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 Las Vegas sommelier Matthew Lindsey! He is behind the Blended Festival and the creator of The Advanced Wine Course and if you want to try it, use the code THEWINESITUATION at checkout for a 50% discount! Check out the full episode here : THE FINAL FIVE (Ever so slightly edited for length!): QUESTION ONE Ellen: Whatcha drinking these days? Matthew: Today I’m drinking some Tempranillo . I don’t know why I chose this because it’s 115 degrees here now. So drinking a high alcohol, full-bodied wine probably wasn’t the best decision; I immediately regret this, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Question number two, do you have either a favorite pairing or unusual pairing you’ve enjoyed? Any kind of food, any kind of drink. Matthew: I’m probably going to ruffle a few feathers in this industry but that’s okay…I understand the intent behind pairing. In a lot of cases there is some significance to it, especially if you do it wrong. But for the most part I think that food and wine pairing is daunting for a lot of people and they overthink it. I think it does more harm than good when you sit there and you have to belabor over your menu. So I like to be a rebel and say pair whatever wine you want with whatever food you want. If you enjoy it, you enjoy it. Although, there are some wonderful pairings l enjoy. A nice glass of Chablis —unoaked Chardonnay from France—with oysters or crab cakes or lobster is a little cliché, but it’s an example of a well-thought out perfectly balanced pairing. I do seek that out. QUESTION THREE Ellen: What advice would you give someone who doesn’t know much about wine and wants to start learning? Matthew: I think for somebody that is just getting into the wine world and intrigued and interested but intimidated but overwhelmed, my advice would be to forget how overwhelming it is. Lean into that fear. Try the things you haven’t tried. I’ve been in that situation when I was host at a dinner and was handed the library of wine and I sat there terrified of making the wrong decision and defaulted to finding a wine I thought would be affordable but from region I was familiar with. But what got me out of that was forcing myself to lean into the fear, and I’d order something I’d never heard of before that I couldn’t pronounce. I’d take a picture of the bottle then go look it up and that’s how I self-taught myself about wine before getting any formal training. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: I was doing my research and found out you are now licensed to make and sell wine—what are you going to make? Matthew: I’m planning on hopefully launching my line later on this year. I’m taking an unconventional route. I’m planning on making about 15 different brands in addition to making wine for larger restaurant groups and country clubs and celebrities. My wines will be sold direct to consumer, online in about 30 different states. I’m wanting to take a fresh modern approach and create wine for populations of people that already exist. For instance, I’ll be creating wine for the sport sector. There’s going to be one for music. I’m even creating a brand for politics. So it takes the guesswork out of the wines and gives people and extension of their identity. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: Question number five is just what’s bringing you joy these days? Matthew: Creation. Being able to create experiences and memories with thing like the Blended festival, and my future wines, and wine dinners and wine courses. Just creating. It’s a really fun position to take my passion and my skill set and marry them all and share it. *** You can follow Matthew on Instagram as @thelordofwine Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Alissa Bica here .