I’m hungry… What wine should I drink?

Am I the only one thinks about a wine that will pair well with my food before I even choose what I want to eat? No, you do it too? Ok good, we can be friends.

I catch myself thinking about wine at all times throughout the day: If it’s disgustingly hot in my non-air conditioned car I start dreaming of a chilled bottle of that Sancerre I had on the beach two summers ago, If I am working in the garden and get a whiff of that manure-fresh-earth smell that comes from a new bag of soil then my mind goes directly to my new Santa Maria Pinot Noir that keeps calling my name from my wine fridge, and when my next door neighbor starts cooking her pungent, overly garlicked (is there really such a thing?) pasta sauce I start drooling over the idea of a large glass of Sangiovese.

I have been working in restaurants or wine tasting rooms since I turned 15 and my parents always tease me by saying, “Geena will work anywhere as long as she can get free food.” It’s hilariously true and at this point I am actually proud of this joke because it has formed who I am today. It literally takes a lifetime of tasting different flavors (both good and bad) to be able to start to form a good palate and trust me, I am still working at it one Picpoul de Pinet at a time. It’s hard work, I promise.

Sometimes I think that if I could just stop thinking about food and wine for 5 minutes, there would be a lot more room in my head for learning other things like math skills, or how to run farther than my mailbox without getting winded, or how to put away that pile of laundry that is basically as tall as I am… but instead of being successful in those areas of my life I have decided to dive, mouth first, into a life filled with cheese, wine, chocolate, and all things mouthwateringly superb.

Luckily for me, this dedication to food and wine is super trendy at the moment so most of the people I am closest to share similar passions.

Nothing beats a night of cooking, drinking wine, gorging yourself on your divine creation, and then leaving the dishes for someone else to clean up (sorry Aaron). It’s also really hard to not get along with someone who gets that same glassy-eyed look when you start talking about the new triple-cream brie you scored at your latest trip to Zingerman’s (I have family in Michigan). Even if you absolutely hate being around me I can still swoon you with a damn good dinner.

I guess my point to this rambley blog post is that I like food, I love wine, and now I am officially hungry… If you want some dinner tonight I plan on making a pesto pizza with caramelized onions and sautéed chanterelles that will knock you off your feet. I promise to have a chilled bottle of Vinho Verde ready and waiting for you as long as you stand in the kitchen and hang out while I do the cooking.

If you want to drink the wine I drink join WINECULT, our monthly shipments will have my favorite bottles (yes, I have a lot of favorites) that I have scientifically proven to be successful with food, or not ;)

Cheers, happy sipping, happy eating, and drink better wine,
Geena