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 with host Ellen Clifford, 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 Armenian wine ambassador Anush O’Connor!! Check out the full episode here THE FINAL FIVE (Ever so slightly edited for length!): QUESTION ONE Ellen: What are you drinking lately? Anush: I have been drinking lots of Armenian wine. I just got two orange wines from Armenia, and this is something new they have been doing. I have not opened them yet, but I’m looking forward to trying them. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two, what is either the most interesting, or favorite, pairing, of yours? Anush: One of the most memorable pairings for me…when I was just starting doing podcasting we had a segment called Wine is Food and a friend of mine—she’s an amazing cook—she made paella, and we paired it with Armenian rosé made of the Areni varietal, and it was fantastic. It was something that matched so well. Armenian food isn’t known for its seafood because we are pretty much landlocked, but it was delicious…the saffron rice, I’m salivating just thinking about it. QUESTION THREE Ellen: Next question is, what sort of beverage that’s not wine do you like? Anush: I like to start my day with water, but sometimes I do juices, like celery juice—I really love celery juice—and then coffee. And then wine. I really enjoy the salinity of celery juice, so I was doing it religiously, but now on and off. I don’t drink soda, so it’s just water, coffee wine, and sometimes juice. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: Question number four is, if you were to make a wine, what would you make and what would you call it? Anush: Well, in fact, I do make wine. My undergraduate degree is in winemaking. I worked in Napa, but when I moved to LA, my friend and I planted a vineyard in Tustin, Santa Ana, and we have about eighty vines of Cabernet and twenty vines of Merlot . And we had a huge adventure with these wines and making wine. The first year we were ready to harvest after four years of waiting; just before they were ready to be harvested the birds got to them first. So, we just made like four bottles. Then we got Pierce’s disease. This year when we went for the harvest in August, we had more Merlot, and I made a blend that is 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s in my backyard in a glass carboy. We call it Cuvée de Tustin. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Question number five is just what’s bringing you joy these days? Anush: There’s three things that my concentration all the time is on. First is my family. Second is wine. Third is Armenia. They’re interrelated. When I hear good news coming from Armenia, especially good news about wine, it makes me happy. When I see articles talking about Armenia as a food and wine destination, it makes me so happy because the country is so small, and the winemaking is fairly new, even though we have 6,000 years of history, but the modern winemaking developed in the last 15 years. And of course, when my kids do well in sports and they are excited especially after pandemic because they were home so long, now they are doing things, running, jumping that makes me happy too. Lots of things make me happy. *** Follow Anush @anushik_armeniangirlsomm or just search for Anush O’Connor! Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with John Michael Morcilio here .