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. At the end of each episode, host Ellen Clifford phones a friend to ask them The Final Five. This time, it’s Megan Bell of Margins Wine! Check out the full episode here QUESTION ONE Ellen: Question one, what are you drinking these days, wine or not? Megan: I’m on a long-term alcohol break, and I have been drinking a lot of Figlia, which is a non-alcoholic spirit. It’s a really tasty concoction of rose and bitter orange peel and clove. You keep it in your fridge once you open it, and it can last a couple of months, and you just add that to some sparkling water, some lime, and bitters or whatever you want, and that makes amazing non-alcoholic cocktails. QUESTION TWO Ellen: Do you have a favorite or unusual pairing? Megan: Carrots dipped in mustard. Just your favorite mustard. QUESTION THREE Ellen: Question number three is, are there any places you are itching to explore that you haven’t made wine from yet? Megan: There are things I’m itching to explore in regions where they’re not planted yet. For instance, we’re based in the Santa Cruz Mountains . We could grow so many really cool varietals here, but unfortunately, it’s planted to 90% Pinot Noir and Chardonnay —which is delicious, but also we don’t want a monoculture, so I would love to do like, Santa Cruz Chenin Blanc. That would be really cool. QUESTION FOUR Ellen: Question number four is, what’s your favorite food? Megan: My favorite food is plain sourdough bread. We have two great bakeries in this area. We have Companion, and we also have Manresa Bread here. They are both really rustic, crunchy, big loaves. And they’re fantastic. QUESTION FIVE Ellen: The last question is just, what is giving you joy these days? Megan: I’ve felt a lot of joy lately. This is the first year I have been excited to go back to work in the vineyard. Normally this time of year, I’m just dreading working and really enjoying being a couch potato, but this year’s harvest ended really early since it was so warm, so I had a whole other month off. For the first time, I’m very excited to get back in the vineyard and back into the swing of the growing season. Just getting a lot of joy in the path I have chosen and really a lot of gratitude for getting to have this company. *** You can find Megan on Instagram @marginswine and join her wine club at www.marginswine.com , and there will soon be a tasting room in Santa Cruz! Check out the previous Wine Situation podcast with Andrea Jaramillo here .