Interview with Wannabe Wino (aka Sonadora…aka Megan)

July 1st, 2008

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As we often do when we have a new bloggerpack to shill, we’ve interviewed the blogger in question. Without further ado, the blogger known as Wannabe Wino — our questions are in bold, her answers are not:

When and why did you first decide to plunge into the crazy world of wine blogging? How do you fit it into your work day?

I really hated my first job. At some point in my 8 months of working there, well, really within the first 2 months, I literally reached the very last page of the internet. I swear it exists. Also, because they had eliminated my position at work prior to me even officially arriving, they literally had nothing for me to do, no one talked to me, it was pretty much my own living hell. So the blog was born of sheer and utter boredom and the realization, after reading every last thing about wine on the internet, that no one was talking about the wines I was drinking. You seem to have incredible endurance as well as devotion when it comes to wine drinking (and blogging, of course!). Do you and Matt really open a bottle nearly every night? Who chooses what to drink of the two of you?

We take the ocassional hiatus, but on an average week 5-7 bottles get opened in our house. This week we’re on a hiatus, but it’s almost Friday. We take turns picking what to drink, but generally ask the other one if they would prefer a red or white or base it on what we’re eating for dinner.

I’m finding more trouble fitting blogging into my day-to-day life recently. I carpool to work with Matt and his hours have increased again as of late, limiting my non-content-filtered internet hours even more. I usually write my posts fresh every morning and post them right then. I try to devote time on Saturdays to routine maintainence and such. The hardest thing for me is interacting with other blogs since they are blocked at work, and I’m literally awake for all of 2 hours when we get home.

Also, do you think about what you’re eating first, and pair that with wine, or what you’re drinking first, and then pair that with food? What’s your favorite food and wine pairing of late?

90% of the time I pick the food first. We work fairly long hours, so I tend to only be able to get to the store once a week. Meals are planned on a weekly basis, usually based off what’s on sale and what looks fresh when I get to the store. At the moment I’m really digging Sauvignon Blanc with parmesan baked tilapia.

Besides Cali wines, which you seem to love (and we love you for that), have you discovered any part of the world or wine region that you’re becoming as interested in or excited about? Or are you a California girl now and forever?

I always like a wide variety of wines from lots of different places, but California wines hold a special place in my heart, having been my first real introduction to how great wine can be. Some other perennial favorites are Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand, Chile, and South Africa, and last winter Italian reds were calling my name. I expect Italy will start to play a bigger roll in my wine drinking in the future.

What’s the worst bottle of wine you’ve ever had? Best?

Yellow Tail Riesling was by far the worst “wine” I’ve ever had. The stuff tasted like melted plastic flowers doused in chemicals. It was foul. The best? Now that’s a toughie. I’ve had so many great wines and I just can’t choose one.

Any wine travel planned for the coming year? If you could go anywhere in the wine world, where would it be?

Well, I hope to be able to go to the Wine Blogger Conference in Sonoma this fall…other than that, we’ll probably take our annual trek to CA around Easter. No international travel for the time begin, the dollar sucks. And, as usual, we like to go out to the local VA vineyards on the weekends.

4 Responses to “Interview with Wannabe Wino (aka Sonadora…aka Megan)”

  1. Gravatar Icon Dr. Debs

    Thanks for the interview. “Melted plastic flowers doused in chemicals” is the best description I’ve ever read of Yellow Tail Riesling!

  2. Gravatar Icon Oenophilus

    Ditto the Doc! Wow! I haven’t tried it; now, I most certainly never will. Thanks, Megan, for the great contextual reviews and colorful descriptors. Thanks to D547 for always carrying great wines that will never taste like “Melted plastic flowers doused in chemicals.”

  3. Gravatar Icon olivia

    what do the letters “VA” mean when you say the “local VA vineyards”?

  4. Gravatar Icon Sonadora

    Olivia-

    VA=Virginia. I live in Virginia and we have quite a few vineyards around us here!

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3/8/10: First domaineLA Wine Tasting at Susan Feniger’s Street: 5 Wines, $15:

Just a quick note to let you know that a week from today, on Monday, March 8th, 2010, I’ll be hosting the first domaineLA wine tasting event at Susan Feniger’s Street, with the Manincor winery of Italy. The importer and winemaker will both be present to chat about the five wines being poured (including an unusual and delicious dry moscato), and the wines will be paired with light bites.

The best news is that the event will cost just $15 a person…a bargain! Swing by between 6PM and 8PM — I hope to see lots of you there!

Susan Feniger’s Street, 742 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Oh, and you can buy tickets in advance, online by clicking here:
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wine jargon

Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.


Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.


Frizzante


March 29th, 2008

Scorekage


March 23rd, 2008

Rioja


March 3rd, 2008

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DomaineLA Store Contact Info
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Los Angeles, CA 90038

(323) 932-0280

Hours are 11AM to 8PM, Monday through Saturday and noon to 5PM on Sundays.

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