Wine Situation Final Five (Now With Drunk Dialing!)

The Wine Situation hosts everyone from winemakers to writers to find out what a person’s situation is…with wine. It’s the solo season, as host Ellen Clifford is in quarantine, but listen in with a glass, and nobody is drinking alone! In lieu of guests, at the end of every action packed episode Ellen is phoning a friend with her Final Five questions. This week Ellen talks to sommelier Alissa Bica, a sommelier at Los Angeles’ 71Above and author of the Off the Beaten Wine Path blog! Check out the full episode here : THE FINAL FIVE (Ever so slightly edited for length!): QUESTION ONE Ellen: Whatcha drinking these days? Alissa: I’ve been really into Italian wine these days. I just bought a Merlot/Sangiovese blend , I really like the earthiness of Italian wine. I also have a Grifalco Aglianico from Basilicata, from Aglianico del Vulture, which is lesser known than Taurasi, but it’s so so good. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two, do you have either a favorite pairing or unusual pairing you’ve enjoyed? Any kind of food, any kind of drink. Alissa: We pair at my restaurant every night with food, so I have all those pairings in my head—recently we did a pork that has Treviso—it’s a vegetable that kinda looks like endive but it’s a little bit bigger, and we’re pairing it with a Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc because of that bitter vegetable quality. My favorite pairing ever is chocolate and peanut butter, so some kind of chocolate peanut butter dessert and having a good Madeira . I really like the brown sugar, caramel cookie quality of Madeira with desserts. QUESTION THREE Ellen: That sounds so good! Number three is, because I know you write, too, do you have a favorite thing to drink or snack on while you write? Alissa: Well, when I write stories I’m probably just drinking a gallon of coffee. But if I’m wine writing I really do like to taste what I’m writing about while I’m writing. I have a big papasan chair and I’ll sit in there with my wine and my computer on my lap and usually that’s when all the magic happens. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: Next question is, now that things are opening up, what is a place you are excited to go to? Alissa: I work downtown, so I really want to go to Death and Co. I’ve been trying to practice making cocktails, especially during pandemic. Some of them are good, some are okay, but I’m looking forward to sitting in an actual bar, with an actual mixologist making me something amazing. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Last of the final five is just what is bringing you joy these days? Alissa: Getting outside and starting to do a little travel—I actually just went to Willamette Valley last week to try wine again at a winery and that brought me complete joy. And my constant joy is my cat Logan. He always brings me joy. *** You can follow Alissa on Instagram @off.the.beaten.wine.path Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Matthew Arnall here .