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 winemaker Ellie Anest of Eleven Eleven Wines! Edited for length, full episode here QUESTION ONE Ellen: Question number one: whatcha drinking? What are you into these days? Ellie: I’ve been drinking our Malbec lately. I don’t know if it’s because I’m just trying to really get into the fall season, but in terms of my red wine, I’m really enjoying that. I think the other one that has been speaking to us a lot has been our Beckstoffer Sauvignon Blanc. It’s kind of like holding on to summer and moving into fall. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two: what is a favorite or unusual pairing? Ellie: I’ve really been enjoying Paula Kornell’s sparkling wine with chips and caviar. And the Greek heritage of Spanakopita with Sauvignon Blanc is really awesome. QUESTION THREE Ellen: Question three: I saw you used to work with Taco Bell—do you have a Taco Bell order? Ellie: The Bell was a great place to work at. I call it the Taco Bell MBA—a lot of hours, a lot of great people, and a lot of business basics that have been very useful to where I am today. The crunchy taco was my jam. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: Question number four: if you continue expanding the winery, do you have more places you’d like to source grapes from or the style of wine you want to try? Ellie: We are expanding. We planted the other 8 acres of the Dustin Vineyard that is in Oak Knoll. We added our own Sauvignon Blanc, so we will see what the Dustin Vineyard brings out in our Sauvignon Blanc. We have a fun project—a dry Riesling we also make. But lately, people have been talking to me about the Greek heritage, and I don’t know, maybe I could talk to Kirk and convince him to try some Greek varietals. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Question number five: what’s bringing you joy? Ellie: I’m sitting here at my sister’s home right now, and I have her dog, Denver, who is an Aussie doodle. He’s a big guy, about 75 pounds, so I would say being around pets—maybe there’s a dog in my future. I’ll have to add a Greek name to it. *** You can find Ellie’s wine at www.elevenelevenwines.com and @11.11wines on Instagram! Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Morét Brealynn here .