Wine Situation Final Five

The Wine Situation hosts everyone from winemakers to writers to find out what a person’s situation is…with wine. At the end of each episode, host Ellen Clifford wants to know the basics of her guests’ final thoughts on wine, drink and food. This month, Ellen talks with Bianca Bosker, author of the seminal “Cork Dork” and “Get the Picture”! This was edited for length! QUESTION ONE Ellen: Question number one: whatcha drinking? What are you into these days? Bianca: An Assyrtiko , and it’s ten years old. I don’t know if it came to me ten years old or if it’s been hanging out in a cabinet in my house for ten years, but it’s this sort of oxidative, now orange-colored wine. But I will say in general, I continue to love wines from Slovenia . I love wines from Northern Italy. Wines from Sicily . And I have to say, I know this is so on trend, but I really love orange wines . I’ve loved them for a while. I like the weightiness of them, but I like the ones that have an elegance to them too. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two is: do you have a favorite or unusual pairing? Bianca: I was doing a series on Instagram that was #pairdevil. I was pairing classic New York takeout foods with wine. The goal behind the series was to give people ideas for how to drink wine with the foods we actually eat. One of my all-time favorite pairings is probably a hamburger and Champagne . I also just think sparkling wine goes with everything. It’s the Switzerland/UN of wine. QUESTION THREE Ellen: Question three is: if not wine, what other beverages do you enjoy? Bianca: I’m a big tea person. I gave up drinking coffee, which I regret every single day. I’ve tried to lessen the blow by trying different teas. I’m very partial to good Japanese green teas. I also have a fond memory of going to a friend’s wedding in Scotland, and I felt like I could drink an unlimited amount of whisky and never get hungover. There was something about great Scotch whisky . It warmed me from the inside out. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: Question number four: favorite snack? Bianca: I’ve been very into Puffins cereal. Specifically the peanut butter Puffins. I’ve been currently hiding them in my pantry so no one else finds them and I can eat the whole box. When you are writing, there’s nothing like the perfect writing snack. It’s absolutely critical to productivity. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Question number five: what’s bringing you joy these days? Bianca: Spring in New York City—it’s a city that can feel decently monochromatic, and now there are pinks, there’s purples, tulips everywhere you look…I think that one thing that really shaped my life, thanks to my immersion in the art world, has been the attitude of making taste less a destination than a journey. Before, I had this mindset of “there was right taste, there’s wrong taste.” I had to figure out what was good taste and inhabit that, and I think the artist Julie Curtis, whom I spent time with, helped me think of taste as being a constantly evolving exercise. So, one thing that has really brought me joy is pushing myself to see new things, to experience things I may have dismissed before, and to open myself up to a new variety of experiences. *** Bianca can be found at her website www.biancabosker.com on Instagram/X/Threads @bbosker, and the book is available in all forms, all over! Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Kelsey Phelps here .