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 Elyse Wilson of Camerata Wine Bar! This was edited for length! QUESTION ONE Ellen: Question number one: whatcha drinking? What are you into these days? Elyse: I am a hardcore bubbles lover. I definitely tend to go sparkling almost, I would say, probably 95% of the time that I drink. As far as food pairing, they’re so versatile. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two is: do you have a favorite or unusual pairing? Elyse: One of the most fun pairings I’ve had recently is a Spanish white vermouth that is slightly off-dry, and there’s not a lot of Spanish vermouths. However, this one producer I found, Saint Petroni out of Rias Baixas up in northern Spain, has a lot of green, herbaceous notes, so with the off-dry, I paired it with blue cheese stuffed green olives, and it was pretty delicious. QUESTION THREE Ellen: If not wine, what do you like to drink? Elyse: In addition to being a wine nerd, I spent a whole lot of time and money to go to Japan and get a sake certification. So I’m an advanced sake professional, which is through John Gauntner’s program. So, I’ve dabbled quite a bit in sake. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: If you were to make a wine, what would you make, and what would you call your winery? Elyse: I was thinking about this; however, after being down in Clare Valley and New Zealand , honestly, I was so excited by the Rieslings—the amazing diversity of the Rieslings down there, and a lot of wineries are hanging on to back-vintages that are incredible. So I think if I were to do a harvest, I’d love to go to New Zealand and hang out with some of these Riesling nerds down there. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Question number five: what’s bringing you joy these days? Elyse: Most currently would be the travel that I just did [note: earlier in the episode Elyse details her travels in New Zealand and Australia]. I just got back yesterday, so I’m still on cloud nine. But my number one hobby is eating. Food brings me happiness more than anything. *** You can find Elyse and her unique bottles at Camerata Wine Bar in Houston or @cameratahouston on Instagram! Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Kristin Fione here .