? Is there any sort of wine tip or advice that you’d like to offer to people to help them in their wine appreciation?
Scott Greenberg 22:38
Well, this is going to sound so trite. It’s drink what you like, and so many people, I mean, I have been at so many wine tastings where people have different palates, people have different tastes, and even judging wine, my fellow judges will judge look for something different in a wine then maybe I look for in a wine. But at the end of the day, just drink what you like; I don’t care if it’s a $10 unoaked Chardonnay or $1,000 California Cabernet from one of the cult vineyards if, if it’s really something that you enjoy, enjoy it. I prefer my wines with food. Not everybody does. Some people just drink wine for the sake of drinking wine, to relax at the end of the day. And that would be my one thing; is drink what alike.
Natalie MacLean 23:34
So and if you could share a bottle with anyone living or dead, who would that be?
Scott Greenberg 23:39
Oh, come on, Natalie. That’s one I wasn’t prepared for. Okay. So share a bottle, living or dead with anyone,
Natalie MacLean 23:52
You could go with Thomas Jefferson, just throwing him in there; default to the father of American wine or whatever.
Scott Greenberg 24:01
You know, I think right now, given what we have all gone through with the global pandemic, and the I just feel like I would love to sit down with a bottle of 1995 Sassicaia with Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Natalie MacLean 24:21
Oh, what a great choice. I love that.
Scott Greenberg 24:24
I think that’s who I’d like to share. I know he loves Italian wines. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him just once at a restaurant where I shared a Barolo with him. So I think if I could, that would be my fantasy.
Natalie MacLean 24:38
Fantastic. So I get the Italian heritage. He likes Italian. But why the Sassicaia 95?
Scott Greenberg 24:43
Because it was a spectacular vintage. I adore Super Tuscan wines, which for your listeners, as we know are wines from the Tuscany region that are not necessarily Sangiovese but have maybe other what they call international varieties blended in, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. And I just adore the 95 Sassicaia and I think he’d like it too.
Natalie MacLean 25:05
What would you ask them?
Scott Greenberg 25:06
What would I ask him? I don’t think I would ask him anything. I think I would just tell him dude, thanks. Thank you for everything. You’ve done your job. Here have a glass.
Natalie MacLean 25:18
Yeah, you probably need a drink or three by now. This is great. Scott, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to mention before we wrap up?
Scott Greenberg 25:27
I just think that it’s been a wonderful trip. And I’ve met the best people. I’ve even had wonderful clients that I’ve met through the wine world. And I just feel incredibly fortunate to have stumbled into this amazing path. And then, of course, meeting people like you. It’s just been a genuine pleasure.
Natalie MacLean 25:50
It has been for me as well. Scott, this has been a wonderful conversation. Where can we find you online?
Scott Greenberg 25:57
Well, unfortunately, my current website is under repair, and that’s VineGuy.com. But all of my podcasts are located on PodcastOne, search Vine Guy,
Natalie MacLean 26:09
Vine Guy. And can we also access them through wherever we get podcasts like Apple
Scott Greenberg 26:14
Apple. Absolutely. Apple apps like Spotify, Stitcher, Vine Guy? I’m across all , Vine guy, and yeah, they’re a lot of fun. I do try to keep them to 30 minutes because my wife says it’s the average time it takes to commute or treadmill.
Natalie MacLean 26:29
Yes, exactly. Yeah, I get that. Yep. Absolutely. Well, Scott, thank you so much. And we’ll have to continue this conversation and hopefully also someday in person.
Scott Greenberg 26:41
Thanks, Natalie. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Natalie MacLean 26:43
All right. Cheers.
Natalie MacLean 26:51
Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my chat with Scott Greenberg. Here are my takeaways.
One, I enjoy the unusual wine and food pairings Scott suggested and I can’t wait to try several of them.
Two, I like the way Scott differentiated the Pinot Noir from Oregon as well as the Reds from California’s Sierra foothills. He also reminded me of the versatility of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines.
And three, his tips on how to prepare for a wine auction are terrific.
In the show notes, you’ll find a full transcript of our conversation, how you can join me in a free online wine and food pairing class and where you can find me on Zoom, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Live video every Wednesday at 7pm, including this evening. That’s all in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/133.
You won’t want to miss next week when I chat with Emilie Steckenborn, a Canadian who studied wine at Niagara College, UC Davis in California and the Cordon Bleu, and Université de Reims fine dining and gastronomy programme. She’s also the wine consultant for China Eastern Airlines and in 2019 she was chosen as one of the top 50 influencers in the global beverage industry by the International Wine and Spirits competition. She joins me from Shanghai to talk about Chinese wine and the Chinese wine market.
In the meantime, if you missed Episode 106, go back and take a listen. I chat with Joel Gott of Joel Gott wines in California about more weird and delicious pairings, especially when it comes to gourmet burgers. This man has an imagination. I’ll share a short clip with you now to whet your appetite.
Natalie MacLean 28:40
Zinfandel just seems to be the ultimate classic hamburger wine
Joel Gott 28:49
I completely agree
Natalie MacLean 28:50
As he said reaching for a wine I think. But why do you think it works so well with burgers
Joel Gott 28:56
I mean honestly it’s a great food wine; it’s very similar to how Sauvignon Blanc is a great food wine. So with Zinfandel what I find is it has this spice to it, most of the time food overpowers wine and so with the spice in Zinfandel, usually maybe a little teeny bit of residual sugar or a lot of sweet fruit, it stands up to all the flavours and the fats and salts and food.
Natalie MacLean 29:21
Good explanation.
Natalie MacLean 29:26
If you liked this episode, please tell one friend about it this week, especially someone you know who’d be interested in the tips that Scott shared. Thank you for taking the time to join me here. I hope something great is in your glass this week. Perhaps a Pinot Noir from Oregon, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or a big red from the Sierra Foothills.
Natalie MacLean 29:54
You don’t want to miss one juicy episode of this podcast especially the secret full body bonus episodes that I don’t announce on social media. So subscribe for free now at Nataliemaclean.com/subscribe. Meet me here next week. Cheers!
