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 John Taylor, the founder of Pairs with Life Cellars! Check out the full episode here THE FINAL FIVE (Ever so slightly edited for length!): QUESTION ONE Ellen: Do you have a holiday drink? John: My mom has a traditional holiday drink which has sort of been passed on. It wassal, or wassail depending how Euro you are. It’s basically a hot spiced apple cider with brandy in it, and it’s delicious. It’s apple cider, maybe slices of orange, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, all just heating together for several hours, then you put some brandy in there. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two, what do you drink when you’re not drinking wine? John: The boring thing is I drink water, especially since I drink wine every day. And on the alcohol side, gin and tonics are number one on the spirits list, followed very closely by scotch, love me some scotch. QUESTION THREE Ellen: Next question—if you were trapped on a desert island with a wine celebrity—it can be a winemaker, it can be an influencer…just a wine celebrity—who would you stay on the island with? John: I’ve got two. If I’m feeling wine-wonky and obtuse I’d go with Randall Graham, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyards . He is an amazing winemaker who has an unbelievable amount of knowledge about wine. But he’s also a marketing genius. If I wanted to party on the island, then Jean-Charles Boisset. Just a party guy. If you ever want to look into the soul of Jen-Charles, just go to the tasting room in Yountville and sip his incredible sparkling wine and look at all of the various sex toys you can buy there—crops, bustiers, masks—it’s all there for a good time. He’s married to Gina Gallo, so they are like the wine power couple. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: Question number four is, before there was Tous Les Jours, did you have a house wine? John: Back in the day my favorite everyday wine was Ravenswood . Ravenswood was so good when it first came out. It was under ten dollars and it was so good. I drank it all the time. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Last question is just what’s bringing you joy these days? John: That’s a question everyone should ask themselves every day. My family is bringing me joy. I have a son and two daughters and I got to spend a lot of time with them over this holiday, and that was fantastic. *** Follow John on Instagram @pairswithlifecellars and @jatauthor, and find his wine at www.pairswithlifecellars.com Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Anush O’Connor here .